McSalsa

Umm, even though I adore The Beast, it didn't hold the drop height and speed records for 10+ years (At 110 feet tall it was never actually the tallest structurally). On May 23rd, 1981, Six Flags Great America opened American Eagle- a Intamin racing wooden coaster that stands 127 feet tall with a 147 foot drop (beating Beast by 6ft) and with a top speed of 66mph, beating Beast's 64.7mph. This was a little over 2 years after The Beast made its debut in April 1979. Beast did hold the length record for a while though- Ultimate at Lightwater Valley didn't open until July 1991. Oh, as for long-term record holders: it may not feel like it, but Kingda Ka has been the world's tallest roller coaster for 15 years now, and Steel Dragon 2000 has been the world's longest for 20. As for the topic: IMO, nothing at Kings Island needs RMC'd, though I would be 100% down for a ground-up one.

^ FYI: This would have gone better in polls, and you could have even added a poll for it too. But on this topic: I prefer Diamondback of the two. I feel it has stronger and longer lasting airtime, and it is a noticeably longer ride to boot (65 seconds from drop to brakes for Diamondback versus just 47 for Mystic Timbers). Mystic Timbers does have the edge IMO in theming and how rapid-fire the elements are, but I would still go for Diamondback overall. PS: I am glad this is not Diamondback vs. Orion (even though that comparison seems more obvious) since I have not been able to get to Kings Island this year to ride Orion yet.

Possibly not, if the G-Forces kept them in place. I actually had a experience at Cedar Point that showcased this to me once: I was riding Rougarou at Cedar Point, and we were going up the lift hill. Someone in the row directly ahead of me (I was in the 7th row or so) had their change spill out of their pocket as we went up, and a quarter landed on a flat piece of the coaster car and stayed there. I was fully expecting that quarter to fall out on the giant loop after the first drop, but to my amazement it STAYED PUT. The quarter was flung from the ride eventually though, during one of the turns however- not on a inversion. Also that old TOGO video was awesome.

That part TBH I was expecting- Cedar Fair usually just uses a lot of stock footage and will repost videos for every park. I was thinking more along the lines of: "They filmed this at Kings Island yet no one on here noticed them filming via webcams or something"

Watching that Worlds of Fun video: is it just me or does a ton of that look like it was filmed at Kings Island?

No- it is a name for a model of coaster made by Rocky Mountain Construction which has a single rail and riders ride single file. They are known for the fast pace and aggressive elements. Here is a example of a "Raptor" coaster: RMC is also working on a bigger model of single-rail coaster, with bigger track and 2-wide trains for better capacity, which will be known as the T-Rex but that model isn't ready just yet according to RMC themselves.

GCI- says so in both IndyGuy4KI's post and the linked Facebook post. Based on their work on Legend, and how smooth Mystic Timbers is, I would imagine Hoosier Hurricane is going to run way better when it reopens than it did previously.

From the "concept" POV: this ride probably would have been a huge hit in the early to mid 90s when it was built. From the POV, it looks like a ride with some awesome laterals and airtime. The "drop into the lake" finale would IMO be one of the best finales on any coaster, rivaling things like Beast's helix and Magnum XL-200's ejector bunny hills (which are my current favorite coaster finales of rides I have ridden IRL). However, I do also think based on the fact it would have run PTC Trains, and how forceful these turns looked, that the ride would probably have become pretty rough by the early to mid 2000s. Kings Island has some good wood coaster maintenance, but a twisty and intense looking woodie like this running PTCs would have probably still slowly tore itself up. The ride would probably have developed a bit of a "mixed" reaction by the 2000s, kind of like how people see a ride like The Boss at Six Flags St. Louis today: some would love it in spite of the roughness, others would hate it, and it would likely end up somewhere in the middle on the Mitch Hawker wood coaster polls of the era (though it possibly would have been at or near the top of the 90s polls!). When RMC came into play around the early 2010s, this ride would have probably been a target of theirs. Cedar Fair might have bit the bullet on this before doing Steel Vengeance as a bit of a test, probably around 2015'ish. It probably would have become a pretty epic RMC, and I think they would have kept the epic tunnel finale BTW. (If the person who made this in NoLimits wants to make that concept- what if this was built, but then became a RMC later on- IMO it would be awesome)

For roller coasters, looking at RCDB, we have a tie: Firehawk and Son of Beast both opened on May 26th of their respective seasons, 2000 and 2007. Firehawk because construction started late and Son of Beast because, well, Son of Beast had numerous issues and they clearly started early on. Orion is probably gonna break this record, not due to any design flaws or construction delays (it is a B&M after all and construction appears mostly done, and test runs looked great) but because of COVID-19. Unless KI doesn't even open in 2020, in which case Orion could open sometime in April 2021 and thus not take this record. The earliest coaster opening was for TOP GUN, now known as The Bat. It opened on April 9th. The now defunct Vortex was not far behind on April 11th. RCDB didn't have a opening date for Flight of Fear, Great Pumpkin Coaster, Scooby's Ghoster Coaster, or Flying Ace though.

I got this video in my Youtube feed a while back. It explains a lot about these Intamin prefabs, and also explains likely reasons parks have not bought any new ones since T Express in 2008: My big takeaway from this video: HOLY COW EL TORO WOULD COST $35,000,000 ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION!?!? (This is more than B&M Giga Coasters!) Err, as much as I would LOVE to see a 200+ foot version of one of these at Kings Island, a ground-up RMC Topper Track/I-Box would probably be much cheaper and achieve similar results. Wildfire, a RMC Topper Track woodie around the same height and length as El Toro, cost around $12 million when converted to USD and adjusted for inflation. Considering Wildfire is also considered one of the best "wooden" coasters ever built, it seems like the RMC is a much better value for money as you could get almost THREE Wildfires for the price of a single El Toro!

That was last year- I was there. It did not help that Cedar Fair had just updated their policy on Arrow coasters needing to reach 50 degrees to open, versus 45 in years before that. It also rained a decent amount on passholder preview and a bit more on Opening Day (though Opening Day was not as bad). Because of the "bad" weather though crowds were very light for opening day standards and many rides were under 10 minutes, save the new Kings Mills Antique Autos and The Beast when the 40th Anniversary T-Shirts were being given out. 2018 was warm (70s), sunny, and crowded. I was there for PP 2018 too- my sister didn't even fill me in that we were going until we were halfway to the park!

First up, I wanna thank @collin.klopfstein for showing me that phone app- I found it awesome and just spent a few hours digging through my old trip reports to try and log my ride counts. Based on that app, here is EVERYTHING I am missing from Kings Island, including Planet Snoopy...plus my reason why I have not ridden them yet. NON-KIDS FREE RIDES Kings Mills Antique Autos (Wanted to try these in 2019, but they were always a 45+ minute wait when I went past due to the fact they were brand new that year) UPCHARGE ATTRACTIONS: I have not ridden either of these, due to their extra charge nature and the fact you are held up by just some skinny cables terrorizes me. Sling Shot Xtreme Skyflyer "KIDDIE" Rides (Haven't ridden these due to their kids centric nature) Charlie Brown's Wind-Up Joe Cool's Dodgem School Kite-Eating Tree Linus' Beetle Bugs Linus' Launcher (of all the non-ridden kids ride I would be most likely to ride this one in the future as it looks decent enough) Peanuts 500 Peanuts Off-Road Rally Snoopy vs. Red Baron Snoopy's Junction Snoopy's Space Buggies Woodstock Whirlybirds If I have been on a kiddie ride, it was probably because it wasn't THAT kiddie (see: Woodstock Gliders which I found pretty fun) or I rode it as a 10-year-old back in the summer of 2000. And finally Orion NO ONE (save maybe some KI Employees perhaps) HAS RIDDEN ORION YET- it has not opened yet!

I stumbled onto this, and it made me LOL, so I will share it so it can hopefully make others LOL. LOL.

I had a Kings Island based dream last night: I went and rode the Blue Racer, and had fun on it- good airtime and pretty smooth. I was killing time in the dream so afterwards, I got back in line but found there was a short wait (10 minutes or so) for the ride. I also decided to switch to Red Racer to see how it was comparing. While in line, I met some girl who was supposed to be my cousin or something, but I had never met this girl in my life so I dunno who she was. She was also kinda scared, but I got her over it, and after we rode Red Racer we went and rode...Invertigo for some reason. Then I woke up. I also a long time ago had a very weird dream: I got in line for Flight of Fear, but the que was a dark haunted Victorian mansion thing and there was no one in line, and it was crazy long. It also seems, every time I dream of Flight of Fear, there is always something different in the building and I never actually get to the ride. Also, a month or so ago, I did have a dream that included Orion. I didn't ride it in that dream because the line was too long (it was 1 hour). Later I had a 2nd dream that included Orion that was weirder: instead of myself, I was Don Helbig and it was media preview for Orion (this was before it was delayed due to Coronavirus). Suddenly I got a message on my communicator of severe weather, so for whatever reason I (as Don Helbig) went up to the 275 foot level of the Eiffel Tower to look and I saw a huge Tornado coming towards the park. I ordered the "tornado bunkers" (not sure if these actually exist at Kings Island) under Backlot Stunt Coaster and Orion to be opened, and as I was about to go back down to enter myself, I told the Eiffel Tower operators to come too but they had to evacuate more people there. I headed down and got in the Orion Bunker (which was filling with people) and then woke up before the Tornado actually hit.

A B&M Wing Coaster in China. The OG rumors/possible leaks suggested that Kings Dominion would get a version of the ride to replace Volcano in 2021. Rcdb Page for Heaven's Wing: https://rcdb.com/15676.htm POV (has a slightly different name for the ride, it may have had a name change already or the translation is not 100% known):

While I have already done a Top 10 on this topic, I have some updates since I had a decent amount of repeat visits to both Kings Island and Cedar Point last year. And thus there was some shuffling. I will keep my OG Top 10 post up for comparison purposes, but here is a slightly updated Top 10. I also won't go fully over my opinions of every coaster since that would be re-treading ground: #10- Top Thrill Dragster (Cedar Point) Didn't get to ride this on my visit to Cedar Point in 2019. It had way to long (and slow moving) of wait for my tastes on a packed Saturday, and then it broke down and never opened on Sunday...which is sadly typical of this ride. It still holds a Top 10 spot thanks to my 2017 and 2018 rides though. My first ride in 2017 remains a experience I will not soon forget. #9- Banshee (Kings Island) I had quite a few awesome rides on Banshee in 2019, which were enough to get the coaster past the likes of Mystic Timbers, Legend, and TTD and into my Top 10 for now. For the record, it was already lurking just outside my Top 10 when I made my 1st post here. This is a excellent ride with strong g-forces and huge fun inversions. #8- Raptor (Cedar Point) On the super-packed Saturday I went to Cedar Point in 2019, I waited 45 minutes for Raptor to re-open because everything had monster lines: Rougarou was 30 minutes when that ride is usually a walk-on, and GateKeeper was 2 HOURS. I am glad I did, because I ended up getting a crazy good ride with awesome G-Forces and epic snappiness, and it was very smooth for a ride that is over 25 years old now. I rode again on Sunday and it was still very good, if just a bit worse than it was running on Saturday. These epic rides were more than enough to get Raptor into my Top 10. #7- Diamondback (Kings Island) Got some great rides in 2019, but nothing really enough to move this one (in spite of the ride going crazy and giving super strong airtime on opening day 2019 somehow). Diamondback stays at #7. #6- Magnum XL-200 (Cedar Point) This ride was a savior on the super-crowded Saturday with its awesome capacity, though it still had a 40 minute wait due to the sheer number of people in line. Granted early and later in the day it became a walk-on, I rode 3 times total. I also rode a few times more on Sunday. I still adore this coaster's epic ejector air and awesome location, even if it is a bit rough. #5- Millennium Force (Cedar Point) Millie drops a spot: my rides in 2019 were very good, but I am really starting to notice how the ride does lack strong g-forces in the middle and the airtime is just meh when compared to even "regular" (aka not going insane like it did opening day 2019) Diamondback, much less Steel Vengeance or Magnum XL-200...save for that last bunny hop, which has pretty good airtime. The coaster does make up for this with a epic first drop and amazing speeds though, and it has a pretty good ride length to boot. However... #4- The Beast (Kings Island) On its 40th anniversary season, Beast moves up a spot. My reasoning for this: directly comparing MF and Beast, both start off very strong, and both have great sense of speed (MF for actually being fast, Beast for feeling out of control due to being wooden) and kinda "meh" middle parts...but while Millennium Force's bunny hop near the end is great, it follows that up with straight track and a kinda weak overbank. Beast ends with its legendary double helix. For having the far superior ending, I had to put Beast a spot higher. #3- The Voyage (Holiday World) I didn't ride Voyage in 2019, but my 2018 rides (including my first night ride) were so good they alone managed to keep Voyage safe in the Top 3. The ride is being re-tracked yet again for 2020, so it should ride even better this season for anyone who wants to go to Holiday World when this Cornavirus stuff finally ends. #2- Maverick (Cedar Point) I got a ride on Maverick when I went to Cedar Point in 2019, but had to wait until Sunday and it kept breaking down on Saturday and had way too long a line when it wasn't. But that Sunday morning ride was awesome. Maverick is a fantastic ride and I cannot recommend it enough. #1- Steel Vengeance (Cedar Point) No change here- only rode SV once this year due to its lines, and waited until the park was nearly closed on Saturday so Fast Lane would clear out and the line would move 2x faster. This strategy worked, as instead of waiting 3 hours for it, I only had to wait...75 minutes. Yeah still a big line. However for waiting 75 minutes, I still got boatloads of airtime and numerous crazy head choppers and inversions on the side. Still my #1 coaster. And that is a updated version of my Top 10. Mystic Timbers and Legend fell out, not for any reason of their own but because the 2 B&M Inverts decided to barge in and there was no more room.

GP to Enthusiast has re-uploaded and fixed his error in the OG video. Here is the new version: Also I was apparently wrong about the train cycling several times before the main injures occurred, there were really only 3 "events" and not 4. (The support breaks, the 2nd train hits the dip and injures riders, and then Train 1 is E-Stopped when a ride-op sees the injured riders of Train 2)

Watching the test video: more evidence Orion is gonna haul from start to finish. The sideways turn looks very fast, and then the 200+ foot turnaround is taken at speeds near or above what Millennium Force takes during its first overbanked turn. And that is with the 170+ foot sideways hill before it to burn off speed, with a drop that is the same height (300 foot drops for both)! Orion may only be a 60-second ride from the top of the lift to the final brakes, but it should be a pretty darn intense and epic 60 seconds.

D'oh! At least Fun Spot let us down easy on it. I also do respect that they at least bothered to show up and look as well. But it seems Indiana Beach is likely still doomed, which is very sad.

To be fair, NTG and Iron Rattler also didn't add 40 extra feet of height (and thus much more speed). OG Texas Giant went 62mph, NTG goes 65- a increase of 3mph. OG Rattler went 65mph, Iron Rattler 70mph. It probably has had some effect but Steel Vengeance went crazy when adding extra height and speed, not to mention the new "2nd-Gen" RMC trains are also claimed to be a source of issues, as they apparently are also heavier than the 1st gen trains. For the record from what I know, only Steel Vengeance and Twisted Timbers have the 2nd gen trains but I could be wrong (I dunno if Zadra for example has them). Twisted Cyclone- which also opened in 2018- still had the old trains and it didn't seem to have any problems. I would find it a bit funny if Kings Island got a RMC, and then it had the old 1st gen trains because Cedar Fair realized the 2nd gen ones stunk (or just had RMC remake the trains again, creating a Gen 3 train). Kings Island would also want something that could run 3 trains: I don't know if New Texas Giant has the same issues in terms of capacity Steel Vengeance has or not, but a park pulling 3,000,000 guests per year is gonna want at least around 1,000pph for a major attraction (all of the big popular coasters currently at KI- Orion, Banshee, Diamondback, The Beast and Mystic Timbers are at or above this level). Finding a solution to the loose articles/metal detectors issue would also something to overcome. If they wanted to keep Steel Vengeance's "mystique" I would also imagine KI may wait until 2028-ish (when SV is 10+ and some of the hype has died down) and/or build a Topper Track coaster that isn't as large (to be fair a topper track woodie that is "only" 185 feet tall would be able to claim it is the current world's tallest wooden coaster, though then you get the whole is topper track wood can' o worms). Plus this would give RMC more time to improve their coasters reliability and capacity. PS: I would also be all for a ground-up RMC (I can wait if it means fixing the Steel Vengeance issues though) not only because it would likely become my new #1 at KI, but because their custom structures look epic. This appears to be a drawing (maybe? Could be a photo, it blurs that line...) but it looks cool (from Energylandia.pl- the park's official site):

They did. Here is a video filmed a few days before the accident I like to watch from time to time, it is a "music video" made by CoasterImage.com (anyone here remember them)? Son of Beast can be seen running 5-car trains. Note: It is from 2007 so hope you don't mind good old 240p!

Using the webcams last year, on a day I was bored, I actually was estimating each coaster's capacity I could see. Vortex was pulling around 1000pph which was pretty good capacity. Here were my results. I watched each coaster run at least 5 cycles, and then used the best 3 cycles as an average (giving mulligans for walks of shame and stuff), and I got these numbers. Vortex: 1,029pph Diamondback: 1,314pph BLSC: 712pph Mystic Timbers: 949pph The Racer: 800pph per side (1,600pph both sides) These were estimated using the Mystic Timbers, Diamondback, and Orion Construction cams. I also looked at some Cedar Point cams to see how they compared: Valravn: 1,037pph Millennium Force: 935pph (oof- a bit bad for such a popular ride, Orion will smash this) Maverick: 858pph Iron Dragon: 933pph Steel Vengeance: 642pph (Worse than BLSC- no wonder it always has 2+ hour waits!) Gemini: 848pph per side (1,696pph if both sides running) I also could have done Rougarou but I got tired before I got to it and forgot. I no longer have exact numbers but remember doing this once for The Beast too, it got about 900-1000pph and Banshee pulled 1400-1500 (I expect Orion will be about the same as Banshee given the 4-across seating and train sizes are the same).

Update: I just re-checked GP to Enthusiast's video, and turns out my OG thoughts on what happened in 2006 were in fact true: here is what actually happened based on the video and what I have learned via the comments. Son of Beast was running 2 trains in 2006. 1- Train #1 (could have been SOB's #2 but I'll just say it was #1 for simplicity) departs, climbs the lift hill, drops and hits the rose bowl. The ride goes fine however the forces cause a support to crack/break and a small dip to occur in the track. 2- Train #2 is dispatched, and when it hits the rose bowl section that was damaged, riders feel a jolt but are not injured. The damaged area breaks even more and the dip becomes larger. 3- Train #1 is sent out again, and hits the now large dip. Riders sustain injuries and some have bloody noses. The ride manages to complete the rest of the circuit and returns to the station. 4- Train #2 is climbing the 218 foot lift, when ride ops see the injured riders of Train #1 and E-Stop the ride. Train #2 is stuck there, and remains there for days. News chopper footage of Son of Beast from around the time of the accident show Train #2 on the lift hill. Who knows what would have happened if the ride ops had been faster and Train #2 had cleared the lift before the ride was E-Stopped!

^ It was removed a few weeks ago, Don Helbig even gave us a heads-up. It should return by late March/early April.

Well, seeing Orion test for the first time, I have 2 observations: #1- Orion seems to have a variable speed lift hill, but for the 1st test they seem to have used the lowest speed setting. (A variable speed lift hill is one that goes slower until the train ahead has cleared the upcoming block. In the case of Orion this would be a train hitting the final brake run) #2- The helix looks to be taken at pretty high speeds and with good g-forces. Yes, the trims were probably off, but this was also the very first test run (so the ride was not even broken in at all yet) and in much cooler temperatures than what the ride will run at in summer. So I expect the helix will be taken pretty fast and forcefully when the ride is open, save maybe on cooler mornings when the ride has just been woken up and runs slower (though in those cases, will the trim even kick on?).