One of the world’s most renowned amusement parks, Kings Island has always had a fairly steady lineup of roller coasters – though several have come and gone over the years.
For the average American, thinking of an amusement park will likely bring up thoughts of an expensive vacation to the Orlando area or Southern California to take in the immersive worlds of the Disney and Universal parks.
In reality for most, visits to amusement parks manifest themselves in a much more modest way – thanks to regional theme parks scattered across the country that tend to focus more on thrill rides than the theming of Universal and Disney.
It feels impossible to talk about regional theme parks and their popularity in many major metropolitan areas without acknowledging the catalyst that revived the general American public’s interest in roller coasters and amusement parks in general.
Thanks to a 1973 episode of The Brady Bunch, a large American audience was introduced to Kings Island, a theme park located outside of Cincinnati that opened just the previous year. While the park was never mentioned by name in the episode, itself titled The Cincinnati Kids, the exposure of both the park and their signature wooden roller coaster, Racer, gave the park a massive boost of popularity that helped propel it into its future.
Despite its location in a mid-size market within the U.S., Kings Island has been a premier regional theme park destination since the American public was made aware of its existence on The Brady Bunch. The park has long been known for pushing boundaries, adding thrilling and unique attractions that make it stand out among regional parks – even when compared to its Ohio counterpart in Cedar Point.
Kings Island currently boasts an impressive lineup of 15 roller coasters, with a great range for children and families as well as the most dedicated of coaster enthusiasts. Yet still, eight roller coasters have come and gone at the park since its opening in 1972 – with some of the rides living drastically shorter than expected while others simply reached the end of their service life.
Long at the forefront of extreme thrill, here’s a look at the defunct roller coasters of Kings Island, beginning with the oldest rides:
1. Bavarian Beetle (1972-1978)
Zyklon/Galaxi, 45 ft tall, 800 ft length
A small steel roller coaster that opened with the park in 1972, I was unfortunately unable to find any usable video footage of this ride, which seemed to fill the purpose of a family/junior coaster to contrast with the more thrilling Racer.
This Galaxi steel coaster was just 45 feet tall and had 800 feet of track, giving a basic, short ride akin to something that one would likely stumble across today at a beach boardwalk or small family amusement park.
Bavarian Beetle lasted just seven seasons at Kings Island before being closed after the 1978 season. The ride was not relocated to another park upon its closure.
2. Demon (1977-1987)
Arrow Dynamics, 56 ft tall, 47 ft drop, 45 mph, 635 ft length, 1 inversion
Also known as Screamin’ Demon during part of its 11-season run at Kings Island, Demon opened at the park in 1977 amid the craze of Arrow loopers sweeping across the country, with this shuttle loop being no exception.
Utilizing a different design than the weight drop launch used on Schwarzkopf shuttle loops, this coaster used an electric winch launch and also featured a 47-foot drop, reaching speeds of 45 mph as the train hauls into the vertical loop, the ride’s signature element.
Upon the coaster’s closure after the 1987 season, Demon was relocated to Camden Park in Huntington, West Virginia, where it operated as Thunderbolt Express from 1988 until the ride’s closure in 1999.
3. The Bat (1981-1983)
Arrow Dynamics, 100 ft tall, 34 mph, 2,456 ft length
Despite its incredibly short lifespan, The Bat is undoubtedly one of the most influential and ambitious roller coasters of all-time, opening as the first-ever suspended coaster in the world – where riders sit in trains that suspend beneath the track.
While its height and speed aren’t going to blow anybody away, The Bat gave a novel, out-of-control ride experience during its brief operation from 1981 to 1983, with the originality of the ride playing into its demise.
The coaster’s most notable design flaw was the lack of banked turns, which put undue stress on the ride’s structure, causing a slew of premature maintenance issues.
These problems would all be rectified on later Arrow suspended coasters that opened later on in the decade, including the coaster currently known as The Bat at Kings Island, which opened as Top Gun during the park’s Paramount era in 1993.
Still, the legacy and ambition of the original Bat remains the stuff of legends among coaster enthusiasts, and I highly recommend ElToroRyan’s deep dive into the ride here.
4. King Cobra (1984-2001)
TOGO, 95 ft tall, 50 mph, 2,219 ft length, 1 inversion
Before Bolliger & Mabillard stand-up coasters swept across the country in the early 1990’s, TOGO made a splash in the U.S. with King Cobra, the world’s first-ever purpose-built stand-up roller coaster.
It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that the ride was pretty basic. Just under 100 feet tall, King Cobra reached top speeds of 50 mph while hauling through a vertical loop that served as the signature element of what was at the time a novelty ride.
This coaster impressively operated for 18 seasons at the park, being removed after 2001 before sitting in storage for several years prior to it ultimately being scrapped in December 2006.
While a relatively basic ride, King Cobra was a ride indicative of what Kings Island was always going after – the latest innovation in the coaster world that would convince families across the Midwest that a trip to the Cincinnati area was worth it.
5. Vortex (1987-2019)
Arrow Dynamics, 148 ft tall, 138 ft drop, 55 mph, 3,800 ft length, 6 inversions
I’ve previously talked about this coaster as a defunct attraction I wish I got the chance to ride, yet another addition that made Kings Island a leader in innovation across the industry.
Opening in 1987 as the first Arrow mega-looper, this coaster was the first in the world to feature six inversions, a record the company would break the following year with the seven-inversion Shockwave at Six Flags Great America.
While these large loopers have largely fallen out of favor with the general public, Vortex snagged a solid 33 seasons of life at Kings Island, finally shuttering at the conclusion of the 2019 season as its roughness was beginning to become more apparent.
Still, this ride was incredibly impressive for when it opened, with its density of inversions providing an entirely new ride experience for enthusiasts of the era – and as someone who loves Viper at Six Flags Magic Mountain, I can only imagine that this was a great introduction into the large looping coaster.
6. Scooby’s Ghoster Coaster (1998-2005)
Caripro, 35 ft tall, 8 mph
A very bizarre family coaster that I got the chance to ride during my visit in July 2002, this suspended coaster put one or two riders in a single car, traversing a very small layout at gondola-like speeds of 8 mph.
While this ride was objectively boring and very gimmicky, I don’t think you’ll come across anything like this at an amusement park today – with this coaster serving as almost a hybrid between a roller coaster and a sightseeing cable car ride.
Themed to Scooby-Doo during the park’s era under Paramount ownership, Scooby’s Ghoster Coaster operated from 1998 until 2005, closing just a year before the park was sold to Cedar Fair and changed ownership, also changing the intellectual property within much of the park.
Despite this coaster closing in 2005, the ride remained in storage until 2012-13 when the attraction was finally scrapped.
7. Son of Beast (2000-2009)
Roller Coaster Corporation of America, 218 ft tall, 214 ft drop, 78.4 mph, 7,032 ft length, 1 inversion (until 2006)
Arguably the most infamous roller coaster of all-time, this wooden hypercoaster debuted at Kings Island at the height of the coaster wars in 2000, and is now largely remembered for being an attraction far too ambitious and rushed for its time.
Still the only wooden hypercoaster to ever exist, Son of Beast was plagued by issues before the ride even opened, with a messy dispute playing out between Kings Island and the ride’s manufacturer, Roller Coaster Corporation of America – which was fired from the job prior to the completion of construction.
The ride was still wildly impressive, reaching top speeds of over 78 mph while being the first modern wooden coaster to feature a vertical loop – often singled out by guests as the highlight of the ride due to its relative smoothness.
Son of Beast was plagued by structural issues throughout its lifespan, with a major incident in 2006 resulting in an extended closure that led to the removal of the vertical loop. The park opted to switch to lighter trains that would put less stress on the structure, but would also be unable to make it through the loop – removing the ride’s signature element.
A reported injury in June 2009 led to another closure that ultimately turned out to be permanent, with Kings Island finally demolishing the ride in October 2012. Though a violent ride with a largely forgettable layout, Son of Beast was a truly scary coaster that embodied what the turn of the century was like at theme parks more than anything else.
8. Firehawk (2007-2018)
Vekoma, 115 ft tall, 50 mph, 3,339.9 ft length, 5 inversions
One of the now-extinct Vekoma Flying Dutchman coasters, these were the first major flying coasters to be seen at theme parks before the more refined B&M flyer began to appear in 2002.
This coaster was not a Kings Island original, initially opening at what was then Six Flags Worlds of Adventure, or Geauga Lake, in May 2001 as X-Flight – where it operated until 2006. The coaster was then moved across the state to open as Firehawk in 2007, getting another 12 seasons of life at the park.
These coasters were known for having a lot of novel, moving parts and for being a bit of a maintenance headache, but many enthusiasts who got the chance to ride them often praised the rides for their unique ride experience and intensity – particularly during a vertical loop that riders traverse on their backs.
Given the ride’s relative low popularity and high maintenace costs, Kings Island opted to dismantle Firehawk following the 2018 season, with its plot of land being used for the B&M gigacoaster Orion, which opened at the park in 2020.
Leave a Reply