silver2005

I think the hype worked out well regardless. Most of my GP friends I've talked to about this are pretty pleased Racer is getting some TLC, even if the retracking isn't as much as initially thought. I think the public wants Racer to be good and understand it'll take more than one off-season to get it back to being more comfortable despite the media leaving that out. Though, as I've stated before, I thought Racer was running pretty well this past season.

I have one last element request out of a giga- A Stengel dive.

Here's another kind of turnaround element I'd like to see- something like PortAventura's Shambhala. Just imagine that awesome figure 8 looking hill towering over the entrance to the parking lot. I wonder how much banking B&M would do before they consider an element an inversion... EDIT: Could someone PM me a good overhead map of Kings Island that includes (and focuses on) the area between X-Base and the parking lot entrance (updated to include Banshee). I think I may concoct some layout predictions.

^To give you perspective, Millennium Force's next tallest element is the hill going over to the island, which clocks in at around 190 ft. Fury's tallest element is also at 190. I want to see that speed put to use. Of course, I want longer stretches to cruise at 80+ mph, but having some awesome airtime at those heights would be awesome as well. A reason I like Storm Runner so much is the airtime it has with a 191 ft drop, and with the speed you get from a giga, not to mention the sustained momentum from those 4 across B&M trains, which hold speed better than the V-seating with Diamondback, I think it would still be great. I really, really don't want something like I-305 or Skyrush.

For those not in the know about coaster elements- Non-Inverted Loop http://rollercoaster.wikia.com/wiki/Non-Inverted_Loop Non-inverted corkscrew See most of the hills near the end of Superman: The Ride in SFNE (the 3 hills starting around the 1:38 mark)

Here are some other elements I hope to be part of a giga at Kings Island- - A 200 ft camel back hill (or some element topping 200 ft) - Non-inverted loop - Some sort of turn around similar to Fury 325's - Non-inverting corkscrew - If its in X-base, a hill going over the Flight of Fear building or a helix wrapping around the spaghetti bowl building - Maybe something that threads through one or more of Banshee's inversions (a giga should have the momentum to get over to The Bat from X-Base) -90 degree angle first drop - Enough height to reach 100 mph

@SonofBaconator At the same time, you have to give credit where it is due. If Intamin has made strides to be more reliable, they deserve credit. They are building quite a lot overseas including the 367 ft Red Force (0-111.9 mph in 5 seconds on LSM's, more reliable than the hydraulic launches), Energylandia's Hyperion (chain lift, no cables), and BGW's 2020 coaster is a confirmed Intamin along with SWSA's newest coaster. I haven't heard much of any major problems from them lately as well.

You Intamin fanboys might be in luck as they are making a comeback in the US thanks to the Busch/Sea World parks. You better hope they do well if they want any chance to work with FUN and SIX again.

^Or the long awaited B&M 4D coaster...

This feels reminiscent of the Shapiro maneuver SIX did in the early 2000s that led them to bankruptcy in dumping all this money into big rides. Granted, SEAS has less parks and a bit more wiggle room in terms of their markets, but this does seem a bit much in such a short time span.

Almost every B&M I've ridden is more forceful than Millennium Force (sans Valravn and Superman Ultimate Flight).

^Nighthawk has different trains than Firehawk since it was the prototype. Also, SFA can't keep Batwing open. I imagine they won't last the next 5 years, and that's probably being generous.

This removal also begs the question of how much time Nighthawk and Batwing have left.

I tried that on Son of Beast (I rode it a ton in its original form between 2000 and 2006, with the Premier trains and loop) and it wasn't true in the slightest. Other than testing that theory a handful of times, the only 2 'comfortable' seats, and the only rows I chose to ride it, were 1-1 and 1-2. EDIT: BTW, even then, I could only tolerate riding it once, maybe twice, a visit, and that was in my teenage years and as healthy as ever.

Unless that coaster is named Son of Beast. On 2 bench PTC's or if you have to pick a wheel seat, the front of the cars are smoother.

Its kind a tough call between early and mid season. Early season is the end of the off season, I personally like spring over summer as its cooler, and the lines are shorter on those Fridays, but the main season has all the gears working and the new rides have their kinks worked out by then. As @malem and I found out on a P&G visit, having the shows there vs not there is a HUGE difference.

^Every CP coaster built after FL was introduced along with Gemini and Maverick has the merge at the station (GateKeeper, Valravn, Steel Vengeance).

I used it this past season as well, mostly because it was my last CP visit for a while as I like to spread out my visits due to how often they add big rides and I wanted to really get to know Steel Vengeance before I go on my CP hiatus. I'd say it was worth it, though, it was only really useful on Maverick, SV, Valravn, and TTD on the day I went. When I do choose to go, I always go for 2 days, and I usually let myself splurge a bit.

There's no way the 1991 Dinn coaster was going to be the tallest in the world given its rumored location.

Then why remove Firehawk? If it was just because of maintenance, then it would have been done a while ago. See the way they waited to remove SOB until they were ready to install Banshee. Add on top of that the document, and it'd be way too coincidental for them to do all that for something not a coaster.

We have documents from Warren County that names B&M specifically. Unless B&M has branched out to flat rides, it's gonna be a coaster. We just don't know what type yet.

^I can answer #3- yes.

Now if only we could get new PTC's for it, new paint, and run the chaser lights all the way down. Still a much needed TLC job for sure. I will say it was running better this season. The blue side even had decent pops of air for once on the return run.

They've been using it for Wolf Pack, why tear it down?

Track wouldn't need to be made that quick. B&M's go up pretty fast, even gigas. DB and Banshee track didn't show up until after their respective announcements and those 2 aren't slouches on size.