48 replies to this topic

[TombraiderTy]

Some friends and I rented an airplane and took flight almost two-and-a-half years ago, snapping pictures of Kings Island, Coney Island, Cincinnati, and The Beach waterpark from a couple thousand feet up. The original plan for these photographs never came to fruition, leaving them to just sit on my computer since October 2009. I recently shared the ones from The Beach (HERE), and decided I may as well upload the rest.

Keep in mind that the pictures are far from professional and many were taken through an airplane window with zoom features on. They are, however, pretty unique angles and perspectives on the park.

Please don't post elsewhere or use publicly without my permission.


Our date of flight (October 21, 2009) was perfect - leaves were still on the trees, it was very clear out, and the park hadn't closed for the year just yet.


Nickelodeon Universe, not long before it underwent its transformation to Planet Snoopy.


A mixture of a few different areas. Note how high Flight Deck's hill is in comparison to the rest of the ride.


One of the park's "boneyards". You can also see it from the Eiffel Tower with a keen eye (or good zoom). Most of the stuff pictured was cleared the following year.
Just a few things to note from the above picture, left to right... Phantom Theater cars, target from Action Zone sign, Tomb Raider: The Ride display, Action Theater marquee, picnic grove playground, and much, much more.


Rivertown and Nickelodeon Universe with a bit of Coney Mall and International Street.


Picnic Grove, during Howl-O-Fest. There was the Twisted Tales maze, a haybale maze, Tractor Town, Foam Pit, midway games, and more.


Almost all of Diamondback.


X-Base (prior to the radio tower's removal the following year, although you can hardly see it in the picture)


A different view of Diamondback


A nearly-complete overview of the park. It's pretty impressive how big it all is.


I have additional photos of the park, alongside ones from Coney Island and Cincinnati, if anyone is interested in seeing.

[standbyme]

Oh to be able to have went through that dumpster in the boneyard!

Thank you for the photos Ty...by the way, I like your watermark.

[jcgoble3]

Nice photos! I especially like the one of the boneyard. If I'm not mistaken, we went through that area during the tour at the GOCC Holiday Party last December. Most (if not all) of that stuff is gone, I believe. Action Theater's motion seats now reside there, if they haven't been moved in the past three months.

[Dwight_Schrute]

I may be late to the ponderosa here- but it action theater closed now?

[jcgoble3]

It now hosts the upcharge Dinosaurs Alive! 3D, for which the motion seating was removed, leaving just bench seats.

[TombraiderTy]

Thank you for the photos Ty...by the way, I like your watermark.

Thanks for the comment, and I'm glad I can share them. I tried to make the watermark discreet and took inspiration from the stamp you put on your pictures

Nice photos! I especially like the one of the boneyard. If I'm not mistaken, we went through that area during the tour at the GOCC Holiday Party last December. Most (if not all) of that stuff is gone, I believe. Action Theater's motion seats now reside there, if they haven't been moved in the past three months.

Thanks for the comment, I appreciate it.


Here's a second batch of photos. I have a third batch (plus Cincy/Coney pictures) I can share, but only if there's interest.


One of my favorite pictures, solely because it captured the complete water park.


Rivertown. I noticed that I took a lot of Diamodback photos, most-likely because the coaster was still new.


One of Racer's trains was parked on the lift, for whatever reason.




The picture's blurry, but it's interesting to see Son of Beast's trains sitting motionless on the ground. Based off the recent Ghost Hunters episode shot at Kings Island, the cars haven't moved since this photo was taken.








Another one of my favorite photos from the flight.


And you thought Drop Tower and WindSeeker were high up?


Full overview of The Beast



Like before, please don't post elsewhere or use publicly without my permission.

[The Interpreter]

Incredible photos! Thanks for posting. We could call you Fly Guy Ty!

I, for one, would love to see more!

[KIfan1980]

I love aerial photos - and these are wonderful. The BB one really shows the width of the wave pool (compare to others like at the beach and you see the magnitude of it), and it's not often you see an entire Beast layout in one picture!

Thanks for sharing, and I'll express my interest in seeing every last picture from the flight.

[KIfan73]

I really enjoy looking at those pictures. Thanks a lot for sharing them. I love aerial shots of the park.

[jcgoble3]

Great photos! I'm puzzled as to why a Racer train was sitting on the lift. I'm interested in seeing the rest of the photos as well.

[jdawg1998]

Very cool pictures! This year you should do it again to get aerial views of Soak City along with Kings Island with Windseeker and Dinosaurs Alive!

[thekidd33]

Amazing shots! I would love to see the rest!

[standbyme]

I like them all...but I REALLY like the close-up of Adventure Express...that is the nicest aerial shot I have seen of it.

[Delirium13]

Great pictures, thanks for sharing! The Adventure Express one stood out to me as well, I think the colors on the leaves plus the fact that it's a great picture of a ride that doesn't always get the attention it deserves in my opinion. I agree with others here and would love to see the rest!

[16gwoods]

I would love to see all the pictures. These are awesome views that are rarely seen to most people.

[CoastersRZ]

To echo the other`s sentiments, bring on the aerial pictures from Coney Island!

Awesome pictures Ty!

[Fire-Beast-OF FEAR]

these photos are awesome! One of my favorite times to visit is during the fall and this caputures that time very acurately.

[Jasper]

Great photos Ty! Really enjoyed seeing them and like the others, let's keep em' coming!

[TombraiderTy]

Thanks for all the comments, they're all appreciated.

This year you should do it again to get aerial views of Soak City along with Kings Island with Windseeker and Dinosaurs Alive!

It's definitely something I'd be interested in doing; hopefully it ends up happening.

The Adventure Express one stood out to me as well, I think the colors on the leaves plus the fact that it's a great picture of a ride that doesn't always get the attention it deserves in my opinion.

I agree, Adventure Express doesn't get the attention it deserves. In my opinion, it's one of the park's best rides

To echo the other`s sentiments, bring on the aerial pictures from Coney Island!

I figured you'd be interested in seeing those ones


Here's the last batch of Kings Island photos (well, the ones I deemed worthy-enough to share). I'll post a fourth and final update, showcasing Cincy and Coney, sometime tomorrow.


As I mentioned before, I took quite a few Diamondback photos.










Here's White Water Canyon's reserve, drained for the year.


Old Lion Country Safari land. To learn more, click (prepare for shameless plug) HERE.


Great Wolf Lodge


Tad blurry, but entrance plaza. The signs on International Restaurant advertised Howl-O-Fest, Diamondback, and Halloween Haunt.


Honestly, I prefer Planet Snoopy over Nickelodeon Universe. It's more colorful, plus eight of the shows which rides were based on were off the air by 2009. Interesting tidbit right there.




No matter how you felt about the ride experience, you can't deny that Son of Beast is an impressive structure.




410 steps from top to bottom - there's another tidbit for you

I dislike having to put this, but please don't post elsewhere or use publicly without permission.

[jcgoble3]

Again, great photos! None in particular stand out to me above the others, but they're still good. I look forward to the last set.

[Oldiesmann]

Vortex looks so cool from that angle!

[IndyGuy4KI]

Great pictures Ty! Thanks so much for sharing. It is amazing how much things have changed just from the time you took these shots!

This has to be the biggest camper I have ever seen from your shot of the campground! LOL!

[westcoaster]

Kings island owns all the land behind great wolf correct? But has sold great wolf land i do believe?

[westcoaster]

great pictures by the way!

[pkiboy]

great Pics Ty!

[medford]

great pics, thanks for sharing. Kind of makes me wonder what the long term plan was/is for the area behind son of beast. Despite a decent amount of elevation change around the SoB gate area, it looks relatively flat when you get back the double bowl area. There appears to be a ton of room for several large rides, the difficulty would be getting to that area, thru the natural terrain. SoB appears to have completely cut off that area (though the mentioned terrain just to get there would be difficult for many people), I wonder if there's a path that could be forged taking you thru the X-Base area? Would love to be on the inside of any 10-20-30-50 longterm "think type" planning sessions, both past and present just to hear all the dreams of the future and how they could be implemented. I don't even know if those exist like they do for many colleges, but you would assume there are some long term development ideas sitting around.

thanks again for the pics, despite your disclaimer about being from inside the plane, amatuer photographer, etc... they are really nicely done.

[TombRaiderFTW]

Love your pictures, Ty!

[TromaKing]

Great pics however I kept finding myself looking at Slaughter House in all the Action Zone pics lol

[frisbeefan]

Great pics. Thanks for sharing!

[flightoffear1996]

Wow amazing pictures? Is that your plane?