Kings Island - A Blast From The Past!

1985 Kings Island map

Jump into your time machine and set the controls for 1975.  Theme parks were simpler then.  In Ohio at Kings Island, the Clown Band roamed the midways and the Nickelodeon Central area was called Hanna Barbara Land.  The big draw of the summer was Evel Knievel's plan to do a big motorcycle jump over some buses in the parking lot.

Well, on May 24, 2008, Kings Island attempted to return to its past.  The senior Knievel’s jump over 14 buses was covered live on ABC’s Wide World of Sports.  Since the Cedar Fair purchase of Kings Island, along with the other Paramount parks, the opportunity became available for Robbie “Kaptain” Knievel to recreate another one of his father’s famous jumps.

Robbie was at the park in 1975 also, doing wheelies before the big jump his dad made, being a part of the lead-in to the show.  He did a few wheelies before his own jump in March just like the wheelies he had done 33 years before.  Interestingly, he uses a different wheelie bike for the pre-show than he uses to jump.  They are both customs bikes made by Knievel Motorcycle Manufacturing, Inc.  He used a 500cc twin for the jump, but both bikes appear identical.

Evel Knievel photos courtesy of Kings Island

A very large crowd showed up at the park for the event, but since the nothing was happening until evening, there was plenty of time to enjoy the park before the main event.  As guests entered the gates, the Clown Band Alumni played a few tunes to spark old memories.  While we didn’t hear the Time Warp, one of their classics, it was a good start to the day.  Kings Island has returned to the glory of its past, even going so far to return the Racer to racing status, with both trains facing forward.  Scattered throughout the park were people in tie-dyed shirts, which looked faded enough to be originals.

In front of the KI Theatre, Dino was teaching guests how to “hustle”.  They had brought in a DJ with some authentic ‘70s tunes and created a street party atmosphere.  One of the old popcorn wagons was selling bags at the old price of $.75 cents and the rest of the familiar cartoon characters put in an appearance.  George Jetson, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Yogi Bear and Astro attended.  Scooby Doo was the star, of course, but guests lined up with many of the characters for some souvenir photos.  One of the old benches from HB Land occupied a shady spot and it prompted many memories.  At one point there was even a line of people waiting to take pictures of loved ones sitting on the bench.

Some actors were all dressed up in '70s attire, adding to the atmosphere (Did we really wear clothes like that?).  You can always blame it on your parents.  There were large posters featuring album covers from popular '80s groups and TV shows.  Remember, both the Partridge Family and the Brady Bunch filmed shows at Kings Island.  You can still catch them on some of the classic cable channels.                       

Upper Right  - photo of the original Clown Band

Lower Right - The Racer                                      

At this time we hop into that time machine and head back to 2008, and Kaptain Knievel's jump.  As with any event of this magnitude, the park was packed.  One published report stated a figure of over 40,000 guests.  At either Three or Four O’clock, the alpha count was 32,000, so several thousand more by 7:00 P.M. could have been possible.  Whatever the number, many in attendance walked straight around Timberwolf Theatre to the jump area in the parking lot.  Set up like a county fair, there were souvenir tents, product giveaways, and even the US Navy.  The hearse advertising the Haunt had some creepy characters in attendance and several local service agencies had set up booths.  It had all the atmosphere of a cool street festival.

The ramps were decorated in red, white, and blue, for the Knievel family has always been known for their patriotism.  Coke Zero trucks from all across the country were lined up in the parking lot, a memorable feat in itself.  Gathering all of these big rigs for this even was challenging, but the Coke Zero brand management came through.  The largest gathering of Coke Zero trucks worldwide was here in the parking lot in Southwest Ohio.

The show started at 7:00 in the evening.  There were sky divers, Kaptain Knievel’s daughter sang the national anthem, and the Kaptain himself appeared.  He thanked everyone for coming out, told his dad he wanted to get together and talk about this, but not today; the late Evel Knievel passed away last fall.  Finally, he hopped on his bike and fired it up.  He did a few traditional wheelie passes as warm up runs to excite the crowd.  Once he feels both he and the crowd are ready, he switches to his jump bike and makes a few practice speed runs.  He started from a 25 foot-tall platform to get him up to speed quicker.  He needed to be going over 95 MPH to make the jump.

Time after time, he sped by the ramps preparing himself psychologically and making sure everything on the bike was working perfectly.  One last time, he turned the bike around on the top of the start ramp.  Going slightly faster than he did before, he took the ramp.  As he and the bike flew through the air, the crowd was hushed, awaiting the outcome.  Pyrotechnics installed on the tops of the Coke Zero flamed as he past them.  When he landed, more fireworks launched and the explosions reverberated drowning out the screams of appreciation from the crowd.  He never came close to the hay bales set up past the end of the landing ramp but he did bottom out all 14 inches of travel in the rear suspension.  He slowly cruised around the edges of the barricades accepting the congratulations of the crowd.  He then slowly walked up the ramp to thank everyone for attending.  From the stiffness of his gait it was apparent it was a hard landing.  He returned to his trailer and was done for the evening.

There was still plenty of fun to be had at Kings Island.  It wasn’t even dark and a special fireworks show was planned.  So the crowd reentered the park to get a few more rides while waiting for the light to falter.  As the sky darkened, International Street became packed as people once again sought treasured viewing spots for the night spectacular.  While the fireworks were visible anywhere, you could see the top two-thirds of the Eiffel Tower, you wanted to be close to a speaker to hear the synchronized music.  The show was fantastic, and a cheer rose from the crowd as the finale lasted a long time.  Carol positioned herself outside the park so she could include the tower amongst the sky shells.

Overall, it was a wonderful day in the park.  Kings Island had so much fun they are having another special day on the Fourth of July.  Reaching back to the '70s one more time, the old park favorites make a return visit and even higher attractions are on the agenda.  Independence Day will feature more skydivers, and air show, and the largest fireworks display in the history of the park.  Rick Wallenda will attempt to exceed his grandfather’s record by sky walking over 100 feet above Coney Mall.  These Blasts from the Past are great fun, and are guaranteed to bring back many memories.  If you see us there, we will be the ones looking up from between our fingers!                 

See You In Line!

Scott & Carol

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