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I took the survey. Interestingly enough, the last section, you could just type anything you wanted and asked for you to be very specific. I said that I want Arie Force One installed at KI. How I have been on Steel Vengeance and Wild Cat's Revenge and would like something like that offered at Kings Island

The second coaster in the survey matches the stats for ArieForce One.

They must have got one heck of a deal on it, or RMC is trying to take a loss in order for potential future gain. I'm not certain how roller coasters are "paid off" in the real world. And each manufacturer is different. Like with Orion, B&M certainly didn't charge KI $30 million. They likely got design, engineering, consult fees, etc. Then the park paid out the trades...footers, erectors, plumbing, electrical and so on. But did the park take out a loan for the projected depreciation of the coaster? Did they have $30m sitting around for the project in an interest bearing account? So with AF1, what if RMC took the balance owed from Fun spot to their assumed creditors, worked it out with Six Flags and Fun spot to make that the purchase price ( just for numbers sake, say 8m) and gave six flags a substantial discount for fees to move it and reassemble with modifications? Steele Vengeance has been an expensive coaster to maintain from what I hear. The carpenters are constantly replacing wood due to the stresses. I've heard Railblazer was problematic ( and Fiesta Texas had to close theirs for quite a while for modifications). So Cedar Fair wasn't happy with the company. AF1 is a completely steel coaster, so even with relocation, it's likely to be less problematic than those two. Hence, a good chance for RMC to attempt to work on the relationship.

They didn’t buy something at a yard sale without having a plan for what they were going to do with it, not knowing what extra costs they might incur, not knowing if they could even install it in a park. They want the chatter it’s generating. It takes the focus off the negative news cycle they’ve been in.

It was done for Wildcat's Revenge. I've heard many people speculating something along those lines for alteration and adding a block zone. Now, how costly it is to do so, I would not know. Certainly with the cheaper price of buying the coaster to begin with, the cost may be still cheaper than a ground up RMC.

Indeed, but not sure either standard layout would fit in the area without removing Congo Falls, so it'd have to be custom, which I don't believe we've seen yet for this model? It would be interesting to see what Vekoma could do with a custom layout.

Those trees are my #1 reason for not wanting a front gate coaster, however I think a tilt coaster could look really good if they managed to only have the tilt tower occupy Invertigo's land. The park has already taken out enough foliage over the years. I'm not a fan of the front gate coaster idea for other reasons, so it's a no from me. It seems that survey with the same 15-20 options went out to most of the larger parks, so I wouldn't be so set on the idea of KI getting its own record-breaking tilt coaster anytime soon. I think that would be a really good location for it if the park wasn't already building some new water treatment stuff next to the tank located near the brake run on your layout. If they do put it right there for some reason, I'd demolish the Alien Abyss building and either rebuild it to be parallel with the lift hill or replace it entirely. My guess is that the spot where it might actually fit best at KI is down the hill from Orion where Firehawk's final turnaround and helix were. The ramp and service road right there could be reconfigured to fit the new queue near Orion's entrance and queue. That also puts the coaster on flat(ter) ground than the top of the hill provides.

I was meaning my idea of it going over the entrance lol. But yeah the Invertigo spot would be great!

There is a valley right here they could gain some additional drop height. Also there being woods it would enhance the nighttime ride experience.

Yes, that would be a fantastic visual to enter the park. Could even do something similar as Cedar Point and have it go over the main entrance, although that would require adjustments to that parking lot area directly to the right… plus the employee buildings… saying that out loud maybe that’s not such a good idea lol…

A Tilt Coaster would make for a great replacement for Inveritgo. A big ominous tilt drop that can been seen from patrons walking into the main gate. Without the tacky flyover that ruins the ambience.

I created this concept of how ArieForce One could fit into Area 72. Not exactly how feasible this would be, especially with the relocation of maintenance buildings. I think if this coaster does get relocated to Kings Island, I feel Area 72 would be the best fit thematically for this type of attraction. Action Zone would also work, but I think that area needs a new haunted theme to coincide with rides like Banshee and Bat. I don't think Arieforce One would fit with that if Six Flags plan on preserving the ride name.

The last time I checked, this was not a junior high school hallway. Since you guys want to air your grievances with each other on every thread (and I thought my message was clear the other day about treating everyone with respect here), either cut it out, or you can find somewhere else to argue with each other besides KIC, for I have had enough. This is a place to have fun and forget about the outside world for a bit.

A better summation of my thoughts exactly. I think the chain has a list of places that it could go, with one of those being a fallback spot that would require little-to-no modifications. From now until (presumably) December they'll send out surveys and gauge interest for which park might want it most. The surveys that are going out right now are very interesting to me because of how they each seem to have a few vague-ish options alongside Arieforce One. For the Kings Island survey I'd rank it as 1) Tilt Coaster, 2) Halloween Area, 3) Single Rail Coaster, 4) Arieforce One. I really just don't want it at KI. I did find it odd that they would suggest a generally Halloween-themed area considering the fact that Holiday World already has theirs about three hours away. I'd be more open to a more medieval-ish area (called Knightly Kingdom in my headcanon). The tilt coaster would be nice if it actually broke some records and isn't just the "longest coaster in the Cincinnati area with a twister layout" or something like that.

I like the idea for a new themed area for Action Zone, but would a Halloween theme be it, we have Halloween Haunt already.. Someone said on YouTube that Kings Island/SF could make a deal with Hasbro to bring Dungeons and Dragons, bringing that type of themed area to the park, that would be popular imo.

You could be on to somethng actually with The Bat,Drop Tower they could have eye of the dragon open year round....

A new horror theme area at Kings Island. Guys Action Zone might be finally getting a retheme it deserved.

Interesting choices they have... I confess... having a custom Vekoma tilt in The Vortex plot would be pretty scenic. And also probably way too expensive to build... With Holiday World only 3-4 hours away I think a "Halloween" themed area would not be a great idea. Also wouldn't really match the aesthetic of Kings Island's current "themed" areas... EDIT: I suppose they're referring to the Banshee area for Halloween retheme of Action Zone?

I always wondered how the actual structure held up to all of those unusual elements and the stress of the forces required to go through them. That's interesting.

One thing I don't like about the idea of changing the layout of AFO: the change of that outward banked airtime hill. That element is just so fun and different compared to almost any ride at any park.

Whether the coaster is relocated won't matter with time. Ask the Phoenix fans at Knoebel's.

Not gonna lie, my first thought when I heard they bought this was "With what money?" Judging by how they staffed Kings Island this weekend, it would seem like Six Flags doesn't have any room in the budget to spare. Operations across all departments felt like they were at bare bones despite it being a holiday weekend with great weather. Regarding the actual sale itself, I can't help but feel lukewarm about it. I'm glad the ride lives on, but I also can't really feel hyped about it. So much of the anticipation comes from the gradual reveal, piecing clues together, and looking forward to whatever the ride experience may be; but I feel like once we know where it's heading, that's going to be the end of the excitement. It might be nice to ride it again if it ends up nearby, but it's not something I'm itching to get on no matter where it ends up... And if it does end up at Kings Island, for me, it will always feel like a hand me down. There'd be no finer point to it not belonging to the park than it retaining its original name.

I agree, they knew where they wanted it to go before they made the purchase. No question in my mind there.

All of this right here. The chain probably still needs to get quotes for land grading, modifications to add capacity/adjust the layout to fit in a park, and look into permitting to make sure they can even install it in a park. I bet that's why the location announcement will have to wait until the end of this year and why the coaster construction may not even be finished until 2028/2029.

Math.

Based on what data? Even granting that it's accurate that attendance is down, two things: Being down in attendance doesn't mean they are not hitting resort occupancy targets. They need not install a new ride to goose resort occupancy. Far easier and less costly to adjust lodging rates. Attendance by property, which is not reported publicly, is, according to historical texts and comments from park officials, typically down in years where new marquee rides are not installed. That does not mean it's down enough to justify the cost of adding a new ride. Further, for a company supposedly looking to "cut costs and save money", there are plenty of other parks where installation would be far less costly - the removal of a massive marquee attraction ain't cheap, especially considering SV is still pretty new in accounting terms. So yeah, maybe tearing down SV and installing AFO would net very long term savings on maintenance. But it seems the chain's financial needs are more immediate than such a move could possibly justify.

Ryan has heard rumors that AFO can and possibly will be modified in some capacity for its new location.

From Coaster101: https://www.facebook.com/share/14xUTQxusAf/?mibextid=wwXIfr

It really does seem like that's the case. I wonder why that is? Is it from the competition of the late 90s and early 2000s with Magic Mountain? Or perhaps something not entirely within their control? They've got location going for them in terms of supporting communities: Toledo to the west, Cleveland to the east, Detroit to the north and Columbus to the south. I'd think that would bring in a lot of returning guests each year, but perhaps not.

If there were modifications made available to ArieForceOne what would you like to see different / changed? I’d like to see better capacity, possibly different restraints all together for trains. If not maybe the quad down at the end be replaced by more gentler airtime hills. The quad down on this and the bunny hop hills on Steel Vengeance are painful to the thighs.

When you pay for something and not getting what you paid for, that’s not minuscule stuff. One or two times out of ice or product? OK. It happens. Every day? That’s the issue. They’ve already got your money so it’s not a priority. It impacts the guest experience and plays into the decision to renew passes. Some here can turn their cheek the other way and pretend the problems don’t exist. For me, if they can’t deliver what I paid for, I stop paying for it.

Literally nothing to struggle over. Just noting that sometimes park people sound ultra-tone deaf to be able to complain about miniscule stuff when that energy could be used for more important things besides complaining on a forum about ice. I love this hobby, I love this park. But sometimes I just can't with folks. Also I'll take a 10-piece spicy nugget and an apple frosty if you're offering.

Thanks beastfan. It's been a rough two years. I lost my dad a year and a half ago to liver cirrhosis... It was a very long and painful process, and I think I'm still dealing with the grief and coming to terms. He was the one who got me into my love for amusement parks and roller coasters. Been dealing with a lot of financial trouble too lately. Things just keep snowballing, but I'm trying to be strong for my family. This website helps me from completely losing it.

So it's opinion, gotcha. I'd be surprised if SF has decided definitively where AF is going. I'm sure the list of candidates is narrowed down to one or two parks, but there's a nonzero amount of surveying, engineering, etc., work that needs to be done before they'll "know" where it's going. In "the world"? Sure, obviously. But in that context all of these conversations are meaningless drivel. But a lack of ice at an amusement park is exactly the kind of "death by a thousand cuts" type of issue that affects guests' experience in a meaningful way. And worse, it's a solvable problem.

If you don’t like hearing about no ice on repeat, maybe the park should fix the problem. 🤣

People are going to think what they want, so you decide.

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.

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.

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.

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.