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most likely the brake run

I am one of those seasonal jobs that is affected by this decision (though my direct report boss still says he wants me back next year, though not sure in what capacity since I was a rides manager?). I still have a very bad feeling. Almost a kicked in the gut feeling. Coney was my first job and I loved going into work there. It was more than just a job, it was my passion. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and had hoped to take my two young kids there for years to come. It definitely had its niche market. Yes, weekdays were not super busy, but the crowds still would show up for Balloon glow, and group picnics. The person that started the petition is Mark Bailey, who is a former rides operator and fellow rides manager at Coney. He also has a background in architecture like me. I was concerned at the beginning of the season when the weekday rides hours were reduced and Round Up was removed. I hope that they have a vision and that their plan is successful. I respectfully disagree with the direction they are going in. I think lack of investment on the rides side hurt badly. The last new attractions that were added were Top Spin and Fender Bender in 2015.

LMAO at 0:57 there is a shirtless guy in the front row rubbing his nipples.

Speaking of quotes from this thread that aged like milk...

Yeah they are putting together the transfer track.

According to the documentary, they did it like that with Fury. The erecting company said it took 3 weeks to get enough track on site to start working on the lift hill. At one point it required 7 cranes at once to assemble the lift hill.

Lmao! That is funny!!!!!!! I need to ride it. Looks like it turns you on

I doubt it they don’t have the budget for it. Just kidding... I had to do it. I hope so they make a documentary for so many rides I would assume they would for Orion.

That's exactly what it is.

My question is: since the station piece and transfer piece is up, what part of the ride will they begin putting together next?

Its up!

Transfer track going up!

They're lifting the piece of transfer track into place!!!

To be honest, if KI was wanting to add a classic flat package like Carowinds added a few years ago, I would opt for a Music Express over Flying Bobs. I still think that Kings Island could use a Music Express and a classic Tilt type ride. There are quite a few places that they could fit in nicely at the park.

I wonder if someone will do a documentary on Orion

This one is my favorite

Here's a nice video on the making of Fury 325!

Well we expect something like 'Clifford the Big Red Crane' for the upper lifts of the ride track.

They don’t usually retract cranes at the end of the day. They are designed to hold the pressure even when the crane is off. If you come in the next day and the boom has retracted or dropped, you know there is a problem already. The only times they put stuff down is when high winds or severe storms could be coming through. The bigger the crane, the more it takes to get the boom up and down. Straight out horizontal is the most stress and bend you can get in a crane. Aerial fire trucks are essentially built the same way as cranes, just designed for people.

I still think they will make a documentary about Orion because people had been dreaming for a giga for Kings Island for a while, and they had such a big teaser campaign. Also it will still be a massive coaster.

I am thinking the storage shed track will be next then work back with the turn into the statin and break run.

Do they keep that machine on-site? I'm guessing it's shared and moves around?

It looks like they're about to assemble the turnaround track now.

From the looks of it, it looks like a powered car to find any imperfections in the track, but I may be completely wrong.

Transfer track is in place!! https://www.visitkingsisland.com/explore/live-video

I'm thinking they will assemble the turn into the station first, then the brake run. Did they do that with Fury or Leviathan?

Looks like they are moving even more track.

Looks like they are about to put the track in place

Round up would fit well in area 72

Hopefully their plans change. I'm sure a lot of it depends on the price and condition of the rides but the Tilt-a-whirl and Flying Bobs would both fill nice holes in KI's flats lineup.

Dust for sure. It happens all day long when something passes by.

So. Just curious, how manny different cranes were used to assemble DB and Fury?

Did anyone else see smoke coming from the transfer station? Maybe it was dust from a car driving by or something but looked like smoke..

They've added something to it for sure. That makes more sense than what I thought (that they had wrapped it in something)

It seems to me that they attached catwalks to that piece of track laying on the ground.

Agree. It’s a lazy way to theme something. I thought the White Christmas Express was a great idea during WF2005. It could’ve used a bit more ummmpf but would love to see them build on that idea. The 12 days things could maybe be a big walkthrough along “winter fest way” and move the stained glass stuff to a different location.

That is a good point about the flooding at Coney. A really nice, big and exciting place was built in Mason due a lot to that very issue. It's too bad some type of flood wall system around the area of the park couldn't be created...not sure if there are any flood walls close to the park.. Maybe some of you all know more about this? I truly hoped one day we'd see another smaller, but amazing coaster installed there. I remember seeing something on here in the past about that and a coaster going along Lake Como. That would have been amazing and maybe that would have generated more revenue on the rides side...maybe, but we'll never know. As a guy who had the pleasure of visiting Lesourdesville Lake/Americana a bunch and sincerely loving every second of those visits ( miss the Screechin Eagle so much!), this is as sad to lose a part of Cincinnati amusement park history again. Reminds me of how I felt when KI lost the Eagles...luckily, I had the pleasure of finally embracing my love for snapping them this summer at Carowinds...that was a good day!

:/

I guess I misplaced the Musik Express from another park. I guess Flying Bobs and maybe Tilt-a-Whirl would be the only real options for KI. Maybe they would want the Round Up if it's in storage, but I doubt it. Flying Bobs is a fun flat though. I'm sure they could find somewhere to put it in the Coney Mall.

Petition to save the rides made the news: https://www.wlwt.com/article/local-man-starts-petition-to-stop-coney-island-officials-from-removing-amusement-park-rides/28987352

Yeah they do.......Racer is credited with the revival of modern roller coaster interest and Vortex is a classic coaster.

I think this is just poor decision making across the board. Someone doesn’t know how to really analyze data. You fudge the data to say what you want or actually take it at face value for the information it provides. They also stated that the deep end of the pool is the least used. Does that have anything to do with them removing the diving boards and putting in a separate pool for just those? They can’t build a waterpark in an instant. If they think they can they are already fooling themselves. I’m guessing they’ll be belly-up in 1-2 years, because this isn’t going to help the bottom line.

More details released about the 5 new attractions. https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2019/september/5-new-attractions-added-to-kings-island’s-halloween-haunt I'm guessing Drums of the Dead will take the cake as the best new attraction this year. They've told people it'll be bigger and better than Blood Drums. Blood Drums had an excellent year last year. If they can top it this year then go for it!

I have mixed feelings about an LED upgrade on Monster. If they can't get LED bulbs in the same shape and color like it has now, it might take away from the look of the ride.

Just drove past csf and there are only about 9 pieces of track visible at the plant, that counts the 4 pieces on the two trailers

^ Orion's lift hill should be approximately 3.25X the height of The Racer's lift hills. According to Wikipedia (I know, I know), Flight of Fear's main building is 110 feet tall, so Orion should appear 2.6 times taller than it. This is probably pretty close.

So I played around with an elevation finder site (not sure how accurate it is), and I got the following sea level elevations for various locations in the park: Eiffel Tower: 751.3 feet Orion Station: 738.2 feet (I believe the blueprints said 740? So very close..) Directly below Orion lift hill: 728.3 feet Directly below Diamondback lift hill: 754.6 feet So with Diamondback's lift hill (230 feet) sitting on ground 26 feet taller than Orion's (287 feet tall), Orion should "appear" to be about 31 feet taller than Diamondback from somewhere such as the Eiffel Tower's observation deck. It should be fairly noticeable, but not a huge difference. Or another way to put it: From the top of Diamondback's lift hill, looking straight over to Orion's lift hill, Orion should appear 31 feet taller.

Agreed its going to look a lot taller imo.