TheBEASTunchained Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 2013 is the 20th anniversary of Kings Islands only Jet Coaster, Flight Deck. The roller coaster which was formerly named Top Gun, recently gave its 20 millionth ride. With 20 years and 20 million rides, this roller coaster has made lots of memories for lots of people and their families who have visited the park in the last 20 years. What are some of your best memories of Flight Deck? Did you ride it the year it opened? Have you ridden it on its 20th anniversary yet? Happy 20th Flight Deck! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Jet coaster? Huh? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan73 Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 ... And I just rode it Wednesday! How appropriate. One of my top favorites. Maybe my favorite. I've ridden it almost every year since it opened. I still remember All of the extensive theming, including the ride ops in flight suits! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VortexBFForever Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 Flight Deck was the first "big" steel coaster I ever rode, and also the very first Arrow coaster I ever rode. My first ride on it was when I was 9, in 2008. I recall being very nervous about it since I had not yet fully "blossomed" into a thrill seeker - which was the reason I didn't ride it again until 2010, not long after my first ride on Vortex. FD is a really fun coaster, especially for a ride that's only a minute and a half long. My favorite part about it all is the SWINGING! It's so fun to be swung around on a suspended coaster. I always look forward to that every time I ride! Rode it twice so far this year - once on May 26 and once on June 20. When I go back to KI next Tuesday, I'll be taking my 20th ride on it (How appropriate for the 20th anniversary!). Although 20 rides doesn't sound like much, I have been trying to ride it more often (I rode it 11 times in 2012, for a start). For that matter, I'm going to make it a goal to ride Flight Deck a total of 20 times this season (I got that idea just now!) in honor of its 20th. Happy 20th Birthday, FD! <3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDMC01 Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I remember when the first few times I rode it, my legs shook when I got off due to the intensity. When I was much younger, this was always my go-to ride, along with Adventure Express (I didn't ride much else back then...) and often my first ride of the day. I still love this ride and try to ride it almost every time I go! Even though the line's theming is a shell of what it once was, I still enjoy taking the trek back to ride one of my favorite Kings Island coasters. Happy 20th Flight Deck (or as I still call it, Top Gun) and here's to 20 more! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnofthedead Posted June 21, 2013 Share Posted June 21, 2013 I love Top Gun, I ride it and have fun. Just wish it was longer. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Man I'm getting old, I rode it for the first time in April of 1993 during a pass preview day. I was 13 years old. You do the math that makes me 33 lol. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McSalsa Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Happy 20th, Flight Deck! I hope you live to see your 25th like Big Bad Wolf did, and hopefully even beyond that! A really fun ride. Sure, it's short, but what a thrill... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast1979 Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Still one of the best first halves of a coaster out there. When I ride it, all I see is missing opportunity. It's an extremely fun moderate coaster, but it sits in the corner of the park gathering rust and letting each piece of remaining theming disappear. I hope it's next 20 years see a reverse of the trend of the last two decades. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
secondson Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Jet coaster? Huh? I'm with Terp on this one. I think you mean jet themed coaster. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Still one of the best first halves of a coaster out there. I'd laugh, but it's true. The ride is so short and has so much speed when it hits the brakes that it could go on for quite a bit longer. That's the only thing I don't like about it. Otherwise, it's one of the best coasters at KI. I need to ride it more often. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jr for Birdy Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 I would like to see pictures of the old theming in the queue, if anybody has them. I always look where we use to walk through that's no longer used and miss it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiamondAceExpress Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 I rode it first in May of 1993 during the high school post-prom trip. The entire queue line was filled. I must have waited in line for 2, possibly 3 hours with my boyfriend. We were married 4 years later! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonofBaconator Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 One of my favorite parts about the whole ride is listening to the music that was used in Transformers as you walk up to the station. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoChickens Posted June 22, 2013 Share Posted June 22, 2013 Still one of my favorite rides, hopefully for many years to come. For both myself and the ride !! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingcobra81 Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Man I'm getting old, I rode it for the first time in April of 1993 during a pass preview day. I was 13 years old. You do the math that makes me 33 lol. Yep i'am 32 and when i read the name of the thread i said to myself no way. But yes way It has been 20 years just one more thing that makes me feel old. lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcoaster Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 To what was going to be a coaster named Thunder Road to what became start to the Paramount era, and the ushering in of Top Gun! Now flight deck happy 20th to a short ride a joked about long way back to the park, and as the coaster is 20 Hello to Great wolfe lodge that sprung up next door! To another 20 we shall see! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Swoop. Yes, Swoop. And a great name it was, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KingsIslandPR Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 I love Top Gun, I ride it and have fun. Just wish it was longer. Top Gun ... I don't see that ride on the 2013 park guide & map. 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faeriewench Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 One of my favorite parts about the whole ride is listening to the music that was used in Transformers as you walk up to the station. I still prefer Danger Zone. >_> Happy 20th Flight Deck. My favorite in the entire park, lol. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Top Gun/Flight Deck was the first ride I ever chickened out on. Parents and I waited for what felt like 4 hours in line. And then the 7 year old version of me chickened out at the last minute and hung out in the little caged area on the other side of the que. Now, its a mainstay on my ride to do list. Just a fun ride and when it swings out, man of man. And to be honest, that drop in the front car is the best for me. Back in the campground days, the family and I camped right in the shadow of then Top Gun. My pants caught on fire from a burning marshmallow, and then the storm rolled in. What a storm. I remember hearing the lightening crack multiple times and believe I saw it hit the ride a few times. I even swear, as do my family, that around 2-3 in the morning (during the main part of the storm) the lift hill turned on and off. This happened on and off during the storm. We all believed the lift hill had turned on and off with the lightening strikes. Now that Im older (almost 20 years older) I wonder can that actually happen? Can a lightening strike turn on a lift hill? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DontWantToWait42mar0 Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 Happy Birthday Flight Deck, you really do take my breath away! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faeriewench Posted June 23, 2013 Share Posted June 23, 2013 ^ A little better LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerColt Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Fight Deck was the first ride to ever make me nauseous (it got me right at the end on the brakes... ooooh the swaying...). But thanks to Flight Deck, I realized a little nausea isn't the worst thing in the world, and I've been ridin' coasters ever since. Thanks for the 20 years! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medford Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 I suppose my first ride was the year it opened. I remember the long lines thru the woods and the theming that was well done. I still get a feeling of nervousness each time I crest the lift hill and the walkway beneath you dissapears. Its a feeling I don't get on FAAC or Invertigo (the only suspended/inverted coasters I've ridden). I have not ridden it this year yet, I suspect my 1st ride will be w/ my soon to be 5 year old who is "this...." close to reaching 48" (perhaps this is the week). I know he's going to love it, due to its location, its the only ride in the park he doesn't have a good handle of. Of course, we'll see who his enthusiasim last once he's one a coaster larger than FAAC, he's yet to get on a ride in the park that's scared of (though you could tell that the back seat on viking fury made him a little nervous at the begining of last season, no problems this season); then again, he doesn't think its fair he's going to have to wait another year or two to grow enough to get on Diamondback. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creed Bratton Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 I love Top Gun, I ride it and have fun. Just wish it was longer. Top Gun ... I don't see that ride on the 2013 park guide & map. I love this! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnofthedead Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 I love Top Gun, I ride it and have fun. Just wish it was longer. Top Gun ... I don't see that ride on the 2013 park guide & map. It will always be Top gun, just like Invertigo will always be face/off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Maybe to you. Then one day, when you least expect it, it won't be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnofthedead Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 Old habits die hard I guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arlington Posted June 24, 2013 Share Posted June 24, 2013 First time I ever road it (as Top Gun),I remember coming to the screeching halt of the end and thinking, "Wow! That was a rush! Is it over?" Then got off the ride and realized it made me a little dizzy. Would love for it to be longer. Love the swinging out effect. Happy Anniversary, Flight Deck. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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