SonofBaconator

Theming can be replaced and reworked so that shouldn't dictate a coaster existence in the park. Top Gun didn't fit next to Banshee so they just rethemed it. Ricochet was renamed to Apple Zapple and themed to Candy Apple Grove. Vortex at CW is getting renamed to complement Frontier Canada. Need I go on? It surprises me how many people prioritize theming over ridership, safety, and reliability. If that were the case, Kings Island would just remove BLSC because it doesn't fit in with its theming, or KD would remove Intimidator 305 and Flight of Fear because it doesn't fit the Safari theme.

If a giga takes over Firehawk, I hope they utilize all the land it sat on. Who knows, they might expand that area and have a giga further back.

I beg to differ

But that could also be used for a giga or any other coaster model, which is why I'm highly skeptical of Vortex being gone since it sits over a valley.

I'm wondering if they didn't light the fire correctly. Usually to start an oil/ propane burning locomotive you have to start a fire THEN slowly add fuel. Perhaps their was already fuel in the locomotive prior to lighting.

Don and other KI higher ups reading this thread

If Vortex ever gets removed, I'd imagine it would be the last one to go. Its still extremely popular and has the best design of its kind. I'd imagine Corkscrew, Anaconda, Carolina Cyclone, etc would bite the dust before Vortex. Its still a reliable ride that has great capacity, despite being a little jerky. I personally think they'd try to address some of the issues people have with the ride before removing it entirely, like new trains for example

Interesting, I personally never saw anyone back there hence my assumption of low attendance.

However, dinos was a huge flop that saw low attendance every season; a lot of people were waiting for it to go. Whenever they get rid of a coaster its going to be dramatic. Firehawk never really developed a strong fanbase at KI like Vortex, Racer, Diamondback, Beast, etc and I think the park knows it. With that being said, I don't think people would miss Firehawk as much as much as they would Vortex or any of the other coasters in the park- hence why they waited until the Haunt season to announce its departure.

They always put those tombstones around BLSC every haunt season because of the abundance of space so I'm 100% sure its placement has nothing to do with BLSC.

@kissfan4 while some of that may suggest Vortex, look at the bigger picture and think what makes more sense. Vortex is more reliable than Firehawk, has better capacity, and can accommodate shorter riders. The park doesn't really benefit from removing Vortex as it would with Firehawk.

What I find interesting is that every now and then, Kings Island brings back old favorites on off years or after they add new coasters. The Bat, Flying Eagles (sort of), and now the Antique Cars have made a return to the park. Could it be possible that we're seeing a trend of resurrecting old KI favorites after the addition of newer attractions? Could we see the return of recaR, Phantom Theater, Kenton's Cove, and other old KI favorites in the future?

Demolished for the Antique Cars, along with a chunk of the Coney Mall midway by Vortex and WindSeeker.

Firehawk is the only KI coaster that I can immediately think if when I hear the word "downtime." I can only imagine how much time, money, and resources are spent on keeping Firehawk up and running. Recently, Invertigo gets just about the same amount of riders Firehawk gets which says a lot considering its a shuttle coaster.

I still think it's interesting how they're not telling us, or at least as of when this post was made, which coaster is biting the dust. Maybe they're doing this so everybody doesn't flock to that one coaster to get their last rides in? Maybe they don't want everyone flocking to it because its a capacity nightmare? I'm still looking at Firehawk.

Something interesting to point out- aside from Congo Falls, Drop Tower is the only Action Zone to not be repainted like Invertigo, The Bat, Delirium, and Skyflyer.

Unless you believe in the KK relocation theory where FH is being moved an hour and a half south. However, I agree that they usually warn people before a coaster leaves.

This is meant to be a companion thread to @BoddaH1994's thread Please post speulations on there and just vote on here. Voting closes at 12pm on 10/28/18! This is meant to be a survey, similar to "Get Rid of a Coaster Poll"

I've thought about this for a while and to come to a conclusion- Firehawk being removed might actually benefit the park in a lot of ways. Firehawk was a hand-me-down coaster from Geagua Lake so it never felt like a KI coaster to me as the others do. Its placed behind Racer and Flight of Fear so it always felt "hidden" to me, and not a good "hidden" like The Bat. The ride, while visually pleasing, is in fact very outdated in numerous ways. For one, the chain is obnoxiously loud, especially when its inches away from your ears. Second, riders have to keep their eyes closed during the slow ascent up the hill since they're staring into the sun. Third, the capacity is horrific to the point where a dual loading station seems to slow the loading process down. Fourth, the ride is incredibly short for how long you have to wait in line. Even though B&M Flyers might have the same capacity issues, they are worth the wait because you actually get a lengthy ride on most of them and experience awesome elements. Firehawk always seemed like a circumstantial ride to me- if it was cloudy or overcast or the line was insanely short, I'd ride it- and I'm sure I'm not the only person who's done this. The park hasn't even made any attempt to repaint the coaster as its showing its old green livery from when it was X-Flight; painting a coaster doesn't always suggest that its going to stay, but not painting it at all says something. I feel like the ride is really starting to show its age. I can only imagine how much of a maintenance nightmare it is to keep running. Getting rid of it would ease some of the stress put on maintenance, funding, and resources which can be put into other rides that may need it. If the park replaced Firehawk with a B&M giga, they wouldn't be as many maintenance issues as they currently see with Firehawk and would be a good ROI in my opinion. I always thought that a giga would coexist in X-Base with Firehawk and Flight of Fear, but now I'm starting to think that it might not be the case. In addition, the last time KI removed an unreliable coaster, they replaced it with something that made up for it. If we have to sacrifice Firehawk to the coaster gods in order to get a giga, I'd be for it. In addition, I honestly don't think Vortex or WindSeeker will bite the dust just because the park wouldn't really gain anything from doing so, especially when Firehawk frees up a lot of land for expansion. However, if WindSeeker does bite the dust, I wouldn't be surprised that they wouldn't announce it earlier so people could get their last rides since you could go to WoF, KD, CW, CWS, or CP to get your fix. Addition. Also, Kentucky Kingdom announced their next attraction will be called "Kentucky Flyer." What's interesting about this is that if Firehawk is getting removed and going to another park, KI fans can always go to KK to ride it if they're feeling nostalgic. I think its a weird coincidence that there's rumors of us loosing something that flies and Kentucky Kingdom gaining something that flies. Just my two cents. I could be 100% wrong.

I actually thought of this when I heard the FH rumors.

Send Firehawk to Michigan's Adventure

Pros and Cons to Firehawk Pros- Its a unique ride that gives a fun riding experience. It's in a cool section of the park that compliments Flight of Fear. Cons- The lift hill is extremely loud, you stare up at the sun for what seems like an eternity, capacity is horrible, its down more times than it should be, and the line for it is horrible. Like what @Gordon Bombay said, I'd be surprised and bot surprised if they did away with it. The Flying Dutchman model has become pretty obsolete ever since B&M made their own flying model. If something better were to replace it, like a giga, I'd be fine with it leaving. Sorry to all the users that are named after Firehawk

Riding Mystic Timbers during Winterfest

The VR was very synched with the ride perfectly until the break run, at least that's what I've noticed when I saw the povs. I think VR only works on rides that have no MCBR.

These are old numbers that @malem had posted a while ago. If you go by the numbers of 2014, Vortex is the 5th most ride at the park with a ridership of a little over a million- compare that to Firehawk which has nearly half of Vortex's ridership. I wonder if capacity would improve on Firehawk if they shaded the break run and only used one side of the station.