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New For 2007! Kings Island Presents Firehawk!


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Firehawk to Debut at Kings Island Memorial Day Weekend

Kings Island’s first flying coaster sends adventure-seekers soaring!

Kings Island, Ohio – Kings Island celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2007 by soaring to new heights with its 14th roller coaster, Firehawk. Debuting Memorial Day Weekend, this innovative flying coaster propels willing test pilots 115 feet in the air and through five inversions at speeds of more than

50 mph – all while facing the ground, experiencing the inconceivable feeling of human flight.

The best of the best begin their mission just behind Flight of Fear roller coaster in Coney Mall. After boarding their four-across yellow and red pilot seats, guests are lowered backward and begin their ascent up the 115-foot-tall red and steel gray lift hill, only to be flipped over and jetted at top speeds through ½ mile of steel track over the course of 2 minutes and 30 seconds!

“The addition of Firehawk reflects our commitment to combining one-of-a-kind thrills with fantastic family entertainment,†said Greg Scheid, Kings Island’s vice president and general manager. “We’re looking for some real thrill seekers who are ready and willing to fly. What a way to celebrate our 35th anniversary!â€Â

Firehawk joins a portfolio of 13 award-winning, industry-leading roller coasters including The Beast (the world’s longest wooden coaster), Son of Beast (the world’s tallest and fastest wooden coaster), Flight of Fear (the world’s first coaster with LIM launch technology), Vortex (the country’s first six-inversion coaster) and Rugrat’s Runaway Reptar (the world’s first inverted coaster for children).

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Attraction Name Firehawk

Description Thrill flyers experience heart-pounding excitement as Firehawk soars through more than ½ a mile of steel tracking. Willing adventure seekers lie down to experience this 51 mph., top-secret, all-altitude airborne mission. But they’re certainly not relaxing – within seconds, each pilot is facing the ground, experiencing the inconceivable feeling of human flight.

Manufacturer Vekoma International

Track Length 3340 feet

Ride Speed 51 mph.

Height 115 feet

Angle of descent 30 degrees

Inversions 5

Hourly Capacity 400 guests per hour per train

Riders 24 (6 four-passenger rows per train) 2 trains

Ride Length 2:30 minutes

Location Coney Mall

Height Requirement 54â€Â

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Moving Firehawk to Cincinnati

Firehawk Flies Down I-71 Before Landing at Kings Island

Moving a major roller coaster takes time, engineering skill and 150 – 200 flatbed trucks.

Kings Island, Ohio – Building an entertainment center in one’s home takes time, patience and skill. Equipment must be inventoried, time blocked off, tools located and patience mustered. Now imagine bringing that entertainment center from a location four hours away. In 300 – 350 gigantic pieces. On 150 – 200 flatbed trucks.

When Firehawk, Kings Island’s 14th roller coaster debuts over Memorial Day Weekend, it will cap off seven months of extensive planning and construction by two Cedar Fair parks.

Kings Island surveyors and engineers began clearing the ride’s eventual location behind Flight of Fear roller coaster in November 2006. The approximately 5.5-acre site sat on uneven ground, making it necessary to fill in some spots with up to 25 feet of earth. All site excavation is complete, and more than 300 concrete footers will be poured this week to prepare for Firehawk’s placement. Actual ride construction will begin in mid-February.

Disassembly of the former X-flight roller coaster at Geauga Lake in Aurora, Ohio, began in December. The coaster was removed piece by piece, beginning at the ride station and continuing around the length of the track. In total, the move involves more than 300 pieces of steel track, driven down I-71 in groups of one or two. Each piece is independently numbered and specifically grouped in Kings Island’s parking lot. The coaster trains will be transported separately, disassembled, tested and reassembled in Kings Island’s steel coaster shop.

The Cincinnati-based firm Fenton Rigging is overseeing the process at both parks, and local engineers are assisting Kings Island’s construction and engineering teams with the project. When the 3,340-foot red and gray steel coaster is complete, it will feature a dual-load station, two dark red and

yellow trains with 72 safety check points and two on-board computers per train, an on-ride photo station and 13 specially trained ride operators.

Kings Island opens for weekend operation Saturday, April 21. Gates open at 10 a.m. Daily operation begins Wednesday, May 23. Boomerang BayTM opens Saturday, May 26. For more information about Kings Island, guests can call the park at (800) 288-0808 or visit www.pki.com.

Individual gold season passes and four-pack family passes are now on sale by calling (800) 952-PASS [7277] or online at www.pki.com. Discounted park tickets are also available when purchased in advance by calling (800) 288-0808 or online at www.pki.com.

Cedar Fair Entertainment Company (NYSE: “FUNâ€Â) is a publicly traded partnership headquartered in Sandusky, Ohio. The Partnership, which owns and operates twelve amusement parks, five outdoor water parks, one indoor water park and six hotels, is one of the largest regional amusement park operators in the world. Its parks are located in Ohio, California, North Carolina, Virginia / District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Missouri, Michigan, and Toronto, Ontario. Cedar Fair also owns and operates Star Trek: The Experience, an interactive adventure located in Las Vegas, and operates the Bonfante Gardens in Gilroy, California under a management contract.

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New photos of the former X-Flight track has been uploaded into the PKIC Gallery. Unlike other photos, PKIC kept our fans in mind and got up close with the flying beast, Firehawk! Pictures include close ups of the track, supports, and pictures of the track being unloaded from the truck.

http://photos.pkicentral.com/thumbnails.php?album=180

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Kings Island just posted the press release for the new attraction for 2007, Firehawk.

Read the press release here!

Thats actually been up there for a little while now. And as far as I can tell, at 6:30 this morning. there is no direct link to that press release from the main KI website. Have we been playing with the URLs a little bit? :D

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ok- question. This morning's Enquirer had the picture (and a quote from Ryan- nice going)- which means it had to have been at least yesterday.... though it was cloudy and Maureen didn't look "that cold.".... when was the press conference, and how on earth was it that there wasn't so much as a whisper on this board last night?

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You guys see this? From the same article:

New name

Paramount's Kings Island is now just Kings Island. The park's new parent company Cedar Fair is dropping the Paramount name from all five Paramount amusement parks it acquired from CBS last year for $1.24 billion.

Each year the park pays a licensing fee to Paramount Pictures to use the name. Cedar Fair will pay a buy-out fee to end the agreement but will save money in the long run, park officials said.

Paramount-themed attractions like the Italian Job and Top Gun rides and Nickelodeon Universe will not be affected because they all have separate licenses.

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Is there suppose to be 3 trains with this ride?

The ride was designed for three trains but it never ran well enough to support three trains. The third train was used for parts on the other two trains and from what I have heard so much was removed it might have been cheaper to purchase a new train then to repair the third train. I am not surprised that they are not trying to run a third train because of the problems and it might have cost an extra million to just get the train.

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800 per hour really isn't that bad, yeah it's not a people mover like Vortex and Adventure Express. But Vortex never gets close to it's projected 1600 PPH capacity. For Vortex to reach 1600 PPH they would have to have every train filled and dispatch every train at the bell.

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^^All I can say is that UncleHenry has connections. Thats all I have to say about that.

Edit: The video on Cincinnati.com is not Firehawk. that video is from a different but similar ride.

Actually, you just had to change the number at the end of the news stories from PKI to 480 to get the press release. Its been up for sometime actually.

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