Kings Island
Kings Island was the first park from Taft Broadcasting; they had bought out old Cincinnati Coney Island when that park realized they need a major change in order to remain competitive. The Taft parks were the very few regionals not designed by Randall Duell and his amazing team; everything was done in-house with the help of Bruce Bushman. Bruce came from Disney, where he worked on the original Disneyland, then moved over to Hanna-Barbera. Taft bought that animation studio, and so Bruce was on-hand to help out with the new park in Ohio. It all turned out pretty good! Here’s a walk-around with the opening season 1972 map.
International Street is one of the most beautiful entrance areas for a regional park. The original architecture, color-schemes, the majestic fountains, and of course the Eiffel Tower beckoned you toward promised adventures.
The right side of the park featured Hanna-Barbera land (the reason Taft got into the park business—to promote their brand) and Rivertown, paying homage to the old river trades and lifestyle in the region. The Enchanted Voyage was an Arrow-engineered dark ride through a surround-sound, audio-animatronic-filled wonderland. Note the rotating load/unload station out front and that the building facade was designed to resemble a television set.
Coney Island. Of course they’d pay homage to the original park so beloved in Cincinnati. The ginkgo trees were transplanted from Coney (as were a number of rides and attractions), and the magnificent Racer wooden coaster reignited the long-dormant coaster wars.
The last land at KI was Octoberfest, a small German-themed area.
Across the road from the park was the Kings Island Inn, featured in the Brady Bunch episode filmed later that year.
Nearby was the Jack Nicholas gold course. It’s still there, though now known as The Golf Center.