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Imagine what any movie studio executive would think after touring Disneyland or Universal Studios Florida. They would be absolutely speechless at the pleasant and smart blending of media; movies brought to life; gift shops packed with memorabilia; families building concrete connections to corporate brands!

And better yet, the “studio” style parks coming online during the 1980s and 1990s (Disney’s Hollywood Studios [1989], Universal Studios Florida [1990], Warner Bros. Movie World [1991], and MGM Grand Adventures [1993]) proved that such enterprises could also be cheap. Under the guise of visiting a “real” movie studio, big, boxy, tan showbuildings and façade-lined streets could populate these parks. Owning a theme park no longer required the detail and immersion of Magic Kingdom. Instead, anyone could place a movie’s name on pretty much anything.

Paramount Parks

In 1992, Paramount Communications Inc. set their sights on the theme park business. But rather than trying to rival Disney or Universal in scope, Paramount had other plans. Paramount wouldn't waste time and energy building their own parks from scratch in built-out destinations like California and Florida. Instead, they'd purchase already-successful regional parks and re-brand them. These Paramount Parks could add just a dash of movie magic to compete with other regional parks like Cedar Point and Six Flags. It was perfect. Now, Paramount just needed to find some parks for sale.

Luckily, the Kings Entertainment Company (internally bought and separated from Taft in 1984) was willing to part with theirs. Five of the parks owned by KECO were taken over and re-branded:

  • Paramount’s Kings Island (near Cincinnati, Ohio)
  • Paramount’s Kings Dominion (near Richmond, Virginia)
  • Paramount’s Carowinds (near Charlotte, North Carolina)
  • Paramount’s Great America (in Santa Clara, California)
  • Paramount Canada’s Wonderland (in Vaughan, Ontario)

Now supercharged with access to the licensing catalogue of Paramount Pictures, Kings Island and its sister parks would enter their next era. For better or worse, Paramount’s cinematic branding kicked in from the start.

Lights, cameras, action

What difference would Paramount's new ownership make? Take for example the first addition to Kings Island post-Paramount takeover: a suspended, swinging coaster (in the same coaster family as another Lost Legend: Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens in Virginia) set along the forested hills and ravines of the park.

Top Gun Kings Island
Image: Paramount Pictures

The 1993 opening of the ride introduced some entry-level atmosphere and theming. The attraction opened with a steaming aircraft carrier station, "Danger Zone" soundtrack, and bright red stripes fitting the new, cinematic name, Top Gun: The Jet Coaster.

In 1999, the themed land Top Gun was placed in was reimagined from scratch around it. The PARAMOUNT ACTION ZONE was born, ostensibly themed to a bright, loud, sparse Hollywood backlot where you became the star.

Aside from impromptu stunt shows and action film demonstrations around its central studio-water-tower plaza, the land initially featured two new rides in an all-at-once cinematic expansion: FACE/OFF (an inverted boomerang coaster wherein riders were positioned forward-backward-forward-backward to stare into the eyes of fellow thrillseekers), and the record-breaking DROP ZONE: Stunt Tower, casting riders as extras in a freefall stunt.

And they still weren't done! Remember The Beast, terrorizingly the woods outside of Rivertown since 1979?

Image: Chris Hagerman (license)

In true cinematic fashion, Paramount decided that what any '70s horror-camp-classic  needs is a loud, brash, big-budget sequel. So in 2000, Paramount Action Zone became home to SON OF BEAST – the tallest, fastest, second-longest (leaving the record to its father) and only looping wooden roller coaster on Earth. (Son of Beast was like many sequels: a critical and commercial flop. The astounding engineering marvel lasted less than a decade before closing for good, earning its own in-depth Lost Legends: Son of Beast feature here.)

Son of Beast might not have made many fans, but Paramount’s cinematic style would come to a head in the park’s addition for 2002… Something mysterious.

Lara Croft: Blockbuster

Image: Paramount Pictures

In 2001, Paramount Pictures released Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, drawn straight from the pixelated world of 1996's Tomb Raider video game series. To be sure, the film performed pretty disastrously with critics. But it did have something going for it: chiefly, Angelina Jolie. Then a little-known actress, Tomb Raider launched Jolie into stardom.

If you can believe it, there hadn't been a genuine female-led summer blockbuster since 1979's Alien over two decades earlier, and Jolie's headlining debut in Tomb Raider shattered box office records for both female-led action films and big screen video game adaptations. The film earned nearly $300 million, and Paramount moved to fast-track both the 2003 sequel (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – Cradle of Life), and a presence in its biggest marketing opportunity: its theme parks.

And why not? It stood to reason that Tomb Raider might just be Paramount's modern equivalent of Indiana Jones – an endlessly entertaining, adventurous, globe-trotting film series that could see Jolie's Lara Croft encounter ancient curses, forbidden temples, and lost treasures around the globe. And in 2001, Paramount's Kings Island imported the multi-armed warrior goddess Brahma from the film, positioning it before the Royal Fountains to announce their new, epic attraction for 2002...

The legend arises...

In the park’s forested Rivertown, near the quaint entrance to the legendary Beast, Paramount’s Kings Island would open a “totally immersive dark ride adventure” called TOMB RAIDER: The Ride.

But if you asked Kings Island guests, industry observers, or Kings Island message boards, you wouldn’t find anyone who knew exactly what TOMB RAIDER: The Ride was or what it would do. Constructed in complete secrecy inside of a towering show building, imaginations ran rampant…

A few scattered pieces of concept art seemed like lofty goals for a simple, seasonal park in Ohio while simultaneously revealing nothing of the ride's nature. But if Paramount’s Kings Island were willing to invest $20 million – the price tag of a shiny, new 200-foot roller coaster – then they must be confident that TOMB RAIDER would wow audiences... And most importantly, that those audiences would get in line without knowing (or maybe, because they didn't know) what TOMB RAIDER even was. 

So what on Earth did visitors find when they stepped into the ancient stone cavern that had emerged in Rivertown in 2002? Read on as we step inside... 

 
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Comments

I rode Tomb Raider the year it opened And had no ide whatsoever what type of ride it was as they did a great job keeping it secret

Too bad as my stomach would have liked to know that it was the type of ride it was

While I didn't throw up on the ride, while
I was suspended over the fake fire and ice that was definitely not helping matters, in all rides I've ridden over the years, I couldn't wait to get off of it

The worst, I did throw up on one of the parks mildest rides which I rode next with my daughter - The Scooby Do sky Coaster

Not my best park experience

And that's why I will never ride a ride unless I know what it's about and what it does

Lived in the Greater Cincinnati area most of my life. My husband and I went to Kings Island numerous times and I loved the Racer. But after I got pregnant for the first time, I couldn't seem to bring myself to get back on roller coasters. My husband told me I would love the Bat because it was different and I passed out briefly twice and said never again. When Tomb Raider opened I thought I would try it and although a little rough, I loved it. The years passed and my kids graduated to the big coasters and I just sat and people watched. Then the changes started to mu beloved Tomb Raider. I would have booed the Crypt too if I ever got on it. My kids had warned me it wasn't worth riding anymore. Very sad. Now I have a Granddaughter to take to KI and buy blue ice cream for and make new memories. RIP Tomb Raider.

Thank you for this explanation and for the one about the Son of Beast! I grew up in Indiana going to Kings Island every summer from 1978 - 1991. I remember my brothers freaking out over the Beast and how excited I was when I was finally old enough to ride it! I rode the Screaming Demon, the King Cobra, and the Bat. My last visit was in 1995. Then while I was off at college I just didn't go opting to visit other parks. Then a move to Tennessee put a stop to the desire to go back. I heard all about the Son of Beast, but never got to ride it. I didn't hear about Tomb Raider though. Last summer I took my kids to Kings Island so they could ride my all time favorite coaster - The Beast. While we were there, we passed the entrance to Tomb Raider and thought it was part of the Halloween show. I kept looking at it trying to figure out what it was. This was very informational in helping me solve a minor mystery. I did point out the Son of Beast tomb stone to the kids while we were at Banshee. And of course I had to fill them in on where the Bat, the Cobra, and the Demon used to be as well as my memories of the Vortex opening (because 6 inversions was unheard of at that time!) and Top Gun. I'd also like to point out that one of my issues with Paramount owning KI was the ridiculous people walking around trying to pass themselves off as Star Trek characters. I am a HUGE Star Trek fan, so I thought I would like this. Nope. It was like they stuck people in a costume, gave them a set script, and sent them out. No one was a specific character - like Spock. They were just random vulcans. I remember talking to one Vulcan who literally sounded like a robot. Unemotional doesn't mean robotic. The Klingons just kind of grunted and snarled at people. It was like there were trying way too hard to be Disney. And now that's I've visited the same areas without the movie marketing...the names of the rides are just stupid! Flight Deck??? Really? So really, thank you for this amazing history lesson!

Once again, to see something clearly so amazing fail is very heartbreaking. i can tell it was a wonderful ride, and I would've loved it, but unfortunately, people don't think, and when they do, it's cheap, badly made knock-offs. I hope they bring it back too, because this ride has more of what I thought the Indianna Jones ride would in Disneyland. Needless to say, the wait, plus the mechanical issues, and the too fast pace made the ride much more unexciting and boring than described in an article I read before going to Disneyland about the ride.

Great read. While TR was very unique-it was not universally embraced, esp. by long time fans of the park. The mention of big, generic 'studio' looking buildings/rides upon Paramount's takeover couldn't be more accurate-and it kinda sucked. The whole 'action lot' area is to this day incredibly boring. In the 70s and 80s, KI brimmed with atmosphere and theming. Every 'world' in the park had its own unique feel, sights, sounds, and smells. When paramount took over it was as if none of that mattered anymore. The omnipresent peddling of movies-along with annoying TVs in all the queue lines-made many of us feel that our favorite place had turned into one big commercial. A lot of the magic was gone.

TR was different and admittedly pretty cool. But at the same time it felt like a waste of resources on glitz over substance. After the mixed reception of SoB, what we really wanted was a modern, big, fast, sit-down steel coaster.

While the shoddy de-branding by CF was awkward at times, at least they got back to the business of installing serious coasters. IMHO getting Paramount out of there saved the park.

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