Eiffel Tower (Six Flags)
The two Eiffel Towers in Six Flags parks—one at Kings Dominion and one at Kings Island—are replicas of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. They each opened with their respective park, the first at Kings Island in 1972 and the second at Kings Dominion in 1975.
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Both structures are one-third scale replicas of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. They were both constructed by then-owner Taft Broadcasting. The tower at Kings Island stands tall, while the tower at Kings Dominion is taller due to an additional antenna structure, standing at. The observation decks of each are at and high. A third observation deck exists at the level on each tower, however both are closed to the public. Two high-speed elevators take guests up to the upper observation decks at a rate of per second. On a clear day guests can see up to out from the upper observation decks.History
Prior to Kings Island's construction from 1970-1972, Taft Broadcasting contemplated building an Eiffel Tower replica at Coney Island in Cincinnati, Ohio. When repeated flooding forced the park's closure, the decision was made to create a new park further inland. The plans for an Eiffel Tower replica at Coney Island were scrapped and reused as the centerpiece for its replacement park, Kings Island.Placed at the end of International Street, the Eiffel Tower was built as the center point for Kings Island and subsequently Kings Dominion as well and can be seen from almost anywhere within either park. It serves a similar purpose to Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, drawing guests' eyes down the street and up along its structure. The towers are popular backdrops for guest photos. For its third park, Canada's Wonderland, Taft Broadcasting chose to construct Wonder Mountain at the west end of International Street instead of building a third replica of the Eiffel Tower.
Despite being located in nearly identically-planned areas of Kings Dominion and Kings Island, the two towers now have drastically different sightlines. In their original 1972 and 1975 iterations, the views along either International Street provided uninterrupted views of the tower. By 1982, both parks began the process of redesigning their International Streets to move their trees closer to the fountains while moving the pathways closer to the buildings. By 2015 these trees had grown to full size, partially obstructing the views of the tower along each street. During the Winter 2018 and early Spring 2019 off-season, Kings Island revitalized their International Street area and replaced its trees, once again allowing uninterrupted views of the Eiffel Tower from anywhere in the entrance area.
Today, guests can still ride an elevator to the top of the Eiffel Tower at Kings Dominion and at Kings Island. During the Halloween season, both parks place large red eyes on one of the upper observation decks. For Kings Island's 2024 Halloween Haunt event the pair of eyes facing International Street were upgraded to blink or look around when activated by guests. Starting in 1982, Kings Island transformed their Eiffel Tower into the world's tallest Christmas Tree using long strands of lights for the park's event. The tradition returned when then-owners Paramount Parks brought the event back in 2005. After another hiatus Kings Island, now owned by Cedar Fair, decorated the Eiffel Tower using programmable light strands that can display custom lighting and image patterns. Kings Dominion decorated their Eiffel Tower for Winterfest from 2017 until 2024, after which that park's Winterfest event was cancelled.