PKIVortex Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 And look how bad it was faded to pink! You can hear King Cobra in the back ground....( Flat on the Floor as you Ride the King Cobra).....oh Memories! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhantomTheaterKiss Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 I remember standing in line for almost two hours the year Top Gun opened, my family and I spent a good amount of time standing in front of the 3D sign, and I thought it was the coolest thing since a pocket on a t-shirt. It's the only roller coaster I have ridden during its opening season (unfortunately) and it will forever hold a very special place in my heart. I really hope it gets spruced up, at least with a paint job but a re-theme (of all AZ really) would make me very happy. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 I miss the soundtrack playing in the que and sttaion and the fog effect when you came back in from the ride. Im sure thre ride ops got sick of hearing 'Danger Zone' 500x a day! I think a refresh and rename as The Bat would be welcome! Now if only the park could address the filthiness of The Racer tunnel as you reenter the staton..heck, I'd donate the paint! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Here is Coasterbob's video with Red Track, Thank you for posting that! The feels, man, the feels. I went to Kings Island for the first time in 1995, two years after the ride had opened. I didn't ride it, but most of the group I was with did. I have a very distinct memory of watching it from the overlook and seeing the fog pour out and the lights under the station. It looked amazing in the mind of a six year old who was absolutely in love with that movie. When I finally did ride it, sadly, a lot of that theming was gone/deteriorated. I still get nostalgic thinking about it though. The select songs form the movie soundtrack that would play in the line, the fighter squadron flags hanging up etc. SOME HISTORY: When you think about it, Paramount actually did a pretty good job theming that ride to the movie. Keep in mind, the ride had been ordered from Arrow under former management, was supposed to follow the area's "Adventure Village" theme ("Swoop" and "Thunder Road" are the intended names often mentioned). According to RCDB, Paramount had brought in John DeCuir, a famed Hollywood set designer who had worked on a lot of the sets for the film. However, I'm not sure if this is true since DeCuir died in 1991 and (I'm assuming) Paramount didn't begin plans to alter the ride's intended them until 1992 after DeCuir was passed. Nevertheless, they made the ride's queue and station feel like an aircraft carrier. I'm curious to know if/how had the ride been labeled as "Swoop" or "Thunder Road" would've utilized the under station queue if at all. From my understanding the ride's station design was completely altered by Paramount. Exline Design performed the design of the station for Paramount Parks and actually designed the queues for all three Top Gun attractions. Original concept art for Kings Island's "Top Gun" station: - Notice how much more it looks like an aircraft carrier than what was actually built? Exline actually spent three days aboard the USS America researching the carrier (The movie actually filmed aboard the USS Enterprise and USS Rangers, different classes of aircraft carriers). Exline also did a large format photo shoot during those three days which produced the photographs seen on the massive "billboards" in the ride's queue. A mural under construction: That above particular mural, I'm not sure which park that went to. I think it was the one that you saw when waiting at the loading gates looking across the station. You can see more of Exline's concept work here: http://exlinedesign.com/entertainment/portfolio/ride/topgun.htm At some point, when the ride became sponsored by "Gillette Mach 3," the murals were changed to this: - Photo from Don Flint's KIExtreme.com (another great Kings Island site that's worth a look!) The other mural not seen in that photograph depicted an F-4 Phantom fighter jet waiting on a carrier deck. The F-4 was no longer in service when Top Gun was filmed and is not the jet featured in the movie. Another mistake is that on the image above it shows to F-15 Eagles photoshopped in to a scene where they're flying over an aircraft carrier (again, it's the USS America, not the "Enterprise" from the film). The carrier shows F-14 Tomcats sitting on the deck. The F-15 Eagle was never used by the navy and never used in carrier service. Anyone remember the old spiel from the early 2000's of Jeff Seibert's voice saying: "Gillette Mach 3 Hopes You Enjoy you Ride on Top Gun!" That debuted the same year that the backs of the ride's cars had the Gillette logo painted on them. Somewhere around here I have old concept art from the ride that depicted a full scale F-14 jet that was to be placed atop the ride station. Clearly, that never made it to the actual ride, but it would've been visible from the tower and looked pretty cool. The F-14 was an amazing fighter jet, the backbone of the U.S. Navy for years. It's no longer in service. Back in 2011, when I worked for the park, my boss was really into sprucing up the theming along the ride. We used industrial tape to create the "fake" runway on the ride's brake run early one morning before the park opened. When trying to decide what number to put on the ground (aircraft carriers are marked with a two digit number on their flight decks), I suggested "93" for when the ride opened, we ended up going with "41," the last two digit's of the ride's phone number. SOME SPECULATION: I always loved the Top Gun theme and loved the movie. I miss hearing that awesome 80's soundtrack in the line. However, IF they are re-theming or changing anything I think "The Bat" would be a nice nod to KI history and to the fake website pulled earlier this year. They could turn the under queue into a "bat cave," but personally I think that they're just going to keep the line as is. There's an extra set of stairs that attaches the ride's exit down to the lower queue. In the past, this featured a handicap electric ramp where guests in a wheel chair could experience the queue then ride up to the accessible part of the station. I bet you that becomes a "Fast Lane" entrance. I.E. Fast Lane riders enter through the exit, then go down those stairs and join up with the regular queue. 27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTD-120-420 Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 ^Thank you for taking the time to post all of that. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 ^Thank you for taking the time to post all of that. My pleasure, glad you enjoyed it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcgoble3 Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Yes, thank you for posting that. That's a lot of interesting history. It's particularly interesting to hear a little bit of the story behind a change that I was around for, namely the fake runway on the brake run. Again, thank you. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Yes, thank you for posting that. That's a lot of interesting history. It's particularly interesting to hear a little bit of the story behind a change that I was around for, namely the fake runway on the brake run. Again, thank you. That was an awesome day at work and ended up being the only day I left early. After spray painting all morning, my finger got really sore and I couldn't move it. I was allowed to leave work, made a doctor's appoiintment for that evening and then came home and fell asleep. Never ended up going to the doctor and that finger never hurt again. We also did a lot of work fixing up the FOF queue that season. Ha. Sorry for the random side story. Also, here's that concept art I was talking about. This isn't the image I had, but a newspaper article featuring the same art. Shout out to TG93 for this one: 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcoaster Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Thanks for posting all the memories of TOP GUN. We'll see what happens, but thinks its a clean up and fast pass area would love it to be for The Bat CAVE!, but miracles do happen: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevKenny Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Isnt FD getting near the end of its service life? Would CF/KI put $ into a ride that would need removal 5-10 years down the road? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldschool75 Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 ^ and the service life of it is what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkroz Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 ^ and the service life of it is what? Busch Gardens Williamsburg cited a "25 year shelf life" for its Arrow Suspended Coaster, Big Bad Wolf, and used that as a reason for removing it in 2009. Take that for what it's worth. For reference, Flight Deck's 25th season would be 2018. EDIT: Cedar Point's Iron Dragon is in its 26th season and still operating. Perhaps in part because it's not on a parcel of land that can easily accommodate another ride, whereas Big Bad Wolf was... and in fact, that land is now occupied by Verbolten. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedevariouseffect Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 ^Still have yet to ride Verbolten, I hope it was worth getting rid of big bad wolf...looks like it would. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thegajone Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 I miss the soundtrack playing in the que and sttaion and the fog effect when you came back in from the ride. Im sure thre ride ops got sick of hearing 'Danger Zone' 500x a day! I think a refresh and rename as The Bat would be welcome! Now if only the park could address the filthiness of The Racer tunnel as you reenter the staton..heck, I'd donate the paint! Loved the theming on Top Gun back then! And they should definitely bring the fog back there, and on AE. For as much fog as they use during Haunt, I don't see why this would be much of a problem. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diamonbackandbeastlover Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 I think it would be cool for offside to see fog screens and the train flying through them. I think they should also bring back stunt coasters theming 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTD-120-420 Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 ^Still have yet to ride Verbolten, I hope it was worth getting rid of big bad wolf...looks like it would. It was worth it. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 ^ and the service life of it is what? Busch Gardens Williamsburg cited a "25 year shelf life" for its Arrow Suspended Coaster, Big Bad Wolf, and used that as a reason for removing it in 2009. Take that for what it's worth. For reference, Flight Deck's 25th season would be 2018. EDIT: Cedar Point's Iron Dragon is in its 26th season and still operating. Perhaps in part because it's not on a parcel of land that can easily accommodate another ride, whereas Big Bad Wolf was... and in fact, that land is now occupied by Verbolten. Bingo! Flight Deck's usefulness will end when the land is worth more for park expansion than it is now as a ride. With the elevation changes in that area of the park, it may be a lil bit before we see park expansion hard core that would make FD a casualty. Then again, only a few know what the plans are, and plans can and often change 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 If also depends on the reliability and durability of the ride itself. See the Cedar Point Wildcat. Oh wait, you can't. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterMyths79 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I still think that KI should re-theme it The Bat because they shouldn't waste an awesome new logo design that was used for the Banshee unveiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterMyths79 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Does anyone else agree? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanna Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Gordon, that was the mural I absolutely loved. I used to take the ride just to appreciate the paintings along the way. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondbacker Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I'm not sure if you all have noticed, but the walkway for the queue has been removed. I'll post a picture soon. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TombRaiderFTW Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 ^ Please do! I'd like to see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upstop Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Still waiting....tapping foot....where's the doggone picture? LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myklhicks Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myklhicks Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 also, steps are missing concrete in this picture: 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon Bombay Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 ^Those are the stairs I figured would become a Fast Lane entrance. Gordon, that was the mural I absolutely loved. I used to take the ride just to appreciate the paintings along the way. It's a shame as those were so well done. Great photo work. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calakapepe Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I have two possible reactions: Sarcastic Oh I got it, they're lowering the station and upgrading the lift hill so that they can make the ride a tad bit longer... obviously. InterestedThings just got interesting... I'm excited to see what will happen. -- RPG, go! Although, there's no change in story. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myklhicks Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 and a picture to the entrance to the queue that is now gone: 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myklhicks Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 ^Those are the stairs I figured would become a Fast Lane entrance. Gordon, that was the mural I absolutely loved. I used to take the ride just to appreciate the paintings along the way. It's a shame as those were so well done. Great photo work. Thanks! Though these aren't off my SLR, just my iPhone. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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