Well, while the off season is quickly coming to a close for you guys as Six Flags Great Adventure gets ready to open, us folks down here in Cincinnati who have Kings Island as a home park still have a week and 4 days to go until opening day. So what is there to do in Cincinnati to waste away the off-season and get your amusement fix? Well if you can't get down to Disney or out to California you can go to the small theme parks in the mall or visit one of our other pretty good tourist attractions in the area. On my Spring Break, craving some kind of amusement fix, I decided to visit some Kings Island history and the Cincinnati Zoo:
Driving home from school along Interstate 71 allowed me some time to stop by Kings Island's METRO bus stop to snag a few photos of the park landmark Eifel Tower as the sun started going down:
As of the time I'm writing this, it's only 18 days, 7 hours, 14 minutes, and 45 seconds until I get to have a great adventure at this Island.
So I drove home after taking some shots of Kings Island from a nearby gas station with the new camera. About 10 minutes from my parents house is Jungle Jim's International Market. (
www.junglejims.com) This massive jungle and wildlife themed grocery store is known nationwide for being a "shopping experience." The park has animatronics, bumper cars, and other historic remnants from many Cincinnati area amusement parks like Americana, Coney Island, and Kings Island. The best known piece in their collection is the monorail they are currently building, the cars of which came from Kings Island who operated the "Lion Country Safari" from 1972 until 1993 I believe. Anxious to see their progress (they have been building slowly since 1999 *rolls eyes*) I stopped by before going home:
-How the safari looked when it used to run at Kings Island.
-These cars, which formerly ran at Kings Island, await future use at Jungle Jim's International Market.
-You can see where they have added track and where some track still needs to go. They built this building in 1999, finally started erecting track in early 2005, and as of 2008 have stated: "we hope to have it up and running by late summer 2008."
The next day:
Dane Thomas (webmaster of
www.kicentral.com) and I decided to visit the Cincinnati Zoo, which was open, since Kings Island was not, nor was Great Adventure :p
I hadn't been since I was 12 years old, used to go a lot with the family before "Kings Island was our thing" as the kids got older.
-Admission sign for the Cincy zoo. I guess you get better with age?
We started the day off by viewing some of the wildlife. In 2009 the zoo will offer an all new Giraffe exhibit, currently their Giraffes are chilling with their homies over at the San Francisco and Columbus zoo's until they get a new crib here in Cincinnati. The Cincy zoo is the second oldest zoo in the country, right behind the San Francisco zoo. Last year it was ranked as the second best zoo in the country, right behind the San Francisco zoo.
-Elk type thing.
-Baby Elk Type thing.
-The Cincinnati Zoo is well known for and highly regarded for it's Sumatran Rhino breeding program and was the first zoo to breed a Rhino in captivity.
-Since I hadn't been in years I forgot how elaborate the elephant set up at the zoo was. Last time I went the zoo's main attraction was their elephant breeding program and the elephants they were able to breed in captivity.
-These monkey's live on an island in the center of the zoo.
-Neat member of the cat family.
-One of the zoo's apes named "Michael Davidson."
After viewing the ape display we visited the reptile house. I didn't stay in there long as I absolutely hate snakes and really don't care to photograph them even if they are behind glass, so we'll just leave that part alone.
New for 2008 at the zoo is their all new iWerks 4d theatre. Which show's two movies at various times:
-Spongebob Squarepants 3d
-A BBC made wildlife movie.
Yes, it shows the same Spongebob movie that Great Adventure and other Six Flags parks have shown in the past and the one Kings Island has been playing since 2003 (Although Kings Island only has 3d effects.)
-In stark comparison to Kings Island, the picture here is VERY clear (yes, I know, its new.) The 3d glasses here were much more durable. The movie was really good except for the way they use the 4d effects to simulate the snakes....I hate snakes. Very, very cool attraction worth the price, and something new at the zoo. I was impressed.
-Lioness.
This was ok on the KIC forums, and I think everyone can be mature about this...but all the Zebra did was walk out, then...
...then go back inside.
-I always got the impression that Flamingo's were not very friendly creatures, and their fighting with each other and obvious negative attitude shown in this picture didn't do much to improve my opinion of them. Flamingo's....you're right up there with snakes.
-As Kings Island's prices rise in admission, food, and other aspects, I think more and more families are realizing the zoo's decent prices and how it is a good, fun place to take kids.
-Also new for 2008: An exhibition on the Cincinnati common urban squirrel.
...not really.
-One too many...
-Scary statue in front of the "Wings of Wonder" sanctuary.
-Inside said sanctuary.
-No, that is not mustard. Yes, that is what you think it is.
-One of the most unique things about the zoo is the peacocks. They just wander wherever they want. On the midways, on the tables, in the parking lot, wherever they wanna go. Completely friendly to the visitors. Except for one...
-This peacock was kind enough to sit on our table as Dane and I enjoyed some of Cincinnati's own Skyline Chili.
Then this peacock came...and started making noises, and pecking at us, and just being an all around jerk...
After that we had seen pretty much all the zoo had to offer that day, spend more time than I thought I would there, about 4 hours honest. Was very impressed with the zoo and can't wait to go back this summer.
After that we went down to the river front to see how bad the flooding was....not too bad...
The rest of break was filled with rain, cold weather, and no amusement parks of any kind. Can't wait for the regular season to roll around.
Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!
Topic: Hello from the Cincinnati area. (Read 1923 times)