Here are some of the rides no longer at Kings Island you may have forgotten about:
Scooby’s Ghoster Coaster
Scooby’s Ghoster Coaster was a short-lived, but unique experience which opened in 1998 during a renovation of Kings Island’s of Hanna-Barbera Land, where Camp Snoopy and Planet Snoopy now reside.
Built by the now-defunct manufacturer Capiro, Ghoster Coaster was the first installation of its Batflyer model to be built in the U.S. Instead of a traditional lift hill, the ride utilized an elevator system, which would quickly take riders to the top before they traversed the single rail layout.
The ride lasted less than 10 years, closing after the 2005 season to make way for the Nickelodeon Universe expansion.
Action Theater (aka Paramount Action FX Theater aka SpongeBob SquarePants 3D)
In the 1990s, Kings Island’s then-owner Paramount Parks installed high-tech theater attractions at several of its parks, such as Carowinds and Kings Dominion. Featuring large screens and hydraulic-powered moving seats, Kings Island would receive its own version of the ride in 1994 with Days of Thunder, based on the film of the same name starring Tom Cruise.
This would be Paramount’s second film-based ride after 1993’s addition of Top Gun, based on the 1986 hit blockbuster (also starring Cruise.)
For additional capacity, Kings Island would build two theaters, each containing 74 moving seats as well as a row of stationary benches.
Following the film’s NASCAR theme, the ride would put guests behind the wheel of a stock car competing in the Daytona 500, utilizing actual scenes from the movie.
However, the attraction wouldn’t last long in its original state, as Kings Island would rename it to the Paramount FX Action Theater in 1998. The ride film would also be changed, with it now playing James Bond 007: A License to Thrill.
Over the next several years, the theater would be home to a variety of motion simulator experiences, including one based on Stan Lee’s short-lived series The Seventh Portal and a Halloween film starring Elvira. These films were not exclusive to Kings Island, with some even playing at parks owned by then-rival Six Flags. The theatre would often host two films at once, with one playing in each auditorium. It was during this time the theater also began showing movies in 3D.
In 2003, the Paramount FX Action Theater would see a major overhaul with the addition of SpongBob SquarePants 3D, another ride film found at many parks around the world. During the attraction, guests would become the newest worker at the Krusty Krab, helping SpongeBob chase down a missing sliced pickle. The approximately four-minute experience would feature famous characters and locations from the show, such as Jellyfish Fields and the Chum Bucket. Given the popularity of the cartoon, SpongeBob SquarePants 3D proved to be hit with guests, particularly families.
The SpongeBob attraction would be the main draw of the theater for the next several years. While the sea sponge would be Side A’s permanent resident, Side B would continue to cycle through films. These include Secrets of the Lost Temple, which was said to have been inspired by Indiana Jones, as well as The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, which ran at Universal Studios Florida until 2002.
In 2008, two years after Kings Island and its sister parks were purchased by Cedar Fair, It would be stripped of its Paramount branding, simply becoming the Action Theater.
Despite the change in ownership, it would still play the SpongeBob SquarePants film until 2011, where it would be replaced by a 3D film made to accompany the park’s new Dinosaurs Alive exhibit.
Unlike previous iterations, the prehistoric experience was an upcharge attraction, costing $4 per guest. Guests did not respond well to the change, and the upcharge was removed for the 2012 season. 2013 would be the final year for Dinosaurs Alive 3D, and it would again cost extra. Since its closure, The Action Theater has only been utilized for seasonal events.
Instead of playing Halloween-themed films during Kings Island’s annual Halloween Haunt, in 2008 the park would host a scare maze inside the Side B theater called Urgent Scare. Themed around a hospital, it would operate annually through 2019. The venue wouldn’t be utilized again until its current resident, Hotel St. Michelle, opened in 2022.
Thunder Alley (aka XS Raceway aka Days of Thunder)
In 1996, Kings Island opened the XS Raceway, a go kart track. For an additional cost, guests would enter NASCAR-Style vehicles and race on a banked, oval track.
In 1999, the location of the XS Raceway, Adventure Village, was rebranded to the Paramount Action Zone. To fit with the update, the track was renamed to Days of Thunder. By this point, the Days of Thunder film was no longer playing at the Paramount Action FX Theater, so there was no confusion.
In 2000, Kings Island would open the infamous Son of Beast, and its large wooden supports would tower over the track.
After the 2006 Cedar Fair buyout, Days of Thunder was one of the many rides which had to be renamed due to the change in ownership, with it opening in 2008 as Thunder Alley.
It would continue to operate through the 2012 season, before the park would close it to make way for the 2014 addition Banshee.
Zodiac (aka the Giant Double Wheel)
1975 was an important year in Kings Island history. In October, famous daredevil Evel Knievel jumped over 14 Greyhound buses in the parking lot, a widely-covered event which gave the three-year-old park a large publicity boost.
However, 1975 also saw the addition of the Giant Double Wheel, a two-sided ferris wheel. The strange attraction featured a large, seesaw mechanism with wheels on either end. Guests would enter the carriages attached to each spoke, before the wheel would lift and rotate.
In 1977, the attraction received its more well-known name Zodiac. It would operate at Kings Island until 1986.
However, this was not the end of the ride, as it reopened at Australia’s Wonderland (aka Wonderland Sydney) in 1989. It would operate there longer than it did at Kings Island, before being closed with the park in 2004.
Retired coasters
Here are some of the most famous roller coasters that have been at Kings Island:
Tomb Raider: The Ride (aka the Crypt)
Opening in 2002, Tomb Raider: The Ride was based on the popular video game and film franchise of the same name. The attraction was the only installation of Huss’s Giant Top Spin model in the world, a bigger version of the classic carnival ride which swings and spins guests on a large gondola.
Tomb Raider: The Ride was also one of the most heavily themed attraction in the park’s history. The ride used a variety of special effects and detailed sets to immerse guests into its world. The ride’s queue line was also filled with props from the film itself, and various cast members reprised their roles for voiceovers, including Lara Croft herself, Angelina Jolie.
After Kings Island’s then-owner Paramount Parks was purchased by Cedar Fair in 2006, the park lost the rights to use the Tomb Raider name. So, in 2008 the ride reopened for the season as The Crypt. This update lasted until 2011, where the ride closed for good.
While the attraction itself is closed, its queue line and show building has been utilized for the park’s Halloween Haunt event, serving as the location for Madame Fatale’s Cavern of Terror.
Firehawk
In 2001, Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (the park formerly known as Geauga Lake) opened X-Flight. The attraction, built by Dutch company Vekoma, was an early iteration of a flying coaster, where guests are strapped into a harness and traverse the layout facing the ground.
Cedar Fair purchased Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in 2004, returning it to its original name. In 2007, Cedar Fair relocated X-flight to another Ohio park it recently purchased, Kings Island.
Now under the name Firehawk, the ride was given a red and grey paint job and placed next to the indoor Flight of Fear.
Firehawk lasted 12 seasons at the park, before closing in 2018. The attraction was replaced with Orion, the 300-foot-tall gigacoaster which opened in 2020.
Enchanted Voyage (aka The Smurf’s Enchanted Voyage aka Phantom Theatre aka Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle)
The Enchanted Voyage opened with the park in 1972. The boat ride took guests on a journey featuring popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters such as the Flintstones, Scooby Doo and more.
In the 1980s, television viewers across America were smitten with Hanna-Barbera’s latest creation, The Smurfs. To capitalize on the brand’s popularity, Kings Island completely rethemed The Enchanted Voyage in 1984 to “The Smurfs’ Enchanted Voyage.”
This overhaul lasted until 1991, when the park closed the Smurfs attraction and removed the boat track. With the help of Morgan Manufacturing, Kings Island built a brand-new ride system inspired by Disney’s iconic Omnimover.
Instead of tying the new attraction into a known property, the park decided to take guests through a haunted opera house, complete with original characters. This idea developed into the cult-classic attraction Phantom Theatre, which operated from 1992 through 2002.
After its closure, the ride was replaced by Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle, which utilized a similar ride system as Phantom Theatre, with the addition of a shooting gallery mechanic. Guests take aim at targets placed throughout the layout with blasters connected to their vehicles.
After the Cedar Fair buyout, Kings Island would remove all mention of Scooby Doo from the ride in 2010, renaming the attraction to Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. Despite the name change, most of the ride’s effects and theming remained the same.
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill has now lasted longer than any other attraction housed in the building, as it celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.
The (original) Bat
Credit: Archive
Credit: Archive
In 1981, Kings Island became home to a one of its kind attraction with the opening of The Bat. Built by Arrow Dynamics, an American manufacturer famous for building rides such as Space Mountain and the Matterhorn for Disney, The Bat was the first coaster to hang the riders in a car beneath the track.
However, this innovation came at a cost, as The Bat was notorious for its downtime and maintenance problems. In 1984, it was decided the ride would close for good.
“We have concluded we do not have enough confidence in its ability to operate on a consistent basis to open it again, so it will be taken down,” said Kings Island’s then general manager T. Lewis Hooper.
Despite the failure of The Bat, Kings Island and Arrow Dynamics would collaborate for several other attractions, with the manufacturer even building the looping roller coaster Vortex on the same plot of land in 1987.
Flight Deck, another Arrow Dynamics-made suspended coaster which opened at Kings Island in 1993, was renamed to The Bat in 2014 to pay tribute to the attraction.
Vortex
Kings Island dared the world to “Feel the Grip” of the looping coaster Vortex when it opened in 1987. Built by the aforementioned Arrow Dynamics, the attraction took riders upside down seven times, making it tied for the most of any coaster in the park.
After 33 seasons of operation, the legendary Vortex closed in 2019. Since its retirement, coaster fans have speculated what could be installed in the large plot where it once stood.
King Cobra
In spring 1984, Kings Island opened King Cobra, one of the first stand up roller coasters in the world. The ride one was of few American coasters built by Togo, a manufacturer originally based in Japan.
The coaster would only be open a few months, when in August 1984, a train derailed from the track and injured eight people.
King Cobra would reopen a few weeks later, and operate without incident until 1999, where it was closed due to an accident occurring on a similar coaster at Kings Dominion in Virginia.
The ride would close one final time in 2001, after Togo’s international branch filed for bankruptcy.
Son of Beast
Credit: Contributed photo
Credit: Contributed photo
Over two decades after creating the longest wooden roller coaster in the world, Kings Island decided to create a sequel to the legendary Beast.
Known as Son of Beast, the attraction was once the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world, and even featured a full loop.
However, the ride’s creation did not go as planned. The park originally hired the Roller Coaster Corporation of America to build the attraction, but the company was fired before construction was completed.
After opening, Son of Beast continued to face problems, with it quickly becoming infamous for its rough ride experience and accidents. The biggest incident occurred in 2006, when 27 guests were injured after a wooden beam cracked during the ride.
Kings Island attempted to fix the attraction’s issues by removing its iconic loop in 2007. It operated for two more years before being closed permanently after a 39-year-old woman reported she had been hospitalized after sustaining a burst blood vessel in her brain as a result of riding the roller coaster.
The ride stood closed at the edge of the park for several seasons before it was demolished in 2012. After its closure, the ride’s station was used during Halloween Haunt for the former Wolf Pack haunted maze. Much of the space taken up by the ride was also used by the inverted roller coaster Banshee, which opened in 2014.
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