Defunct park rides.

I was just looking at some of my older park maps, and I was wondering how many people have been on some of the rides that no longer exist. My main interest is Kings Island. I have been on King Cobra, and I know that the shockwave at Canada's Wonderland is identical to it. But wonder who else has been on it, and opinions of it. I did like the King Cobra, but like the B&M stand ups better. Though I did like the helix and the bunny hops on King Cobra.

Other rides of interest there were the Bat coaster, and Flight Commander. I went to the park hoping to ride both, but the Bat was no longer there, and Flight Commander was closed due to a death on the ride, and it was removed from the park the same year. Did anyone get a chance to ride these rides? I thought flight commander would be really cool.

Pertaining to Kings Island, I have rode:

• Flight Commander - You queued up under the ride, and I believe that you entered the ride area from the center of the platform.
• The Screamin' Demon - Was a back and forth looping coaster. It had a small lake under for a more exciting ride.
• The Enchanted Voyage - This boat ride was trippy.
• The Smurf Voyage - Converted from The Enchanted Voyage, it featured a few slightly scary scenes with Gargamel. The animatronic Smurfs were so cute.
• Phantom Theater - This tide replaced the Smurfs. The water trough was removed and a totally different ride path was designed for the "Doom Buggy" style ride vehicles to ride on. This ride very much resembled Disney's Haunted Mansion, as far as effects go, but on a much lower budget. I loved this ride.
• Kenton’s Cove Keelboat Canal Log Flume - The bigger of the two log rides at the park at the time. It began with a lift up to the tree tops, and then a nice relaxing ride, just before a huge drop into the spalshdown. An interesting feature on this ride was that there was a unique "hop" at the bottom of the drop, resembling the bottom of the drop on Dudley Do-Right's Rip Saw Falls at Universal. The hop on KCKC was a lot smaller though.
• The Super Slide - A basic carnival slide with burlap sacks used as ride vehicles.
• and the same slide when it was moved to Hanna Barbara Land, and was called Scrappy's Slide
• Der Spinnin Keggers - A teacup ride with a pretty shocking tilt to the table.
• The Witch’s Cauldron - was another tea cup style ride in Hanna Barbara Land. It featured an awesome tree in the center of the table with a witch flying around it, I believe.
• The Flying Dutchman - A swing-in-a-circle style ride in which riders rode in giant wooden shoes. It was really fun.
• Flying Eagles - was your basic Flyers, complete with snappable tubs and rider-controlled sails.
• The Antique Cars - A self-driving ride with two interacting tracks that had an entrance on each side of the plot of land that the ride occupied. It was removed for Stunt Track.
• Zodiac Wheel - A unique giant double Ferris Wheel style ride in which an entire wheel could be filled with riders while the other side was up in the air.
• King Cobra - An uncomfortable stand-up coaster with a great layout, that included a vertical loop, a dive into a double helix, trick track that moved your entire body, and several camel-humps.

I am pretty disappointed that I didn't get to ride The Bat.

LostKause said:

• The Screamin' Demon - Was a back and forth looping coaster. It had a small lake under for a more exciting ride.

And monkeys! Don't forget the monkeys.

• The Enchanted Voyage - This boat ride was trippy.

Trippy? Hardly does the ride justice. One of my all-time favorite rides, dark or otherwise.

• Kenton’s Cove Keelboat Canal Log Flume

Best. Log Ride. Evar.

I am pretty disappointed that I didn't get to ride The Bat.

Bat was a breathless and out-of-control experience, for the few rides I managed to get on it. That being said, I'm not sure how it would compare nowadays to modern descendants, including every invert on the planet.

I'm fairly certain I've ridden every single adult or family ride ever built in the park, except for Ghoster Coaster (still kicking myself on missing that credit) and some of the upcharges.

Timber-Rider said:

Flight Commander was closed due to a death on the ride, and it was removed from the park the same year. Did anyone get a chance to ride these rides? I thought flight commander would be really cool.

This is not true. After the death, the ride was modified (I believe a seat divider was added or they forced you to ride in pairs, and they limited the riders' control). It operated a few more years after the death until its removal.

I believe I rode it before and after the modifications. I was young, so it's a little fuzzy, but I think before the modifications, you could control the ride to be upside down longer. I thought the ride was a cool concept, and I remember it being fun and very thrilling. Not thrilling as in intense movement, but for hanging upside down at 80 feet in the air, looking at the ground, and your life depending on the restraint.

After the death, the once-long lines thinned. With more limited control, the ride wasn't the same, and like many new Intamin rides, I remember regular downtime. It was supposed to be replaced with a drop tower, but that ended up coming later and in Action Zone.

For those who never rode Flight Commander, you didn't miss much. Its vertical motion range once you got up there was pretty laughable, and the barrel rolls were herky-jerky. I can't say I ever felt it was worth the wait.

I remember The Bat, but I also remember it being broken all the time, and I hadn't advanced past The Beastie when it was removed. Among those in my generation who grew up in Cincinnati, having been on The Bat is a pretty decent brag.

Edit: Ensign is dead-on on Kenton’s Cove. That ride is the reason that I can't accept Shoot the Rapids as anything other than a neutered shadow of a flume ride. It's a damn shame it was torn out for a glorified Top Spin.

Cobra is / was my favorite stand up. (Haven't been on Georgia Scorcher or the Cobra clone at CW, but I have been on the big-3 B&Ms). I always liked the layout much better than the big B&Ms, as my favorite part of those is when you're not going upside down, and Cobra had a lot of not going upside down.

I remember riding Flight Commander once and it was generally crummy, I thought. I must have been 8 or 9 at the time.

As for lost rides, I'd say Kenton’s Cove Keelboat Canal Log Flume is still the hardest to take. Phantom Theater and the Smurf rides were pretty amazing as well.

matt. said:

Cobra is / was my favorite stand up. (Haven't been on Georgia Scorcher or the Cobra clone at CW, but I have been on the big-3 B&Ms).

This. I have been on Scorcher, and it's my favorite of the B&M's I've ridden (Mantis, Chang, and Carowinds' Vortex being the others). King Cobra is more fun than all of them.

I can't really speak about defunct Kings Island rides except for Cobra and Son of Beast, as my first and only visit was in 2000. However, I've been on probably the majority of Kings Dominion's defunct rides. Listing those would take a while.

LostKause said:

• Flying Eagles - was your basic Flyers, complete with snappable tubs and rider-controlled sails.

"Basic" flyers...not IMO. The only set I've ridden that were on par or better is at Knoebels. Others have come close, but not quite the same. Trips to Carowinds always include more than a couple laps (esp. since they reward "high flyers" with bonus laps)... ;~)

I'm sure I could look this up elsewhere, but what's the difference between boring flyers and good flyers? I mean, I know what the difference is in *experiencing* them, but is it purely a matter of rotation speed? Chain length?

So KI's flyers was a different model than the one at KD? I always just figured they were identical, being in the same chain and all. KD's flyers excel in mediocrity.

There will always be a special place in my soul for the Pirate Ride at Cedar Point. It's symbolic of everything the park is missing today.

The cannon battle you navigated through...being swallowed by a whale...yep. :)

Best. Dark Ride. Evar.

(at Cedar Point)

At KI I got Flight Commander (Loved it), King Cobra (Ditto), Scooby (It sucked, but not as much as) Son of Beast (Ouch). I also got Phantom Manor, and it was great

At KD I got the Byaern Curve when it went thru the mountain, before Avalanche was there, Smurf ride in the mountain, the Haunted River, the Time Warp (Or what ever the Rotor was called), and Yogi's Cave/Treasure Cave. Oh, and Hypersonic.

At Carowinds I got Supersaturator, Blackbeard's Revenge, Meteorite (Bayern Curve), and the swings. Plus Smurf Island, and the Paddle Wheel.

Speaking of Rotors, I got the one at Lake Compounce, but still not Magic Mountains! Love the things.

Rotors and Bayern Kurves are my two favorite flats..I wish there were more of them. The only Rotors I've been on in recent years were at Canobie (meh) and Lake Compounce (awesomeness.) The Bayern Kurve at Kennywood (such fun!) is the only one I've seen in my park-going days as an adult. But as a kid I rode the one at Palace Amusements in Asbury Park, the building immortalized by Springsteen in Born To Run (just three or four lines before my CoasterBuzz signature...)

Break Trims said:

...Kenton’s Cove. That ride is the reason that I can't accept Shoot the Rapids as anything other than a neutered shadow of a flume ride. It's a damn shame it was torn out for a glorified Top Spin.

...That is no longer open, even. Such a shame.

Vater- They are the same, from what I can tell. They're old generation, if you will, Bisch Rocco Flying Scooters and back in the day just about everyone had one. As a kid I remember rides at Coney (KI), Idora, Geauga, LeSourdesville, and even little ol Camden Park, who called theirs the Butterflies. Some models had eight tubs, some had ten. The base was always about the same, i dont think there's much variance of cable length if any. I think Knoebel's excels in people's minds because it's really fast, like scary fast. It also revolves the 'wrong' direction and the doors are on the inside. Not sure why. But they have a real thrill ride going in theirs.
I rode KD's over and over when I was there and I loved em. I'm an accomplished flyer from years of practice, and I got quite a bit of lift. I don't like snapping, sorry, so I try to get as high as I can while making the ride as smooth as possible.
Brownies help.

Flight Commander sucked in so many ways. The first one was at KD and had these gawd-awful plastic covers that came down over the pod. When KI got theirs the tubs were redesigned to be open air. Much better, I suppose, but try telling that to the poor drunk woman from Toledo. She was small and was riding alone. When the tub turned over she slid to the other seat. Her body drug across the joystick and caused it to keep turning and out she went. (normally, if you let go of the stick the tub would automatically right itself, but she didn't stand a chance) The following year when the ride reopened the stick was covered by a metal box that you had to slide your hand into to reach. I think Knott's had the last operating Flight Commander.

I'm here once again to dispel this myth about the Bat. Really, guys, not all that great even when it did run. It had one really good short stretch toward the end, but then it killed. It was unique and innovative for the time, though, and people flocked to it. The line was down the Mall past Dodgem most days.

I loved King Cobra and was very sad to see it go. As miserable as Togo rides tended to be, (Knott's...) I thought the loop, book-style restraints were by far the most comfortable of any stand up, even to this day. KD's ride is ok, but what's with that 15 minute lift hill? Slowest thing ever, not good for one of our favorite topics, capacity. The line is long even on a slow day.

There's two old rides I miss the most. The big silver-ship circle swings were a staple everywhere, now there's none. (save for the reproduction model at Disney's California park, whatever it's called now. You can bet I climbed aboard that beautiful ride, it rocketed me back in time.) The other is my favorite flat of all time, the Cuddle Up. I believe we had that conversation a while back.

Double post! -1 for me!

Mike, I have always loved the Rotor. It was the "scary" ride when I was a kid and I have great memories of it. Flash forward to 2012 where I came across the Silly Silo at Adventureland in Altoona Iowa. I had to ride of course, and guess what? Hated it! Oh, no. Jim called and was waiting in the parking lot to pick me up, but he sat there cause I had to ride the bench at the bottom of the ramp for probably ten minutes before I could take a step.. Ugh.

Somehow this ties in with that 'ageing' thread over there, right?

I very vaguely remember riding the Ghoster Coaster, I don't remember the exact year or even much about the ride. All I remember was being terrified on the lift, and it being very uncomfortable.

I have all the coasters at KI including Bavarian Beetle. We went to KI every year from 1972 through the late 80's and then most years after that. I remember riding the double ferris wheel and Enchanted Voyage. I was heart broken when they replaced it with those stupid little blue people.

One time when we were at the park, I kept running around and marathoning the Bat. At the time, it was the by far the most thrilling ride in the park. I remember my dad getting pretty perturbed with me as he was ready to head to the station wagon and head home.

I was only able to ride the Screamin' Demon once, and have never had the opportunity to ride another similar arrow model. In my memory, it was fantastic and intense, and I'd almost rather not discover that my youthful impression of it was wrong...

I haven't ridden any defunct rides at Kings Island but here is my Eastern PA list of defunct rides I have ridden:

Dorney Park:

Journey to the Center of the Earth - the ride I miss the most. I understand they had to tear it down because of aging and water damage but this was a fantastic ride. I believe it was the last mill chute ride in operation.

Old Bumper Cars - There were cool because they were in the same building as Journey to the Center of the Earth and also the Thunderhawk line was in the building. Thunderhawk used to have a tunnel and start in the dark, which is why now the beginning of the ride is in a 'trough.' I keep wishing they would put a tunnel over it, seems like it would be a cool thing to do, they would only really need a top since it is has the side walls around it.

Iceberg - a tea cups ride inside an air-conditioned building. It ran in the dark and has strobe lights inside (similar to the Cosmotron at Knoebels). This ride has such a long line in the summer because of the air conditioning. It was themed to an igloo and had penguins all around it. It was some really good theming. This was in the spot where Dominator now resides.

Sky ride - similar to the kind at Hershey and Dutch Wonderland. They would go over the creek near the Zephyr train is.

Motor Boats - These boats were in the creek by the Zephyr, they were on a track though, unlike the ones at Knoebels, so they were way easier to steer. Little children (including myself) would often steer them. :)

I don't remember ever riding the Rockets but I remember seeing them. I am also sad that I have no personal recollection of the paratrooper on the hill but I must have walked passed it hundreds of times as a kid.

Knoebles

Whirlwind: Not as bad as people say it was. Although it definitely wasn't great.

AXIS - I think this was only there a few seasons.

High Speed Thrill Coaster - I think everyone knows about this one.

Hersheypark:

Conestoga Wagon

Canyon River Rapids

Cyclops - Huss Enterprise located where The Claw is now.

Giant Wheel - double Ferris Wheel, this is the ride I miss the most from Hershey. It looked great in the front of the park.

Paddleboats - Were located in Spring Creek, near the Comet. Best part I remember about riding this is that the ducks would come right up to your boat.

Rodeo

Western ChuteOut - original water slides in the park

I sadly have no relocation of the "bigger" Sky Ride that closed in 1992 but I must have been by that a ton of times as well.