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Biggest fanny pack measuring contest this forum has seen in a long time.

This might be a hot take, but hear me out. I would argue that a way to improve Orion is for Orion to not have been built by B&M. Many people agree that Fury 325 is the best coaster built by B&M. It's easy to compare Orion and Fury 325 for the most part because they're built by the same manufacturer. I would say that's why many people believed Orion was going to be another Fury 325 when it was announced. If another manufacturer was hired to build what would be "Orion" then boom. It would make it much harder to compare it to the other B&M Giga's (at least).

Very much agree. Personally, I would say that the 5,300ft of track on Orion doesn't do a whole lot. Orion isn't a terrible ride. I enjoy it for what it is and it's a lot of fun. But a decent part of the reason I consider Diamondback, for example, to be much better than Orion is because Diamondback does more with its layout. Orion is 39ft longer than Diamondback. But Diamondback does more with 39ft less track than Orion (I know 39ft isn't that big of a difference, but still). Here is a question regarding the airtime aspect: Would adding more moments of airtime to the layout really make Orion better? The way I personally see it is that adding more moments of airtime to Orion would make it even more similar to Diamondback than it already is. Sure, adding more airtime to Orion would improve the ride experience, absolutely. But in that scenario Orion would just be Diamondback but with different trains and be just a little taller and faster. Furthermore, still on that scenario, what would even be the point of building Orion? Just to have a taller and faster version of Diamondback? At that point, Kings Island would be paying nearly double for Orion what they already have with Diamondback.

Are you sure that's not cargo pockets? 🤷

Make all the excuses you want, but the bottom line is the ride did not deliver the ROI the way the park expected it would.

You hit the nail right on the head before I could finish my post tonight. Orion with more airtime is just a faster Diamondback with different trains. A lot of folks online already compare the two heavily, so making them more alike would've only made it more underwhelming for guests IMO. Leviathan and Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland are in a very similar boat to Orion and Diamondback, and yet aren't as similar. The biggest difference between Leviathan and Orion seems to be the layout with the former's L-shape and the latter's straight out-and-back shape. They both have a near-90 degree wave turn, some airtime hills, a similar turnaround, and a tall brake run. Leviathan doesn't have a helix and Orion has one less airtime hill. I wonder if Orion could've done better if it was more L-shaped and 100' longer?

the same way that 47 years after it's construction, The Beast is still a top 3 (maybe even 1 or 2) at KI- and is usually featured on a majority of their marketing pieces. It always has a wait, high on guest reviews.... and that popularity has endured the pandemic, droughts, hot weather, terrible summers, bad ride attendants, GMs, and countless recessions. It is a a textbook definition of a "Great Coaster". It is remarkable, out of the box, and not available anywhere else. People come, sometimes specifically, to ride the legendary Beast.

Wow, that is crazy to think about. I rode Revolution the 2nd year after it opened. I was so scared to ride it. My uncle, who lived in Los Angeles, was the person who encouraged me to ride it. It was my first 'big' coaster that catapulted me into the joys of my love for rollercoasters.

Regarding a coaster doesn't have to be the tallest to be an airtime machine. Maverick is one of my absolute favorite rides ever for the intensity and airtime. The first time I rode Lightning Run, I was floored how much airtime and how much fun it is in a small footprint. Fury is in a class by itself. I rode it 25 times the day I was there last. It is a truly incredible ride, and I traveled all the way there just to ride it (and my former Eagles too). Saying that, I love Orion's height, quick lift to the first drop and the speed it keeps up throughout the ride. Out of the hundreds of times I have ridden it, no one riding with me has been disappointed afterwards. It's just a lot of fun and I am happy to have it in my home park.

So real. IMO it's just a giant waste of space. The building is pretty big too and I can only name a few people who actually like that ride. On my last visit this past summer, I chose to ride Mummy a 7th time in the single rider line over riding Supercharged just once. Thank goodness their getting rid of that awful ride. Kong is so much better. Anyway, hopefully they can use that gigantic building for something good. But I'm not gonna do what everyone else is doing right now and guessing what it's gonna be. Sometimes I get tired of watching the same "Ghostbusters and Back to the Future are coming!" videos. I get it. I like creating ride concepts, but some of those people act like they know what's gonna happen. I remember just a few months ago a guy on YouTube claimed that Ghostbusters was confirmed because of some green goo-themed scare zone nearby (IYKYK). I get so tired of him sometimes. Anyway, end of rant lol. Happy with the new addition overall. I was never the biggest fan of Rockit. Oh and I'm hearing people saying this thing is gonna have a 170ft tall spike??? That would be insane

I’m just glad it’s making way for Supercharged to be removed. That was one of the strangest and saddest experiences I’ve had at Universal. The story… the acting… the lack of… cars lol.

Meanwhile Stardust Racers is/are small all things considered in height… but packs a ton of airtime throughout the entire duration of the experience. Definitely shows you don’t have to have a record breaker to draw crowds. I agree with you about Orion. It’s missing something, and for me personally it ends too quickly. It doesn’t have that “final act” moment.

Planning to write about it soon.

Say this louder for the people in the back!

Okay—keep the skepticism if it helps you win your day.