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Here ya go!

They're two completely different coasters so it seems kinda dumb to compare them. I305 is low to the ground where Orion will have taller elements. That's like comparing Mystic Timbers to El Toro.

I'm excited to see what changes happen to Orion next offseason after it's discovered the ride was poorly designed!

I wonder why.... hahaha

Isn't this contradictory?

I have a feeling that coaster stats =/= ride experience, especially with this one. I think that wave turn out of the first drop will be nuts and the whole ride will be fast and forceful with plenty of elements that KI hasn't seen before.

I'd like to see a documentary on every ride at KI, those old, new, and long gone. They're all worthy.

Kentucky Wildcat fans, check out Chad's recent tweet!

I don't think anyone is going to notice an 18' difference. A 305' hill and a 287' hill are going to look nearly identical to the naked eye. Seeing the two numbers typed out, side by side, is the only reason, imo, some folks are thinking Orion is going to be the inferior ride. I believe this will be a world class ride experience that I can't wait for

Here you go!

Agreed. I think that wave turn on Orion will be just as exhilarating, if not more so than the zero-G roll on Banshee.

Orion to me looks like a mix of Fury and Leviathan, but more closer to Leviathan than Fury. So I think it's better to compare this to Leviathan.

Son of Beast is still in there and Invertigo is still ugly.

Really hoping we get some more track up today. It looks like they are already super-busy this morning. Is the user that used to do the Banshee track/support graphic updates still here at the site? I used to love those. Wish we had something like this for Orion. Looks like the user was @davidw

This is slightly off topic, but... speaking of documentaries, you should check out Expedition Theme Park’s video series on flying coasters. The first video was about the first flyer at Granada Studios and the Vekoma Flying Dutchman and the second is about Zamperla’s attempt at a flying coaster. The last in the three part series may be about the B&M flyers, as alluded to at the end of the Zamperla video. More on topic, according to RCDB, Orion will still be one of the fastest coasters in North America. Also, it blows my mind that Fury goes 95 mph! That is faster than Millennium Force! I have a feeling that even at 91 MPH, Orion will blow me away just like my latest ride on MF did.

Not for me! I like aggressive coasters, but I wasn't a fan of greying out like that lol It's gonna be hard for me to like I305 more :p

I think it's more fair to compare Orion to Leviathan.

Hawaiian Coasters 325, My prediction is that from the parking lot, Orion's first hill will look roughly the same height as WindSeeker. Maybe a bit shorter. Both are a similar height, and some eyeballing on Google Earth indicates that they are a similar distance from the center of the parking lot. I'm not sure about the elevation changes between the sites though.

Yep, that's the picture. Also that is what I imagine Orion is gonna look like, maybe a smidge smaller but this isn't far off. Also I do believe the big 200' overbanked hill will be clearly visible from this location (I imagine it'd be coming up just behind the Eiffel Tower) and possibly even the turnaround.

Me too. :-)

Face/Off's (Invertigo) old red and yellow colors sure attracted a LOT of Cicadas back in 2008

Unpopular opinion: I liked Invertigo's old colors more. Maybe its the nostalgia idk

Here I made this. Link to site where image was found:

On the topic of "How Big Will Orion Look", from the parking lot...I'd say it will look about the same size as Diamondback, maybe even a bit smaller though. My basis for this: I looked closely at a old-ish 2011 skyline pic (still has Son of Beast and stuff but also WindSeeker), and you can see Firehawk in this picture which was 115 feet tall. Orion, being 287 feet tall, is roughly 2.75x taller- which is also how much bigger Diamondback looked from this same image. (I would share the specific image but I am not 100% sure where I got it from or who the original owner of the picture is) Orion only being 287 feet tall isn't the only thing though, you could have built a 330-foot Giga in Orion's spot and it would only barely look taller than Diamondback, because DB is in a great spot to look as big as possible while Area 72 (formerly X-Base) is tucked in a back area of the park and thus any ride put there isn't going to seem as big as it really is from the main parking lot. However, another thing I noticed- in that 2011 pic, from the Son of Beast area (now filled by Banshee on the skyline) to WindSeeker there was a huge "hole" where there were no tall rides surpassing the treeline from this view. Firehawk, Racer, FOF, etc. were all not tall enough. Orion is going to fill this hole quite easily. Pictures of Kings Island's Skyline in 2020 are going to be very cool looking.

I can do these in photoshop is there a track layout image for Orion like this one?

Orion will be 1 mph faster then I305 and I305 is an amazing coaster. So that is exciting.

Yes! Go Big Blue!

Im not sure why there was a comparison between i305 and Orion lol I do agree that are not comparable. Leviathan would be better for sure.

I know it was posted as a joke, Just making the comment that an 18' height difference is barely noticeable, if at all (unless, yes, you put them right next to each other, which clearly is not happening). And I know they are two different rides. Just making the generalization that it could be any ride, not Orion vs I305 or Orion vs Fury or I305 vs Fury etc... You're going to ride Orion one day then Fury or any other giga at some other point in time, not being able to tell that you're 300' in the air or 287'. The number is purely a spec and not indicative of what the overall experience will be

I will take my time and count all the visible track on the webcam, they said there are 184 pieces of track Edit: I counted 44 pieces of track , that means the unpainted track i saw earlier at CSF is most likely orion track

It appears that they are starting at the transfer and going backwards with it, so it's completely possible that they've provided track sections enough to get half way around so far, more is already ready, and more is still being built.

It could be a possibility, there is a lot of track at Kings Island don't get me wrong, but its not enough to make a giga coaster that's for sure.

Sweet! Glad I can do my part. Ill do the Color Me Track once we get a few more pieces in. Once Transfer and Station is done I'll highlight those.

It appears there are more triangular supports ready to install. Edit: Then again, after looking at the layout, there shouldn't be any of that size left. From here on out, the supports get bigger and bigger..

why.... you like Intamin or somethin'?

Haha. Who'd a guessed, Mr. Intamin fanboy... haha

Thanks- yep, this is pretty much what I imagine this view will be like next year...with Invertigo's colors updated, Son of Beast and Firehawk gone (you can see the very tip of its lift hill in this picture), and Banshee also added of course. This pic also really shows what I mean by how Orion will help "fill out the skyline". In 2020, it is gonna seem like the Eiffel Tower is surrounded by giant rides. When 48 years prior in 1972, I'd bet not much was even visible from this location besides the Eiffel Tower and maybe the old sky ride.

There are (at least) two supports currently installed that we can see behind the transfer shed, but I suspect all of them are installed back there.

The problem is that there are supports installed behind the transfer shed, so we can't see from this angle. Really wish we had some aerial photos to see what is currently going on back there. I'm assuming all of those supports are installed already, though.

Here are some thoughts I have For: Cedar Fair has been loading Kings Island up with world class coasters since its acquisition of the park. We have now have some of the best B&Ms and ,in my opinion, the best GCI out there. Why not add another world class coaster in the form of an RMC woodie? RMC's are affordable for the type of rides they produce. Kings Island has one of the best, if not the best, wooden coaster collections in the world so why not add to it? Against Son of Beast. Its not an issue of whether RMC could deliver a world class product that's reliable; they could. But if KI builds a wooden coaster that breaks 200ft, people are immediately going to be reminded of Son of Beast and all the issues it had. Though Son of Beast is long gone, the ride is still known as the park's greatest failure. Land. Kings Island isn't short on land, but it would be hard to build a 200ft+ coaster without expanding outward, removing existing attractions, or getting super creative with the layout. Hypothetically, if they used the old Son of Beast station, they would have to thread the track between Banshee and The Bat or demolish Timberwolf, and clear out a lot of Action Zone land. Area 72 would be a good location but I feel like that area would get super congested with 3 coasters in an area that's known as a dead end. Might not be the best move. Orion and Mystic Timbers are proof that the park focuses more on the GP than it does the enthusiasts. Not to say that they don't care about the enthusiasts, but they're not the target audience. If KI were to build a massive wooden coaster, it would have to be something the GP would want/would be willing to ride. I don't think we'd get anything along the lines of a wooden Steel Vengeance.

BOSS: What should we name our 2020 coaster? WORKER: I don't know, boss. It is iron, and we are redoing gwazi. I'll have to think about that. TWO YEARS LATER WORKER: I got it! Iron Gwazi! *awkward silence* *boss slaps worker*

Iron Gwazi.... How long did it take you guys to think of that name?

I agree. l miss the neon light tubes on the center piece removed several years back.

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

That's exactly what it is.

Its up!

Here is my best shot of what it could look like walking up to the park with Orion's lift hill. This pic was taken by my father on Passholder preview night 2017!

Ok this is the best I could do with what the lift could look like from the tower. This is definetly not accurate since I couldn't really see the base of lift footer on here since it is behind a tree and it is hard to see some footers on the webcam, but here is my best shot.