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Kings Island: A Ride Through Time
In 1972, one of America's favorite playgrounds opened with great fanfare. Inspired by the post-Disneyland theme park boom, operators of a small amusement enterprise near Cincinnati realized they needed to go bigger-or go home. They chose big, and so they proceeded to design and build a magnificent property in conjunction with Taft Broadcasting, owners of the popular Hanna-Barbera characters.
The complete story of Kings Island has never been told before now. Learn how the park came about, how it transformed over the years, and enjoy the stories behind your favorite attractions. But don't just read about it-hear it directly from park officials who served throughout Kings Island's history, including the man who started the whole thing from the beginning-Gary Wachs.
Kings Island: A Ride Through Time pays tribute to a grand park that millions of guests have fallen in love with for half a century.
The complete story of Kings Island has never been told before now. Learn how the park came about, how it transformed over the years, and enjoy the stories behind your favorite attractions. But don't just read about it-hear it directly from park officials who served throughout Kings Island's history, including the man who started the whole thing from the beginning-Gary Wachs.
Kings Island: A Ride Through Time pays tribute to a grand park that millions of guests have fallen in love with for half a century.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
396 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
June 12, 2021
This is an extraordinarily well-written book, obviously authored by someone with a passion for Kings Island and the amusement park industry as a whole. The scope, detail, and accuracy of this history belies his being a high school student. The extensive research and work he did interviewing the various principals involved with Kings Island and other associated companies provides the reader with a first-hand account of not only the park’s development and growth, but also the behind-the-scenes business dealings which have resulted in Kings Island’s nearly 50 years of success. In particular, Evan’s account of the maneuverings behind the development and building of Kings Island was absolutely riveting. If you want to know all about Kings Island, this is your book. It’s also your book if you want an intro to how the world of business works. It’s not a short read, but it’s well worth the time, especially if you’ve ever been to Kings Island!
January 14, 2022
I was really excited when I saw that a relatively small regional park got such a detailed, professional book treatment. Great history of the park, the people who have made it what it is, the place it has in its local community, and the influence it has had in the broader themed entertainment market. In my mind, Kings Island was just another member of the larger Cedar Fair family of parks, but it was cool to learn about it's long history prior to the Cedar Fair acquisition.
When I got to the end, I was shocked to realize that the author just graduated high school! I'm so impressed. The book is packed with research and first-hand interviews: no small feat for any author, let alone a young first time writer. Looking forward to any future projects Evan tackles.
When I got to the end, I was shocked to realize that the author just graduated high school! I'm so impressed. The book is packed with research and first-hand interviews: no small feat for any author, let alone a young first time writer. Looking forward to any future projects Evan tackles.
August 15, 2023
Good book, quick read. Focused a bit too much on the two newest rides in the closing chapters to drum up marketability.
Had I not been to Kings Island all the time growing up I would not have rated the book as highly. However, it did well to capture nostalgia and paint a vivid picture of the park’s history.
The interview structure worked very well and was easy to follow. There were only a few points where it became a bit bumpy.
Had I not been to Kings Island all the time growing up I would not have rated the book as highly. However, it did well to capture nostalgia and paint a vivid picture of the park’s history.
The interview structure worked very well and was easy to follow. There were only a few points where it became a bit bumpy.
December 15, 2023
I'll forever love the Paramount Era (hard to believe 17 years ago), but the background stories and Cedar Fair details made me appreciate their ownership. A little heavy on quotes and Orion, but overall enjoyed learning some history and reminiscing about decades of visits!
January 27, 2022
What a great book. There is so much history here. It was great reading about a place I've visited so many times.
September 30, 2021
Fantastic look at how Kings Island has developed over time. It starts off with the vision to move the original Coney Island park in the 1970s, to the start of Kings Island and its many changes, and goes through adding Orion, their newest coaster, in 2020. So much of this is told from personal interviews with the people who were in charge of shaping the park. There's a lot about how different rides, attractions, and areas were designed and shaped. It's a fairly honest look at the park's successes and its failures. Told through many voices that clearly love the park. A good mix of approachable story telling, in depth look at various decisions, and awesome photos.
May 29, 2024
Published following the 48th year of park operation, we look this day to the Evan Ponstingle book 'Kings Island: A Ride Through Time'. Kings Island is a regional amusement park located 24 miles (39 kilometers) northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio. Featuring rides that today include The Beast, Banshee, Diamondback and Orion, the park first opened in the spring of 1972.
This history offered a well researched, chronologically delivered history of the park born as an amusement park to replace flood prone Coney Island of Anderson Township, Ohio along the banks of the Ohio River. The early work of Gary Wachs and final Coney Island president Ralph Wachs to secure investor Taft Broadcasting Company to invest in the new park, which would later be named Kings Island, brought the park into existence. It was the Hanna-Barbera animation studio and production company as owned by Taft that brought an interest in opening the new park on the Mason property. A popular early attraction for Kings Island was the John C. Allen designed The Racer.
The book itself takes the reader through the initial decision-making, marketing and investment in the park to bring about the opening. A season-by-season review of the park, along with new investments and inevitable changes gave an appreciated perspective to the growth and philosophies that fed into the popularity of the park through time. The ebb and flow of live entertainment, including externally focused visits from The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch, Karl Wallenda, Evel Knievel and more, were recapped through the ownership groups that punctuated the park’s history.
The three primary ownership periods for the park began with the Taft Broadcasting and KECO (Kings Entertainment Company) years, from 1972 to 1992. The Paramount years ran from 1992 to 2006. The Cedar Fair years commenced in 2006 and remained in play through the publication of 'Kings Island: A Ride Through Time'. Hearing about how management approached the park’s philosophy, theming, investment and entertainment like Halloween Haunt and Winterfest were as interesting as the new or removed attractions, the last sections of the book offered an in-depth focus on the theming and development that occurred in advance of the opening of Mystic Timbers and Orion roller coasters.
Overall, the reminiscing that I was able to enjoy in looking back at Kings Island provided me much joy. This contributes to my granting the Evan Ponstingle book 'Kings Island: A Ride Through Time' 4-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
This history offered a well researched, chronologically delivered history of the park born as an amusement park to replace flood prone Coney Island of Anderson Township, Ohio along the banks of the Ohio River. The early work of Gary Wachs and final Coney Island president Ralph Wachs to secure investor Taft Broadcasting Company to invest in the new park, which would later be named Kings Island, brought the park into existence. It was the Hanna-Barbera animation studio and production company as owned by Taft that brought an interest in opening the new park on the Mason property. A popular early attraction for Kings Island was the John C. Allen designed The Racer.
The book itself takes the reader through the initial decision-making, marketing and investment in the park to bring about the opening. A season-by-season review of the park, along with new investments and inevitable changes gave an appreciated perspective to the growth and philosophies that fed into the popularity of the park through time. The ebb and flow of live entertainment, including externally focused visits from The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch, Karl Wallenda, Evel Knievel and more, were recapped through the ownership groups that punctuated the park’s history.
The three primary ownership periods for the park began with the Taft Broadcasting and KECO (Kings Entertainment Company) years, from 1972 to 1992. The Paramount years ran from 1992 to 2006. The Cedar Fair years commenced in 2006 and remained in play through the publication of 'Kings Island: A Ride Through Time'. Hearing about how management approached the park’s philosophy, theming, investment and entertainment like Halloween Haunt and Winterfest were as interesting as the new or removed attractions, the last sections of the book offered an in-depth focus on the theming and development that occurred in advance of the opening of Mystic Timbers and Orion roller coasters.
Overall, the reminiscing that I was able to enjoy in looking back at Kings Island provided me much joy. This contributes to my granting the Evan Ponstingle book 'Kings Island: A Ride Through Time' 4-stars on a scale of one-to-five.
June 15, 2024
I enjoyed reading this overall, and the middling score isn't entirely the author's fault. Much of the content in the book is transcripts of interviews. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but it makes for an unpleasant reading experience at times. Spoken-word stream-of-consciousness seldom translates well to the page and many of the interview segments suffer from this. Run-on sentences, dangling participles, the kinds of things that make English teachers squirm. To be clear, this isn't the author's fault. The interviewees said what they said and I would expect the interviews to be quoted accurately as that's good, ethical journalism. But unfortunately it's the nature of the Beast (tee hee) that it ends up being inelegant when put to paper.
In terms of the content of the book, I felt that it was slanted a bit heavily towards the newer rides and attractions, which is unfortunate because that's the part of the park history that needs a book written about it the least. A 35-page chapter about the 2018-2020 seasons is a lot. I feel like we get a lot of good stuff about the 70s, then zip quickly through the park's history until 2006 and then we get a lot of info about 2006-2020. Those attractions and events are recent and most of the readers likely remember them well. Even in the future, when what is today current becomes old, these attractions came after the advent of the internet and Wikipedia and are very well-documented already. If I had a magic wand and could change the way the book was composed, I would focus much more heavily on the pre-Cedar Fair eras of the park, as the Cedar Fair era coincides nicely with everything being well-documented online. The older eras, not so much and so they make for a much more fascinating deep-dive topic.
In terms of the content of the book, I felt that it was slanted a bit heavily towards the newer rides and attractions, which is unfortunate because that's the part of the park history that needs a book written about it the least. A 35-page chapter about the 2018-2020 seasons is a lot. I feel like we get a lot of good stuff about the 70s, then zip quickly through the park's history until 2006 and then we get a lot of info about 2006-2020. Those attractions and events are recent and most of the readers likely remember them well. Even in the future, when what is today current becomes old, these attractions came after the advent of the internet and Wikipedia and are very well-documented already. If I had a magic wand and could change the way the book was composed, I would focus much more heavily on the pre-Cedar Fair eras of the park, as the Cedar Fair era coincides nicely with everything being well-documented online. The older eras, not so much and so they make for a much more fascinating deep-dive topic.
May 27, 2023
I loved this!! It goes through the history of Kings Island year by year starting with how it was created. Some of the 'quotes' are too stream-of-thought and they spend an ABSURD time on Mystic Timbers and Orion at the end of the book, but it was so cool to read about things I remember changing over time at KI. I loved the paramount ownership era for the characters and ride names, not knowing it was a period of time KI lost some of its' culture. Plenty of pictures and they cover some lore around the park. love
April 15, 2021
I loved this book! I always wanted there to be a King's Island history book and was so excited when I heard this was coming out! Well, I just finished reading it and can't recommend it enough. Many famous and not-so-famous amusement industry people were interviewed. I had no idea of all the people that have impacted Kings Island in such profound ways. Overall, a very insightful book and really gave me a new perspective and appreciation on a park that I love visiting. Would Recommend!
June 19, 2021
Remarkably Comprehensive
Ponstingle's history of Kings Island is thorough, thoughtful, well researched, well written and interesting from start to finish. It is remarkable for an author of any age to capture interviews with every leader and executive in an organization's 50-year history, much less such a young author. This book will live on as an irreplaceable history of Kings Island's first fifty years, through the eyes of its founders and change-agents.
Ponstingle's history of Kings Island is thorough, thoughtful, well researched, well written and interesting from start to finish. It is remarkable for an author of any age to capture interviews with every leader and executive in an organization's 50-year history, much less such a young author. This book will live on as an irreplaceable history of Kings Island's first fifty years, through the eyes of its founders and change-agents.
March 31, 2024
So many amazing facts about things that you wouldn't think and you can see the moment from when they first think of a ride to the moment they open it. You also get a look at how it all got started. You also get a look at every season and all the owners and diffent manegment. All around a book I would recomend to anyone who loves Kings Island.
May 13, 2021
If you have been going to KI for years, this is a delight.
Well researched, engaging and well written. While it is a labor of love, it is not hagiography; it is open about the park's missteps. Amazing to learn it was written by a 17-year-old.
Well researched, engaging and well written. While it is a labor of love, it is not hagiography; it is open about the park's missteps. Amazing to learn it was written by a 17-year-old.
May 13, 2021
I'm usually not a fan of history books, but this book was great. So thorough and details. Interesting to learn so much about the park I grew up at. Even more impressive that it was written by a 17 year old! A must read for anyone who loves Kings Island.
January 18, 2022
I really enjoyed this history of Kings Island. It is thorough and brought me back to Smurf ice cream, the Phantom Theater, and rumors about the Bat.
Thanks for your research and writing, Mr.Ponstingle
Thanks for your research and writing, Mr.Ponstingle
May 23, 2021
Loved reading about KI history! Especially loved learning about how the various rides came about and how decisions were made that impact the experience of the guests! Well done!
June 3, 2021
Awesome memories from my own childhood and fascinating information about my local theme park, this book is a MUST READ for amusement park enthusiasts and Ohio residents. Well done, Evan!!
June 24, 2021
Well researched and well written. A joy for fans of the park!! Thoroughly enjoyable read!!
September 4, 2021
Very well-written and engaging! Fans of KI will love this book and relive fond memories. The post paramount years drag a bit, but it’s still fascinating.
October 30, 2021
A fascinating look at the history of my favorite amusement park in the world. If you have ever ridden a roller coaster, you should read this book!
May 14, 2023
A great history of the park from first hand accounts. Lots of interesting details from the early years and fleshed out descriptions on recent developments.
October 6, 2023
Amazing book
December 26, 2023
I grew up on Kings Island. Lots of nostalgia here!
July 6, 2024
Extremely thorough history of Kings Island! Very well written.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews