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Firehawk Leaving Kings Island 10/28/18


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2 hours ago, 139Signal27 said:

A lot goes into determining when a ride closes -- ridership, downtime, marketability, maintenance costs, possible renovation costs, staffing costs, real estate development opportunities, etc. It reached the end of it's service life for KI, but that doesn't mean someone else can't buy it, renovate it, and operate it.

My guess is that a possible buyer would only be buying the track, supports, and trains. I assume that due to its age the control and logic systems are extremely outdated. I'm sure KI has made countless modifications over the years that probably just wouldn't work once disassembled. If a park picks it up for $8-$11 million, and they invest another couple million into completely redoing the electrical systems, they'd essentially have a brand new attraction on their hands for less than $15 million.

But that is not what they said.   Words matter.  

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24 minutes ago, 139Signal27 said:

Lol they aren't under oath. They can say whatever they want. They crafted a statement that communicated possibly disappointing news in the least offensive way possible.

If they are selling or relocating the Firehawk, and we don’t know if they are, then what they did was craft a misleading statement not a “least offensive one”.  I don’t know about you but I find being misled very offensive.  

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10 minutes ago, King Ding Dong said:

If they are selling or relocating the Firehawk, and we don’t know if they are, then what they did was craft a misleading statement not a “least offensive one”.  I don’t know about you but I find being misled very offensive.  

You're acting as if you have some right to know. Cedar Fair has absolutely no reason to keep the public informed about what they do or don't do with their assets.

Seeing that they are dismantling instead of demolishing leads me to believe they either have a buyer lined up, or they are looking for a buyer. If someone offers more than it's worth in scrap metal, why not sell?

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11 minutes ago, 139Signal27 said:

You're acting as if you have some right to know. Cedar Fair has absolutely no reason to keep the public informed about what they do or don't do with their assets.

Seeing that they are dismantling instead of demolishing leads me to believe they either have a buyer lined up, or they are looking for a buyer. If someone offers more than it's worth in scrap metal, why not sell?

Absolutely not.  Again my point is about being misled. I guess some people don’t have a problem with that.

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Could be that as the ride currently is it has reached the end of its service life. Sure a refurb could extend this life but barring that refurb time is more limited. Refurb may also be much simpler and effective once disassembled. SFOG said Wheelie reached the end of it's service life but Fun Spot picked it up refurbed it and it continues on today. This doesn't mean either park is misleading anyone.

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On 10/23/2018 at 7:38 PM, King Ding Dong said:

I don’t see how the coaster can go somewhere else and the park’s claim “the ride has reached the end of its service life” can remain operative at the same time.  If it continues to operate it still has service life and has not reached the end.

"service life" is an economic phrase, usually. As opposed to "end of life". Just sayin'. I don't know what the park has in mind, but I also don't think their statement implies the ride cannot be sold, and fired up somewhere else.

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2 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Don't forget that this weekend is your last chance to ride Firehawk! Close out the 2018 season and be apart of KI History as it was Cedar Fair's first coaster install and their second removal since owning the park.

This season has flown by!  I defiantly didn't get enough visits this year.  WOnder if Firehawk even will be open.

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In honor of Firehawk leaving. I found this video on YouTube from Firehawk's opening day at KI in 2007. Now, I plan to be at the park on Sunday afternoon to try and get my final ride on Firehawk, but if I can't because of downtime, oh well. I will at least be there on it's last day so I can say I was there on it's last day. I also wonder how many news stations will be at the park on Sunday covering Firehawk's final day. I know there were tons of news stations at CP on Mean Streak's closing day. There also is a chance of rain on Sunday so I hope it means a shorter line. But probably not since people will want to be there for the closing of Firehawk. RIP Firehawk.

 

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I got my final Firehawk ride yesterday evening in the cold drizzle. Right after my train was dispatched, Firehawk went 2-9 weather and the other train, which had just been loaded, was unloaded and the riders were sent down the exit instead of back into the queues. I don't know for certain if they reopened, but sending the riders out the exit and ushering everyone out of the main queue suggests to me that it was not likely.

Does anyone here know if Firehawk ran at all today? It would be kinda cool (for me, not for those who missed their last ride) if my final ride ended up being the last public train ever.

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Closed today? That means I was part of the last group to ride it. I was at Kings Island last night and headed to Firehawk sometime after 10. Upon arrival it was closed but testing was being conducted. After a few minutes we got to go on. 2 - 3 trains went before me.

We boarded the red train and had an amazing night ride on Firehawk. However, the train never made it into the station. We were stopped on the final break run entering the station. The yellow train got stuck at the beginning of the lift hill. After waiting 30 or so minutes we all had to be manually evacuated from the ride.

Bittersweet knowing that the first time I’ve ever been stuck on a rollercoaster (Kings Island is my home park, been going since early 90s) was on the last ride ever for Firehawk and was manually evacuated. If you think about it, Firehawks last ride was never completed.

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I think it is fair to point out that those signs are typically used to indicate a minimum.  I have frequently seen rides listed as being closed which ended up operating.  Normally this just means maintenance was unable to get the ride running by the time the park opened.

 

The station is staffed with ride ops and it appears they are going to try to operate today.  So I think it is a little premature to assume it has already given its last rides.

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1 hour ago, BeastlyKI said:

Closed today? That means I was part of the last group to ride it. I was at Kings Island last night and headed to Firehawk sometime after 10. Upon arrival it was closed but testing was being conducted. After a few minutes we got to go on. 2 - 3 trains went before me.

We boarded the red train and had an amazing night ride on Firehawk. However, the train never made it into the station. We were stopped on the final break run entering the station. The yellow train got stuck at the beginning of the lift hill. After waiting 30 or so minutes we all had to be manually evacuated from the ride.

Bittersweet knowing that the first time I’ve ever been stuck on a rollercoaster (Kings Island is my home park, been going since early 90s) was on the last ride ever for Firehawk and was manually evacuated. If you think about it, Firehawks last ride was never completed.

I'd say it's an appropriate ending.  What's funny is that all accounts I've heard is that this has ben a marginally reliable year... until it was announced that it was leaving, then the ride got angry or something.  

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I hope they get it up and running sometime today for all the people that made a special trip today for their last rides. It was broke down when we arrived last night about 6pm. Later the app said "0 Min Wait" we headed over and an employee said it was about an hour. Being my last chance to ride we waited and luckily it ended up only being about 30 min. This was around 7-8pm. Thankful to have got my last ride in since it was always one of my favorite rides. #RestInPieces :(

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