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I came bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to the decoding thread this morning, but oof. Okay. I get that B&M are formulaic now, but they invented or refined on *most* coaster types. Inverts, dives, floorless, flying (which B&M didn't invent but completely redefined). Hell, B&M set the bar so high for a modern steel looping coaster with Kumba in 1993 that it changed the entire effin' game, that layout inspired replication and iteration across an industry. And even RMC has its formula at this point, with every one of their layouts being comprised of rolls, stalls, and outward banks. Now, by the same token, pigs will fly before we see a loop on a B&M giga. That's not even innovation, Schwarzkopf did loops best and I don't need one on a giga. A launch I'd be game for, however.

I think whether KI sees a 400'+ coaster will depend on the viability of a certain breed of Tyrannosaur Edited for brain fart.

I get what you're saying. We might have a layout in two dimensions (and rough ideas of a third), but I want to see what B&M's actual shaping is gonna...shape up like. Busch Gardens' announcement is kind of disappointing as yet, they've got a sizzle reel but no POV or layout pics. It would be nice, but...I'm not holding my breath. I could see **maybe** a quasi inversion somewhere, but I don't think B&M will push the banking past 135.

Universal Studios Japan says hi. Flying Dinosaur is probably the best flyer yet. Vekoma's new launched flyer @ Phantasialand could be quite interesting. And all the non-clone B&M flyers are pretty great. Also it's *such a relief* teasers are happening lol.

Get your eyes checked, you're IN IT

^That is likely. In all fairness, SV's first teaser was a fake lumberjack fake-chopping at Mean Streak, and RMC Gwazi's teasers have consisted of a sad NL2 rendering and some text. An involved teaser campaign isn't necessary, but I do kind of hope to see some trolling a la what happened with the fake Bat Wing Rider ahead of Banshee.

Umm, we learned the track is blue and supports a very light grey/white, that people really don't like 'spoilers', and that most of KIC's members don't have the best taste in music. Also, brake run, transfer track and station footings are nearing complete with more underway. Recent pics are in the Project X Construction Updates thread, and you can find video on the WildGravity Travels YouTube channel.

Actually, if the station music is anything less than this on a loop, I will be inconsolable:

No, I think you're on the money, despite that it turns a bit at the crest. Hopefully it'll deliver some weightlessness. Millennium (and Leviathan's) overbanks had to be acknowledged in a conversation about near inversions on gigas, but Project X seems to be like Fury in that max banking will be around or just past 90°.

Y'all, Millennium Force invented overbanks, its first turn is 122° and it has four overbanked turns. Leviathan's first turn is clearly overbanked and it has a 115° turnaround. The first element on Project X will almost certainly be overbanked as well, and though I doubt it'll be banked as much as Millennium's first turn, it may ride closer to an inversion because of its shaping.

Banshee was $24M. Leviathan was $28M in 2012, and Project X will almost certainly be that much or more. EDIT: Beat to the punch, lol.

I'm sorry you feel that way. When was the last time a coaster of this scale was announced that you didn't have a good idea what it would be? The 'decoding' may be all but done, but the best parts lie ahead! It's not every season a 300' coaster goes up.

Umm, excuse me...we have had a very enterprising young member, @collin.klopfstein, helping us decode track and support color! But maybe it's time for a construction thread or just to rename this one.

I don't know about you, but I've never received a Christmas present that was a matter of public record, let alone a multimillion dollar investment destined to thrill millions of people across the nation and beyond. We have had a layout for BGW's 2020 coaster and IOA's 2020 or 2021 for months. It's pretty routine for blueprints to hit the internet well before a coaster is announced, and it has been for some time. There's no use scolding anyone about it. I'm still excited for an official announcement, and betting on a coaster that'll exceed expectations. And as has been said, it's all a matter of perspective, I'm stoked to watch another giga be constructed.

I think I305 was numbered mainly to differentiate from Intimidator at Carowinds which opened the same year. And Fury was numbered because it was an impressive number, lol. I'd agree that teasers should show up by late July or so.

It's not Millennium XL 300 or Leviathan 306, I think it's unlikely a number will be attached...especially since it's less than 325. Busch Gardens has announced that their announcement will take place on July 30th, maybe Kings Island will follow suit shortly.

That color scheme is so tragic, lol. Maybe by the time Kings Island is in the market for a coaster again, Intamin will be a possibility. I'd much rather see something like the coasters coming to BGW, Parc Asterix or IOA.

The long chain lifts of the B&Ms is a huge contrast to Millennium's cable lift. I appreciate both, but I do like the anticipation and being able to really appreciate high how up you are. IMO it also makes the drop seem a bit more dramatic and impactful when you're at first creeping over and get to see how long and impossibly steep the impending descent is.

That's a possibility. Doubt we'll see it, but I'd appreciate any sort of twist at this point. It is a bit of a bummer they've chosen Millennium Force's color scheme with a bit brighter hue, a contrast spine would have helped differentiate. It'll look good and be different enough, I suppose. I am actually looking forward to the announcement and official render, and to see if there are any quirks with B&M's shaping. The NoLimits creations we've got are very accurate approximations, but they're not going to be as good as the real deal. And it's really fun to watch gigas go up, there's no substitute for when the steel actually finds its place in the air.

While all of this is true, it doesn't necessarily happen in practice that way. There's going to be at least some track staged, even if it's in the area of the Firehawk site the giga won't occupy (which is probably most likely to happen).

I believe so. Kings Island has more space than most, so that's entirely possible. There's quite a few places giga track could be staged. I think ideally there's an initial wave of track/support shipment, vertical construction begins, and then there's a flow of shipments as construction continues so that there's not an inordinate amount of space needed to stage track.

Track has a way of arriving on site before vertical construction. Parking lots are easy staging areas and it's super common to see track there, by no means was that Paramount thing. It's also commonplace for track to be on site before an announcement. I suppose the announcement could be announced at any time, lol. Things should heat up come July

Lol, you're right, a lot of the times the rides were woefully out of place. But Tomb Raider was a well-themed ride at the time it opened, probably more so than any Cedar Fair endeavor. My home park was CGA growing up, so that Top Gun was clearly themed to the movie/fighter jets and had a much better queue than the coaster of the same name at KI or even Carowinds. I do agree that Cedar Fair has generally done better keeping themeing cohesive across zones of its parks, but that's not necessarily difficult when themes trend toward generic. My main point is that Paramount was able to show and not tell with its themeing. Cedar Fair seems prone to cooking up some wild backstory that's only available online or can be read on posters in the queue, not adding to ride experience at all. And a lot of the time the attempted themeing doesn't make sense unless you read the backstory (and sometimes even if you do) - i.e. Copperhead Strike/Twisted Timbers. OR it's just incredibly ham-fisted a la Mystic Timbers. Paramount had its cop outs, but they did do a lot better with visual storytelling on a ride-by-ride basis. All this being said, I think Cedar Fair gets a lot right and they're definitely superior to Paramount in most ways. I think the approach with coasters like GateKeeper, Leviathan and Banshee is sufficient for a coaster theme, especially with their entrances areas being so nice (Fury makes less sense but it also looks great). And I'm hoping if Project X has much in the way of themeing it's more show than it is tell.

Jinx, lol.