MasonBuzz.com

Some roller coaster riders got more of a thrill than they expected Tuesday at Kings Island.

The Beast roller coaster got stuck while climbing the second hill — a height of 141 feet — about 11 a.m., park officials said.

The ride malfunctioned when a device on the coaster intended to keep cars separated detected a problem and didn’t release the car.  Thirty riders were stuck for about 10 minutes before being escorted off the ride, said Don Helbig, the park’s spokesman.

“It is not uncommon for a train to stop briefly on the lift hill of roller coasters to wait for the train ahead of it to clear a certain zone,” explained Helbig.  “That’s how the safety system is designed.   And that’s what happened this morning but the ride did not re-start.”

One rider called 911 after the train stopped and was transported to West Chester Hospital.

The ride reopened at about 12:30 p.m., said Helbig.

The Beast, which opened in 1979, is the world’s longest wooden roller coaster.

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: hospital, kings island, roller coaster, stuck, the beast

John Faherty reports:

Everything was fine really. It was kind of exactly what you would have expected.

Brady Bunch stars Christopher Knight (front row right), Susan Olsen (front row left) and Barry Williams (second row right) enjoy a ride on the Racer at Kings Island on Sunday. / Provided

Three former Brady Bunch kids — maybe you are never a “former” when it comes to the bunch — were going to Kings Island to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the summer when the Brady Bunch went to Kings Island to shoot an episode in 1973.

Barry Williams (Greg), Christopher Knight (Peter) and Susan Olsen (Cindy) were all there to tell some funny stories and show some classic clips. “Mom always said: don’t play ball in the house,” “Oh my nose!” “Pork chops and apple sauce.”

Donna Delph came from Hebron with her grandson Aiden. She loved the show as a kid, and now he watches it with her on the Hallmark Channel. “This is going to be so exciting,” she said as the lights began to dim.

Cindy, now 51, talked about being the mother of a 16-year-old son, with a Mohawk, and people began to realize that we have all aged together.

Peter, 55, was kind of the bad boy of the gig. He told the crowd that he has few memories of his time as a Brady and that it was fun to be able to recall these events through his fans.

But the show was really Greg’s. He came out first, and introduced the others. He talked about the clips, and he did a little Johnny Bravo. And in truth, Williams remains quite groovy. His skin is tan and his hair is dark and his pants still fit just right.

And everybody loved it. The noon show was the first of four on Sunday, and there was not a single empty seat in the 844-seat venue. People who couldn’t get into the first show were given wristbands for the second. There were already enough to fill the place for all four shows.

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Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: barry williams, brady bunch, christopher knight, cindy, greg, kings island, mason, peter, susan olsen

John Kiesewetter reports:

So what does Barry Williams remember about filming the “Brady Bunch” at Kings Island 40 years ago?

“That bear suit was very hot!” says Williams, 58, who flies in from Branson, Mo., to reunite with co-stars Christopher Knight and Susan Olsen (Peter and Cindy Brady) at Kings Island Sunday.

Williams, the teen hearthrob who played Greg Brady, shot a scene wearing the Hair Bear character suit in “The Cincinnati Kids” episode to impress a Coney Mall worker named Marge, and took his first ride in a hot-air balloon while shooting at Kings Island Aug. 20-24, 1973.

• Photos: The Brady Bunch at Kings Island
• Videos: Watch the Kings Island episode and more
• List: Can you remember the long gone rides at Kings Island?

He also remembers huge crowds watching the Brady kids, Florence Henderson and Ann B. Davis looking for dad Mike Brady’s (Robert Reed) lost park expansion architectural drawings. The show aired during the fifth and final season (1969-74).

The Brady trio will share stories, show video clips, answer questions, sing and sign autographs in the Kings Island Theater on Sunday at noon, 2:30, 5 and 7:30 p.m. It’s free with park admission.

Williams headlines the “70s Music Celebration” show at Branson’s RFD TV Theatre. Here’s a link to his 70musiccelebration website.

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Events, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: barry williams, brady bunch, christopher knight, kings island, susan olsen

Kings Island’s Opening Day is finally here.  Check out these highlights from this morning.

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: 41st, amusement park, kings island, mason, opening day, season, theme park

Shauna Steigerwald reports:

It’s that time again, when the Beast will roar across its wooden track at close to highway speed; the Diamondback will plunge down its 215-drop even faster; and Snoopy and friends will greet kids and the young at heart.

Kings Island, a warm-weather tradition for many Greater Cincinnatians, opens Saturday, with daily operations resuming May 10, the earliest the park has ever been open daily.

In addition to their favorite thrill rides, visitors will have a few new things to see, do and eat this year. Read on to find out about some of the park’s newest attractions.

• Take our Kings Island quiz!
• Photos: What’s new at Kings Island
• What’s new: Kings Island adds dinosaurs, Reds and German fare
• First look: Reds Hall of Fame Grille
• We tried it: KI’s new Reds-themed restaurant
• From Retro: The lost rides of Kings Island
• Photos: Kings Island through the years

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: attractions, dining, dinosaurs alive, food, food review, kings island, lost rides, mason, new, old rides, opening day, photos, quiz, reds hall of fame grille, rides

The new Reds Hall of Fame Grille at Kings Island. The Enquirer/Tony Jones

Kings Island is hoping to hit a homerun with its new Reds Hall of Game Grille opening this season.

The Reds-themed restaurant — located in the former Rivertown Junction buffet restaurant — features Hall of Fame memorabilia, framed jerseys and photos and other bits of Reds history, dating back to the 1880s, while video highlights from World Series, playoffs and other games play on TVs through the restaurant.

On the menu: burgers, wings, Montgomery Inn pulled pork, baby back ribs, Saratoga chips, wraps, salads, desserts, draft beer and wine.  Full restaurant?  No worries.  Leave a cell phone number and you’ll be sent a text when your table is ready.

• Photos & Video: Inside KI’s Reds Hall of Fame Grille

“One of the things our guests have been asking for for a number of years is a full-service, sit-down restaurant,” said Don Helbig, park spokesman.  ”No matter where you sit, you’re  going to see something different.”

Community reporter Rachel Richardson, Butler/Warren Editor Bill Cieslewicz, photographer Tony Jones, freelance photographer Tony Tribble and entertainment reporter Shauna Steigerwald got a first taste of the grille.

Click through to see what we sampled:

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Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: amusement park, baseball, cincinnati reds, dining, food, ki, kings island, mason, new, reds, reds hall of fame grille, restaurant, review, theme park

Kings Island employees work on the new Christian Moerlein Bier Garten at Kings Island on Wednesday. The Enquirer/Joseph Fuqua II

Shauna Steigerwald reports:

Kings Island will open a new Christian Moerlein Bier Garten this season.

The full-service bar will serve German fare, fried pickles and appetizers, plus plenty of Christian Moerlein draft beer.

“Cincinnati has such a German heritage,” said Don Helbig, public relations area manager for Kings Island. “That’s something our guests have been asking for, some kind of German fare.”

It’s been decades since German food was available at the park. The Festhaus served German fare in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s, Helbig said.

The new bier garten will be located near Viking Fury, on the back side of Hank’s Burrito Shack, which opened last season. It will be an open space, with umbrella tables to seat about 200 people.

Kings Island opens April 27.

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: beer, christian moerlein beer garten, festhaus, german, kings island, mason, new, viking fury

John Kiesewetter reports:

This just in from Kings Island:  Greg, Cindy and Peter Brady — also known as Barry Williams, Susan Olsen and Christopher Knight — will return to Kings Island on Sunday, May 19, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of taping a  “Brady Bunch” episode at the park in August 1973.

The three stars will ”entertain park guests during four shows of singing, dancing and Brady Bunch anecdotes,” says Don Helbig, KI public relations manager.

• Photos: The Brady Bunch at Kings Island

Williams, Knight and Olsen will be available to meet fans, sign autographs and pose for photographs after each show.

Here’s a link to my Jan. 30 blog about the episode airing on Hallmark Channel. And here’s my Feb. 6 blog about all the long-gone KI rides seen on the ”Brady Bunch” episode.

Here’s the release:

Brady Bunch stars returning to Kings Island

KINGS ISLAND, Ohio – If you grew up in the 1970’s, chances are you really had two families: your own and The Brady Bunch.

One of the grooviest sitcoms of the era, The Brady Bunch filmed one of its most popular episodes at Kings Island. The episode, called “The Cincinnati Kids,” was filmed at Kings Island August 20-24, 1973, the second year the park was open.

In the episode, which first aired November 23, 1973, Mike Brady, played by Robert Reed, takes the family with him as he presents his architectural plans for a new addition to Kings Island. The plans become inadvertently misplaced while the family is in the park and a variety of comic situations evolve while recovering the drawings.

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Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: barry williams, brady bunch, christopher knight, kings island, susan olsen

Shauna Steigerwald reports:

When Kings Island opens April 27, its Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit will have a literally huge new feature: The world’s largest animatronic dinosaur, a life-size Sauroposeidon.

The length of three school buses (112 to 118 feet) and the height of a six-story building (56 feet), the North American dinosaur was known as “the Earth Quake Lizard” was one of the largest in the world. It’s said to have weighed 50 to 60 tons, eight times the size of an African elephant.

The Sauroposeidon arrived at Kings Island Monday in four shipping containers; a crew of 12 people will spend the next two weeks setting it up.

Other new additions to Dinosaurs Alive! include a pack of Albertosaurus, exploring the idea that they may have hunted in packs.

Kings Island previously announced that a Reds-themed restaurant, the Reds Hall of Fame Grille, will open at the park this season.

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: albertosaurus, animatronic, cedar fair, dinosaurs alive, don helbig, ki, kings island, mason, sauroposeidon

1973: David Cassidy chums it up with a young park patron and Square Bear, a costumed Hanna-Barbera cartoon character, during the filming of the special “Partridge Family” show at Kings Island.

John Kiesewetter reports:

Before the “Brady Bunch” came in 1973, TV’s “Partridge Family” filmed an episode at Kings Island in 1972, the year the park opened, called “I Left My Heart in Cincinnati.”

And you can see it at 10:30 a.m. Monday (March 18) on Antenna TV. (Not sure where or how to get Antenna TV, but I’m confident a reader will post the info in a Facebook message with this post.)

Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Susan Dey, Danny Bonaduce, Alan Bursky and the gang — plus Johnny Bench! — will be seen all over the park. The Partridge cast ride the blue Racer, Grand Carousel merry-go-round, Monster (Octopus), Linus’ Beetle Bugs, Rivertown flume ride and the old antique cars.

You’ll see the Skyride several times, young female KI employees wearing those funky yellow-and-orange caped uniforms, and the Partridge gang dancing on International Street with the Banana Splits characters!

“I Left My Heart in Cincinnati” refers to Keith (David Cassidy) falling in love with an older woman – park PR person Audrey Parson played by Mary Ann Mobely — while doing concerts at KI. Don Helbig, the real KI PR guy, tells me that Bench’s appearance as a waiter(!) on “the “Partridge Family”  was his second TV acting gig, after his debut on “Mission: Impossible.”

Helbig says Kings Island used the “Partridge Family” theme song as a tie-in for the park’s grand opening slogan, “C’mon Get Happy.”

See a 4-minute clip on YouTube here. It’s not the best, and repeats a lot, but still fun to watch. Enjoy!

Posted in: Arts & Entertainment, Kings Island |

Tags: Tags: alan bursky, danny bonaduce, david cassidy, don helbig, i left my heart in cincinnati, johnny bench, kings island, mason, patridge family, shirley jones, susan dey, video