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Vortex Removal Updates


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On ‎12‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 11:07 PM, jj20coloh said:

I really don’t see this being the end of Vortex, but rather an upgrade. I could be wrong, however we have rides similar to Vortex and older than Vortex still in operation, Loch Ness for example, Corkscrew, Viper, Demon, I’m not sure that the ride is at the end of its cycle, I think there’s something going on.

I've been thinking the exact same thing since it was announced Vortex was closing for good. Kings Island is doing the same thing that Cedar Point did when it was announced that Mean Streak was closing for good. The key words both parks used ( CLOSING FOR GOOD ). Both parks never used the other three words, ( BEING TORN DOWN ). I maybe wrong, but this is what I see happening to Vortex. It could be getting a complete revamp by a company with 3 big initials. RMC. As we all know, all the Coasters that RMC have done revamps on so far has been all Wooden Coasters. Vortex could possibly be the very 1st all steel Coaster to receive an RMC makeover turning it into a T-Rex Raptor Track Coaster, RMC trains with passengers sitting side by side with the standard RMC restraints. The new Vortex makeover will still go upside-down. Now as with Mean Streak, the Coaster was reprofiled when it became Steel Vengeance but pretty much still follow the same course as Mean Streak did but it's Mean Streak on steroids. The same thing Could happen to Vortex. Some thing else to think about, It didn't take long for Kings Island to pull Firehawk to the ground, and I also can't see Cedar Fair tearing down 2 Coasters at 1 park in a 2yr period. AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!

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41 minutes ago, Ellex King said:

I've been thinking the exact same thing since it was announced Vortex was closing for good. Kings Island is doing the same thing that Cedar Point did when it was announced that Mean Streak was closing for good. The key words both parks used ( CLOSING FOR GOOD ). Both parks never used the other three words, ( BEING TORN DOWN ). I maybe wrong, but this is what I see happening to Vortex. It could be getting a complete revamp by a company with 3 big initials. RMC. As we all know, all the Coasters that RMC have done revamps on so far has been all Wooden Coasters. Vortex could possibly be the very 1st all steel Coaster to receive an RMC makeover turning it into a T-Rex Raptor Track Coaster, RMC trains with passengers sitting side by side with the standard RMC restraints. The new Vortex makeover will still go upside-down. Now as with Mean Streak, the Coaster was reprofiled when it became Steel Vengeance but pretty much still follow the same course as Mean Streak did but it's Mean Streak on steroids. The same thing Could happen to Vortex. Some thing else to think about, It didn't take long for Kings Island to pull Firehawk to the ground, and I also can't see Cedar Fair tearing down 2 Coasters at 1 park in a 2yr period. AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!

Unfortunately I don't see it. The park actually did say that they would be demolishing it. 

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On ‎12‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 3:01 PM, Ben43065 said:

Some nice info regarding Vortex 0FD27C91-86C9-42F4-A2CE-2F76269F7706.jpegCF20201C-6281-43DF-92EC-8A8F2E4FF294.jpeg6E63E7E9-890D-4447-AFCF-6A4F28DB22C7.jpeg

NOPE!!! Only the track and trains are being removed. I just have a deep feeling Vortex will be the very 1st all steel Coaster ever to receive a complete makeover by RMC. They haven't built a T-Rex Coaster yet, so why not use the existing steel structure from Vortex and install the new Raptor Track on it. I'm just saying anything is possible. The only Coasters RMC has done have been all Wooden. 

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Why would RMC work on old arrows when there’s already companies that already do so? As much as I’d love for Vortex to survive it’s not happening unfortunately, if they were going to do a major renovation they would have announced so. Vortex’s structure was designed for bigger track, not some narrow spaghetti track. The structure would be completely useless. The ride is going away, the parks said it multiple times, it’s time to face reality.

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14 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Unfortunately I don't see it. The park actually did say that they would be demolishing it. 

That's too bad. I never heard the words, Vortex was being torn down when it was announced it was closing for good R.I.P Vortex.:(

 

14 hours ago, Ben43065 said:

Why would RMC work on old arrows when there’s already companies that already do so? As much as I’d love for Vortex to survive it’s not happening unfortunately, if they were going to do a major renovation they would have announced so. Vortex’s structure was designed for bigger track, not some narrow spaghetti track. The structure would be completely useless. The ride is going away, the parks said it multiple times, it’s time to face reality.

No one ever thought RMC would work on Dinn Corp. Coasters either, Texas Giant, Mean Streak, Georgia Cyclone or even an NAD Coaster SFMM Colossus. RMC Started with Wooden Coasters, so why not have Vortex be the 1st all steel project for RMC. What I thought of wasn't far fetch. But if that were to happen all I could say to you is TOLD YOU SO!!!:D:lol:

 

14 hours ago, Ellex King said:

No one ever thought RMC would work on Dinn Corp. Coasters either, Texas Giant, Mean Streak, Georgia Cyclone or even an NAD Coaster SFMM Colossus. RMC Started with Wooden Coasters, so why not have Vortex be the 1st all steel project for RMC. What I thought of wasn't far fetch. But if that were to happen all I could say to you is TOLD YOU SO!!!:D:lol:

BTW You should know that when Amusement Parks make plans for future developments, they're not going to tell the general public on some things that are highly confidential and throw a surprise at everyone.

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Ok but if Kings Island was going to renovate Vortex they’d almost certainly just bring in Morgan or a similar company to reprofile portions of the ride, that’s pretty much the only way Vortex would have been saved. If that was their intention they probably wouldn’t make everyone upset by saying it was closing forever when in reality they were just going to do maintenance on it. Especially for a ride as iconic and beloved as Vortex. If they were indeed RMCing Vortex then maybe they’d not announce it but the fact to the matter is they aren’t going to Rmc it. 

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As I have said before things just don't add up. Corkscrew is older than Vortex, there are several Arrows that are out there that are older than Vortex and deal with more weathering than Vortex, so how is it that our Arrow is the one that's at the end of its life cycle? I think that there's more than what we are told, an iconic ride like Vortex at Kings Island isn't just sent off into the sunset like KI did, Mantis got new trains and made into a new ride, Mean Streak got an RMC overhaul. Who's to say there's not something in the works. There's nothing in the works to replace it sure, that's the parks way of getting around us coaster geeks, but maybe it comes back in a way with something better. New track, new trains, new layout, we shall see.

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1 hour ago, jj20coloh said:

As I have said before things just don't add up. Corkscrew is older than Vortex, there are several Arrows that are out there that are older than Vortex and deal with more weathering than Vortex, so how is it that our Arrow is the one that's at the end of its life cycle? I think that there's more than what we are told, an iconic ride like Vortex at Kings Island isn't just sent off into the sunset like KI did, Mantis got new trains and made into a new ride, Mean Streak got an RMC overhaul. Who's to say there's not something in the works. There's nothing in the works to replace it sure, that's the parks way of getting around us coaster geeks, but maybe it comes back in a way with something better. New track, new trains, new layout, we shall see.

Most times something closing with such a limited amount of time and haste normally point to a structural failure or a negative inspection by the state. 

The park would be forced with an option to spend millions of dollars to fix the issue or just decide to retire it completely.

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Captain Nemo, hit it right on the head.  I think the park was forced to either spend millions of dollars to fix something or retire the ride.  Given the ride is so old, they likely decided that the return on investment for the fix just wasn`t there, given the rides age and marketability.  I am sure that the park tracks maintenance costs per rider (obviously, that is not a public number, but an internal number for making decisions like this.

Because of the apparent abrupt decision to remove the ride, that is likely why they do not have any immediate plans to replace the ride.  I am sure that they will eventually replace it with something.  It is a rather large plot of land, that is very visible from both the midway and Shake Rattle and Roll queue/ride area.

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9 minutes ago, TheFloppyDisc said:

It's easier to see Vortex on the DB cam this morning and it looks like the Batwing is still there.

VortexPic.JPG

I was just noticing that myself!  I stand (or sit at my desk) corrected, the batwing is still there. Stupid blurry/foggy cam......

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32 minutes ago, Klabergian Empire said:

I hope they at least keep the loops and use them for decorations.

Going off their tweet, I really don't think anything from Vortex will be kept, which honestly kind of confuses me. For such an iconic and notable ride, why wouldn't the park want to keep something? Not even a car? It's weird.

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14 hours ago, CoastersRZ said:

Captain Nemo, hit it right on the head.  I think the park was forced to either spend millions of dollars to fix something or retire the ride.  Given the ride is so old, they likely decided that the return on investment for the fix just wasn`t there, given the rides age and marketability.  I am sure that the park tracks maintenance costs per rider (obviously, that is not a public number, but an internal number for making decisions like this.

Because of the apparent abrupt decision to remove the ride, that is likely why they do not have any immediate plans to replace the ride.  I am sure that they will eventually replace it with something.  It is a rather large plot of land, that is very visible from both the midway and Shake Rattle and Roll queue/ride area.

They do track expenditures on everything, when parts are replaced by any maintenance personal whether it be electrical, mechanical, tech services etc. we all had/have cards that are scanned at the tool crib/parts office in order to get parts. EVERYTHING from bolts, wheels, sensors, motors etc. are expensed to the ride in question. They know EXACTLY how much has been spent on the ride since it was built. I’m sure if chad or don was bored enough to research they could tell you how many road, up stop and side stop wheels have been replaced since it opened. 

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On 1/10/2020 at 1:03 AM, jj20coloh said:

As I have said before things just don't add up. Corkscrew is older than Vortex, there are several Arrows that are out there that are older than Vortex and deal with more weathering than Vortex, so how is it that our Arrow is the one that's at the end of its life cycle? I think that there's more than what we are told, an iconic ride like Vortex at Kings Island isn't just sent off into the sunset like KI did, Mantis got new trains and made into a new ride, Mean Streak got an RMC overhaul. Who's to say there's not something in the works. There's nothing in the works to replace it sure, that's the parks way of getting around us coaster geeks, but maybe it comes back in a way with something better. New track, new trains, new layout, we shall see.

Yeah I think there's something in the works honestly. KI is just messing with us so we don't see anything leaked like we did with Orion. Don't let that picture above fool you, there's something in the works. We're just not supposed to know right now.

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If we learned anything from Firehawk it's that this isn't a slow process.  Vortex is a more substantial structure, but Firehawk went from standing to laying on the ground in a matter of a few days.  I think that once any physical demolition starts it'll be very apparent from the Diamondback cam.  

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On ‎1‎/‎11‎/‎2020 at 8:47 AM, Shawn Meyer said:

Yeah I think there's something in the works honestly. KI is just messing with us so we don't see anything leaked like we did with Orion. Don't let that picture above fool you, there's something in the works. We're just not supposed to know right now.

I'm glad someone else is thinking the same thing as I am. For some reason I don't think we've seen the end of Vortex. I bought up the subject on KIC, the possibility that RMC could do a makeover on the Coaster, making Vortex the 1st. Ever all steel Coaster to receive such a makeover. A person who read a post from me said that's absurd. RMC wouldn't mess with an Arrow Dynamics Coaster. I came back with, no one would have thought RMC would do makeovers on Dinn Coasters or an NAD Coaster ( Colossus, SFMM ). With all the magic RMC has done with wooden Coasters, anything is possible.

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The 2nd hill will be interesting to see how they tackle it (literally) with its proximity to RT LaRosa's.  

Also, in terms of RMC not re-vamping steel coasters- I would think with steel coasters (spoilers- I'm not an engineer), their supports are more specific in handling the element they support including things like the forces.   Messing with things like adding inversions and different drop angles, curve and banking angles, etc would play out so well.  With wooden coasters, there are more supports to spread out the energy, thus minor-ish adjustments can be made.   Steel coasters have much fewer supports to work with and drastically changing what kinds of forces they are withstanding isn't so easy as with a wooden coaster, at least I suspect.  Add in things like steel fatigue with older coasters and you might as well just build a new one.  

Granted, much of Vortex's structure does mimic a wooden coaster's to an extent, at least on the non-inversion elements, but the fact its being torn down likely due to the steel structure fatigue doesn't bode well for an RMC revamp.  

Also, lest we forget, RMC does make full fledged steel coasters now.  

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