Kings Island Smurf Blue Ice Cream: Cincinnati Soft Serve

 

In 1984, Kings Island amusement park in Ohio was invaded by the Smurfs.  The Smurfs had been around since 1958 in Europe, but they hit America with full force in the eighties thanks to the Hanna Barbera produced TV series in 1981.  The Enchanted Voyage dark ride in the Hanna Barbera section of Kings Island got a Smurf makeover, and special blue Smurf Ice Cream was sold.  By 1991, the Smurfs were evicted.  Eventually, all the Hanna Barbera characters were kicked out of Kings Island.  For a while, the park became Paramount's Kings Island, and Nickelodeon characters took over.  Ultimately, even the Nickelodeon characters were discontinued when Cedar Fair took control of Kings Island, and Snoopy and the Peanuts gang became the mascots for the park.

The Smurfs may be long gone from Kings Island, but their legacy lives on in the form of Blue Ice Cream, which is still sold in the park and is a Kings Island tradition.  I made this Smurf and his namesake Ohio treat using shells and shark teeth I found on the beaches in Venice, Florida.

I grew up in Alabama, but had family in Indianapolis, Indiana.  We visited Kings Island in 1988 and I got to experience Smurfs Enchanted Voyage in all its smurfy splendor.  Unfortunately, it rained all day when we visited, and none of us were in the mood to try the signature ice cream.

Retro Kings Island: The Bat Came Back

In the amusement industry, sometimes a brief operating lifespan doesn't mean the ride is over.  The Bat was an Arrow Development suspended steel roller coaster that operated at Kings Island in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1981 to 1983.

The Bat was among the first of its kind, and a very popular ride.  There was an animated commercial promoting The Bat, plus a line of souvenir merchandise.

A Mason Jar Thing of The Bat at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio

Technical difficulties plagued the coaster, which led to an early closure.  Which also led to lots of rumors and urban legends, fueling The Bat's fame and keeping it in peoples' memories.  The Vortex roller coaster took over the site that had been home to The Bat (some elements of the old ride, like the load station, remain).

By 1993, Arrow had figured out how to build a suspended steel coaster, and teamed up with Kings Island to try it again.  By this time, Kings Island had a new owner (and the park was renamed Paramount's Kings Island--- really rolls off the tongue) and the new ride was themed to the film Top Gun.

The Bat Frisbee Comes Back To You When You Throw It

When Paramount sold Kings Island to Cedar Fair, the Top Gun theme had to be removed.  So Top Gun became Flight Deck in 2008.  For 2014, Cedar Fair did something that honored the history of Kings Island: they renamed Flight Deck to The Bat.

Cedar Fair totally redesigned the logo for The Bat, so this particular blood-sucker remains retired.

Scooby Doo, Where Were You? Kings Island In Ohio!

Even though I grew up in the south, I am familiar with the Kings Island theme park in Ohio. I had neighbors with relatives in Cincinnati. I also have family in Indiana (home to many Kings Island visitors) so I have been to the park a couple of times.

In the summer of 1988, I got to visit Kings Island on a rainy day. We had a great time! I bought a gigantic park map in one of the gift shops. Somehow it survived the storm.

The park has changed dramatically since my 1988 visit. Like so many theme parks, Kings Island used to have a Safari ride (a monorail through the Wild Animal Habitat).

You don't have to go to France to see the Eiffel Tower. You can drive to Cincinnati to see it. Well, a smaller version of it.

The famous tower has been the icon of Kings Island since the park opened in 1972.

The park also had Hanna-Barbera Land, home to Scooby Doo, The Flintstones, The Jetsons and some characters you may not have heard of, like The Banana Splits.

I still remember that our car was parked at Astro, Row 4 (Astro is the family dog on Hanna Barbera's animated TV series, The Jetsons).

Judging from the souvenirs that were available at the time, Scooby Doo seemed to be the most popular Hanna Barbera character at Kings Island. Hanna Barbera even tried to copy themselves to top him.

Clue Club was one of many Hanna Barbera-created Scooby Doo clones in the 1970s.

In addition to the rides, Kings Island had a few shows. I'm guessing the mime could be found by the Eiffel Tower.

Were the dolphins relocated during the winter? I can't imagine them liking Ohio in December.

In addition to the awesome 80s performances, visitors could meet the Smurfs.

I regret not seeing Hanna Barbera's Hollywood, which was a marionette show of some kind.

I bought a small Scooby Doo plush at the Hanna Barbera Fun Shop.

Of all the Hanna Barbera character merchandise I could have picked up at Kings Island in 1988 (they had Grape Ape stuff!) I wound up concentrating on the one Hanna Barbera character that lasted the longest at Kings Island.

I also made sure to get a Scooby Doo plastic drink container souvenir at Kings Island. I can't remember what the beverage was.

They also had Fred Flintstone for sale.

I had bought this Scrappy Doo button before I finally found a Scooby Doo one before I left the park for the day.

For the 2002 live action Warner Brothers Scooby Doo movie, Scrappy was the unmasked villain. I thought that was pretty clever and funny.

These buttons cost 89 cents back then.

I'm pretty sure they had buttons with The Flintstones and Yogi Bear, too.

While in Hanna Barbera Land, I made sure to ride the Smurf's Enchanted Voyage Ride. In front of this boat ride, you could find a Scooby Doo statue. I decided to make myself and my two cousins cartoon ghosts for this story. I'm the green ghost in this picture.

When Kings Island first opened, this boat ride was called Enchanted Voyage, and featured all sorts of Hanna Barbera characters. The attraction was changed to a Smurf ride in 1982. For the 1992 season, the old ride was demolished and a new (dry) omnimover dark ride called Phantom Theater debuted here. In 2003, the attraction became an interactive ghost-blaster ride called Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle. For 2010, the Scooby Doo characters were dropped and the ride became Boo Blasters on Boo Hill.

For more of my Smurfs ride visit, check out It's a Smurfy World After All: Smurf's Enchanted Voyage Ride.

I also enjoyed the Ferris Wheel in the Oktoberfest section.

I think I found that Scooby Doo plastic drink container near this ride. I do remember that the beverage in the Scooby container was not beer.

I enjoyed Shake, Rattle and Roll, even in the rain.

I love roller coasters now, but I was too chicken to ride the Vortex back then.

Since it was raining already, it was a good time to ride White Water Canyon.

These orange ponchos were everywhere that day! We did not get one.

The newest ride at Kings Island was Amazon Falls, located near the Wild Animal Habitat.

This ride is a bit different from the similar Splashwater Falls attraction I grew up with at Six Flags Over Georgia.

Yes, Kings Island had penguins!

I bet these guys did not mind Ohio's winters.

Are we in the DreamWorks movie Madagascar? Nope, we are still at Kings Island.

This lemur has a tiny baby.

Don't be frightened child, they're only humans!

I'm guessing these animals had to be relocated in the cold winter months. Where did they go?

The snow leopards probably would have been alright.

A limited number of animals were on display for everyone. To see the rest of them, you could take an up-charge monorail ride through the Safari. Luckily, we got to do this! This was our last ride of the day.

Are we in Africa? No, we are in Ohio, without a doubt!

I really enjoyed this ride. I think it was air conditioned. And we got away from the rain.

This was a great shot!

The monorails got pretty close to many of the animals.

I remember being able to see a rhino from the queue line of the Racer roller coaster.

Did Hanna Barbera ever have a Rhino character? They should have.

The Wild Animal Habitat was rather large.

This land was later used to expand the park's collection of roller coasters.

Let's sing: "Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play."

"Then tear it down, and build a Top Gun roller coaster there."

In 1992, Kings Island, Great America, Carowinds, and Kings Dominion theme parks were bought by Paramount.

Paramount and Kings Island actually had a past. Kings Island was featured in a 1973 episode of Paramount's TV show, "The Brady Bunch." Jan caused an uproar when she switched Mike Brady's architectural theme park expansion plans for a Yogi Bear poster. Oh, Jan! Marcia would never have done something like that.

The Paramount switch meant some big changes for Kings Island and its sister parks. The biggest threat for Hanna Barbera was the arrival of Nickelodeon characters.

Hanna Barbera Land got some Nickelodeon subdivisions, and the entire park started seeing rides with movie themes.

I can remember hearing the slogan, "You're gonna be smilin' at Paramount's Kings Island!"

I thought the new name was a bit awkward. I'm glad we didn't see something like "Warner Brothers Presents Six Flags Over Georgia" in response.

By my visit in 1995, Hanna Barbera characters were tough to find at Paramount's Kings Island.

I did find this pin featuring A Pup Named Scooby Doo.

Mixed in with many of the existing Hanna Barbera Land components were Nickelodeon elements like a Green Slime fountain.

By 1995, it was clear that the Hanna Barbera characters were living on borrowed time at Kings Island.

A Pup Named Scooby Doo was a fun new twist on the characters.

This series parodied the Scooby Doo formula.

The Nickelodeon brand eventually took over Hanna Barbera Land, leaving only the Scooby Doo dark ride as a reminder of the past.

When Cedar Fair bought the Paramount Parks in 2006, everything changed.

In 2010, another cartoon canine emerged as the Top Dog of the theme park world. True to the expression "Dog Eat Dog," Snoopy took down Scooby Doo and the Nickelodeon characters and claimed the former Hanna Barbera Land at Kings Island as Planet Snoopy. The former King Mills Log Flume is now called Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown (based on the 1977 Peanuts film).

Snoopy first became a theme park mascot in 1983 at Knott's Berry Farm theme park in Buena Park, California (where he hosts his own land, Camp Snoopy). In 1992, Knott's opened a Camp Snoopy theme park in the Mall of America in Minnesota, which was ironically replaced by Nickelodeon Universe in 2008.

In 1997, the Cedar Fair theme park chain (owners of the popular Cedar Point theme park in Sandusky, Ohio) bought Knott's Berry Farm and inherited Snoopy as a mascot for their parks.

With Cedar Fair's purchase of the Paramount Parks, all of the Nickelodeon/Hanna Barbera sections were re-themed to the Peanuts characters.

Snoopy may now be in more theme parks than any other cartoon character.

The Peanuts gang can also be found at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, where they have their own section called Snoopy's Playland.

Snoopy even has a past with Walt Disney World in Florida! The MetLife-sponsored Wonders of Life Pavilion at Epcot featured the Peanuts characters in its 1989 opening promotional materials.

Inspired by the Kings Island story, I bring you (in time for Halloween) my idea for Snoopy Doo And The Great Pumpkin. Schroeder is now dating The Little Red Haired Girl. The Pumpkin Patch that Linus, Snoopy and the rest of the kids visit is being terrorized by The Great Pumpkin. Luckily, Marcie is around to help solve the mystery.

Charlie Brown and Lucy put their differences aside to form an alliance and split up the romance between Schroeder and the Little Red Haired Girl. As a bonus, Lucy got to terrorize her brother, and Charlie Brown got to scare his defiant dog. Charlie Brown and Lucy would have gotten way with it, if it had not been for those meddling kids and Snoopy-Dooby Doo!

Happy Halloween!

Shamu And The Animated Sea World Crew

Sea World Parks are famous for their live animal displays and shows, but Shamu the killer whale and his friends have been appearing as cartoon characters for many years.  Pat Paris Productions gave the sea life of Sea World new life as colorful mascots.  These characters welcomed visitors to Sea World parks in California, Florida, Ohio, and Texas.  From the left, there's Dolly Dolphin, Cap'n Kid (with Chester Parrot), O.P. Otter, Shamu the killer whale, Sir Winston Walrus, Virgil Pelican, Pete and Penny Penguin, and Seamore Sea Lion.

I found this great stamp activity book (from 1983) at a half-price book store many years ago.

Here's one of the lesser-known Sea World characters, Oscar Octopus.

At the same book store (which was nowhere near a Sea World) I found a 1983 coloring book, too!

In this book, Shamu and the crew look for a treasure, with the help of Oscar Octopus

This cracks me up!  "Everyone loves Shamu the killer whale!"  Ha ha!  Kids also love to play with their friend, Stingy the killer bee.

Before Honey Boo Boo, Sugar Bear was the mascot for Post Super Golden Crisp cereal.

 Shamu leaps onto boxes of Post Super Golden Crisp with Sugar Bear in 1987!

A Sea World Poster and a chance to win a trip to Sea World in California?  I had to get this cereal!

More great illustrated sea life!  The entry form is still here, so I guess I did not enter the contest--what was I thinking?

This picture of an animated Shamu show is from a Sea World souvenir book I got at the park in Orlando in 1987.  I never saw this show anywhere, and wondered about it for years.  Thanks to theme park historian and artist Christopher Merritt, I now know that this small show was part of the Hawaiian Punch Village at Sea World in San Diego, California.  There's Punchy and Oaf (the pudgy tourist that Punchy would famously punch--"How'd you like a nice Hawaiian Punch?") performing with Shamu!

A show that I did see at Sea World in Orlando in 1987 was "Undersea Fantasy."  This indoor, multi-media show featured actors, puppets and animatronics with film footage.  The costumes of Sir Winston Walrus, O.P. Otter and Arthur C. Turtle had moving mouths.  They sang all sorts of songs, including one about coral, and a song called "Do the Swim."

 Sea World Fish was a version of the card game "Go Fish."  I don't have this game, but somehow I managed to get a few of the cards.

It's PVSea World!  PVC figures of Shamu and his crew debuted in 1988.  The figures of Shamu, Dolly Dolphin and Penny Penguin were also released as part of a regional McDonald's Happy Meal promotion for Sea World Ohio (the Ohio park was later sold to Six Flags and re-themed).

This Shamu puppet I got on my one and only visit to Sea World in 1987 (we got a multi-day pass on this trip, so I think I was at the park for 3 or 4 days on that visit, due to my fascination with marine life) still has his tag!  The puppets were $5 each, which was a lot of money then!

I also got a Dolly Dolphin puppet.  Shamu and Dolly both have squeakers in their mouths, and were made in Taiwan.  On this trip, I also got a woven patch featuring Seamore Sea Lion.

This postcard I got in 2004 features the walk-around Sea World mascots.  New characters have been introduced, including a Manatee (I don't know his name, but this would have been my favorite as a kid), Sydney Shark and Shivers the Polar Bear.  Cap'n Kid and Chester Parrot seem to have been dropped from the cast.  Seamore Sea Lion's brother, Clyde, and Arthur C. Turtle are also seen here.  I have to say, I prefer the old Sea World logo!

These days, Sea World's marine life mascots share their home with the monsters and colorful creatures from Sesame Street.