McSalsa

Hey, I rode Iron Dragon VR back in 2018. I thought it was pretty cool but not worth the very increased wait time (dispatches went from about 2 minutes per cycle to 10+) and on my 1st ride, my headset did not work at all. (The ride ops were super nice and put me in a empty seat to re-ride the next train though) That said a tamer smooth ride like Iron Dragon was probably the perfect choice for this: I would hate to ride something like Invertigo with VR.

I voted "now" based on all the 2010s stuff stacking (aka still being around) while we still get new rides like Orion as well as the recent re-tracking of Racer and Beast (as well as the repaint of Racer). Kings Island has generally been building upwards- stuff is added faster than stuff gets removed, so naturally the park will have more to offer in a later year. But, if we are voting based on what was added that decade alone (and not counting older stuff that was still around- for example a TON of the 1970s stuff was still around in the 1980s) I would say the 1970s win due to having 2 of the most influential roller coasters of all time being built that decade- The Racer and Beast- as well as the park having very consistent theming and appearance back then (the park was- based on photos I have seen- very clean and pretty and none of the attractions felt out of place theme-wise). The late 80's (mainly around 1987) also seems like it was a great time for the park but I can't vote for it as I was not even born until 1990. PS: That logo is very cool, only 1 minor flaw- White Water Canyon is missing from the 80's attractions, those River Rapids rides were a HUGE deal in that time period and thus I would count it as a "major" addition- especially if Congo Falls counts as one.

This made my realize how few defunct Kings Island rides I have actually ridden. I think I can only list 6 so here those are from worst to best. My visits to the park so far have all come from 2000, and 2009-2021 (due to various reasons have not been able to make it out for the 50th yet, hope to rectify that ASAP). 6. The Crypt 5. Snoopy's Splash Dance 4. Dinosaurs Alive! 3. Antique Cars (Coney Mall Side- Les Taxis I think?) 2. Firehawk 1. Vortex I also personally saw Son of Beast (with and without loop), King Cobra, and Sling Shot in operation but never rode them.

FYI if anyone is curious what this is, these are apparently brand new trains for Millennium Force. I am very curious to what these are gonna look like, what type of restraints they will have, etc. If I had to guess these new trains will be similar to the ones on say, Kondaa at Walibi Belgium. I also kinda think TTD's accident this past year may have had some influence on Cedar Fair deciding to go and retire the old trains and get brand-new ones. The trains on TTD did appear to have some of the same parts as the Millennium Force trains, so if what caused the TTD accident was a design flaw in the trains, Cedar Fair would probably want brand new ones with the flaw fixed for Millennium Force. Edit: OOPS! See below posts.

According to Que Times (not 100% accurate but easy to access and I think they just use KI's app data), the longest wait in the park for a ride ATM is 20 minutes for Kings Mills Antique Autos. Longest coaster lines are Diamondback and Orion, both listed at 15 minutes. Given chad_1138 did 4 haunts and got food in the first hour, I'd say these wait times sound pretty accurate. Doesn't seem the park is very busy at all tonight. Edit: Just saw a post on Facebook from Cedar Point- Steel Vengeance, which normally has at least 90 minute wait times, is only 30 minutes tonight. If Cedar Point isn't busy at all, Kings Island probably isn't either.

I can't really speak for Friday Nights, but the last time I went on Saturday (in 2018): fairly light crowds from open until around 1-2pm (aka pre haunt daytime), and then it started to get slammed. At peak on busy Saturdays major popular coasters like Orion, The Beast, Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, Banshee (to a lesser extent due to its capacity), and Flight of Fear can easily get hour plus waits, even 90 and 120 minute waits can happen if it gets really slammed (especially at The Beast after dark as people want their night rides). Backlot Stunt Coaster and Invertigo will also get long lines due to their lower capacity. Large flat rides like Drop Tower and Delirium can also hit a hour plus, WindSeeker tends to max out around 30 minutes though (due to high capacity and people seeing the que full). Even less popular but decent capacity coasters like The Racer, The Bat, and Adventure Express which can be walk-ons on normal days could see 30 minute waits. Even small flat rides like Monster will have decent lines. If you stay until near the very close though, it dies down. Last hour or so the park is open people begin to leave and that 90 minute wait for Beast, for example, might drop to a mere 30-45. On my 2018 visit I used this strategy and it worked pretty well: I took advantage of the lighter crowds earlier in the day to get rides in on all the most popular coasters (Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, The Beast, etc.) and when it started to pick up a little I switched to hitting the less popular rides (AE, Bat, Racer, Vortex- RIP) as the big coasters were getting lines now. Then pick 3 or 4 night rides, maybe you could do 5 if you pick less popular rides like Adventure Express or Bat but the big stuff is gonna each eat a big chunk of the 4-5 hours of darkness you have to work with. Or you can just shell out $100+ and get Fast Lane Plus, and ride like 10-15 rides at night alone.

You never said it had to be the FIRST lift hill. Honorable Mentions: The Beast's 1st Lift Hill- Epic view of the woods, and first drop. Steel Vengeance- For reasons IndyGuy said, plus the loud anti rollbacks sounding fearsome. Magnum XL-200- Amazing views of Lake Erie and the waterpark. At night it seems you are going into a giant void! Millennium Force- Great views of the other side of the lake. Vortex (RIP)- Great views of Beast to the left, plus the park to the right, and a lotta twisty inversions below. Underrated AF Lift Hill: The Bat ('93) @ Kings Island- basically gives the opposite view of the park versus Beast's 2nd lift

Paramount chopped it off in 1999 so that this would be the tallest ride in the park by 1 foot (Eiffel Tower w/chopped antenna is 314ft, this is 315):

One thing about the 2021 Maps I found out from my last visit 2 days ago on the 8th- they have gone back to the folding style rather than the big sheet of paper that didn't fold up for the first time since around 2014-ish. I actually really appreciate this and have no idea why it was ever changed- the foldable ones are much easier to store, and for collectors like me having a stack of those is much easier. Also I noticed the shrunk Diamondback down to a more realistic scale to make the height difference between it and Orion more pronounced without having to make Orion ridiculous.

Oof. No, I do not consider 2 wings and some fries a meal. Actually thought about eating at Island Smokehouse when I was at the park yesterday, but it had a huge line so I decided against it and later went to Hank's Burrito Shack instead. The Burrito I got there was great, and decent sized too. So I guess I made the right call. Reject Chicken Wings. Embrace Burritoz.

It had been 693 days since I last rode a roller coaster (Millennium Force at Cedar Point on September 15th, 2019 around 8pm) and it had also been 757 days- over 2 years- since I had been to Kings Island. Things just kept getting in the way of trips to the park. Mainly COVID-19 (stupid virus ruining everything). However, yesterday morning I woke up, fed the dogs, and was ready for another regular coaster-less day. Then my sister came in my room with a grin on her face, and said these words: "Get your stuff ready, we are going to Kings Island". My happiness level increased by at least 400% in 2 seconds. We had to pick people up, and it is a long drive from Indianapolis so this was not a full day at Kings Island- we arrived around 1pm, though we did stay to close. This meant I didn't get to ride every single roller coaster and stuff, but I feel I got a lot in for only being at the park for 9 hours. I also got to try a lot of new things- mainly the new-for-2020 but I missed 2020 so it is still new-to-me GIGA COASTER, Orion. Upon arriving at the park, I really wanted to ride Orion, so after getting my group's blessing I headed over and got in the que. While walking to Orion I saw The Racer had zero wait- this will come into play in a bit. I got in line for Orion, stood still for 5 minutes, and saw a bunch of people leave. Then I saw mechanics show up. DANG IT! So I exited the que, and looked at Racer again- my coaster less streak would end up being broken by a classic woodie. For 2021, The Racer got a big retrack from The Gravity Group. I rode in 5-2, my favorite seat on the red side of the coaster. There was some decent airtime, but the main standout was how GLASS SMOOTH the retracked section of the coaster was! It was actually a little jarring after the turnaround, that section was not crazy rough but you could easily tell where the ride had NOT been re-tracked. If you have been avoiding The Racer due to roughness the last few years, give it a try now. It is MUCH smoother than ever before (I told my group about the no lines, and they all also came to Racer and all of us agreed it was far smoother). After The Racer I went and got a cup of water. On the way to get this, I saw Orion running again with guests, so I went over and got back in line for it. There were a good number of people in line, yet a mere 15 minutes later (epic capacity!), I was in the station and sitting down in Row #6. SHORT ORION REVIEW AHEAD (not as long as the one I posted in the Orion thread) Kings Island's controversial B&M Giga has been a hot topic the past 2 years, even before it was officially announced, since the blueprints were leaked around April 2019. People were expecting something huge even by giga standards- 330 feet tall, 350 foot drop, 7000 feet long, that kind of thing. A ride to squash Fury 325's pewny stats. Then we found out we were actually getting a 287-foot, 300-foot drop, 5300' foot long coaster which was far more in scale with Leviathan and Intimidator 305 instead of Fury. People began to say Orion was gonna suck. Well, my only other Giga I have ridden to compare Orion to is Millennium Force but: If Orion sucks, so does the generally beloved Millennium Force, because I found these 2 rides to be equals in terms of ride experience. The 300-foot drop on Orion breaks zero records, but it is still a massive drop with great airtime. The ride is noticeably more intense than Diamondback, and even packs better airtime than both Diamondback and Millennium Force in terms of strength (Diamondback may still have more total airtime due to being nearly all big hills, Orion's airtime beats Millie's in both categories). The short length is a bit of a drawback, but I found it was not nearly as bad as I was initially fearing based on the POVs. Orion ended up- to me- defying the naysayers and being a great ride. I am very happy this coaster is at Kings Island, and now when I visit the park I can get my Giga coaster fix without needing to drive 5+ hours and deal with Cedar Point's super crowded nonsense. After Orion I headed out and towards Diamondback, planning to hit The Beast on the way. Passing the wall to the field of sadness to the left (RIP Vortex), I got in line for Beast and waited about 20 minutes once again. I had been hearing that The Beast was running rough in 2021, and...yeah it kinda is. I was sitting on a rear wheel seat, so maximum roughness potential, but I also got jostled around a lot. Not day-ending (I'd say a ride I got in 2018 was worse when I hurt my shoulder), but really annoying and it did distract from the ride. I still had some fun on this Beast ride but I do feel a good re-track is in order. GRAVITY GROUP (or GCI)! I SUMMON YE! After The Beast, I heard from my friends the wait for Mystic Timbers was not bad, so I headed there next to find another 20 minute wait. OK, not too bad, I got in and waited. Before I was dispatched (I was sitting down in the train) I heard a little girl screaming she was scared and wanted off. They got her off, but the driver running the coaster opened his door and took some time to show her the ride controls to show her how safe the ride is. While delays for ride dispatches can suck, I will tolerate this- that was nice of the driver. I then got a wild ride on Mystic Timbers: way smoother than The Beast, and with tons of crazy little dips that give small pops of airtime. We hit the shed, and I got the Snakes and Cars combo. As we departed the shed, I finally saw the old Son of Beast eyes I had heard were in there. 20 rides after my first and I finally noticed them! Always something in the shed you didn't notice before, it seems. After that, I reunited with my group and we hit up Miami River Brewhouse (ironically they were in there right as I walked past it, good timing!) and got some food. I was feeling exhausted already and thus didn't feel super hungry so I split a BLT Sandwich and Tater Tots with my sister, but it was delicious. Crunchy bacon and tasty tots. I also got some water and then powerade to drink, and rested for a bit in brewhouse. Then we decided to hit the car, rested a bit more, and switched into our waterpark gear to go to Soak City. After riding the KI & MV Railroad to get to Soak City, we headed for the Breakers Bay way pool. The cool water felt so refreshing and helped rejuvinate me. A bit later we did the lazy river, which was fun too. We attempted to ride Zoom Flume, but the line didn't move and we waited 10-15 minutes. And after that there was only 30 minutes until Soak City closed (we got there late) so we headed back to the dry park and rode Banshee, which had a very short wait. Banshee was hauling, so much that the final inversion which is usually slow was, well, not slow. After riding Banshee we got hungry again, so we hit up Hank's and me and my sister split a Chicken Burrito. It was DELICIOUS. The line was moving fast too. After a tasty Burrito, we went to ride Orion again. It was night now, and Area 72 is simply spectacular at night. Kings Island did an amazing job on this section of the park. The line for Orion had grown a bit now but we were still on in just 20 minutes. Again, amazing capacity! By the time we got on, Orion had turned on its lighting package- this was a night ride. And we got assigned the front row! This night ride was even better than the daytime one I had earlier. The wind at the bottom of the first drop was so intense, I could not hear my own thoughts! All the airtime moments were even stronger than earlier. This was quite a epic ride. After the Orion night ride, we headed over to The Beast hoping to beat the 9:35 fireworks closure. But we failed so we had to sit it out and didn't ride until 10:20. I got a rear wheel seat again, though thankfully it was about 10% smoother than the daytime ride and thus tolerable this time. I did still get tossed a bit, but not too much. The ride experience was crazy- the woods were pitch black on this night, the only thing I could see was Orion right before the dip after the first turn- and seeing Orion made that part feel like a drop ride. I am a teeny bit annoyed Orion had to go this close to Beast, but only a teeny bit. Night rides on Beast are very, very far from ruined IMO. The double helix was pure insanity per usual. As much as I love the new Orion, I still think The Beast at Night is the best ride experience you can get at Kings Island. After riding The Beast, we headed out of the park and made our way home. It felt so good being back even if I didn't have time to ride all my old favorites (Diamondback, The Bat, Adventure Express, Backlot Stunt Coaster, etc. were all sadly forced to be skipped) BUT I WILL RETURN AND RIDE THEM AGAIN! Now, my usual Pros/Cons: PROS +Amazing Ride Operations +Park was very clean +Most rides were running great +Food was great +Orion is an amazing new addition CONS -Waterpark was busy, and some slide lines didn't seem to move (Zoom Flume mainly) -Beast could use a retrack soon: it is still a great coaster, but if unchecked it will become un-rideable in the near future And that was my latest trip report. Sorry for no photos- I had my phone, but it's battery life has been really "ehh" recently and I forgot my charger at home. As usual questions and comments welcome. MCSALSA AWAY!!! (Flies off but doesn't see Orion's lift hill and smashes into it)

Well, outta nowhere (2nd time now) I ended up going to Kings Island for the first time since July 2019 (stupid COVID!) and finally got to ride Orion, twice. Row 6 during the day and a Row 1 Night Ride. Orion has given Kings Island a ride that is just as good as Millennium Force in terms of ride experience. I consider the ride experience on the two coasters to be tied: Millennium is longer and has a nicer setting along the beach, but Orion has the superior forces in terms of both positives and airtime. I actually enjoyed every element on Orion- they were not all slam dunks, but the way some people were talking I was expecting nothing from the wave turn, turnaround, and helix and they were actually OK- I got a little bit of air on the wave turn, the turnaround had some nice positives and the drop is massive from it (POVs did it no justice) and the helix actually had some decent positives (a huge improvement if compared to Diamondback's helixes). However, I do agree the more praised elements were indeed standouts. The 300' drop? Oh lord, I loved this drop. It is my new #1 drop on every coaster I have ridden so far, sorry Millennium Force (also a 300' drop but not as much airtime). Wonderful strong floater air, and it feels like a Drop Tower with how long it feels like you are dropping. The speed hill was everything I had hoped for and more, great sustained flojector for several seconds. And the final 2 airtime moments- the sideways hill and bunny hop into the brakes- caught me off guard with how strong they were. The length also did not bother me as much as I was expecting, though I still do think it is a weakness and wish the ride had a few more elements. But I didn't feel ripped off by the length post-ride. I also really enjoyed all the theming elements, and I won't spoil it but if you pay attention, they actually show the connection Area 72's other coaster, Flight of Fear, has with Orion with a plot point of how they ended up creating the Orion vehicles in the storyline. I barely had time to see the whole video though due to one of Orion's other pluses- the capacity. Good lord, most other rides this would have been a 45+ minute wait yet Orion had me on in 15! B&M hit a home run in this regard, Millennium Force's capacity isn't bad but it does not compete with Orion. Orion did go down once I saw during the day- but it wasn't down for long, as I grabbed a quick ride on Racer which was a walk-on (I will do a full TR later and thus talk about ReTrak LOL) and then it was pretty much up all day. Millennium Force is also usually OK on reliability but I have seen it have big issues, I was able to get my first ride on Orion MUCH easier than my first ride on Millennium Force was (go back on my old trip reports and read about it on my first Cedar Point one from September 2017). I have actually put Orion ahead of Millennium Force in my rankings for the reasons of capacity and reliability- in terms of ride experience, as I said, it's a tie. I am very happy Kings Island finally has a Giga coaster, and while it may not have the world-beating stats some were hoping for, I for sure am not gonna shun a ride that is as good as Millennium Force at what I consider my home park. I would also say it's the best ride in the park...when the sun is up. Night Beast is still the best ride experience you can get at Kings Island (Night Orion is also epic though, I say do both if you somehow can). I also really, really wanna ride Leviathan and Fury 325 now.

While my first post earlier was focused on the teaser for the removal, now I kinda wanna talk a bit about how I felt about Wicked Twister itself. I really enjoyed Wicked Twister- it was nowhere near my favorite coaster in the park (not easy to be that when said park has Steel Vengeance, Maverick, Millennium Force, Magnum XL-200, Top Thrill Dragster and Raptor) it was a very fun ride, even if it was gimmicky. The launches were powerful, and looking straight down from over 200 feet in the air was actually more terrifying to me on Wicked Twister than it was on Valravn. Every launch, I was always a bit worried that the LSMs would overshoot and we would launch off the spikes RCT style. Sadly, I understand the removal: Wicked Twister is probably a expensive ride to run, and was not very popular. Yes rides like Magnum XL-200 and Rougarou usually also have stupid short waits but at least they have very high capacity to explain said short wait times. Wicked Twister did not have high capacity, running only 1 train and thus taking at least 3+ minutes between dispatches, yet only once did I ever have to wait for it (45 minutes for my first ride in late 2017, and that was only because the only other coaster running in the park at the time was Blue Streak due to cold temps- Blue Streak had a 90 minute wait at that point!). This was good for me, Wicked Twister was a coaster I enjoyed snagging quick rides on while my friends smoked and stuff. But from a park's POV, keeping a ride that expensive to run (5 launches per cycle had to be heck on their electric bills) with such low ridership was clearly not good. Something I do wanna praise Wicked Twister for though: I rarely ever saw it down, which is odd considering Intamin made it. Cold temps, as stated below? Wicked Twister was open. Windy? Wicked Twister was somehow open (I once rode it with 30mph wind gusts which was crazy!). On my visits to Cedar Point from 2017-2019, I never saw it down yet I saw TTD, Steel Venegance, Millennium Force, Maverick, and even Valravn go down a few times each...especially TTD. But never Wicked Twister. Wicked Twister goes next to Vortex and Firehawk on my short list of defunct coasters I have ridden, and while TBH I miss Vortex more, if I had a chance to ride one of them again and for some reason cannot choose Vortex, I would re-ride Wicked Twister over Firehawk.

RIP Wicked Twister 2002-2021. That video also may have given some hints at what may replace Wicked Twister- here is my thoughts/prediction: I think the Tornado in the film is not a reference to Wicked Twister itself, but a much older Cedar Point coaster- the Cedar Point Cyclone, which was located not far from where Wicked Twister sits now (GateKeeper sits on the site of the old Cyclone but there is no way they are removing GateKeeper anytime soon). With the old sports stadium near Wicked Twister also removed, there may be room to cram a woodie in that spot. Not a gigantic record-breaker, but a small yet quality wooden coaster from GCI or the Gravity Group would fill a huge hole that has existed in Cedar Point's lineup for years and got worse when Mean Streak was transformed into Steel Vengeance. And a wooden coaster is gonna offer higher capacity than the 1-train Wicked Twister did, even if it can only run 2 trains. Wicked Twister may also end up at another park, though we can determine that by if Cedar Point takes it down carefully or just rips it apart. I would bet if it is relocated it is probably going to a smaller Cedar Fair park without an impulse.

Quick question: How many trains running? All 3, or just 1 or 2? If less than 3 then it may hint one of the trains was the issue.

This is IMO my best ever shot of the Eiffel Tower. Taken from Oktoberfest Pond Area, in 2018.

I finished the book a few days ago, but have not had a chance to write a review until now. It has been repeated a lot so far, but this book is great. Since I have done tons of my own KI history research I thought I knew almost everything about the park's history, and thus a lot of the book was stuff I knew, but there was still a decent amount of stuff I did not know and even the stuff I did was fun to read about again. It was great reading from almost all the past GM's and managers and stuff and why they did what they did, learning about why certain rides were the way they are (wanna know why The Beast has so much straight track, for example? This book explains it!) and also some of the stuff that was proposed but never came to be, including rides that never were and the proposed fixes for Son of Beast after it closed in 2009 that were all rejected (IMO some really radical changes too). My favorite section of the book may well actually be the Mystic Timbers section- it went into so much detail about why the park added a GCI, and then all the theming changes before the coaster opened. Including the alternate shed ending that never was and was replaced by the snake (I won't spoil what it is you will have to read the dang book like I did). 10/10 would highly recommend. Oh, and a final note: I love the images the book opens and closes with.

Hmm- if I had to guess, I would say...Cedar Point. They were rumored to get a new coaster in 2021, but it was supposedly delayed due to COVID, and this thing is supposed to be big and break records- Cedar Point loves that stuff. HangTime at Knott's Berry Farm was apparently very well received in 2018, so it is possible that Cedar Fair now wants a even bigger and badder version for their flagship park. Sorta repeating what happened with Xcelerator and Top Thrill Dragster, in a way. As for what record I expect to be broken: # of inversions, most likely. We are probably looking at a ride with 14+. As for where in the park I'd see this, survey markers were seen around the Antique Cars in Frontier Town in 2020. Hence the "space" challenge that was mentioned by Gerstlauer. Though if this new ride is in Frontier Town, that really isn't gonna help draw the crowds away from Maverick and Steel Vengeance since the new ride will be in the same section as them, so now there will be 3 rides with crazy long lines (unless the Gerstlauer ends up having great capacity but even then it probably will have long lines) in Frontier Town. Plus, a big new ride at Cedar Point? That would get Gerstlauer noticed. If not Cedar Fair, I could see Sea World possibly adding this to one of their parks since they are on a coaster-buying spree. Or maybe Herschend for Dollywood or Silver Dollar City. I don't see Six Flags buying such a large and expensive coaster, same goes for most of the small non chain parks as well. Very slim chance this goes to KI- I don't see us getting anything until 2023 at earliest. If this does end up going to KI this soon somehow, then it is likely gonna be The Vortex replacement- though opening a new coaster on a anniversary year seems unlikely, especially since CP didn't do that for their 150th.

YAY! Look what showed up on my porch today. PS: My other 2 books- The Beast 2 and Always Cedar Point- also pictured just to show the whole collection.

Ok I will correct you. Vekoma made one of these as recently as 2018, and they still offer them on their web site. The Mine Train is actually one of Vekoma's most popular models, and they clearly copied/took inspiration from the old Arrow Mine Trains of the past. (Granted the newest Mine Trains from Vekoma are computer designed and such, and thus are probably way smoother than the older Arrow models) https://www.vekoma.com/mine-train-coasters PS- Adventure Express IMO serves a spot in KI's lineup. It is a fairly popular ride with good reliability and great capacity and also a cult following, and while 30 years is old age for most steel coasters, Mine Trains can go 50+ so AE is actually only middle aged.

I have caved and ordered the book as well via Amazon. It should be here by the 19th according to my tracking. I am excited to read it, and add to my small-but-growing amusement park book collection that I have started (I have The Beast 2 by R.L. Stine and Always Cedar Point by John Hildebrandt already- so this book will be #3...)

TBH I have found Racer's airtime- and its smoothness- can vary quite a lot. Sometimes my butt won't leave the seat at all, other times the airtime is stronger and there is more of it than Mystic Timbers has. And sometimes it beats the tar out of me, other times it felt glass smooth. On my rides from 2009-2018, riding Racer was a gamble- probably the least consistent coaster I have ever been on so far. One day in 2018 I rode it 5 times because a friend who was with us kept wanting re-rides and each time was different, one ride was absolutely horrible and then it would turn around and be good on another (luckily the good rides outdid the bad 3-2). The Blue Racer track work it got in 2019 made that side clearly superior, though I was not able to visit Kings Island in 2020 to ride Red Racer when it had the same work done. I am hopeful this retracking will make the ride smoother more often, as well as give more airtime more often, because Racer at its best is great while at its worst, it can sometimes make me think it is even worse than Invertigo in terms of being the park's worst adult coaster.

I will be honest: of the coasters in that general area, I expect Adventure Express to outlast Flight of Fear. Arrow Mine Trains are not dying off the way their loopers or suspended coasters are- only ONE of them has been demolished since the model was introduced in 1966, with a few mine trains outlasting their original parks and finding new homes. In fact the OG Arrow Mine Train at Six Flags Over Texas is STILL in operation and there are currently zero rumors that one is going anywhere. Adventure Express is also young compared to many of its peers, having opened in 1991 instead of the 1960's. S&S and other companies still make Mine Train parts to this day so getting parts isn't an issue, and the fact the ride is more family oriented and pulls less G's than a extreme coaster like Flight of Fear helps. Flight of Fear is also a mere 5 years newer than AE, and has the LIM launch which will probably be far harder and more expensive to fix as it ages versus AE's simple lift hills. Adventure Express has a good shot at seeing its 50th Anniversary in 2041, IMO. Flight of Fear will probably make it to the 30-35 year range like Vortex did, very good for a intense steel coaster but being only 5 years newer than AE, that means AE is probably gonna be around after FOF is removed. This expansion is still very possible though: just with AE still in operation but FOF removed and replaced with the wing coaster. The flat rides could still work in those spots, but the museum would need to relocate.

Millennium Force at Cedar Point on September 15th...2019. It has now been 532 days since that ride- my record for longest "drought" between coaster rides since I broke my fear in 2009 is 594 days. If my next ride comes at Kings Island Passholder Preview 2021 on May 8th, that record will be broken as this new drought will by then have reached 601 days. Ironically if Kings Island is my next park to visit- which it should be I assume- Orion is most likely gonna be the ride that breaks the drought. So the "gap" will be between 2 Blue Giga Coasters with 300 foot drops. LOLZ.

Note: I didn't get to the park in 2020 and thus have not ridden Orion yet, though I fully expect that will at least make this list once I can get back to Kings Island, which seems very likely to happen this year. #1- The Beast #2- Diamondback #3- Banshee #4- Mystic Timbers #5- Delirium (was a tough choice between this and Flight of Fear for current #5 spot. Before it was closed Vortex was also in the running for this spot.)