Today in history: 3 people die, 1 person hurt at Kings Island in 1991.
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Park officials say the attraction is closing because it “has simply reached the end of its service life.” It was such a popular attraction in its first year, that it helped Kings Island surpass 3 million visitors in one season for the first time. Its record year was 1987 when 2.2 million rides were given.
But by the 1970s, no one lived here year-round; most residents had moved to Nome, on the mainland. While several forces drove the migration, King Islanders say a main cause was the decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to close a school it ran on the island in the late 1950s.
Cedar Fair owns 11 amusement parks including Cedar Point, Canada's Wonderland, Kings Island, Knott's Berry Farm and Michigan's Adventure. Six Flags currently has 27 parks. Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point and Kings Island, will merge with Six Flags, the company announced Thursday morning.
Grand Carousel Family Ride at Kings IslandKings Island's magnificent carousel was manufactured by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, Philadelphia, Pa., in 1926 and is the oldest ride in the park. It is one of approximately 90 carousels built by the company from 1904 to 1934.
The ride experienced its first major incident on July 9, 2006, during which a train passed over a structural track failure that severely jolted riders. Son of Beast closed for the remainder of the 2006 season while repairs were made, and Kings Island decided to replace the original trains with lighter models.
Surveying the 80-acre landscape of what would become Kings Island's parking lot when the park opened in 1972, the construction project manager had 35,000 dump truck loads of dirt to move. He needed the project to stay on schedule and standing in his way was a cemetery, hidden somewhere on the giant plot of land.
The Haunted Castle fire at Great Adventure: the most deadly theme park accident in history. The Haunted Castle at New Jersey's Great Adventure amusement park was the site of the most deadly theme park accident in history. On May 11, 1984, at around 6:30 p.m., a fire broke out in the maze-like, walk-through attraction.
Following the 2001 season, Paramount Parks began to dismantle King Cobra and put it up for sale. The trains were stored inside the Flight of Fear building and the track in one of Kings Island's graveyards located on old Wild Animal Habitat land.
The amusement park's name represented its historical roots and its future. “Kings” for the location of the park near Kings Mills, Ohio, and “Island” in reference to the company's Coney Island roots. It would not be until October 14, 1970 that the name would become official.
Kings Island eventually got its name after a public contest. The “Kings” came from the town where it was built, Kings Mills. The “Island” came from its predecessor, Coney Island.
In the last 50 years, the park has been owned by Taft Broadcasting, Kings Entertainment Co., American Financial Corp., Paramount Communications, and Cedar Fair, the current owners. Cedar Fair purchased Kings Island in 2006 for a reported $1.24 billion.
Earlier this month, Cedar Fair, which owns Kings Island and 16 other parks, merged with Six Flags to form an $8 billion theme park giant. The combined company will operate under the name Six Flags, which caused some thrill seekers to worry that their favorite amusement park's name could also change.
Banshee is a steel inverted coaster located in the Action Zone area of Kings Island. It opened in 2014 as a replacement for Son of Beast. In addition, the Thunder Alley go-karts attraction was also removed to make room for the queue line of this ride.