Leaderboard

Read more on the KIBlog Post: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2020/january/co-designer-of-the-beast-jeff-gramke-retires-from-kings-island I wonder who will replace him and how this might impact the park? What are your thoughts?

As of me posting this you are correct that you can see some of Vortex at the top left corner... I will say the angle they moved the camera to is pretty sweet. It's the first time we can see how far Orion spans from brake run to turnaround.

Cam has moved back to lift hill. Vortex must be not long for this world.

This was my first NYE at Kings Island; however, I was not on I-Street when the clock struck midnight. 2020 began with me and a bunch of other people watching the fireworks from in front of Vortex. We celebrated the New Year while saying one last goodbye. Definitely a unique New Year's celebration and literally once-in-a-lifetime. This is without a doubt my favorite NYE and one I'll never forget.

Jeff is an awesome guy, he deserves a great retirement after helping to build one of the greatest rides and parks in the world. In 2011 I took my first trip to the park and through some emails was able to meet and get a tour with Jeff. Learning all he taught me helped cement me as the enthusiast and future engineer I am today. I'm sure he will be missed greatly.

It’s nice to be able to see Orion’s station again too. The new view is probably for the better because it would be hard to watch The Vortex being taken down...that still doesn’t seem real.

Time to bump this thread again... ... when you spend an unhealthy amount of time watching the Orion construction webcam.

You can still see a lot of Vortex on the Diamondback cam...(unless I just caused them to go back up and move it).

At least we can see Flight of Fear now and what they are doing with the theming of the area.

15 more pieces of track to peak of speed hill and roughly 74 more track sections to finish they need around 3 a day to be done by Feb. 1st. Any one know if Vegas is taking over under bets on this. I still can’t believe how fast they can build huge structures like this in such short time

It was a true honor to meet with Jeff Gramke back in October and interview him for my book. He’s a true living legend! He told me that he was retiring in the coming months, but I didn’t know exactly when. I hope he has a very happy retirement!

Happy Friday everyone... Of course now that construction has resumed the rain is back blocking the camera...get out of here rain!

Sorry, we want a restaurant that is open more than closed.

I've posted this before, but I think it would be nice if Orion had a similar soundtrack to this:

Did we ever find any speakers that would be in the queue from the blueprints? It would be neat if Orion had its own soundtrack like how Mystic Timbers does.

When I have to be at work at 7am (the only shift I work on non-operating days goes from 7am-3:30pm).

Keep in mind that LaRosa's at the park doesn't really represent LaRosa's actual pizzerias. It is way more flavorful and better made outside the park. "Heat lamp" slices never hold up to the "real thing."

Not me... I think there may be a slight delay once they go into the speed hill as its goes back underneath the structure and I think both cranes will still be on the west side(both on The Beast side). Im guessing the speed hill will go in fast with the supports in place and then it becomes a race against weather and how fast they want to go. Ive seen 2 of the smaller pieces on the wavehill go up in 1.5 hr and one of those days they dropped in 6 in a day.

The ride is big yes but there really aren't as many supports as some of the older rides have.

If you can see past the 11 years of lens fog.

Not sure why they would move the webcam away- mourners could just view from the website as opposed to terrible attempts, and at times, questionable tactics. Seems like they would just leave it where it was for the duration, but who am I?

I thought Cedar Point's pizza was unadulterated poop....how bad is this la Rosa's?

The problem for me is that they have the mid course break run there to run three trains, but they never run three, always two. They cycle one of the three trains off each season, so one train just always stays in a maintenance shed.

A friendly reminder to not trespass to do so!

You should still be able to catch a glimpse of it on the DB cam.

LaRosas pizza in Kings Island is an icon. Cincinnati pizza and they are a huge KI sponsor. Cmon now FOF96 sit down and eat a slice with me and lets talk this over hahaha

I was blown away that was the best New Years Eve party ever was outstanding performance music lights fireworks awesome winterfest was the best ever .

Not all that similar, and nearly twice the size. This is almost closer to a dive loop, but doesn't start to bank significantly until well over 100' up.

Thanks! I’m overall enjoying the process, or maybe it’s just the satisfaction after the thrill of the hunt is over.

Your photos are amazing, thank you for sharing with us! It's nice seeing these HD pics.

https://gph.is/1EFtfKI Sorry, not talented enough to embed the freakin' giphy on this site. Apparently. Jeebus.

Sounds like a headbanging good time.

Yeah, Hanks has us covered fairly well in that regard.

Perhaps an Intamin themed Swiss Steak restaurant in Oktoberfest would be to your liking?

I would also like to see something added to Oktoberfest. From reading the list of companies on the commencement it looks like another restaurant could be coming as well. Maybe something new in the AZ area?

Cedar Point pizza is terrible. I only tried it in Frontertown during Haunt. I'm thinking the firehouse building? I assumed all Cedar Point pizza was the same like all Kings Island pizza is La Rosa's. La Rosa's 15 years ago was the best pizza ever and I made sure to buy whole pies in the park. Now its not near as good but I find its hit and miss. sometimes terrible but not Cedar Point pizza bad. Sometimes decent but not the pizza I remember.

True, but the coaster would be tiiiiiny on that lift hill.

Losantiville (the original name of Cincinnati) was replaced in 1973 with Palmersville, named after rides director Don Palmer, who later went to Kings Dominion. It lasted only a short time. Two of the pictures were taken in 1973, with Don's father-in-law Ernie Greene firing on the trestle (I'm standing behind him wearing the wristwatch on the gangway). He threatened Don that if he ever got fired, he would take his daughter back. I am the fireman looking at the canoes in the second picture. That one was taken early in 1972 because the headlight bracket is still blue, the whistle is right behind the bell (blew hot water all over everyone and it was the FIRST thing we changed since the blue paint turned orange when the water hit it), the wood was piled horizontally on the tender, the propane bottles are still white, and the roof ventilators were aluminum (all of those show in full size versions of that postcard). The painters' union was never too happy with us repainting all of that but we did it anyway since we were out in the woods away from everyone where no one ever saw us. Lew Brown had a private kingdom back then. Whomever painted the new sign at the antique autos did a great job, with one glaring error. Something REALLY important is missing off the station. Anyone see it?

Lol they way it looks from just on the webcam seems like a coaster going 91 mph would complete that circuit in about 30 seconds lol

I wonder if they will move the DB cam just for that reason. It would be the first time that came has been moved in god knows how long lol

If its raining hard enough.... i think they will stop working today.

Seems to be gone now, thanks!

Agreed. Aside from the unfortunate placement of the venue, I think it’s a real shame that it’s not used except for Haunt. It’s an indoor venue with both heat and air conditioning. Now more than ever they could use indoor facilities. Plus there’s no doubt that there is some sort of iWerks Christmas or winter video that can be shown. This can be done no matter the weather and would be marketable as another open ride.

The last time we will see Vortex standing. VID_20191231_172536.mp4

Well, yeah. Having a son who is now about to be 11 doesn't help either.

I was at WinterFest tonight and saw Vortex for the last time.

It mentions B&M again but probably to cover work on Orion that goes from 2019 into 2020. It also mentioned an asphalt company. Can’t find the name again. Parking lot repairs? One final mention of a fencing company I wonder if they will build a privacy fence around The Vortex plot since there is no public plans for it yet.

I would be really surprised if they are going to remove another coaster. Out of all the coasters at Kings Island, Invertigo would be the next on the chopping block.

So if you have gone to Kings Island this year or any from now on, you might notice the KI&MVRR billboard during the ride on Kings Mills Autos. The ride advertises the two beautiful crown locomotives at the other side of the park. But if you notice something, the locomotive on the billboard which is No. 12 aka Kenny Van Meter or Tecumseh, the stack is the original stack it carried from 1972 to when it was taken off. It is really awesome to see Kings Island show it's railroad history. If you notice anything else on the billboard that I don't notice, please let me know. P.S. The billboard photo is mine.

I personally think the next ride to go is Invertigo.