Kings Island & More

  Originally published 4-25-2018 It is a story recounted in breathless whispers around campfires, in line at Kings Island, or on online forums. A high schooler, "Tower Johnny," was killed in some sort of freak accident on Kings Island's Eiffel Tower in 1983 and his ghost remains. The exact details change depending on who is telling the story, but the bare bones remain the same. The story is frequently brought up, but does this it have any actual truth to it? John Wesley Harter was born May 27, 1965. He grew up in Delaware, Ohio, which is a town located 30 miles north of Columbus. John Harter attended Delaware's Hayes High School, where he was captain of the track team. Sheila Sferrella Martin, who was a close friend of Harter's during high school, recalled that  "h e was always trying to improve his PRs at track meets and talked about being in the Olympics." "[He was]  such a lovely person...I don't know anybody that didn't like him," r...

  Originally published 3-19-2018. I never really thought highly of this article, but for completion's sake, here it is. Coney Island worker Charles Flatt inspects a Swiss Sky Ride bucket. Cincinnati Post photo In 1965, Cincinnati's Coney Island put in a new, $300,000 ride: the "Swiss Sky Ride." The old Wildcat roller coaster was demolished for the new 1,200 foot long, three minute ride. 32 gondolas spanned the length of Coney Island's mall with stations for loading and disembarking at both ends of the mall. It's highest point was 96 feet above the ground, offering guests a spectacular view of Coney Island and the Ohio River.  The Sky Ride was manufactured by Von Roll Seilbahnen AG of Switzerland. Von Roll was the premiere manufacturer of amusement park aerial tram rides at the time. At the time of the Coney Island installation, Von Roll had built many popular attractions such as Disneyland's Skyway, Cedar Point's Skyride, and the Skyride at the Minneso...

  Originally published 2-2-2018 In 1972, Kings Island opened a coaster that changed the amusement park industry forever: The Racer. While many  wonderful websites and blogs  chronicle the story behind this great, classic ride and the impact it had on the industry, today we will be talking about the ghost that allegedly haunts the Racer and the facts, or the lack thereof, behind the story. The main account told involves the apparition of a little boy (about 9 or 10 years old) wearing white, 1950s-style clothes spotted by security guards, employees, and/or concerned parents past closing or shortly before. "Racer Boy," as he has come to be known, has especially been spotted on the stairs next to the lift hill and the back turn-around. The boy is never there when employees go and check. There are also stories of people seeing this little boy walking around Coney Mall toward the Racer and then disappearing as well as a few sightings of him walking in front of the queue entranc...

  Originally published 1-12-2018. This is one of the weaker pieces I ever wrote on this blog. If you ask anybody who has lived in the Greater Cincinnati area for a while what their favorite defunct Kings Island ride is, many of them would probably say King Cobra. This coaster was the world's first  true  stand-up roller coaster. Hold on tight as we explore the history of this classic ride. In 1982, TOGO, a Japanese amusement park ride company, replaced the sit-down cars on a roller coaster in Tokyo with stand-up ones. Around this same time, TOGO also added stand-up trains on another Japanese roller coaster. In 1983, amusement ride company Arrow Dynamics added stand-up trains to Worlds of Fun's Extremeroller. Previously, the ride had sit-down trains. Enter Kings Island. In February of 1983, Kings Island officials announced that they were planning on building a new roller coaster for 1984, which would be the 100th anniversary of America's first roller coaster. It was going ...