Kings Island

Kings Island is a 364 acre amusement park located 24 mi northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. It is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company. The park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company in an effort to move and expand Coney Island, a popular resort destination along the banks of the Ohio River that was prone to frequent flooding. After more than $275 million in capital investments, the park features over 80 rides, shows and attractions including 14 roller coasters and a 33 acre water park.

Throughout its history, Kings Island has appeared in popular sitcoms and has received widespread recognition for its record-breaking attractions and events. One of the park's most well-known attractions, The Racer, is often credited with reviving worldwide interest in roller coasters during the 1970s. Others, such as The Beast and Banshee, have set several world records including some of which are still standing. The park has also suffered through times of negative publicity, particularly surrounding the early demise of roller coasters The Bat and Son of Beast.

Kings Island is divided into several themed sections. The seasonal amusement park is open from early spring through Labor Day and reopens for a short time on weekends beginning in September for Halloween-themed events. In 2014, Kings Island was the second-most visited seasonal amusement park in the United States behind Cedar Point with an estimated 3.2 million visitors. It was third overall for seasonal attendance in North America, which was led by Canada's Wonderland. Kings Island has won Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Award for having the "Best Kids' Area" in the world for fourteen consecutive years (2001–2014).

History
Kings Island was conceived as early as 1964 when Coney Island, a popular amusement park 10 mi east of downtown Cincinnati on the banks of the Ohio River, suffered from a major flood that submerged the area in over 14 ft of water. Although occasional flooding was common at the successful park, the flood in 1964 was the fourth highest on record and caused considerable damage. Faced with already-limited space for expansion and parking, the event triggered discussions within the organization about relocating the park.

Leading the way was Gary Wachs, son of Coney Island president Ralph Wachs, who with friends and family owned a majority of stock. He decided it was time to relocate the park to stay competitive. After years of research and traveling abroad, he presented ideas for a new theme park to the company's board of directors. Some board members opposed relocating, including significant stockholder Charles Sawyer. It wasn't taken seriously until 1968, when actor Fess Parker announced plans to build a theme park in Northern Kentucky – well within Coney Island's primary market that extended as far south as Louisville. The announcement highlighted the need for change and gave Wachs' proposal credibility within the organization.

Gary met with the president of Taft Broadcasting Company, a business interested in promoting its recently acquired Hanna-Barbera division, to discuss a possible merger. After receiving support, Fess Parker's efforts to secure financing fell apart along with his plans to build a competing theme park. In July 1969, Taft Broadcasting Company purchased Coney Island for $6.5 million and soon after purchased 1600 acre in Warren County, Ohio, for $3.2 million. Kings Island still owns 773 acre of that purchase. The site is located between I-71 and the Little Miami River in what was then a part of Deerfield Township.

Taft Broadcasting and KECO (1970–1992)
Construction began on June 15, 1970. Later that year, a public contest was held to name the new park. "Kings Island" emerged the most popular for its recognition of the Kings Mills area as well as its predecessor Coney Island. Most of the former park's rides were relocated, while the rest were demolished. Coney Island's popular Sunlite Pool attraction remained open, however, and the original park was partially restored in later years.

Less than two years after breaking ground, Kings Island opened its gates to the public on April 29, 1972. It was the first of several preview events. The grand opening was held the following month on May 27, 1972.

Arguably, the most crowd-pleasing attraction featured at the park in its early days was The Racer, a wooden roller coaster consisting of two trains that race side-by-side on identical tracks. Designed by legendary designer John C. Allen, The Racer was an integral part of the roller coaster renaissance of the 1970s. Years later, it would be awarded the Roller Coaster Landmark plaque from American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) for its achievement. Other roller coasters present on opening day in 1972 were the Bavarian Beetle, a small steel coaster brought over from Coney Island, and a new junior wooden coaster in the Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera originally named Scooby-Doo.

Kings Island was nationally promoted in two well-known sitcoms on ABC. Each filmed an episode on location at the park: The Partridge Family in 1972 and The Brady Bunch the following year in 1973. The Brady Bunch was produced by Paramount Studios, a large Taft Broadcasting shareholder. In later years, Kings Island changed ownership several times. Taft sold its theme park division in 1984 for $167.5 million to Kings Entertainment Company (KECO), a company formed by senior executives and general managers of Taft Attractions Group. Three parks—Kings Island, Kings Dominion and Carowinds—were involved in the sale. Taft invested in KECO to retain one-third interest. Three years later in 1987, American Financial Corporation, led by Carl Lindner, purchased KECO for $150 million. The deal included a contract with KECO to continue managing park operations. In 1989, KECO acquired the business assets of Great America, an amusement park it was managing operations for.

Paramount's Kings Island (1992–2006)
In 1992, Paramount Communications Inc. (formerly Gulf+Western) purchased Kings Island and the rest of KECO's parks for $400 million. Paramount formed a new division known as Paramount Parks. They bought out the remaining 80% stake in Canada's Wonderland in 1993, raising the number of parks to five. That same year, Paramount Parks began incorporating themes from its movies into the park. Viacom entered the picture after acquiring Paramount in 1994, paving the way for the appearance of Nickelodeon themes. First was Nickelodeon Splat City, followed by Nickelodeon Central and eventually Nickelodeon Universe.

In 1997, a year after leaving Deerfield Township, the city of Mason annexed most of Kings Island. A temporary measure allowed for some land to remain in Deerfield in an attempt to appease park officials and reduce the impact on the township. The rest would be annexed in 1999. On June 14, 2005, Viacom announced intentions to split into two companies (Viacom and CBS Corporation) with CBS inheriting Paramount Parks. Seven months later, on January 26, 2006, CBS announced that the theme parks were for sale.

Cedar Fair era (2006–present)
On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company purchased Kings Island and the rest of Paramount Parks for approximately $1.24 billion. With this acquisition, Cedar Fair owned all three major amusement parks in Ohio: Kings Island, Cedar Point and Geauga Lake (purchased from Six Flags in 2004). Kings Island kept the Paramount branding through the end of the 2006 season. Thereafter, Face/Off became Invertigo, The Italian Job Stunt Track became Backlot Stunt Coaster, Tomb Raider: The Ride became The Crypt and Top Gun became Flight Deck. Nickelodeon's presence remained in the park through 2009, when Cedar Fair changed the kids' area to a Peanuts theme.

In late 2009, the Mason City Council decided to put a measure on its 2010 ballot that would mandate a 3-percent ticket tax and a 5-percent parking tax at both Kings Island and The Beach waterpark. Council member Tony Bradburn argued that it was necessary for the city to help pay for infrastructure improvements, as well as cover police and fire expenses. This proposed tax hike was the center of debate for several months. Kings Island actively encouraged the public to write, email and call Mason City Council representatives to express opposition. On February 8, 2010, the Mason City Council voted 5–1 against the measure.

Action Zone
Action Zone opened in 1974 as Lion Country Safari, a 100 acre section of the park featuring a monorail ride that took guests on a safari-style tour through an animal preservation. It was later renamed Wild Animal Safari in 1977. In 1983, the area became known as Wild Animal Habitat and included Adventure Village, a new area within the rebranded section. Over the years, it featured rides such as Screamin' Demon, the first steel looping roller coaster to run both forward and backward in the United States (1977–87), and King Cobra, a stand-up looping roller coaster that was the first of its kind in the world (1984–2001).

Early in its tenure after purchasing Kings Island, Paramount unveiled Top Gun, a suspended roller coaster from Arrow Dynamics, in 1993. Located next to the habitat attraction, it was titled after a film of the same name and was the first ride to be added to the park with a Paramount theme. The following year, the entire area was renamed Adventure Village coinciding with the removal of the animal habitat and monorail ride. In 1999, a two-year expansion initiative began with the area's renaming to Action Zone and the addition of two new attractions – Drop Zone: Stunt Tower and Face/Off. When it debuted, Action Zone resembled a movie stunt set featuring a water tower as the centerpiece. The water tower was originally part of a skit with stunts and special effects that imitated a live movie set with a director and stunt performers.

Son of Beast opened in 2000, the second year of the area's two-year expansion. It was the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world and the first of its kind to feature a vertical loop. As a result of a number of structural issues and two accidents, the ride closed permanently in 2009 and was eventually demolished in 2012. Other notable rides include Delirium, which opened in 2003 as the largest Giant Frisbee ride in the world, and Banshee, the world's longest inverted roller coaster which opened in 2014 at the former location of Son of Beast.

Coney Mall
When Kings Island first opened in 1972, a section of the park was dedicated to its predecessor, Coney Island. The area was constructed to resemble the former park's carnival-style layout and featured many of its flat rides which were relocated, including Monster, Scrambler, and Dodgem. One of the flagship attractions during the park's inaugural year, The Racer, was located in this section. In addition to rides, some of Coney Island's famous Ginkgo trees were transplanted, lining the middle of the walkway. Originally called Coney Island, the area was later renamed Old Coney in 1980 and again to its present name Coney Mall in 1986. The area also features game booths, arcades and concession stands reminiscent of state fairs and traveling carnivals from the early twentieth century.

In 1975, Zodiac debuted in the Coney Island mall, which was billed as a "spinning, climbing double ferris wheel". Manufactured by Intamin, the three-minute ride featured twelve gondolas on each of the two wheels which were mounted to a long, hydraulic arm. It closed in 1987 and reopened at Wonderland Sydney in 1989. In the 1980s, the area saw the additions of Skylab, Zephyr, and Vortex, a six-inversion looping roller coaster that briefly held a world record for most inversions. Following Paramount's acquisition of the park in 1992, Coney Mall was further expanded in 1994 with Days of Thunder, a motion simulator ride in the new Action Theater attraction, and in 1996 with Flight of Fear, the world's first launched roller coaster to feature a linear induction motor (LIM).

In 2005, one of the last Paramount-themed attractions to open at the park, The Italian Job: Stunt Track (now known as Backlot Stunt Coaster), was unveiled. The roller coaster replaced the antique car ride Lex Taxis. Firehawk, a flying roller coaster previously known as X-Flight at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, was relocated to Kings Island next to Flight of Fear in 2007. The area housing both roller coasters became known as X-Base, a sub-section within Coney Mall that took on its own theme. The most recent addition was WindSeeker, added in 2011. The three-minute swing ride features 32, two-person carriages that spin around a central tower up to 30 mph.

X-Base
This sub-area opened in 2007. Flight of Fear had existed previously, but with the addition of Firehawk, the area took on its own theme, centered around flight and propulsion. Although the area is designated by a sign, it's not listed on the park map and is officially part of Coney Mall.

International Street
At the heart of the amusement park, visitors are greeted by International Street which lies just beyond the main entrance. As one of the park's original staples when it opened in 1972, International Street was designed by Bruce Bushman, a former Walt Disney Imagineering layout design artist. The area's architecture and cultural themes represent Italy, Spain, Germany and Sweden. To save on the cost of construction, the second story of each building was designed on a three-quarters scale, borrowing from a practice used by Disney throughout their theme parks.

The area's main attractions include the Royal Fountain, a 600000 gal capable of shooting 10000 gal of water into the air each minute, and the signature Eiffel Tower, a one-third scale replica of the original which offers a view of the entire park to its guests. Also located here is Grand Carousel, Kings Island Theater, and a variety of restaurants and souvenir shops.

Oktoberfest
Oktoberfest, relating to the eponymous German festival, opened with the park in 1972. The area resembles a German town with timber-framed German-style architecture. The Festhaus is the central attraction, featuring live shows with several indoor eateries. A full-service bar is located atop a portion of Oktoberfest lake. Rides include one roller coaster, one thrill ride and one family ride.

Planet Snoopy


The area initially opened with the park in 1972 as The Happy Land of Hanna-Barbera and was later shortened to Hanna-Barbera Land. The upper part that borders Rivertown saw the addition of a kids' play area, stage and water attraction in 1995 and was renamed Nickelodeon Splat City. In 2001, Kings Mills Log Flume became The Wild Thornberrys River Adventure and Rugrats Runaway Reptar roller coaster was introduced. The expansion of this area into the lower part of Rivertown became known as Nickelodeon Central. At the start of the 2006 season, when Cedar Fair purchased the rights to the park from Paramount, Hanna-Barbera Land was gradually converted and renamed "Nickelodeon Universe". Nickelodeon-themed elements remained in the park until 2010, when Nickelodeon Universe was rethemed and renamed Planet Snoopy based on the comic strip.

Planet Snoopy contains many rides intended for smaller children, including four roller coasters, a skater coaster and a log flume ride. Amusement Today has awarded Kings Island with the Golden Ticket Award for Best Kids' Area in the World for the past fourteen years, 2001–2015. Kings Island's Planet Snoopy was also the largest in the Cedar Fair chain, until 2013 when Kings Dominion opened their expanded Planet Snoopy.

Rivertown
The area known as Rivertown has been in the park since its opening in 1972. The area adopts a western theme as a town with ranch-style buildings, old wooden signs and an old water tower. Swan lake was the centerpiece until Diamondback arrived in 2009. The area was originally going to be titled Frontier Land. It features two roller coasters and two family rides.

Soak City
Included with park admission, Soak City is a 33 acre water park featuring two wave pools, several children's areas and a variety of water slides. It originally opened in 1989 as WaterWorks and has since been expanded several times. It was renamed and rethemed in 2004 to Crocodile Dundee's Boomerang Bay and in 2007, was again renamed to Boomerang Bay. On September 2, 2011, Kings Island announced that a $10 million expansion would take place in the 2011–2012 offseason and that the park would open in 2012 as Soak City. On August 19, 2015, park officials announced that Tropical Plunge, a seven-story water slide complex with six slide experiences, would be added to the water park in 2016.

Halloween Haunt (Seasonal)
Halloween Haunt, formerly known as Fear Fest from 2000–2007, is a Halloween-themed event at Kings Island that runs on weekends from late September until the last weekend of October. It features haunted houses, mazes, live shows, and most of the park's regular season attractions. It has been a yearly event at Kings Island since its debut in 2000. The following section contains the lineup of attractions for 2014.

Fast Lane
Fast Lane, introduced at Kings Island in July 2011, is a secondary queue system that offers shorter wait times on the park's most popular rides. In addition to the standard admission charge, visitors can bypass the standard wait line by purchasing a wrist band that grants access to the Fast Lane queue. A limited number of wrist bands are sold each day. The two options available for purchase are Fast Lane and Fast Lane Plus, the latter of which adds several additional rides to the list.

Notable additions

 * 1977: Screamin' Demon debuted as one of the first forward- and backward-looping roller coasters in the United States. It was later sold in 1987 to Camden Park in Huntington, West Virginia, where it operated as the Thunderbolt Express until 1999. It was eventually dismantled in 2004.


 * 1979: Kings Island unveiled The Beast setting records as the world's tallest, fastest and longest roller coaster.
 * 1981: The park introduced The Bat, generally accepted as the first permanent modern-day suspended roller coaster. However, plagued with mechanical problems and downtime, The Bat was removed just three years later in 1984.
 * 1982: Kings Island introduced Winterfest, a Christmas-time holiday event which ran from November 25 through December 31. The yearly event was held until 1992 and made a brief return in 2005.
 * 1984: King Cobra opened as the first roller coaster to be designed from the ground-up as a stand-up coaster, even though others had been converted to stand-up designs. King Cobra was dismantled and put up for sale in 2002, when downtime and maintenance proved prohibitive.


 * 1987: The Vortex was added to the park and briefly held a record with six inversions.
 * 1989: WaterWorks debuted as a family water park featuring a wave pool, water slides and other attractions.
 * 1999: Kings Island's "Adventure Village" area began the first of a two-year expansion to re-energize the area. Renamed Paramount Action Zone, the area was completely re-themed as a brightly colored movie studio backlot. Two new rides, FACE/OFF and Drop Zone: Stunt Tower, opened with the latter setting a new record for the world's tallest gyro drop.
 * 2000: For the second year of the Paramount Action Zone two-year expansion, Son of Beast opened setting records as the world's tallest, fastest and only-looping wooden roller coaster. Billed as a sequel to Kings Island's own legendary roller coaster, The Beast, Son of Beast was also the park's first hypercoaster. In October 2000, Kings Island debuted FearFest which runs annually from late September through October (later renamed to Halloween Haunt).
 * 2002: Tomb Raider: The Ride opened at Kings Island using an unorthodox marketing approach. The vehicle was by design concealed from view even as guests are being seated. Opening-day riders did not know what was going to happen as the ride started. Under the hood, the ride was based on a typical top spin model ride, except that this version was the world's first Giant variation to hold nearly twice as many riders as prior efforts. In addition, the ride operated indoors synchronized to a musical score, lasers, water effects, fog and theatrical lighting.


 * 2005: Kings Island opened Italian Job: Stunt Track, a roller coaster that primarily focused on special effects to tie in with the film The Italian Job (sister park Canada's Wonderland opened one the same year).
 * 2007: Kings Island unveiled Firehawk, a Vekoma Flying Dutchman roller coaster. The ride originally opened in 2001 at Geauga Lake under the name X-Flight but was relocated to Kings Island after the 2006 season. Its track colors were changed from neon green to red, while its supports were changed from dark gray to steel gray.
 * 2009: A steel hypercoaster from Bolliger & Mabillard called Diamondback opened in place of the former Swan Lake.
 * 2010: Planet Snoopy opened in place of the Nickelodeon Universe kids area. The Nickelodeon-themed attractions and characters from Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo were completely removed. This change marked the first time since the park's debut in 1972 that Scooby-Doo was not present in the park.
 * 2011: WindSeeker, a tower swinger ride manufactured by Mondial, was added to the Coney Mall next to the Vortex. Fast Lane. A Pay-Per-Use attraction called Dinosaurs Alive! debuted at Kings Island as the world's largest animatronic dinosaur park. It is located in Coney Mall near WindSeeker. Dinosaurs Alive 3D was also introduced to the Action Theater presented in Dolby 3D.
 * 2012: Soak City was announced on September 2, 2011, as the new name for Boomerang Bay. The Australian theme was dropped and additions included a second, larger wave pool along with sand-volleyball courts and a completely revamped lazy river with new names all around.
 * 2014: The longest inverted roller coaster in the world, Banshee, opened in the location previously occupied by Son of Beast within the park's Action Zone. The seven-inversion coaster was announced on August 8, 2013, and was built by Bolliger & Mabillard.

Notable events

 * 1972: ABC sitcom, The Partridge Family, filmed at the park in the episode "I Left My Heart in Cincinnati" which aired on January 26, 1973 (Episode #66 from Season 3).
 * 1973: Another ABC sitcom, The Brady Bunch, filmed at the park in the episode "The Cincinnati Kids" which aired later that year on November 23.
 * 1974: Sixty-nine-year-old Karl Wallenda broke a world skywalk distance record of 1800 ft.
 * October 25, 1975: Evel Knievel successfully jumped 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island, setting an audience viewing record for ABC's Wide World of Sports, garnering a 52 household share when his performance was broadcast live. He landed on the 14th bus, but held on. This was one of his last big jumps.
 * May 24, 2008: Robbie Knievel, son of Evel, successfully jumped over 24 Coke Zero trucks in the Kings Island Parking Lot. This was expected to be the last of Robbie's big jumps.
 * July 4, 2008: High wire artist Rick Wallenda broke the world skywalk distance record of 1800 ft held by his grandfather, Karl Wallenda, by walking 2000 ft on a 75 ft from Kings Island's Eiffel Tower to the park's entrance and back.
 * August 31, 2008: Barry Williams, Susan Olsen and Mike Lookinland returned to Kings Island for A Very Brady Reunion, a four-show special of song, dance and Brady Bunch stories.
 * August 15, 2009: Nik Wallenda completed a skywalk on a wire suspended 262 ft above the ground that extended 800 ft. Although it didn't break any world records, it was the highest skywalk Nik had completed to date and was three times higher than the skywalk Rick Wallenda performed a year earlier.
 * May 19, 2013: Former Brady Bunch stars Barry Williams, Susan Olsen and Christopher Knight returned to the park to "entertain park guests during four shows of singing, dancing and Brady Bunch anecdotes".

Notable people
The following is a list of former employees at Kings Island that later became well known in another industry:
 * Lisa Akey (actress)
 * Curtis Cregan (actor) – worked as a live shows performer and emcee for the Nickelodeon show at Kings Island
 * Carmen Electra (singer) – started her professional career in 1990 as a dancer at Kings Island in the show “It’s Magic”
 * Woody Harrelson (actor) – wood carver at Kings Island during high school
 * Justin Jeffre (singer) – part of quartet that performed throughout the park
 * Lewis Johnson (reporter) – former rides supervisor on the Beast and Racer roller coasters at Kings Island (1981–87)
 * Susan Kay Johnson (1987 Miss Ohio)
 * Nick Lachey (singer) – part of quartet that performed throughout the park
 * Dan Patrick (TV/radio sports host) – worked on park's golf course grounds crew
 * Susan Perkins (1978 Miss America) – worked at the park as a live shows performer
 * Rob Pottorf (film composer) – worked as live show performer and starred in Kings Production's TV series, Pumpkin Creek
 * Gigi Rice (actress)

Dogstreet Cemetery
Dogstreet cemetery is located at the north end of the Kings Island parking lot and is maintained by Deerfield Township. The historic cemetery dates back to 1803. The Warren County Genealogical Society documented nearly 70 grave sites in the cemetery, though, only 52 headstones remained.

On January 11, 2012, the amusement park and cemetery were featured on season 8, episode 1 of Ghost Hunters entitled Roller Ghoster. The show investigated claims of haunted occurrences inside the park and around the cemetery, particularly of a ghost reportedly known as "Missouri Jane." Warren County Genealogical Society records document a grave for a Missouri Jane Galeenor, who died in 1846 at age five.

Kings Island resort
As part of the Kings Island resort, in 1972 Taft Broadcasting Company built a golf course, hotel and campground.
 * The Golf Center at Kings Island - Designed by Jack Nicklaus with Desmond Muirhead, the 18-hole "Grizzly" and the 9-hole "Bruin" golf courses are located just across Interstate 71. The "Grizzly" was used for PGA and LPGA tournaments throughout the years. The Kings Island golf courses were formerly known as the Jack Nicklaus Golf Center, Jack Nicklaus Sports Center  and The Jack Nicklaus Golden Bear Golf Courses.


 * Kings Island Inn - Designed to depict a small alpine village, the 300-room inn. Also known as Kings Island Resort & Conference Center was located on Kings Island Drive across the street from the park. It featured a restaurant, indoor and outdoor pools, tennis court, sand volleyball, half-court basketball and a conference center. The inn was also featured in the Partridge Family's episode "I Left My Heart in Cincinnati" and the Brady Bunch episode "The Cincinnati Kids.". The inn and conference center closed in 2014.


 * Kings Island Campground - The park used to offer a 45-acre campground. It had 350 sites plus overflow, 6 cabins, pool, game room and store. A free tram carried campers to and from the park. The campground closed in 2004 and the land, except for the overflow area, was sold to Great Wolf Resorts.

Kings Island greenhouse
The park has its own greenhouse just off of Columbia Road. It can be seen from the top of The Bat's lift hill. It produces the flowers and topiary for the park. Some of their notable work is the "Living Liberty Bell" topiary and working "Flower Clock" near the Eiffel Tower.

Awards and recognition

 * Amusement Today – Golden Ticket Award for Best Kids’ Area (2001–2014)
 * NAPHA – Award for best new attraction for 2009 (Diamondback)
 * Themed Entertainment Association – 2014 attendance report ranks Kings Island third among seasonal amusement parks in North America with an estimated 3.2 million visitors