SonofBaconator

Sorry Vortex haters, maybe next time. This was a good move on the park's part and I support their decision in favor of what's to come in the near future. Firehawk was my first inverting coaster so I'll miss it, but cherish the fond memories I had riding it.

last chance to say the ride, I still got money on Firehawk

I found a video that has slightly better quality of the mouse. Go to 13:40 and you'll see it.

If you recall Son of Beast was torn down then a year later Banshee was built. Whatever is leaving tomorrow, I bet they'll start on construction and land clearing soon after or during the 2019 season.

no one word posts either per TOS.

Plot twist: its Firehawk

I always imagined Vortex was the robot from Queen's album News of the World

They had one where GateKeeper is now, it was called Space Spiral and sat right next to Diaster Transport

I think Cedar Point will. I could see them build one and have it double as an observation tower of sorts since they got rid of theirs in 2012.

@CoastersRZ Could be a parking lot coaster

Yeah, it was not uncommon for Taft to have different rides with similar names- Bat, Vortex, Thunder Road, Grizzly could all be found at one point at more than one park. Now parks, aside from Six Flags, are trying to be more original when naming their coasters.

Back in the day, it was logo that debuted with the ride. content://media/external/file/140956

Never thought of that, Vortex is "leaving" next year- the Canada's Wonderland one.

Sea World Entertainment really loves launched coasters

Most amusement park railroads that have three or more trains usually only run two. Walt Disney World typically operates 2 locomotives unless its a busy day, the same can be said for Busch Gardens Tampa and Williamsburg. With regards to Carowinds, they most likely didn't have a need to operate a 3rd locomotive but kept it just in case.

@MaxxForce, KI is already on the map..... Cedar Fair is not going to work with Vekoma when they have a good standing relationship with B&M, RMC, Gerstlauer, and MACK.

I wonder if they're announcing it Thursday so people will have time to ride it Friday?

True but its still listed as a live product on their site.

@McSalsa I assume that the picture I provided is a "Next Gen" model, though interesting still flawed in one way- the train faces the sky on the lift hill. I'm sure parks are going to B&M because of Vekoma's not so perfect reputation. Vekoma might still make spare parts, but that's like adding new parts to an old, crappy car. At least with Vortex, S&S might be able to make spare parts and in terms of reliability Vortex has a way better track record than Firehawk.

@McSalsa According to their website, Vekoma still has the Flying Dutchman on their product list so I don't think spare parts are as hard to come by as people think. https://www.vekoma.com/index.php/experience-thrill-coasters/flying-dutchman

Holy Crap that's awesome, I never noticed my post made it to the news! See, analyzing pays off!

Remember, Kings Island was dropping Splintercat teasers like crazy to throw people off to don't be shocked when there's a lot of clues hinting at multiple coasters.

I wouldn't question the mods.

I guess my biggest gripe is that they announce the name but not the ride. I guess without photo evidence that confirms its not Firehawk, a lot of people will still assume Firehawk is indeed the coaster.

There's also a ton of land on the other side of the maintenance road that's relatively clear. I can see it being an out and back that essentially runs parallel to the river while also having a lot of curved sections like Fury 325's second half.