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Kings Island first opened its gates in 1972. It featured The Racer, which was two wooden roller coasters that raced each other. The Racer is credited by many people with starting the second golden age of the roller coaster. Many of its first rides were from Coney Island, a popular park on the Ohio River about 10 miles (16 km) east of downtown Cincinnati. Coney Island had closed due to frequent floods, but has since reopened.

One of the first events to draw publicity to the park was when an episode of The Brady Bunch was filmed there and also the Partridge Family. While they do not mention the name of the park, they do call it "a new park outside Cincinnati." Many of the scenes feature the park's scaled down Eiffel Tower replica as a backdrop.

Kings Island has added many thrill rides throughout the years. In 1979, the park unveiled The Beast, the tallest, longest, and fastest roller coaster in the world at the time. After more than 20 years, it still holds the title of the world's longest wooden roller coaster at 7,419 ft (2,261 m). In 1981, Kings Island introduced the world's first suspended roller coaster, The Bat. However, it was plagued with maintence problems and closed 4 years later. The first stand up coaster in the United States, King Cobra, opened in 1984. In 1987, Vortex opened, and set a new record for the number of inversions (6) and taking the record from The Beast for the tallest roller coaster in the world. 1991 saw the addition of Adventure Express, a mine train ride. Top Gun, the last suspended coaster built in the USA, was built in 19931993 is a common year starting on Friday and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003 Events January January 1 Czechoslovakia divides. Establishment of independent Slovakia and Czech Republic.. 19941994 is a common year starting on Saturday, and was designated the International year of the Family''. Events January events January 1 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goes into effect January 6 Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the right leg by an saw the addtion of Action Theater, an indoor simulator ride. In 19961996 was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty''. Events January January 5 Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone Jan, the park added the world's first roller coaster powered by linear induction magnets (LIM's), Outer Limits: Flight of Fear. In 1999For the album by Prince, see 1999 (album 1999 is a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the UN. Events Kosovo War Former child star Gary Coleman files for bankruptcy Y2K prep, Drop Zone, the world's tallest free-fall, and Face/Off, a coaster, were opened. The Son of Beast, the sequel to the Beast, opened in 2000This page is about the year 2000. See 2000 AD for the UK comic book, Number 2000 for other uses. 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar), and also the International Year for a Culture of Peace''. Events Y2K passes without the seri. Currently, it is the tallest, fastest, and only looping wooden roller coaster in the world. In 20022002 is a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). 2002 was the first palindromic year since 1991 and the last until 2112. 2002 was also designated: International Year of Ecotourism and Mountains National Science Year in the United Kingdom, the park added Tomb Raider, an indoor ride. Delirium, a 137 ft (42 m) rotating pendulumA gravity pendulum is a weight on the end of a rigid rod, which, when given some initial lift from the vertical position, will swing back and forth under the influence of gravity over its central (lowest) point. A torsion pendulum consists of a body suspe ride, opened in 2003.

Today, Kings Island has 12 roller coasters and many huge flat rides. But despite all of these thrill rides, Kings Island is much more than a park just for thrill seekers. Kings Island's "WaterWorks" water park was renovated in 2004 to become "Boomerang Bay," a waterpark resort that comes free with admission. Kings Island has also won Amusement Today's award for 'Best Kid's Area in the World.'