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.

Featuring a foreword by Gary Wachs and awesome cover art from Cedar Fair’s own Paul Bonifield, 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.

“Evan Ponstingle has done an amazing job of capturing the formative, early years of Kings Island as well as the growth periods. His historical accuracy is spot on, his interviews are riveting, his chronology on target. I well remember this history—I was there from the beginning!”

Dennis Speigel, Founder and CEO, International Theme Park Services, Inc.

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Along with extensive interviews with officials who built and ran the park over the years, there were hundreds of sources that helped tell the park’s story. We couldn’t include them all in the book, so here’s the entire list of sources.

Check out Evan’s interview with Cincinnati’s channel 9 news team!

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