BeastForever

KI will be solidifying their legacy as the "defunct-ride-turned-permanent-haunted-maze-structure" Capital of the World!... The Smurf Ride (CarnEVIL), Action Theater (Urgent Scare), Son of Beast (Wolf Pack), Crypt (Madame Fatale), and now Firehawk (maybe alien-themed to complement FOF)...let me know if I've missed any...

Cedar Point got three new large coasters over the past five years. KD got Twisted Timbers this year. CW and Carowinds getting something for 2019. 2020 is KI's year, without question IMO (and as noted above, the documents specify at as much).

A news reporter talking about roller coasters is like that person at a Super Bowl party that wonders "how they're able to paint that yellow line on the field so fast"...

https://www.kiextreme.com/gallery/albums/Firehawktour-030307/IMG_3369.jpg ---- Wistfully searching through old photos archived on KIE... Still seems not too long ago that we saw these green track pieces arrive in the parking lot....

Undoubtedly. Yet another reason (among many) why all three KI Arrow coasters (contrary to some belief), are among the rides FURTHEST from the chopping block in the forseeable future, baring metal fatigue.

^Hopefully an invisible one. You know, the kind that doesn't exist! As much as I think this is likely the end of Firehawk as we know it... I'm still holding out hope!

The chiropractic industry around Greater Cincinnati would have been booming!

As long as Skyflyer is profitable (along with SlingShot), that thing isn't going anywhere...Relocated to somewhere else in the park if absolutely necessary, but certainly not removed.. I can not stress this enough... I do not care how many times you see any of the Arrow coasters being walk-ons, Vortex, AE, and The Bat, are among the best capacity attractions in the park.

Even if it does fall to the number you extrapolated, I don't think the total yearly operating cost of Vortex divided by the number of rides it gives would be high enough to justify its removal... Vortex is large, but I don't think its operating cost is very expensive. SFMM will have 20 coasters next year, and as far as I know there's no sign of Viper being removed anytime soon. EDIT: I just looked up VIPER and it apparently has been closed indefinitely without any reason given by the park...

If this means anything... KI without Firehawk would still have 4 "hanging coasters", so I don't we'd be getting another one... And from my experiences on Superman: Ultimate Flight at SFGAd, they're not even that reliable! *for a B&M*... IMO Firehawk is in a location that wouldn't really get in the way of a giga, or at least, I don't think it would. It's a good amount of track condensed into a relatively small footprint.

Ok after thinking through this some more, I am starting to think that this could be WS instead. Firehawk is not really something that anyone could consider "big" by coaster standards. And the use of the word "air".... Wind - air - wind - air - wind - air - wind - air... Who knows?...we'll just have to wait and find out.

Remember now, lines don't necessarily indicate ridership

Sorry Kings Island. But that's just *very slightly* untrue. https://web.archive.org/web/20131019224631/http://www.goldenticketawards.com/issuearchive/2001gta/2001gta.pdf Not that it really matters though

"The air is eerily calm"... I don't know about you, but to me that phrase basically confirms this is about Firehawk...Obviously we won't definitely know until then...but to me that pretty much spells the end for one of the 3 Flying Dutchmans ever made. I fully understand the reasons for it leaving, and understand why it should go, but I can't help but to be truly saddened by this. I was 9 when it came to KI. I basically grew up with this coaster, and even though its bad capacity made it hard to get on, when I did, I really loved it. Assuming this is true... 'Twill be missed...

Hopefully a Racer touch-up. Other than that I don't think we'll be seeing anything else...

Personally, I literally can not speak on whether or not there has been a trend in declining/inclining quality of the Haunts/FearFest through the years.... As, there is one HUGE confounding factor... Age. The first time I went to FearFest in 2006 (8 yrs old), I was horrified and thought everyone was done extremely over-the-top.... By 2012.... 'meh' (for obvious reasons)

I do not know the exact numbers with regards to Vortex's ridership over the past few years (but I do know that lines DON'T necessarily indicate ridership - Vortex is a people-eater remember!) Aside from ridership, I would say the three most important factors a park considers when assessing the value of a ride is Safety, Reliability, and Capacity (in that order). Vortex, along with the two other Arrow coasters in the park, passes those tests with flying colors (no pun intended). Therefore, if that is to mean anything, I would say Vortex is relatively safe from the chopping block right now... Very rarely do parks remove rides for the sake of putting something else there (I recall Mr. Helbig saying had SOB not been removed, Banshee simply would've gone into a different area of the park). -- While Vortex just misses out on my top 10 coasters at KI (#11), that's most certainly NOT because I dislike it, to use @VortexBFForever's philosophy, I just happen to like 10 other coasters better. -- BeastForever, who has not experienced an ounce of headbanging on Vortex in nearly a decade. Why? I "grew out" of that problem LONG ago. Headbanging? What is this headbanging everyone speaks of?

I've yet to ride Fury, but its layout looks incredible (a lot better than Leviathan's), and I hope this alleged giga can live up to, if not, exceed Fury's creativity... I would LOVE to see it include something like this... https://themeparks2015.weebly.com/-top-10-roller-coasters.html

There were only 3 flying dutchmans ever made, and they're all still operating... - Firehawk, Nighthawk at Carowinds, and Batwing at Six Flags America (however Batwing does happen to down at the moment due to waiting for replacement parts) ------------------------- The second thing I put in boldface is true though. While I do believe Firehawk is still popular enough to justify its existence, its important to remember that lines don't necessarily indicate ridership (See Banshee)... ---------------------- -As much as I dislike Invertigo, as far I know there's nothing wrong with it from a maintenance perspective, and it takes up very little space that could be used for something (its practically hanging right over the picnic area, in the most remote location of Action Zone - No matter hideous you might think the upcharge attractions, those bring in a good chunk of money, and as long as they continue to do so, those things aren't going anywhere...

To echo what @upstop said, I think if/when Vortex finally has to go (hopefully that's still a while from now), some type of 90 degree drop coaster, whether it be a B&M Dive Machine or a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter, would fit it's footprint perfectly! And if they would find a way to "re-re-use" Vortex's station (which as we know used to be the original Bat's) that would be awesome! I wonder if a station has ever been used for 3 different coasters throughout its lifespan...

The double-edged sword of having such a fine collection of wooden coasters is that none of them make great candidates to be RMC'd... I sure wish we had a washed-up old woodie like Mean Streak, Hurler, or Colossus lying around. RMC is taking every park's trash and turning it into treasure... ------- Alas, KI does not possess any trash.

^Ehh I wouldn't say that's too egregious an offense... Or at least, it wouldn't be like breaking the 11th Commandment, which to everyone here that doesn't already know.... THOU SHALL NOT REMOVE Adventure Express! There's also, on the 8th day, God made Adventure Express, and He said, "This sacred ride shall be honored and revered for ages to come!"

FUN FACT: Construction for Diamondback officially started October 11, 2007 (https://archive.is/20130128040706/http://kiDiamondback.com/public/latest/blog/index.cfm?entry=badd8f9e-684a-46ba-80d0-a4ced97a1822), with the removal of a single tree near Swan Lake. In other words, if this 2020 coaster is to be a Giga, I think "official" construction might be starting sooner than we think... -- @Hawaiian Coasters 325 For that video you found above, I couldn't help to notice that it said "World's Longest Gigacoaster". I found that to be a little funny considering that "World's Longest Giga" would be one and the same with World's Longest Coaster. Like saying World's Tallest Strata, World's Fastest Launched Coaster, or.... World's Roughest TOGO -

Full pdf hasn't been posted yet, but from https://twitter.com/amusementtoday, you'll see... https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DmnsIrjUcAE97fs.jpg Diamondback at #10 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dmns3xAVsAAOPCu.jpg Beast at #5! Congrats to the longest coaster in North America...

Ever since I first rode Skyhawk at CP way back in 2010 I've been wanting so badly for KI to install a Screamin' Swing! But honestly, we've been in desperate need of some major flats ever since the deterioration/demise of TR/Crypt. The Drop Tower/Delirium/WindSeeker trio is just not enough!