so the year is 1968 or 1969 or something uhh its the late 60s and theres a park in cincinnati called coney island. coney island is pretty much on the ohio river so whenever the river floods its kinda bad :(

spoilers the river flooded and it was really bad this time

so this dude is like "heh what if we like... moved the park a half hour north" and that's exactly what they did

he got approval from the dude who owned coney island or something and he had another great idea: "lets put hanna-barbera characters in our park what kids dont love the snorks amirite"

anyways he calls up taft broadcasting companies and asks to use their characters bc it would be mutually beneficial and taft is like "hell yeah!!!"

so they buy a shit ton of land and start planning the parks layout n stuff and they get input and advice from walt disney's brother! thats fucking sick!

it's 1970 now and the park is all planned out so they start construction

when you first walk in the gate you're greeted by international street in all its glory. the european style buildings. the flags. the fountain that you can ice skate on during winterfest. and standing at the back in all its glory, you see the eiffel tower.

but that's just international street! the park opened in 1972 with 5 main areas: international street, oktoberfest, coney mall, rivertown, and the happy land of hanna-barbera

happy land of hanna-barbera signs

also opening with the park are 3 roller coasters: bavarian beetle, the racer, and scooby doo! (scooby doo was later renamed the beastie and even later renamed woodstock express, which is its current name)

bavarian beetle (1972-1978) is hard to find good images or videos of and pretty much the only footage out there is from a banana splits episode and a home video pov

bavarian beetle is at 4:04

the racer (1972-present)

woodstock express (1972-present)

the park was a huge success!! lets build more roller coasters and expand!!

in 1974 ki said fuck it lets put a safari in this bitch

lion country safari was a fully immersive african safari except you were on a monorail in southern ohio

screamin demon (1977-1987) was an arrow dynamics "launched shuttle-loop coaster" and they decided to put it in lion country safari for some reason

when i mention screamin demon to my dad he complains about how you had to "walk up so many stairs for such a short ride" and you had to walk up 100 stairs to get to the platform 50 feet in the air so thats justified

WERE AT 1979!! LONGEST WOODEN COASTER EVER BUILT TIME

IN 1979 KINGS ISLAND DEBUTED A RECORD BREAKING WOODEN COASTER BUILT COMPLETELY IN HOUSE AND DESIGNED USING MATHEMATIC FORMULAS THE GUY WHO DESIGNED THE RACER HAD SCRIBBLED ON A NAPKIN

THE BEAST. UNLEASHED.

the beast is an ACE landmark and arguably the most iconic roller coaster in the united states

with over 7,000 feet of track, the beast is the longest wooden coaster ever built, and the second longest coaster on the planet (behind only steel dragon 2000)

commercials from the 70s and 80s advertising the beast and

oh yeah the beast was the first coaster in rivertown btw

so what next?? the bat.

the bat (1981-1983) was the first arrow dynamics suspended coaster and it was riddled with technical issues

the main problem with that bat is that the turns were not banked, and as the cars swayed they put far too much stress on the tracks. the sway of the cars was also completely uncontrolled.

the bat only lasted 3 seasons, and experienced so much downtime that it was rare to get a ride on it. my grandpa got to ride it though and he said it was fun so :)

my dad had much more to say: "that bat was cool because of the way it would swing back and forth and when it would swing to the left you'd think you were gonna run right into a tree but the you'd swing in the other direction"

commercial:
pov:

the bat was kings islands first loss, but kings island continued on, and in 1984 they opened king cobra.

king cobra (1984-2001) was a TOGO standup coaster. king cobra was commonly cloned, but the original was at kings island

the trains from king cobra are currently in the flight of fear building, and are used for spare parts

my dads thoughts on king cobra are "the little hills at the end hurt your ass"

NEXT WE HAVE PRECIOUS PRECIOUS VORTEX

vortex (1987-2019) was an arrow dynamic custom looping coaster, and it occupied the same plot of land that the bat had previously. in a way, vortex was arrows way of paying back kings island for their failed prototype.

vortex was a huge arrow looper, and i loved it. she was pretty rough and short people had to deal with really bad head-banging but it was lovable.

vortex barely passed it's 2019 safety inspection, and it was cheaper for cedar fair to tear it down than it was to repair it.

oh no the next big year is 1991

//death mention

3 people died at kings island on june 9, 1991. the pond in the oktoberfest area of the park by viking fury has electrical wires running under it, and while it would normally be safe if you fell in it, something was weong with the wiring and a man fell in

//death mention

the man was electrocuted and his friend went after him. his friend was also shocked. a security guard went in after both men, and was also shocked. the first man to enter the water survived, but the two men who went after him died in that pond.

//death mention

the third death at kings island on june 9, 1991 was a drunk woman. the woman went on flight commander, a flat ride where you were in cars that were suspended in the air and the ride spinned and you could control hour your individual car flipped.

//death mention

the woman flipped her car a ton, and somehow cam loose from her restraints. she fell out of the car and landed head first on the concrete beneath her. she was killed on impact.

//death mention

also in 1991 a man was decapitated by the eiffel towers elevator shaft

anyways... more roller coasters!

OH YEAH ALSO 1991 KINGS ISLAND WAS SOLD TO PARAMOUNT AND WAS REBRANDED AS PARAMOUNTS KINGS ISLAND

ok roller coasters

1993 saw the return of the arrow suspended coaster with top gun (later flight deck, currently the bat to pay homage to the original suspended coaster)

the bat (1993-present) is an arrow dynamics suspended coaster, but this time the turns are banked and its actually functional.

the bat is very special to me because it was the first big roller coaster i ever rode in 2012

also fun fact the land that great wolf lodge occupies was originally owned by kings island but they sold it to great wolf

the next big expansion came in 1999, when the safari section of the park was renamed to action zone, and themed to various paramount acts movies. rides opening with action zone were face off (now invertigo) and drop tower scream zone

invertigo (1999-present) is a vekoma invertes boomerang. a widely cloned coaster. the cobra roll really hurts your neck when you go through it backwards. (yellow = face off, blue = invertigo)

drop tower scream zone (1999-present) is an intamin gyro drop standing at 315 feet tall. it was once the tallest drop tower in the world.

NEXT COASTER!! SON OF BEAST!!

son of beast (2000-2009) was a wooden hypercoaster (200-299 feet tall) built by the roller coaster coorperation of america (RCCA). it was the first wooden hypercoaster, and it also had a vertical loop.

son of beast had so many issues its crazy fr but the main things are a few lawsuits and one time a train abruptly stopped while it was hauling theough the second big helix because i piece of wood broke. a ton of people had neck injuries and one woman had an aneurism

also in 2007 the paramount parks were acquired by cedar fair and cedar fair didnt wanna deal with the mess that was son of beast so it ceased operations in 2009 and was torn down in 2013.

I SKIPPED FLIGHT OF FEAR OK

flight of fear (1996-present) is premiere rides LIM launch spaghetti bowl coaster. its also indoors nd its pretty dark. oh and smoke came out of it once??

ok back on track and moving on to 2005

backlot stunt coaster (2005-present) is a premier rides family launched coaster. the lap bars are BRICKS thoooo

NEXT COASTER!!! FIREHAWK TIME!!

firehawk (2007-2018) was a vekoma flying dutchman coaster relocated from geauga lake. when the red paint chipped off you could see the neon green paint from when it was at gauga lake.

I ALSO SKIPPED ADVENTURE EXPRESS FUDGE

adventure express (1991-present) is an arrow dynamics mine train. whenever you turn on it you feel like you're being elbowed really hard in the side but its still fun! it will also be my friends first roller coaster when we go in (hopefully) july

woooooo next coaster!!!! modern coaster woooo!!!

diamondback! is! so! fun!

diamondback (2009-present) is a bolliger and mabillard (B&M) hypercoaster standing at 230 feet tall with a max speed of 80 mph. its considered one of the best hypercoasters by many enthusiasts. if you're in the back row you get a little wet from the splashdown.

BANSHEE TIME BANSHEE TIME

banshee (2014-present) is a B&M invert that is on the land formerly occupied by son of beast. with a max speed of 68 mph you zoom. through the layout. its genuinely such a fun ride, and its a pretty coaster too. its also the only coaster in the world with a pretzel knot

seriously though you feel like you're going so fast and you have so much power when you're on it. not to mention the roar.

MYSTIC TIMBERS!!!!!

mystic timbers (2017-present) is a gci wooden coaster with a max height of 109 feet and a max speed of 53 mph. the stats aren't too impressive but you zooooom through the layout. the ride has so much airtime and you kinda feel like you're being thrashed around.

mystic timbers was marketed with the hashtag #whatsintheshed or something and the shed is gimmicky but at least you can listen to catchy 80s music and have a little fun while you wait on the brake run. it's also the best themed ride in the park with a story line and everything.

OK LAST COASTER AND WERE AT THE PRESENT!! 2020: ORION

orion is a B&M giga coaster (300-399 feet) opening in 2020 (hopefully) with a drop of 300 feet and a max speed of 91 mph. it was $30 million and has faced some controversy for not being 300 feet tall, and only having a 300 foot drop.

kings island is very special to me, and i've been going every year since i was 7. this is the park that made me love roller coasters, and its my happy place. i hope maybe this thread can make someone else like roller coasters as much as i do :)

CORRECTION: THE FLOOD WAS 1964

I WROTE ACTS MOVIES OH NO IT WAS SUPPOSED TO SAY ACTION MOVIES