Kings Island first opened its gates in 1972. It featured The Racer, which was two wooden roller coasters that raced each other. The Racer is credited by many people with starting the second golden age of the roller coaster. Many of its first rides were from Coney Island, a popular park on the Ohio River about 10 miles east of downtown Cincinnati. Coney Island had closed due to frequent floods, but has since reopened.
One of the first events to draw publicity to the park was when an episode of The Brady Bunch was filmed there and also the Partridge Family. While they do not mention the name of the park, they do call it "a new park outside Cincinnati." Many of the scenes feature the park's scaled down Eiffel Tower replica as a backdrop.
Kings Island has added many thrill rides throughout the years. In 1979, the park unveiled The Beast, the tallest, longest, and fastest roller coaster in the world at the time. After more than 20 years, it still holds the title of the world's longest wooden roller coaster at 7,419 ft. In 1981, Kings Island introduced the world's first suspended roller coaster, The Bat. However, it was plagued with maintence problems and closed 4 years later. The first stand up coaster in the United States, King Cobra, opened in 1984. In 1987, Vortex opened, and set a new record for the number of inversions (6) and taking the record from The Beast for the tallest roller coaster in the world. 1991 saw the addition of Adventure Express, a mine train ride. Top Gun, the last suspended coaster built in the USA, was built in 1993. 1994 saw the addtion of Action Theater, an indoor simulator ride. In 1996, the park added the world's first roller coaster powered by linear induction magnets (LIM's), Outer Limits: Flight of Fear. In 1999, Face/Off and Drop Zone, the world's tallest free-fall, were opened. The Son of Beast, the sequel to the Beast, opened in 2000. Currently, it is the tallest, fastest, and only looping wooden roller coaster in the world. In 2002 the park added Tomb Raider, an indoor ride. 2003 will see the addition of Delirium, a 137-ft rotating pendulum ride.
Today, Kings Island has 12 roller coasters and many huge flat rides. But despite all of these thrill rides, Kings Island is much more than a park just for thrill seekers. It includes Water Works, a waterpark that comes free with admission. It also has won Amusement Today's award for 'Best Kid's Area in the World.'
