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Is the record breaking ride building era over for Ki


stashua123
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I would have to say that in some point in the future KI will break some kind of record. What kind of record is anyone's guess. Most simultaneous farts in a ride line? Most pieces of gum left on a hand rail? Most times a ride op says that you enjoying a ride was "awesome" in one day? This could be a long list.

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If you look at it, the highest/fastest which is really the granddaddy of the records is on hiatus if not gone industry wide. It jumped from 300' to 400' feet so rapidly and in a fashion that wasn't considered successful for the parks - so unless there is a new approach to 400' out there, I'm doubtful we'll see it pushed. Why push much higher than 300 even (see I-305, Leviathan).

Beyond that, records can be considers either relevant or irrelevant to enthusiasts, marketers, and GP so that is what you get in today's world.

What I'd assume is more relevant is a ride type master plan for a park that looks at the desired customer base (families, thrill seekers, and likely a bunch of other categories), and evaluates the different ride experiences (terrain, twisters, loopers, family fun, high G, airtime,betc...) currently available in both flats and coasters. From here - pick what makes sense for the next 1-3 additions and go look for options - if one of those options happens to be a potential record breaker, then it becomes part of the analysis at that point.

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I think the next record breaking thing at Kings Island will get is the tallest, fastest, and longest wooden coaster, something along the lines of The Beast, a son possibly.....Oh wait

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  • 7 years later...

We've had some world record breakers since the last entry on this thread: Banshee (longest invert, 8th tallest, 3rd fastest) and Orion (8th fastest, 7th longest drop, 10th tallest)

However, though we got two record breakers, I feel like we might not see as many in the coming years, we might get a coaster that breaks A record but nothing that breaks multiple records at once like Steel Vengeance, GateKeeper, etc.

I feel like Kings Island will keep getting great coasters in the future but I think the major record breaking coasters are going to go to Cedar Point, Carowinds, and Canada's Wonderland. 

Its ironic I'm saying this when back in 2012 people didn't think that we'd get anymore record breakers then we got Banshee two years later.

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This guy made a video on this topic. He makes the point at the end and I agree. Kings Island is getting back into the game changing rides. Every ride in between The Beast and Orion isn’t that good as in record breaking. Diamondback was the tallest in the park, which isn’t saying much. Mystic Timbers added the most wooden track to the park, and it is an incredible ride, but it didn’t really break anything. Banshee may have broken a record for longest invert, but it’s really just a regular invert without a predrop, but it is still a great ride. Even though Orion is not really record breaking either, it still breaks tons of records for KI. It will be one of the tallest coasters in the world, so I Hope KI is getting back into the legendary coasters game like this guy.
 

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27 minutes ago, ThrillKingsFitzy said:

Mystic Timbers added the most wooden track of any one park in the world...
 

FTFY!

I do think all of Cedar Fair's ground-up installations have been fantastic and extremely high-quality. Orion certainly will continue that trend.

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2 hours ago, KIghostguy said:

FTFY!

I do think all of Cedar Fair's ground-up installations have been fantastic and extremely high-quality. Orion certainly will continue that trend.

I agree! Just think, we could be Six Flags Kings Island now and be getting the world's largest Larson Looper for 2020 instead of Orion. 

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I think as long as Kings Island stays an amazing park, whatever they may add in the future I am certain will be a great addition for the park. As far as record breaking coasters, I really don't know. It appears the Coaster Wars are beginning to end as many record breaking coasters titles are taken. To me, at this point, anything is still possible, but I believe parks will change their strategy from best coaster to best environment.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

While recordbreaking is awesome and all, I agree with you SonofBaconator. I'd rather have quality over quantity in that regard. Give me a super thrilling experience that is well thought out and not something thrown together for the sake of "records".

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On 5/23/2020 at 11:04 PM, SonofBaconator said:

Personally, I don't think breaking records is the goal anymore. I'd like to think that they're focusing more on providing a thrilling experience.

records always brake.  so like daimondback is the biggest tallest fastest meanest metal coaster but now Oroin will be.  I hope i an not to scared to ride Oroin.

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  • 2 months later...

Breaking records only works from a marketing standpoint. The more records your coaster breaks, the more marketable it becomes. I'll beat a dead horse and use my floorless example. Lets say Kings Island gets the world's tallest, fastest, and longest floorless coaster. The words "tallest" "fastest" and "longest" are easily marketable to the general public- which are the main target after all. 

Cedar Point excels at this because nearly every single coaster addition breaks some type of record therefore making them more marketable. For example, Valravn was built as the world's tallest, fastest, and longest dive coaster. When Yukon Striker came along, Valravn was simply remarketed as the tallest, fastest, and longest dive coaster in the USA. GateKeeper used to feature the world's tallest inversion and even after Steel Curtain came along to take that record away, GateKeeper still retained its respective wing coaster records. Some people might call it gimmicky but it works.

I don't mean to contradict what I previously said about KI not looking to break records and instead opting for quality over quantity. I think its subjective to what the park wants. Cedar Point needs to add record breakers every few years because that's the legacy they've built and that's how they want to keep people coming in. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, we don't need to focus on breaking records in order to bring in guests as its not crucial to our survival.

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7 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

Some people might call it gimmicky but it works.

I think it becomes gimmicky when you start narrowing it down to specific types of coaster.  Tallest, fastest, longest, are legit records if you're talking about all coasters, or all steel or all wooden coasters.  But saying something is the tallest dive coaster or the fastest floorless?  That's pretty meaningless to me, and I doubt the GP cares much about it, either.  I don't disagree that it still makes for good marketing fodder.  But I have my doubts that it moves the needle at all in terms of GP interest.

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There's only so much you can push a coaster before our own bodies start to reach their mechanical limits. Coasters like Intimidator 305 cause riders to 'grey out' from the g-force. There is definitely a sweet spot that balances intensity with the overall experience. Adventure Express may not be as thrilling as Backlot Stunt Coaster, but I would argue that it's a much more enjoyable and memorable ride.

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No, it's not over. What I'd like to see is some new ideas though. And don't take that as a complaint about what we've already got because I love what we've got. As much as I love roller coasters, there are many other rides I enjoy at the park, and many types of rides we don't have or could have better. I would have no issue with Cedar Fair giving Cedar Point all the new big coasters for awhile, and we get a better log ride, or a better mine train, or "some" (more than one) thrilling dark rides. There's a multitude of ways to break records, and excite the masses that do not require taller/faster/etc.

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