Kings Islands history.

I am sure some of you have seen this, but to the ones that haven't ? It is a nice history lesson of this park. Transferring from Coney Island, some connection to Disney, etc. The founder and a couple others talk about how KI came to be.

Kings Island has always been me and my family's favorite park. A lot of the rides they talked about in this video I remember as a kid from the smurfs to the Hannah Barbara land. I even remember the monorail as a kid. Some rides are still there that I enjoyed as a kid from Racer, The Beast, Top Gun, K.I. M.V Railroad, etc. Anybody else remember the park in the early days?

In the spring of 1972 I accidentally happened upon (snuck into) Kings Island for dry-run day the weekend before they officially opened. So, yes I do. I haven't missed a season since and have seen it all come and go.

I got to cruise through he park with my pops in 71 while everything was sitll being built. Bout all I can remember is the lift hill of racer and the tower. everything else was in some stage of mess. I was only 6

Old people....I remember 1970s Kings Island from an episode of the Brady Bunch. Apart from that, I have only photos.

You know, that episode still runs occasionally on tv, and I believe you can find it on YouTube as well. So I guess you don't even need a memory, young or old, for that. Or for photos. Fortunately, fairly reliable and easy to use cameras had been invented, and I'm talking even clear back in the early 1970's. Really. Just about everybody had one. So, for you whippersnappers out there, photographic evidence of the way things were in olden times is readily available for you to look at without jostling us old people out of senility to recall it for you.
Thanks for adding to the conversation anyway, there, bjames. You're a real riot.

Old people are the best...virtually everything good we have today, we have because someone came before us and thought "hey, we can build that/make it better!"

Besides, without them, young whippersnappers wouldn't even BE here...

Well, they got here without my help, I'm fairly certain... :-)

I feel EXTREMELY fortunate to have visited a lot of regional theme parks in their infancy, during the "golden age" of building. I saw Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Canada's Wonderland, Six Flags Mid America, Six Flags over Georgia, and Magic Kingdom when they were all pretty brand new. Seen em then, and seen em now, and I marvel at their transformations over the years.
I also went to a few parks that, sadly, no longer exist. Euclid Beach, Idora, Geauga, Chippewa, LeSourdsville, Fantasy Farm, and Coney Island come to mind. I've also got a few "back in the day" parks on my list, Cedar Point, Dorney, Camden, and Geauga (once again).

Now, I ain't bragging', or tootin my own horn, and even though I ain't all THAT old, I feel extremely lucky to have the memories of these places we love, old and new. So if any of you youngsters ever need to know, hit me back. Er... Hit me up. Or whatever it is you say.

rollergator said:

Old people are the best...virtually everything good we have today, we have because someone came before us and thought "hey, we can build that/make it better!"

This is what my parents thought when they looked at my older brother.

My brother was an only child....

Growing up in upstate NY, I don't think I had ever heard of Kings Island until the early 80s, which was about the same time I had heard of Cedar Point. I remember HP in the mid-70s and remember the first year DL opened. That's about it.

I do remember riding a shuttle loop coaster at Kings Island though in the early 80s at some point. I think it was called the Demon. I also think the Bat was SBNO when I visited. Did the Bat sit for a while before being removed for the Vortex?

The Bat ran off and on (mostly off...) from 1981 to 1983, I think. Screamin Demon caused quite a sensation in it's day with two loops, one forward and one backward. There aren't many example of the Arrow horizontal reverse point shuttle loops left. I always thought it was a good ride, especially the backwards trip in the front seat. It was impossible to tell, even after many rides, just when the drop was going to come and it was good scary fun. The stairs to the platform? Not so much.

It's so strange to think now of how little we knew about regional or local parks until the Internet came to be. When I first joined ACE in 1978 a whole host of information opened up to me about parks and roller coasters that I never knew existed, and that information and those photos came strictly from other members citing their experiences at their local parks. (All of a sudden I NEEDED to get to places like Pittsburgh, Denver, and New England) Now it's possible to research parks and rides anywhere on earth without leaving your room, and a ride on virtually any ride at any park is just a YouTube click away.

Re: Internet and discovering parks- there are three parks that I could have visited in the myrtle beach area had I known they were there. With credits. One as late as 1999.

SVLFever said:

Growing up in upstate NY, I don't think I had ever heard of Kings Island until the early 80s, which was about the same time I had heard of Cedar Point. I remember HP in the mid-70s and remember the first year DL opened.

Darien Lake, I believe existed for a while before they added rides and coasters starting in 1981. The thing about this park (my semi-home park, I've been there many times, growing up in the Mohawk Valley) is that a good percentage of the rides they added in the 80s are still running. They haven't built much since though lol.

I remember the first year Islands of Adventure and Disney's California Adventure opened, that's the closest I can come to replicating the sentiments SVLFever holds. But in 30 years, I'll probably feel old because of this memory as well.