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The Giga Speculation Thread


SonofBaconator

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Pony Express is a very fun ride. Not the fastest, nor tallest, nor longest, but very enjoyable. As for Maverick, I’ve always known it to be a Terra Coaster that has an LMS launch. Cowboy coaster is just a name enthusiasts use instead of Terra Coaster because Maverick is known to be the best.

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39 minutes ago, JubJester said:

Why would you get rid of the helix? That's my favorite part of the ride. Always a suprise element because it works very well. 

I agree with @IndyGuy4KI . Just because it doesn't fit the area, doesn't mean it's a bad coaster.

I mean I guess I would say I'd like to  move it to a different part of the coaster. Not starting right off. I like the helix it self.

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10 hours ago, Maverick44 said:

If they did do this I would like to see them add some hills or some sort. Not sure they would start off with a launch up a "main hill" then over and down into the rest of the coaster. I would like to see that helix on BLSC to go byebye.

I can agree on the helix part... Won't happen though.

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The Trend Setting Theory

by Sonofbaconator

Often amusement parks want the biggest, meanest, scream machine to attract more visitors. It seems that when one coaster is a success, everyone else has to have one. As a result, you start to see trends in certain coaster types: Wing Coasters and RMCS in the early 2010, and Inverts in the late 90s and early 2000s. However, while this is the basic trend for amusement parks, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the case; some amusement parks actually benefit from staying behind the trend. Kings Island is one of those parks that often holds back on getting new coasters and as a result reinvents the trend and raises the bar for future coasters to be made.

Back in the early 2010s, gigas started to make a comeback in the amusement park industry. Rides like Intimidator 305, Leviathan, and Fury 325 have proven to be fun and exciting rides for their respective parks and rank high in numerous coaster polls still to this day. During that time, a lot of people wanted Kings Island to follow the trend and get a giga, however they got an invert instead. While a lot of people were surprised they didn’t go for a giga, they were just as happy to get a world class ride. Nearly four years later, the invert is still ranked as one of Kings Island’s best coasters and one of the best inverted coasters in the industry. Fast forward to 2017 where the park received a GCI. Though there were some that were disappointed when the ride was announced, when it opened it was well received and even won a Golden Ticket award for the 2017 season. These two rides not only showed that the park didn’t need a giga just yet, but they demonstrated that a great ride can come in any form.

I talked about how Banshee and Mystic Timbers were well received during their respective years, now I’m going to talk about where that reception came from. Banshee is a next generation B&M invert that is nothing like its predecessors. Unlike other B&M inverts, Banshee doesn’t have a drop down station floor, a predrop, or standard over-the-shoulder restraints. All of these differences have been small but basic improvements over the older models of inverts. In addition, the theming is supherb and the layout is hard to beat. Its theming and use of the terrain also sets it apart as one of the superior inverts to be made. Since the B&M Invert trend died in the early to mid 2000s, Kings Island was able to create something original that was incomparable to other coasters of the same category.

Like Banshee, Mystic Timbers also raised the bar for wooden coasters in amusement parks. It’s out and back layout is unique to the ride since many of the other GCI coasters are compact. The part of this ride that takes the cake is its theme as very few wooden roller coasters have received the amount of theming that Mystic Timbers has. The ride is essentially themed to a story created by the park. The trains, and the theme are strictly unique to the ride and Kings Island. The shed also gives the ride an original feature that no other wooden coaster has. If Kings Island went with a wooden coaster in the earlier years, say around the early 2010s, it would be compared to rides like Prowler and Gold Striker. Since Mystic Timbers came so late in the game, the ride can stand on its own.

Why is this all relevant to a giga? We’ll if you’ve been noticing, Kings Island has been reinventing the trends of roller coasters for years. Where most parks install thrilling rides, Kings Island goes a little bit higher. The innovations on Banshee, the theming on Mystic Timbers, and even the splashdown on Diamondback set the park apart from others and a giga would be no exception. The recent gigas in the industry have been nearly duplicated, making minor altercations here and there to give them individuality. I have no doubt that if Kings Island installed a giga in 2014 or 2017, it would be extremely similar to Leviathan or Fury 325. Since Kings Island is the only major Cedar Fair park to not receive a giga yet, they have the opportunity to make a serious impact on the industry- should they install one.

Fury 325 was a vast improvement over Leviathan, so much so that most consider it better than Millennium Force. Waiting to install a giga gives Kings Island the opportunity to learn how they can perfect the coaster design and make it a stand out attraction that’s not like the rest. Maybe they'll not go with the traditional "L" shaped layout, they might add a new train style, design the ride to go along terrian, give it a great theme to make it standout, or maybe all of the above- only time will tell.

I’ll end this little passage with an quote that pretty much sums up my theory.

quote-if-the-world-comes-to-an-end-i-want-to-be-in-cincinnati-everything-comes-there-ten-years-later-mark-twain-187976.jpg

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On 2/28/2018 at 10:43 PM, SonofBaconator said:

This video makes me cringe so hard. Sorry if this was a member's video but I laughed when I viewed it. I saw @Hawaiian Coasters 325 in the comment section.

 

Yep I'm in there. The whole Kings Island purposely avoiding getting a giga thing is completely nonsense. If you remember, the guy who made that video was on the giga hype for years. He was basically the guy who started the 2019 thing. See @Grobble it wasn't me like you said before!

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I'm thinking '19 right now.  The infrastructure type improvements we are seeing this year along with the fact that the road projects around the park should be done by then.

I'm looking forward to going up ET when the park opens to see if they have done anything with that area around the former Dinos area.  It makes the most sense to put a big coaster back in that area to drive more people to that area of the park.

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52 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

We will all know if there are big plans for 2019 if we see any land clearing on opening day. 

I say save up for a few years to get us a Giga or Maverick coaster for 2020 or 2021.

The giga will be be at least 10 -15 million more.  Anyone feel like we got the short end of the stick getting Mystic Timbers and CP is getting the RMC?

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19 minutes ago, Tera Ryzing said:

Anyone feel like we got the short end of the stick getting Mystic Timbers and CP is getting the RMC?

No, not at all. RMC is fairly new to Cedar Fair and quite frankly, KI doesn't need a RMC like some other parks do. I'm happy with our current coaster lineup.

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5 hours ago, Tera Ryzing said:

The giga will be be at least 10 -15 million more.  Anyone feel like we got the short end of the stick getting Mystic Timbers and CP is getting the RMC?

You can't even say that given the fact that we didn't have Mean Streak. So how could we get the "short end of the stick".

It should come no suprise that Cedar Point gets a ton more income that Kings Island.  They have several resorts (Lighthouse Point, Breakers, etc.), and they have a ton more visitors.

Making the statement "short end of the stick" is just absolutely ridicoulous. 

Kings Island is supposed to compliment Cedar Point. It does a fantastic job. 

Edit: Great point by @IndyGuy4KI. They need a GCI next. Kings Island absolutely beats Cedar Point when it comes to wooden coasters. Even when they had Mean Streak.

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56 minutes ago, JubJester said:

Edit: Great point by @IndyGuy4KI. They need a GCI next. Kings Island absolutely beats Cedar Point when it comes to wooden coasters. Even when they had Mean Streak.

While both parks compliment each other, I want KI to have an edge over CP when it comes to wood. Plus Carowinds needs a good wooden coaster more than Cedar Point does at the moment. 

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1 hour ago, JubJester said:

You can't even say that given the fact that we didn't have Mean Streak. So how could we get the "short end of the stick".

It should come no suprise that Cedar Point gets a ton more income that Kings Island.  They have several resorts (Lighthouse Point, Breakers, etc.), and they have a ton more visitors.

Making the statement "short end of the stick" is just absolutely ridicoulous. 

Kings Island is supposed to compliment Cedar Point. It does a fantastic job. 

Edit: Great point by @IndyGuy4KI. They need a GCI next. Kings Island absolutely beats Cedar Point when it comes to wooden coasters. Even when they had Mean Streak.

2016 Attendance #'s

CP:  3.6 million with Valravn

KI:  3.4 million

KD and carowinds are under 3 million and they get better coasters.

1. Magic Kingdom, Orlando; 20.4 million (-0.5 percent)

2. Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif.; 17.9 million (-1.8 percent)

3. Epcot, Orlando; 11.7 million (-0.7 percent)

4. Disney's Animal Kingdom, Orlando; 10.8 million (-0.7 percent)

5. Disney's Hollywood Studios, Orlando; 10.8 million (-0.5 percent)

6. Universal Studios, Orlando; 10.0 million (4.3 percent)

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@Tera Ryzing Mind sharing a link with this information? Keep in mind Cedar Point opens in May when Kings Island opens in April. Then also remember the resorts Cedar Point has. That's a lot of money Kings Island doesn't have a chance to bring in. 

Kings Island has had more rides built that KD lately. Not sure why Kings Dominion has anything to do with this.

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3 hours ago, JubJester said:

You can't even say that given the fact that we didn't have Mean Streak. So how could we get the "short end of the stick".

It should come no suprise that Cedar Point gets a ton more income that Kings Island.  They have several resorts (Lighthouse Point, Breakers, etc.), and they have a ton more visitors.

Making the statement "short end of the stick" is just absolutely ridicoulous. 

Kings Island is supposed to compliment Cedar Point. It does a fantastic job. 

Edit: Great point by @IndyGuy4KI. They need a GCI next. Kings Island absolutely beats Cedar Point when it comes to wooden coasters. Even when they had Mean Streak.

Just showing data based on your statement.  Attendance does not equal who gets the best coasters with Cedar Fair.

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54 minutes ago, JubJester said:

@Tera Ryzing Mind sharing a link with this information? Keep in mind Cedar Point opens in May when Kings Island opens in April. Then also remember the resorts Cedar Point has. That's a lot of money Kings Island doesn't have a chance to bring in. 

Kings Island has had more rides built that KD lately. Not sure why Kings Dominion has anything to do with this.

Since this is a giga coaster thread, both carowinds and KD have one while KI does not.

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1 hour ago, Tera Ryzing said:

Just showing data based on your statement.  Attendance does not equal who gets the best coasters with Cedar Fair.

Ok. My main point of Cedar Point gets a lot more income is still valid.

1 hour ago, Tera Ryzing said:

Since this is a giga coaster thread, both carowinds and KD have one while KI does not.

No, it's a Giga Speculation Thread.

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