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I for one am glad they bought it. It could have just been demolished and that be that. Parks do stuff like that all the time. The fact that it has been bought and has a chance at living on somewhere else is great. While a ground up RMC has always been a dream for a lot of us, if this ends up at our park, I know I for one wouldn't be upset in the slightest. In fact, quite the opposite. I never got a chance to go down and ride AF1 and with all the hype about how great it is, having something of this caliber have the potential to take up residence at our park would be a great thing. Something that people have raved about having a second chance at life at a well traversed park wouldn't be a bad thing. It would strir up a lot of hype and give KI something that truly packs a punch and fills a void in our already great line-up. Imagine being able to ride 3 RMCs in just a few hours of each other. Steel Vengeance at CP, Wind Chaser down at KK and if AF1 ends up at KI, we'd have that as well. I see no negatives here if we get it.

Don, I have a ton of respect for you and generally agree with your statements. That being said, why is it bad to get enthusiasts talking about an overall positive purchase? Didn’t you know “what was in the shed” for a year and had park fans talk about it? What is the difference here? It’s fair to be harsh on SF when it is warranted but this does not seem like one of those situations. Would you rather these forums just be silent? Isn’t that the whole point of this website? When people are unjustly harsh it makes statements that are warranted hold less weight.

If we can't get an RMC any other way, then I want it for KI. Maybe that's me being selfish for our park.

This is definitely feasible for KI to accept its relocation. The ending of it can be changed, much in the same manner that Wildcat's Revenge was changed. I also think it was stated that it can be altered. Now, to what extent, I'm not sure. Since it won't be installed until 2028 at the earliest, I'm not even sure where it will be re-located to. I would not mind this being moved to KI for sure. IDC if it's not a ground up RMC. It seems to be considered a great coaster widely by the public, so I'm all for it being moved to KI.

I think Six Flags very well bought it with a handful of parks in mind as to where it could go, but I also think the decision hasn't yet been made. That will depend on permitting, land surveying, and cost to construct new supports/level the land needed for it. In my opinion, if AFO is going to be shipped nearly wholesale and as-is to a park then it should not go to Kings Island. I also don't really like that they've said they're keeping the name Arieforce when it's named after the Arie family who owns FunSpot. I'd probably like it more if they were able to turn it into something new at Kings Island (while retaining the elements in between new track) and change the name/colors. It very well could fit in Area 72 with some demolition and help beyond just modifications for a third train. All of this said, I'm being very selfish because I'd much rather Kings Island get a hybrid with a custom layout and a good theme that fits with other areas of the park. I'd also really like to see The Vortex plot filled with a non-hybrid coaster first as well. Marcus Leshock is a Chicago-area newscaster who covers a lot of amusement/theme park industry news for his station. He does a lot of stuff up at Chicago's Great America and is kind of like John Matereese is with Kings Island. I think he gets some of these news stories before a lot of other people because he and his team are very diligent and have an eye out everywhere for this kind of thing.

I guess you forgot about the events leading up to 2009? How many pages and pages did we go through of speculation? I mean its always been our M.O. And then I see you made a post on Facebook promoting discussion on where AFO will end up...

The entire point of… well, all of this fandom, is escapism. At least in my opinion. Sorry things are tough for you right now. Mean that. You don’t deserve to feel like that way. And I’m also sorry some on this site (and beyond) feel the need to use their faux-insider knowledge as a way to gate keep actual discussion about the park. Being realistic and knowledgeable is one thing, even if it comes across as harsh. But when you’re shooting fish in a barrel (like all of us here) and still missing, it’s a bad reflection on the fandom when that type of attitude is put out on display. Appreciate you continuing to share your opinions on the matter. That’s what makes this fun.

I think I got the scaling right on this. I put it together pretty quickly so it might be a little off. Would require changes to the service road, and require removing timberwolf, and possibly removing Congo Falls. But it goes behind Invertigo, next to the storage building and the haunt. Would require a new entrance for The Bat as well, but a lot of people have been asking for a shorter queue for years.

To add on what KI Guy said above, Mystic Timbers provides a different experience than The Racer and The Beast. The Racer is the classic out and back racing coaster with floater airtime (PTC was good at this), The Beast is a terrain hugging wooden coaster built like a monster prowling through the forest and designed in house, and Mystic Timbers provides a more snappy ride experience. All three built by different manufacturers. I don't think the same can be said for two RMC I-Box coasters with similar enough experiences to be compared. People already do that with Diamondback and Orion despite their differences in the ride experience.

Sorry for being unoriginal? Sometimes I like to come here just to escape my awful life, and often that means just a little taste of some mindless talk and speculation. Rare are the days where I feel hope again, so when something... anything positive about this park... even a mere whisper... I'll cling to it. The speculation part is fun to me. The varying opinions is fun to me...

Also the fact they're also saying 2029 is there's likely a lot of unknowns about permitting and the timeline of dismantling the ride and shipping it to its new home. In fact didn't ArieForce originally get delayed a year bc of permitting issues down there? However, I feel if it ends up at KI or Carowinds they shouldn't have much in terms of problems of permitting. I also think since they said they plan to announce the new home later this year that we'll start seeing parts showing up at its new home later this year and they may want to announce it before it becomes obvious. May want to keep our eyes out and look for survey markings/land prep later this fall to see if we find any potential clues.

Who is this guy and why is he the only one who seems to have this information?

I think it goes into Area 72 behind Orion using the leftover Firehawk and Dinos area and goes towards the storage area towards the river if it comes to KI. The new Six Flags is big into making their new major rides fit a themed area. AF1 would fit the theme of Area 72 perfectly. That's part of why I think KI and Carowinds are the front runners right now for this.

I am very surprised to see SIX buy this coaster. It seems Carowinds or Kings Island is the good top tier park for this coaster. I don't want to rule out a lower tier park for it, for they might get a bigger ROI.

Although this is mostly a criticism of Six Flags, it comes off as a criticism of us at KICentral. I think it's nice to have something exciting to talk about. The lifeblood of this place is talking about changes and potential changes to Kings Island. I do definitely agree with you that they know exactly where this coaster is going regarding park and location within that park. I've noticed that wood coasters are the exception to the rule for coaster redundancy. I've been to several parks with three full-sized wood coasters and no one bats an eye. Perhaps this is because wood used to be all there were and people got used to seeing more than one wood coaster long ago—or it's just that each wood coaster has more character. I've never been to a park with two RMC I-boxes, two dive coasters, Arrow loopers, mine trains, stand ups, or inverts (from same manufacturer), etc.

I haven't seen the release as it's been a busy work day. Whichever park gets this, I hope they don't ask the manufacturer to completely redo the ride, only as much as is necessary. SV has been such a maintenance load, and I'd conjecture that many of the issues were with Cedar Fair wanting so much stuff AND a completely new train design. From a non engineer perspective: change what needs to be changed with the elevation and hopefully allow it to run three trains if feasible.

Well said!

Just released from Marcus Leshock on his X account, Six Flags has purchased ArieForce One, now on to speculation to where it will go!

I arie on the side of caution and a bit torn on Kings Island getting ArieForceOne. Just a recap on hand me down coasters given to KI. You had Firehawk, mechanical issues and poor capacity. Eventually removed to make way for another hand me down coaster being MegaBite which was modified to “fit” giga standards and renamed Orion which is the worst giga coaster in the country. There’s a chance this won’t be the same coaster after modifications are made to fit the capacity, topography, and other park needs are for installation at wherever they plan on putting it. On the other hand, given the track record of recent coaster installations at Kings Island, one could argue that Orion, and RiverRacers are a bust. The kids area ranking literally dropped after the installation of Snoopy’s Soap Box Racers. So acquiring ArieForceOne might be a safer bet in terms of ride experience if the coaster doesn’t recieve major modifications.

They know where it’s going. Delaying saying where it’s going keeps people talking about this instead of the issues they’ve experienced at the parks this year.

I've seen a few arguments about the "whys" and "why nots" regarding ArieForce One coming to Kings Island. Capacity being an issue, for one, Kings Island being a well balanced and mature park already and other parks in the chain needing a standout attraction. The biggest argument would be that Kings Island needs a standout attraction themselves having lost Vortex in 2019 without a replacement. That argument may seem selfish because I'm sure a lot of people want us to get an RMC. But what if we looked at it from a business perspective. Kings Island is Six Flags' "most penetrated park (their words, not mine)," getting people from not just Greater Cincinnati but Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, Louisville and Lexington (the same was true with Coney Island before 1971). Kings Island is a huge money maker for the chain and corporate is dependent on it bringing in money. With that said, the company is still struggling financially. ArieForce One is a beloved and renowned roller coaster by enthusiasts and a lot of the GP alike. The news about it being picked up by Six Flags is already getting people buzzing. Placing it at a park that isn't doing well, which may need a standout attraction in their lineup, in order to boost their attendance is a risky move when the company can't afford to take risks at this time; it may not be enough. Kings Island has already shown that they can generate money for Six Flags and legacy Cedar Fair; while parks cater to families and not roller coaster enthusiasts, a tried and true legendary coaster being placed at a tried and true park like Kings Island might make sense to bring in people who may have otherwise skipped Kings Island in order to go to Cedar Point which, despite doing well, constantly requires investment (plus they already have an RMC I-Box in Steel Vengeance, so it would be redundant at Cedar Point anyway). Just my two cents.

Let’s spend the next several months speculating about the same thing every day while we wait on Six Flags to announce what they’ve already decided.

https://www.wcpo.com/money/consumer/dont-waste-your-money/kings-islands-next-big-roller-coaster-may-be-hiding-in-atlanta A key statement: The coaster is definitely moveable," wrote Darren Torr, president of Rocky Mountain Construction. "Based on ranking by coaster enthusiasts, it's a top 10 coaster in the world. It has angle iron structure, which means it will require new hardware. It has some topography changes, so a new site will need to be modified or the structure will be need to be reworked to match the site elevation. Ballpark, the cost to move is probably ~$10M less than building new. I have no idea what the future holds for AF1, hopefully, it continues to deliver smiles for guests." This tells me that relocation is in fact feasible for AFO. But while many want it to come to KI (and this could be in The Vortex plot), I wouldn't consider it a certainty that it will happen. There's other parks for consideration, including within Six Flags and from other chains including Herschend, United Parks, and Enchanted Parks. I'm not going to look into detail at all of these, but any park that has the capacity for it (and doesn't already have an RMC like it) could be in the running.

It makes sense given the financial position of SIX. They are unwilling or unable to spend big capex on the large former Cedar Fair parks that were taken care of pre-Covid. All the big money is going to the legacy Six parks in big markets. They must realize though that one of their parks could use AF1 especially at fire sale prices. This is probably the best possible ride for the money out there or they wouldn't be doing it. This is a top 10 coaster in the United States per most enthusiasts.

Uh huh……………… ………………………..

Im probably just being an idiot lol, but Normally i just click on the most recent topics on the home page

And I don't mean to attack you. Trust me. I hold you in the highest of regards. You were in the industry. You know the ins and outs. I'm merely a teacher with barely a dollar to my name anymore. While the discussion is generating buzz for sure, for people like me it hasn't equated to ticket sales. The last time we visited Kings Island was May of 2024. Meanwhile we've gone to Holiday World at least twice a year for the last 5 years (thank you worry-free weather guarantees!) As far as knowing where it's going... I sure hope they actually already know. It would be pretty bad business to purchase something without having a plan before hand. That would be like me buying content curriculum for a class I haven't even been assigned to teach yet.

I believe I saw that the clearing at Carowinds is for a storage area similar to what Fury sits on.

It’s official: https://www.sixflags.com/blog/arieforce-ones-next-chapter-begins-at-six-flags?fbclid=IwdGRleAUNFIdwZG9mAWZkaWQWUOBTRmcC5Y089XtuquOunya6PeQCoWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR6IQQ_V5cUhvs2fa_Iygeq0gtc9t0NTyZyp1RYBPZmbOZ2mke0Wk1OHtZ5Usg_aem_yO77BiqWcfOhhVhNQYKFOg

My thoughts exactly. Thought I was just out of the loop.

Going to throw my idea out there, yes this involves removing attractions, but anything is possible. I am sure my scaling is off, but you get the idea.

Or that they have paid their direct tv bill.

Im still having issues where it takes me to the initial post of the topic instead of last read. Anyone else?

The drink system works well at the Herschend parks. I’d love to see KI and other Six Flags parks do something similar.

I’d much rather have ice for my drinks when I use the drink plan I paid for.

I would imagine part of what is driving their pricing strategy is the recent inflationary cost of doing business. The cost of commercial electricity has risen ~20% over the last 5 years. In the prior 5 years it had risen only ~7%. That's far from trivial. That drives up the cost/rider, so I'm sure there's pressure to increase the income/rider, and the gate and FL are pretty direct ways to achieve that. It's a similar story for the cost of food, so making meal plans more expensive on a per-meal basis makes all the sense in the world. Given that context, it would be surprising to see them pull an about-face on these increases.

The ride showed no increase in attendance will have parks lining up to buy it.

I'm in the same boat. I think if Kings Island ever got an RMC, it would be best if it had 3 trains for better capacity. AF1 has two trains with only 5 cars instead of the usual 6. I think the layout for AF1 would also make it awkward to fit into either Vortex plot or Action Zone, assuming that's where it would go. I think AF1 would be a better fit at a park like Holiday World (especially the 4th of July area with that color scheme) but there's still no telling what's going to happen to AF1 at this point in time.