Information AboutKings Island |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT KINGS ISLAND | |
| amusement parks in ohio | |
| cedar fair amusement parks | |
| visitor attractions in cincinnati | |
| warren county, ohio | |
Kings Island is a 364 acre (1.5 km&2) Amusement Park located in the city of Mason , in Warren County, Ohio .1 The park is located 24 miles (39 km) northeast of Cincinnati . The park owns close to 775 acres (3.2 km&2) of land, but only 364 acres (1.5 km&2) are currently developed. Kings Island is owned by Cedar Fair Entertainment Co. , and was part of the former Paramount Parks chain that Cedar Fair acquired from CBS Corporation on June 30 , 2006 . PARK HISTORY Kings Island first opened its gates in 1972 in what was then Deerfield Township , developed by the Taft Broadcasting Company. Taft Broadcasting took the name from the previous landlord, the defunct King Powder Company , which founded the town of Kings Mills for its workers. The site is between I-71 and the Little Miami River . The park remained in Deerfield Township until it was annexed into the city of Mason in 1997. Kings Island served as a replacement for Coney Island , a popular park on the Ohio River about 10 miles (16 km) east of downtown Cincinnati. Coney Island was forced to close due to frequent floods, but has since reopened on a much smaller scale. Many of the rides from Coney Island were moved to the new park; the only attraction left at Coney at the time was Sunlite Pool, the world's largest swimming pool. In 1992 Kings Island was purchased by Paramount Communications, along with four other theme parks in America and Canada; the park was renamed Paramount's Kings Island. The park received some of its first nationwide promotion from two '' in 1972, and, more famously, '' The Brady Bunch '' the following year. While they do not mention the name of the park, they do call it "a new park outside Cincinnati." On October 25 , 1975 Evel Knievel successfully jumped 14 Greyhound Bus es at Kings Island, setting a new 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. On July 4 , 1976 , Kings Island played host to the wedding of ''Paul Revere'' of the Pop Rock band Paul Revere & The Raiders . ORIGINAL ATTRACTIONS .]] The centerpiece of Kings Island has always been its 1/3 scale replica of the Eiffel Tower , located just across the International Street fountain from the main entrance gate. Elevators regularly take patrons up to the lookout tower, which provides a chance to see the entire park and, at park closing, offers the best view of the nightly fireworks display. (Another Eiffel Tower resides at sister park Kings Dominion .) Another star attraction is the Racer , which consists of twin wooden roller coasters that race each other side-by-side. Designed by legendary designer John Allen, The Racer is credited by many people with starting the second golden age of the Roller Coaster . In 1982, the trains on the right side of the Racer were turned backward, freshening up an old favorite. (Many coaster enthusiasts have nicknamed the backwards train "recaR".) Other coasters present in 1972 were the Bavarian Beetle, a small steel coaster brought over from Coney Island (and removed in 1979); and Scooby-Doo, a wooden coaster (renamed "The Beastie" in 1979; and renamed again as "The Fairly Odd Coaster" for 2006) located in the park's "Happy World of Hanna-Barbera" kids' area. More attractions present at opening day were Haley's Comet, Kings Mill Log Flume, Les Taxis, Grand Carousel, Der Spinning Keggers, Sky Ride, Enchanted Voyage, Marathon Turnpike, Scrambler, Flying Scooters, Winnie Witch's Spinning Cauldrons, Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad, Monster, and The Rotor. LATER ATTRACTIONS Kings Island has set several roller coaster-related records. In 1979, the park unveiled The Beast , the tallest, longest, and fastest roller coaster in the world at the time. After more than 25 years, it still holds the title of the world's longest wooden roller coaster at 7,419 ft (2,261 m). In 1981, Kings Island introduced the world's first suspended roller coaster, The Bat ; however, it was plagued with maintenance problems and removed four years later. In 1984 King Cobra opened. It was the first stand-up coaster in the world designed specifically to be so, although previously a few sit-down coasters had been converted to stand-up. However, King Cobra was dismantled (and put up for sale) in 2002 when maintenance proved to be too expensive. In 1987, the Vortex roller coaster briefly set a new record with six inversions. The Son Of Beast , billed as the sequel to the Beast , opened in 2000. Currently, it is the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world, as well as the only one to successfully incorporate a steel loop into its otherwise wooden structure. That success was short-lived, however; in July 2006, an on-ride accident closed the coaster, and the vertical loop was removed in December 2006 as part of modifications being made to the ride as a result of the accident's investigation. Son of Beast re-opened July 4, 2007. 1989 saw the debut of Water Works , a family water park. An approximate 30 acre expansion of Water Works occurred in 1997. A renovation of Water Works in 2004 renamed the area to " Boomerang Bay ". The mid-to-late 80's also introduced a Christmas event called ''Winterfest'', which ran from November 25 through December 31 . The International Street fountains were turned into an ice-skating rink, and a nightly light-show was centered around the Eiffel Tower. Most rides were closed, except for a Holiday-themed train ride; special shops and restaurants, as well as other holiday-themed activities, were available. The event ended after the 1992 season, but made one additional appearance in 2005; slow ticket sales prompted new owners Cedar Fair to shelve the idea.2 For 2007 Kings Island announced the construction of Firehawk , a Vekoma Flying Dutchman roller coaster. It is the fourteenth roller coaster located within Kings Island. This ride originally operated at Geauga Lake under the name X-Flight . The coaster has been repainted from the neon green track and dark gray supports to a red track with steel gray supports. The two trains have been painted red and yellow. Today, Kings Island has 13 roller coasters and many large flat rides. It also has more tame rides as well as other attractions for those not interested in thrill seeking. Kings Island has also won Amusement Today's award for 'Best Kid's Area in the World' six consecutive times (2001-2006). Its longtime kids' area, ". This huge retheming undertaking involved transforming the entire 11-acre children's area to the new " Nickelodeon Universe " theme. Based on this work, Amusement Today magazine presented " Nickelodeon Universe " with the prestigious 2006 Golden Ticket Award as the Best Kid's Area in the World. NEW OWNERSHIP On June 30 , 2006 , Paramount's Kings Island, along with the rest of the Paramount Parks chain, was purchased by Cedar Fair Entertainment Co., for approximately USD $1.24 billion. 3. With this purchase, Cedar Fair now owns all three major amusement parks in Ohio (Paramount's Kings Island, Cedar Point and Geauga Lake ). The park continued to operate under the name Paramount's Kings Island through the end of the 2006 season, however Cedar Fair began removing the "Paramount" name and logo from the park in January 2007. Kings Island, like the other parks in the former Paramount Family, features a number of attractions - encompassing rides, live shows and restaurants - based on Paramount Pictures films and other CBS and Viacom brands. In later years, Paramount seemed to be making a conscious decision to attract families more than thrill-seekers; it remains to be seen how Cedar Fair's purchase of the park will affect these efforts. In February 2007, it was announced that Geauga Lake's X-Flight flying coaster would be relocated to Kings Island for the coming season, and be re-painted and re-branded as Firehawk . This decision was made because of a combination of Geauga Lake's declining attendance, and Kings Island's thrill-seeking guests wanting a new thrilling coaster experience. The ride opened officially Memorial Day weekend of 2007. There is also now a stronger emphasis on safety and cleanliness under Cedar Fair management; more trash cans, with labels identical to those found at Cedar Point, have been placed, along with ground-sweeping teams wearing bright yellow shirts; and the addition of safety belts to several coasters and rides in the park. Kings Island's live entertainment department has also received greater support, with five new shows, including shows at venues that were otherwise empty in 2006. LISTS OF ATTRACTIONS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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