Comparing the areas shown in the '82 pic to the present is truly sickening.

I remember those buckets of beer! They held more than 24 oz, more like 36 oz of beer. The price of beer was not as expensive as it is today. I remember going to Timberwolf to see the Hollies with my sister, cousin and her husband. It was a great show and my cousin's husband, Kenny, who is from the hills of Kentucky, thought that they were a country band instead of the British rock band that they are. He was sure surprised!

Wow. German flags, a carefully constructed glockenspiel, a ferris wheel, beautiful landscaping.

Gone. All gone. What a shame, too.

Ferris wheele! I wish they had one in coney mall.

You guys all complaining about KI losing trees just look at the comparison! sheesh there were barely any trees there in 1982 but look at it now! I do wish we still had scremin' demon and a ferris wheel!

^ I can only imagine all the Demons Screamin' from the walk up those stairs.

Many already complain about the long walk back to FD......

Kinda weird if you over lay the 2 pictures, the circle path in the 1982 picture is almost the exact spot for Delirium.

I've heard of a picture being worth a thousand words, not to mention two; but this is purely epic on many levels! Thank you, OhioChris!

Personally I think Kings Island lost a lot of beautiful ponds. I'd also like to see a ferris wheel return

I would not be surprised to see some sort of flat ride put in Thunder Alleys spot for next year, in order to start drawing some of the crowd toward Action Zone. It could also be a queue line/station area for the 2014 coaster.

If KI were to put in a Luminosity show, I would hate to have a 6th stage of entertainment. I have thought this over and over, should they use the International Showcase which fits well with the layout of the current model at CP. A few upgrades to an existing facility, and boom a new show.

A few ideas for that concept - Take out ALL the bleachers.. I have never seen it full in years. Make the bowl tiered with picnic tables for seating. They could get rid of the sea of tables just outside of the showcase at Chic-fil-a, Ice Cream, and Planet Snoopy Grill. People will tend to stay and eat while a show is going on = Revenue. Then the stage can be used for day shows and the nighttime extravaganza. If they could make the sun shade retract then people could see the fireworks from the same place. Add an awesome LED package to the outside and stage area - then expand that lighting to The Racer, Delirium, Invertigo, Coney Mall.

2nd option - Put Luminosity in the current fountain bandstand. Keeping in mind visual appeal with the tower behind it from front gate. Upgrade the stage to a full production stage with more room for dancers/singers. Upgrade the fountain to a WET designs style fountain that integrates with the show, but also performs throughout the day. International Street can be upgraded with new LED style lighting including the trees. Make it a true kiss goodnight. I'm not saying going full World of Color here, but look what that 1 show did for California Adventure. Show control could all be built over Tower Drinks, moving it out of the grass by the tower.

Timberwolf I think has seen its last years, 30 years old - open back bleachers for seating, NO real rigging for modern shows to speak of. That is a lot of real estate that can be used for rides and things. The facility is becoming more of a liability than a revenue maker.

I miss the theming and landscaping as well. That area was beautiful. And whether you like Paramount or not, I didn't like them cementing over that entire area. We lost some beautiful land with that.

As for the trees, all of the trees in this year's picture were there in 1982, just 30 years younger. If all the trees from 1982 were still there, it would be even more full of green.

And I'm glad you're all enjoying the pic, I was so excited when I found it, because of the stark contrast between then and now.

[Edit] Okay, the trees beside Festhaus, replacing the Ferris Wheel, are not in the 1982 picture, lol. But were likely planted upon the removal of the Ferris Wheel at the end of the 1990 season. Wow, I had no idea the Ferris Wheel was there so long...

If KI were to put in a Luminosity show, I would hate to have a 6th stage of entertainment. I have thought this over and over, should they use the International Showcase which fits well with the layout of the current model at CP. A few upgrades to an existing facility, and boom a new show.

A few ideas for that concept - Take out ALL the bleachers.. I have never seen it full in years. Make the bowl tiered with picnic tables for seating. They could get rid of the sea of tables just outside of the showcase at Chic-fil-a, Ice Cream, and Planet Snoopy Grill. People will tend to stay and eat while a show is going on = Revenue. Then the stage can be used for day shows and the nighttime extravaganza. If they could make the sun shade retract then people could see the fireworks from the same place. Add an awesome LED package to the outside and stage area - then expand that lighting to The Racer, Delirium, Invertigo, Coney Mall.

2nd option - Put Luminosity in the current fountain bandstand. Keeping in mind visual appeal with the tower behind it from front gate. Upgrade the stage to a full production stage with more room for dancers/singers. Upgrade the fountain to a WET designs style fountain that integrates with the show, but also performs throughout the day. International Street can be upgraded with new LED style lighting including the trees. Make it a true kiss goodnight. I'm not saying going full World of Color here, but look what that 1 show did for California Adventure. Show control could all be built over Tower Drinks, moving it out of the grass by the tower.

Timberwolf I think has seen its last years, 30 years old - open back bleachers for seating, NO real rigging for modern shows to speak of. That is a lot of real estate that can be used for rides and things. The facility is becoming more of a liability than a revenue maker.

I feel the addition of LED's, high tech stage, high tech lighting, renovated fountains to alter how the appear, etc all would completely ruin [what's left of] the European feel of International Street. The beautiful fountains and architecture do not need anything except spruce ups, not an entire facelift on the Street. If what you're going for is to alter how I Street looks entirely, good idea. But in my opinion, you would be destroying one of the most iconic things of Kings Island.

The path between the Bandstand and the Eiffel Tower is awfully small to put a large-scale show. It would create awful bottlenecking, making navigation through the area difficult beyond belief.

Personally I think Kings Island lost a lot of beautiful ponds. I'd also like to see a ferris wheel return

I always thought a ferris wheel would look good where WindSeeker is. But, WindSeeker is there now... and WindSeeker is pretty close to a ferris wheel (ride wise) only a ferris wheel is slower, and more wheel-ish.

It stuns me how people think the water tower in Action Zone is ugly but would love to see Luminosity in the same area.

Wasn't a Luminosity type show in the plans originally with Action Zone, but MTV related when Paramount was still around? I think its great to see that concept brought back, hopefully with some perminancy this time. It'd be great to see some more traffic back there. Aside from people in the lines, Action Zone seems so dead.

^It is. Thats why I want the next coaster back there.

Thunder Alley wasn't all that great, in my opinion anyway.

While it may not have been all that great, it has brought in extra revenue for the park. And the park is a business after all whose primary intent is to make money.

It was more boring than nascar.

Nascar-Boring by KIC-Original, on Flickr

Which also makes money. Thunder Alley was doubtless loved by many.

Again: you are not the target market.

^ I have less boring methods of target maketing .

Yes. Many on here fail to realize that the park has many target markets they are trying to cater too. The target market that attracts people to Thunder Alley likely isn`t the same one that attracts people to do Dinosaurs Alive. They both exist to cater to their target markets so that the park can capture as much revenue as possible. Just because you would never pay the money to do something, doesn`t mean that 1,000 other people would be willing to pay the money to do that. Slingshot and Skyflyer are perfect examples of that. Some would never want to pay to do that, others are more than willing to fork over the cash and experience those attractions.

Another is games. Other than pinball, Skeeball and Fascination, I doubt I've spent two dollars on park games in my life.

Those first three? Don't ask!

Terp, what's Fascination? I know there was a new games building added to the park early on called Fascination, but I never knew that was an actual game.

It is a very addictive parlor game based on Tic Tac Toe. It was electromechanical and lights lit up on a backboard when players' red rubber ball dropped down a hole. The first player in the room to light up a row of lights won. Tickets were awarded the first player to do so. It was VERY competitive, and the prizes for accumulated tickets could be substantial (e.g. a top of the line Schwinn bike!).

Parlors were usually smoke filled. Indiana Beach has (had?) a parlor.

^As of last year, has. And I echo the statement that it's extremely addictive and competitive.

Thunder Alley would have been better if the carts went farther than just a circle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVdFJIEk5wY&feature=related

There is a Fascination game app. I play it on the iPad all the time.

So I mentioned pictures, didn't I?

Thanks for sharing these, they're fantastic!