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Which Hanna Barbara character is that? I should know, but the name slips my mind. Looks pretty creepy for a kids character. I used to think Captain Caveman was scary as a costumed character.

I would imagine The Beast could have run 4 trains, but whether it ever did is the real question. I can see them rotating the 4 trains so that wear and tear was less.

Many enthusiasts claim that Beastie...err whatever it is called now, is the best maintained wood coaster in the park. It probably helps that it is much smaller than the others.

Where exactly is the winterfest photo taken from? It's hard to place it being at night.

I'm still thankful that they put a show back in the Festhaus instead of the big TVs.

I think that photo should be titled, "Evidence of the deforestation of Kings Island".

Ah Skylab left us way too soon! I seem to have a memory of waiting in its line listening to "Material Girl" on the Q-tvs.

Well they finished pouring the concrete at CP. About an hour ahead of their deadline of 5pm I might add. It looks pretty good.

If you search on youtube you can find videos taken of the ride operating from inside the bowl building. Every so often a coaster event will include a tour.

Hehe. Smooth out Vortex was my favorite on the list.

I'm sure they won't be bragging about its numbers this year. Sounds like it had another mediocre year when they thought the new ride program would keep it up and running more consistently.

It speeds it up because you don't have a ton of people waiting for the back seat I would think. Similar to closing the front seat line early?

I still can't justify the cost of the TG treatment. In my opinion the ride will have to be spectacular in order to be worth the cost. I just don't see how you can see rides like El Toro or The Voyage which cost approximately the same amount and choose to do a rehab instead. Seems too risky.

Why? Sitting outside won't ruin the trains. They would just need to transport them to the maintenance area and get them ready to run again.

Anywhere that serves LaRosa's. For some reason I like the pizza served at the park more than the pizza at the restaurant. Maybe that's just a weird coincidence though.

I too would love to see these audio clips become available at some point. In a way, I am surprised they haven't already since things like Phantom Theater and Tomb Raider were released to someone. I would also throw in the audio to the old Smurfs ride considering we have all the other incarnations of that ride already.

Hey all, I was just curious if the main portion of this site ever gets updated anymore. The other day I was looking for pics of the Planet Snoopy updates to Nick Universe. Basically info about them is non-existent on the main site. There are even still menu items saying "New for 2007!". Seems like the site could be stripped down to just news, photos, and forums if there isn't any maintenance being done.

So was it finally determined where this thing is going to be installed? Old Flight Commander spot? Next to Vortex? In front of Action Theater entrance? I tried looking back through this thread, but there were several "interruptions" that kinda went off-topic.

So what theming still exists in the actual ride building? Is everything on the ceiling/floors/walls gone? I kinda wonder if the building itself might be of more value to the park than the actual ride. It was useful for the 1 year Winterfest return, as it was where they stored many of the floats, etc. to keep them out of the weather. Of course, it is a bit taller than probably necessary, but still, it is a large building you can store things in. Of all the buildings that need to be removed/reused at Kings Island, I don't think The Crypt is number one. I would have to say that is the Action Theater which seems to be on its last leg. Opening only one side of the theater, showing a 7 year old SpongeBob movie, you have to believe that Haunt is one of the major reasons it is still there. That and the fact that it is also good for storage. What do you do with it long term though? I think that is part of what makes the final WindSeeker location interesting.

A giant beige warehouse building isn't ugly? In an amusement park which is designed and landscaped to be visually appealing? I think it really has more to do with its location that anything else. It is pretty close to the midway since it replaced the log flume drop area. Flight of Fear was at least built further off the midway where it can't be seen.

What year did you shoot the Tomb Raider footage? I noticed it doesn't have the eyes which search left to right at the start of the ride or flash. If I remember right, they were replaced with the eyes seen in the video in either '03 or '04.

That's a great collection! Now if only I could find someone with footage from Top Gun's opening in '93.

You mentioned something about the Tomb Raider score. Do you have that somewhere? Does it include the pre-show, pre-ride, and ride music? I also haven't seen too many "good" videos of the actual ride in 2002. I thought I saw an "unapproved" one on youtube somewhere.

Shock absorbers cost money. That's what the Gillette sponsorship was for. It was sponsored in 2003....right?

goodyellowkorn182, you do make some good points. I certainly respect your opinion. I think it's true that the Paramount days of the park can be summarized as a "poor man's Disney". They set out with great ideas, but not the amount of planning necessary to make them long term successes. I too remember Tomb Raider in 2002. It was indeed amazing. But it was no longer the same ride by 2004. I realize that losing the licensing is part of what made it what it is today, but it's a shell of its former self. I would take the 2002 Tomb Raider over Kenton's Keelboat Canal, but not the Tomb Raider of any other year. It's my belief that if you make the theming of the ride a definitive part of the ride experience then you simply cannot allow it to deteriorate. Paramount did that an extreme amount with Tomb Raider, and now all that's left is a Top Spin in a box that no one wants to ride. A success in 2002-2003 only is simply not a good decision by park management. I could say the same thing about Top Gun. I always have to explain what the closed off queues under the ride platform were once like to those who never knew. Obviously, the coaster is the same which means there is less of a drop off in the experience. The same is true of Italian Job. But for that one they really didn't even get it quite right. The headlights didn't charge fast enough, there was never a stair step effect in the tunnel. It was a Disney like ride which wasn't given the budget and planning to be executed correctly. When you add up these types of "fall off" from each of the Paramount additions, you end up with a park that feels "used". Someday when I take my kids to Disney, many of the rides will be exactly the same (or better) than they are right now. As for KI, I'll have to explain how Italian Job was pretty great in 2005, but now is short ride with almost all stationary props.