teenageninja

That looks cool, but doesn't look particularly exciting and probably a capacity nightmare.

No they are not down, they are up on the top of the Eiffel Tower.

It's because they aren't really updating the webcams. They are lying, like they lied about Firehawk, Dinosaurs Alive, and probably also lied about Vortex as well. The cams won't be back up until they are done with the lift hill.

Drove by for lunch, didn't see anything past what was done yesterday.

Drop Tower has always been a tight fit for me, due to the size of my chest. Even when I was around 200 lbs, it was a tight fit.

I'm not necessarily complaining, I'm commenting on what was said before. Rivertown would be beautiful without that structure in it, especially when all it houses is a mediocre Haunt maze. Based on what the concept drawings for TR:TR were, it wouldn't be as much as an eyesore, but it stands out like a sore thumb. Doesn't ruin my experience for what it's worth, just a point.

I deleted the photo out of the quote for cleanliness, hopefully you don't mind. I would be very surprised if KI wasn't using Vortex's station for a Haunt next year. It's big enough and I think there is potential that they could have an indoor and outdoor portion in that area, with it being so large.

Not good enough to warrant what the building looks like. Flight of Fear is ugly too.

To everyone complaining about Orion not looking much taller than Diamondback, what did you think? Orion is the shortest Giga, of course it's not going to look as imposing as Fury compared to Intimidator. Fury is 93 feet taller than Intimidator and Orion is only 57 feet taller than Diamondback. It's a significant difference. Does it really matter? No, it's going to look big and imposing in the Skyline and it's going to be a totally different ride than DB. Also, when I drove by this morning, it looked like they may have been installing the head chopper track, it was hard to tell.

Sure. I enjoyed Tomb Raider: The Ride and The Crypt. I thought they were both entertaining rides and generally rode them everytime I was at the park. When I saw what the park delivered vs. the storyboards/ concept photos I was sorely disappointed that the lush jungle you were supposed to walk into was just a brown ugly building that was built in an area where there were a lot of great trees. Now it's an eyesore that you can see throughout the park.

First Firehawk, then Vortex, now the webcams, what's next? The Fountain? Oh wait.

Tower update. The tower uplighting was on this morning as well as the eyes on the top of the tower. The spotlights weren't on.

That's a lot of stress on the breakers, so unlikely. I do think it's funny when I go by every morning, there are 4 bright spot lights on the top of the tower, plus the "eyes" are on. Might be a different power circuit from the uplighting and webcams, but I would think they would want all of the power off, but I'm just an armchair construction individual.

The coasters have a camera on the top of the lift hill, it's a final check to ensure guest safety. The resolution is not great, and if I recall they are black and white as well on Vortex.

T Bone is in the parking lot

O'Ryan is looking pretty good.

Sorry guys, got tied up in something after work last night.

If no one does it by 4:30ish, I'll swing by.

Can confirm. Just drove by at lunch as well.

Really surprised they let John walk around with his hardhat on backwards, they aren't certified by OSHA to be worn backwards.

Lil Bill's Giga Coaster was not worth giving up two coasters, especially one being Vortex.

Oh man, this is rich. After all the complains about Orion...

It's kind of funny, of all the rides Kings Island have removed in my lifetime (and I'm sure I'm missing a few) very few have been replaced with something better: Kenton's Cove Keelboat Canal - TR:TR/The Crypt - Madame Fatale's Haunt King Cobra - Delirium Flying Eagles and Antique Cars x 2 - Backlot Stunt Coaster Skylab - Games Flight Commander - Removed, then planned Drop Tower, then Eurobungie, then eventually Antique Autos Son of Beast - Banshee (I would call this a big positive) Firehawk - Orion (Should be a big upgrade) Vortex - The jury is still out.

There is absolutely no way that an amusement park is running a ride without wiring schematics available. If something were to happen that is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Brake fatigue doesn't seem realistic to me. If anything, I could see it being a concern over the braking system being a normally open system as opposed to a normally closed system. Essentially, most rides use pneumatics to open the brakes up to allow the train to flow, while Vortex uses pneumatic pressure to close the brakes. That could be a big concern for a chain who has had some bumps in the past couple years. If the park was THAT concerned about using the brake run closest to Troika, they could go 2 train operation and use the brakes prior to the corkscrews.