Skramp Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 I know everyone hates it when we give links to other sites, but KIcentral has over like 100 awesome shots of KI from the early 70's. Definitely worth taking a look at: http://www.kicentral.com/history/photos/thumbnails.php?album=lastup&cat=0 Weird to see how much the park has changed over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goliath513 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 This is pretty cool. I always enjoy looking at old pictures of parks before they became modern. -Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Kenton Cove Keelboat > Tomb Raider And the Racer just looks beautiful when it first opened. Lovely red white and blue scheme....too bad it looks like crap now... Just look at it Racer just looks beautiful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coastrfreak2000 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Coney Mall looks alot like Cedar Point's Main Midway in those pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnewton34 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Wow, that brings back a lot of memories. I've been going to KI since I was really little. ^^We always called them the big and little water logs, lol. I miss that ride, it was fun. So many others that I miss too, Smurf's Enchanted Adventure, The Witch's Cauldron, The Flying Dutchmen and the Hanna Barbera Carousel. Everyone would always race to Scooby Doo first. A bunch of those rides I've never even seen though. They're neat. I remember the big elephant fountain too. And they used to have this cool covered walkway in Hanna Barbera Land, it was covered in vines and everyone would always go in there because it stayed cool. I always loved the Hanna Barbera theming and being able to have access to a wealth of Hanna Barbera merchandise. I still remember the last piece of Hanna Barbera merchandise I bought from KI, it was a stuffed Captain Caveman back in 1995. I know Scooby is still around but it's just not the same. I wonder whatever became of all those rides that have now disappeared and all the Hanna Barbera and Smurfs stuff they used to have? And is it just me or did the original Enchanted Voyage with the big clown face seem a bit creepy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterFanatic Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Nice pics. I have very fond memories of my early visits to this park while it still had that "charm" to it. Thanks for the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coasterlvr_nc Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 And is it just me or did the original Enchanted Voyage with the big clown face seem a bit creepy? Seemed pretty creepy to me also, However these pictures are really neat and they show what the park looks like before I was born which is neat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HHIslandGirl Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Wow...talk about bringing back some memories! I have a box full of pictures from a trip there in the summer of 1979 before my sister was born! And probably another box full from our Geauga Lake-Sea World-Kings Island trip from a few years later with my grandparents. When your 80-year old grandpa is taking you on all the rides, you know you've got it good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennywood!007 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 These pics are very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewlcoasterdude Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Did anyone ever ride The Bat? Those are the best pictures I have seen of it. I remeber seeing the coaster before it was torn down, but it was well after it closed. I have never heard what the ride experience was like. I would love to hear from those who were lucky enough to ride it.[/i] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterP Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 These great pics make me think of Marsha Brady running through the park. Mmmmmm.....Marsha....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gk Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Great pics. That really takes me back. Love the Beast construction pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnewton34 Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 The Bat was my first coaster. My dad took me on it when I was like 5 or 6 and I almost never rode another coaster again after that. All I remember is going fast and being scared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disneygurlz2s Posted July 13, 2007 Share Posted July 13, 2007 Did anyone ever ride The Bat? Yes, many times. You really have to remember that this was a groundbreaking concept and, honestly, ahead of it's time technically. By the time they were tearing it down, other parks (BGE "Big Bad Wolf", CP "Iron Dragon") were being built and they worked fine in comparison and are still running today. By the time KI/PKI built Top Gun it was like "You are kidding me? They are rebuilding "The Bat". Thanks for this post. It was a great trip down memory lane. Some of those pictures almost made me cry. Shari Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedracer Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 Here's another blast from the past for us old farts. Used to be enthralled as a kid with these Banana Splits intros just for the random shots of 1970's KI, right up there with the infamous Brady Bunch episode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w5HMbWkCPw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Thriller Posted November 12, 2007 Share Posted November 12, 2007 That shows how much work it took to improve and grow the park! Thanks for sharing those! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRapidsNerd Posted November 14, 2007 Share Posted November 14, 2007 Awesome post! Taught me quite a bit about the park. Some great Demon, Kobra, Best, Vortex, and Bat pics. Man, I lived outside Dayton from 83-86 and remember going a couple times. Can't believe how much it's changed. We rode the Lion Country Safari because you could sit down and the air conditioning was just freezing. We had to wait a while for a lion or some other animal to clear off the tracks. Most cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mozart67 Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Wow..pics of the 1974 brochure really brought me back to my childhood..or at least what I can remember of it. When I was a kid, I used to collect brochures, and at one point, I had a lot of the major theme park brochures from that time period up until 1984 or so. Think I'm going to poke around this mess we call a house and see if I can find my older ones then figure out how to post them online. Thanks for the trip to the past! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesMC Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Great Pics that really take me back. KI was my 1st real theme park ever. My parents took me and my sister there in '78, so the big deal was "The Screamin' Demon" shuttle coaster and Kenton Keel's boat ride, most of the attractions (except the Racer) were just small time in comparison, but I remember having a blast. We went back a couple years later and "The Bat" was operational, but not that particular day. I was terribly disappointed about that, but made up for it on mulitiple rides of "The Beast" (which was still being built the first time I went). Is it just me, or was "The Vortex" like smooth as glass the first couple years? I tend to hit KI about every 3 years and it doesn't seem like it's aging real well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIDelirium Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 I added 32 photos from 1974 the other day: http://www.kiextreme.com/historyphotos/thumbnails.php?album=42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 Wow, KI really lived up to the name back then. It just looked like such a great park! A small animal kingdom, monorail, world class coasters, the awesome log flumes, and the perfect centerpiece. It was one of the top parks out there! Oh how the park has fallen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holtskee Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 That shows how much work it took to improve and grow the park! Improve? lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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