Do Something About Kings Island's "THE CRYPT"

In 2002, Paramount's Kings Island theme park in Mason, Ohio debuted a one-of-a-kind thrill ride adventure called "Tomb Raider: The Ride." Featuring combinations of a thrill ride aspect as well as Hollywood special effects, the ride was essentially a Giant version of the typical fairgrounds ride, a Top Spin, manufactured by HUSS Rides of Germany.

The ride featured a synchronized soundtrack, a seventy foot tall relief of the Hindu goddess Durga with light up eyes and fire / ice emblems, a volcano stretching up the back wall, a lava pit with fountains which would douse riders, and a field of icicles on the ceiling as well as numerous fog machines and movie lighting fixtures.

Due to upkeep issues, the ride deteriorated. In 2007, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, owners of Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio purchased the park and thus, all movie relations were removed, including anything inside the ride referencing the "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" franchise.

Today, the ride has been renamed "The Crypt." The music score which synchronized to the ride cycle has been replaced with a simple howling wind loop. The lava pits are empty of water, the icicles are gone, and the entire ride takes place in darkness, leaving the goddess unable to be seen.

We, the undersigned, request that Cedar Fair Entertainment Company do something to help this ride, which went from the park's premiere attraction to a simple sideshow attraction in a matter of six years.

In this tumultuous economic time, to demand a return to the Tomb Raider theme and to bring back the old effects is a waste of breath. Cedar Fair is well known for their lack of themeing within rides. Instead, we break it down to the basics. Bring back the props which are already in storage, turn on the fountains by filling the former lava pits with water, and at the very least, add energy and excitement to the ride by installing a musical score.

A similar, outdoor version of the ride was featured at Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. While that ride has also been renamed "The Crypt," it retains the original score that it had when it was "Tomb Raider: Firefall." Installing this score into Kings Island's "The Crypt" would add a necessary element of intrigue to the ride and would have no cost to the park. After all, the same tribal-music score was added to a top spin at another Cedar Fair park, and that ride didn't even have the remnants of the ancient-tomb theme.

Clearly the score utilized in Kings Dominion's "The Crypt" and California's Great America's "FireFall" are inexpensive ways to add interest to the ride, and the score would do wonders for Kings Island's ride, as well.