Scooby-Doo (character)

(This article is about the retired meet-and-greet character. You may be looking for the rides, Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle(Boo Blasters on Boo Hill), Scooby's Ghoster Coaster, or the wooden coaster Woodstock Express, which was originally named after the character.)

Scooby-Doo is a former meet-and-greet character at Kings Island. He is one of the most famous characters from Hanna-Barbera's library of cartoons, and was one of the original Hanna-Barbera mascots of the park. He was also the primary inspiration behind multiple rides that formerly existed at the park. Despite the removal of Hanna-Barbera themes to make way for Nickelodeon Universe in 2006, Scooby-Doo's meet-and-greet area, along with Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle, remained in the park. That is, until 2010, when Cedar Fair removed all previous intellectual properties from the park, which meant the 2009 season was the last time Scooby appeared in the park since it first opened.

Background
Scooby-Doo is the pet dog of Norville "Shaggy" Rogers, with the notable ability to speak like a human. He is one of five members of the Mystery Inc. organization in Coolsville, Ohio (Ironic right), dedicated to debunking any criminals that use paranormal activity as a guise for their crimes. Ocassionally though, Scooby and the gang have had to deal with actual monsters, as was the case in Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island.

Scooby-Doo first appeared in the animated TV series ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? ''by Hanna-Barbera on September 9, 1969. Since then, he has appeared in multiple animated series such as The New Scooby-Doo Movies, What's New Scooby-Doo?, and Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated, as well as animated films such as Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, Scooby-Doo and The Witch's Ghost, and Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase. As a result, he is frequently considered to be one of the most iconic cartoon characters of all-time.

Park Appearances
Scooby-Doo sadly no longer makes appearances in the park, but he was a popular meet-and-greet character near his namesake ride, Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle. Occasionally, he was accompanied with fellow Mystery Inc. members Shaggy and Velma. This meet-and-greet section has since been removed, and the nearby ride now features a generic haunted house theme under the name Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. A model of Snoopy's dog house now sits where the former meet-and-greet was located.

Scooby-Doo also used to make appearances in shows when the family area of the park was known as Hanna-Barbera Land, along with many other characters such as Fred Flintstone and Yogi Bear.

Scooby-Doo also either appeared in or had several rides in the park themed after him, including: As with other Hanna-Barbera characters at the time, Scooby-Doo also used to be on various souvenir merchandise throughout the park.
 * Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle (Replaced by Boo Blasters on Boo Hill)
 * Scooby's Ghoster Coaster (Removed in 2005 as part of the Nickelodeon Universe re-theme.)
 * Scooby-Doo (Wooden coaster that has been rethemed numerous times, now known as Woodstock Express.)
 * Enchanted Voyage (Boat ride similar to Disney Parks' It's a Small World, with Hanna-Barbera characters. Operated where Boo-Blasters on Boo Hill now operates.)
 * The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera ​(A motion simulator ride in the former Action Theater. This attraction was originally located at Universal Studios Florida from 1990 - 2002 in the building that currently houses Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem​. The ride was ported to Kings Island and other then-Paramount Parks for the 2006 season for a limited time in honor of Hanna-Barbera co-founder Joseph Barbera, who had passed away previously that year. The preshow lobby played music from the former Enchanted Voyage​.)

During the 2016 season, a sound-clip of Scooby laughing could be heard occasionally at the water-spray carnival game near the Scrambler in the Coney Mall section of the park. The sound clip is no longer played, as the area has since been replaced by the Coney BBQ restaurant.

Trivia

 * Scooby-Doo has been voiced by a number of actors since his debut in 1969, including his original actor Don Messick, Scott Innes, and his current actor Frank Welker, who has also voiced Fred for almost every incarnation of the franchise.
 * Scott Innes, who frequently voiced Scooby and his best friend Shaggy Rogers throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, returned to voice both characters for Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle.
 * It's worth noting that the decision for Paramount to continue operating Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle at the park after retheming Hanna-Barbera Land to Nickelodeon Universe is odd, primarily because Scooby-Doo is arguably the most famous character associated with Nickelodeon's primary business rival, Cartoon Network.
 * It's possible that there were eventually going to be plans to retheme it to a new Nickelodeon-themed ride in the future, but because of the complexity due to being a dark ride, it could not be completed in time for opening, and any future plans to replace it with a Nickelodeon-themed dark ride were cancelled after Paramount Parks was acquired by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.