FUN&ONLY!

Is there a Firehawk gravestone?

I want to see the new Firehawk gravestone!

I am sure X-Base/Area 72 will be completely closed off. From the Orion renderings, it looks like they are adding theming, new concrete, and a complete restructuring of Flight of Fear’s outdoor queue and lockers. I could see it being open in 2020 when the construction is done though.

That is so good to hear! Now I can avoid buying a locker, and I can actually use my phone while in line! I really hope this is true!

I second this!

I talked about this in the construction thread, but there are many patches of concrete in the queue that could very well be used for theming and props.

Maybe we will start to see lift hill construction! Finally getting to the good stuff!

The Racer needs a repair too, in my opinion, back to the original colors, but I am assuming that will come in 2022 for the ride’s/park’s 50th anniversary. Don Helbig mentioned repainting The Racer is on their to-do list.

This shows how much Diamondback could use a repaint. The colors are so bold. The Eiffel Tower and Drop Tower look really nice in this picture as well.

A raptor for Kings Island would be too low of capacity even with the twelve people per train and four trains Jersey Devil has. To put that in perspective, one train on Orion, Diamondback, or Banshee has almost three trains worth of Jersey Devil capacity. We would need something like the yet-to-be-built T-Rex.

Sorry for the the double post, but there is room in between the Fast Lane line and the regular queue line in the prop building that could be used for props. It is interesting how both the Fast Lane and the regular lines pass through the prop building and near the other mysterious concrete patches as if Kings Island wants everyone to see what is there. The prop building is also called a “prop building” and not a “prop. building” as in a proposed building which has been talked about in the past. This may mean that this building is specifically for props. Also, there are many Fun TV’s in the queue, and the park could play themed videos on them like on Mystic Timbers. Edit: the concrete patch is actually a little bit above the large yellow circle, so it is even close to both the Fast Lane and regular lines.

I am sure this has been talked about before, but in the announcement, the one scientist guy who can onstage said the turnout for this experiment was higher than SkyLab and Bayern Kurve. The theming could relate back to the past “failed” experiments and hopefully contain parts from Firehawk and possibly other past rides. On Flight of Fear building, it has the number 18. On Orion’s entrance building, it looks like it is going to have the number 20. Could that imply that Flight of Fear was the 18th experiment, Firehawk or Invertigo was the 19th experiment, and now Orion will be the 20th experiment? I think the story behind this ride will evolve as potential theming is put in place. Copperhead Strike had a vague theme when it was announced, but when it opened, it took on a more complex theme.

Not to mention the other side of the queue behind the station. I honestly have no other explanation for that random concrete patch in the middle than it being for theming and props.

It is also important to note that there may be some theming in the queue. When Copperhead Strike was announced, they showed a flyover of the queue and whatnot with no added props or theming. When Copperhead Strike opened, there were tons and tons of theming elements in the queue line, and none of them were in the animation. Looking at Orion’s animation, there are some patches of concrete/land that look like they would be perfect for some props. There is also a huge grass plot of land behind the break run. These theming elements are likely not in the animation because they have not been finalized yet, and they are still in development. The entrance plaza and queue are probably not finalized yet, besides the layout. With Carowinds’ 2019 announcement, there was a patch of grass that seemingly had nothing it in. With our announcement video, there was a patch of grass with nothing it in (behind the break run). They got Mountain Gliders there. Does that mean we will see a new flat ride there? Probably not, but it is a possibility. It would probably be awkward to have a flat back there.

Merchandise will likely be sold on a cart near the exit if I had to guess. The vehicles are probably to go with the theme similar to how The truck near Mystic Timbers goes with its theme.

That’s more like it! Good picture!

It says it is unavailable for me...

If only he could share them with us...

Makes you wonder what else @sixohdieselrage got pictures of while flying over Kings Island. I had no idea Kings Island was storing track back there. I am really enjoying these photos.

Wait! There is more track behind the construction site? I thought what was directly next the Flight of Fear was all of the track that had been delivered.

This is how I see it... the only way I see Cedar Fair going back to Intamin is if Mack Rides can not provide them with what they want or if Mack Rides gets too expensive. Also, I heard Copperhead Strike has had some minor problems at Carowinds this year which may push Cedar Fair to realize that no matter if they go with Mack or Intamin, there will be some level of downtime. Also, Cedar Fair might (they really should) take note of Intamin’s recent innovations and new launch coasters that they are installing. But in the meantime, I think Cedar Fair is more comfortable working with Mack over Intamin.

The rattle on Banshee is hit or miss for me. Sometimes, I barely notice it and really enjoy the ride, but other times, it is intolerable. I rode Banshee a few months after it opened and every year since then, and I don’t think it has gotten rougher over the years as it always had somewhat of a rattle. I always wondered, however, if the rattle is caused by the track itself or if it the new B&M trains or wheels. Most other B&M inverts have no rattle, and they have the old design of trains. If someone knows more about this, do you think it is the trains or simply the track?

I completely agree with this. I think if we were to get an RMC, it would be something besides a hybrid or a wood because Steel Vengeance is only three hours away. I think RMC is trying to sell as many Raptors as possible before they start selling T-Rexes, and I don’t think a Raptor would have enough capacity for a park like Kings Island. I see our next coaster being from B&M or Mack as Cedar Fair is comfortable with working with them, especially B&M. But I would love to see a new GCI or any new large wooden rollercoaster come to the park.

I know this is a probably going to be a rather unpopular opinion, but I don’t think Kings Island should get an RMC Hybrid or an RMC Wooden Coaster. As more an more of these coasters get built, they all start to feel the same in my opinion. They all have the same elements and similar forces, and they are all very similar to one another, the one exception being Lightning Rod. RMC said in an IAPPA interview that they want to do more ground up Hybrid coasters instead of wooden coasters, and I don’t see Kings Island getting a ground-up hybrid when Steel Vengeance is in the same state. Ours would almost certainly have to be worse than Cedar Point’s or people would come to Kings Island instead. Also, because all RMC’s have the same elements and the same general feel these days (again, in my opinion), people would think our RMC is too similar to Steel Vengeance which is three hours away. I do, however, like the idea of a 200-foot record-breaking wooden coaster, but I think they should go with a different manufacturer. Something like an Intamin pre-fab would be amazing as there is only one in the United States and none of these have been built in over a decade, so Intamin could easily have new innovations to put on a new ride. In my option, however, I would absolutely love to have a new GCI as I absolutely love Mystic Timbers among others. They are smooth, fast-paced, and intense. Some may say there are not capable of building a 200-foot wooden rollercoaster, but GCI has had some really cool innovations lately which includes their all-new train design to allow for tighter transitions and the first-ever ejector airtime on GCI’s as if there was not any already. These new trains can also handle inversions and launches, and GCI has models with these elements incorporated. It will be something different because instead of parks going back and forth to see who has the best RMC, Kings Island can work with GCI and do their own thing. I attached a picture of the latest dueling GCI model and an existing large-scale GCI coaster in China which is their largest ever. Also, for all we know, Cedar Fair may never work with RMC again, or at least not anytime soon because the last three coasters they added in 2018 all experienced major problems and downtime. If downtime and maintenance problems is why Cedar Fair does not work with Intamin anymore, then I could see them taking a break from RMC as well. And it is not like it was a problem, but everything is fixed now. Steel Vengeance has terrible capacity with it rarely running all three trains and having lengthy loading times due to the cell phone problem. There is a reason why most RMC’s only have two trains, and Kings Island needs at least three trains for it to eat through lines. It is also worth noting that the three parks that received RMC’s in 2018 in the chain did not see jumps in attendance but instead actually saw decreases in attendance to start off the year. The one park the got something different that year, Knott’s Berry Farm, saw a jump in attendance with their Gerstlauer. I would not be surprised if it is a long time before we see more RMC’s in the Cedar Fair chain. GCI and Cedar Fair have a strong relationship after all of these years, so I see them as being the best candidate. https://rcdb.com/9039.htm#p=35941

I have heard that an new Antique Autos ride will be replacing Dinosaurs Alive per Carowinds Connection, and the users on that site made it seem like it was almost confirmed. But I really have no idea where they got this information unfortunately.