Fess Parker had turned to real estate after his successful film and television career. One of his dream projects was to open a park. That’s all he wanted, just to open a park. He first tried in Boone County, KY, a bit too close to Cincinnati for the Coney/Taft people’s comfort. Once they heard of the plan, they quickly got to work planning their own park…and shutting all financing
Six Flags Over Texas was the first regional theme park to survive—all three of CV Wood’s parks that came about after Disneyland eventually bit the dust. Newspaper ads from the park as well as from local businesses provided visuals such as park maps, logos, concept art, and so on to help folks get a sense of what this new place was all about. In those days
By the end of 1974 Carowinds Corporation was in trouble. Unable to cover their construction costs and with declining attendance, they were forced to sell the park to a company with a bigger checkbook. Fortunately, it was Taft Broadcasting who stepped up. Taft had opened Kings Island in 1972 and was busy developing the Virginia property for Kings
