Kenban

Dual stations like Firehawk are a double edged sword. They increase capacity but they also cost more to maintain and operate due to requiring more employees. I am a fan of flying coasters and while I never thought Firehawk was a great layout, I will miss it. Here is to either KI or CP getting a new Vekoma or B&M flyer. The world could use more rides like Tatsu, Manta, and Flying Dinosaur.

According to a post on reddit from someone who stated they were at the announcement, it will be going behind the waterpark. The station will be next to the picnic shelters and it will hug the current edge of the property heading towards the stadium, although I do not believe it will even get close to the stadium. Looking at the layout this makes a lot of sense. Based on what I have heard for pricing on these coasters, I am kinda surprised we do not see a lot more of these being built. If the numbers are accurate they are an amazing value.

I considered the possibility the flyer name was just a name. But never even considered the possibility it was a gravity group wooden. ^^ Max speed is 35 MPH, the length makes sense. Not sure on layout, but the specs make it sound like Oscars Wacky Taxi.

Still wondering when the announcement is going to occur, they stated Sunday night but did not give a time and it is already after 8 PM. There is someone on the parks Facebook page claiming they know it is Firehawk with track modifications. I would be very surprised if it is true but it is always possible.

Kentucky Kingdom set the announcement for Sunday so we will know soon, but I figured I would give another option, also from Zamperla the Volare.

Having been to Vegas and been on both Star Trek simulators I always wished for that kind of attraction. I have no idea how much they cost to build but the entire experience from a walk through attraction with an incredible attention to detail with live actors followed by a simulator was one of the best ride experiences I have ever had. The problem is that I doubt it was in the parks budget.

Summer officially ended last week. Which is why Infinity Falls just started employee previews yesterday. Media day is scheduled for the 4th of October. I travel to Orlando every October for Halloween Horror Nights, so I will just happen to be at the park next week likely the 3rd. News articles make it sound like the grand opening is the same day as media previews so I just hope there will be a soft opening and I can give some impressions of the ride. Otherwise I will at least be able to say it looks pretty.

This video was released on the 18th and Kentucky Kingdom started teasing the Kentucky flyer ride on the 21st. I would guess this before Firehawk. EDIT: They started teasing on the 14th, the name was announced on the 21st.

It’s weird I have heard a lot over the years about how it was always supposed to be built at Kings Island. I thought it was supposed to be the ride that replaced the Antique Cars and not Italian Job. But this location makes a lot of sense.

Unlikely we would have to wait that long, since KK has been been teasing the new attraction, I am expecting another video tomorrow with more details. The timing for a ride called Kentucky Flyer is suspicious but in the past Ed Hart has publicly stated that he dislikes coasters with a lot of downtime and maintenance issues. Which Firehawk clearly has both problems.

Anyone heard if the park has confirmed what is being done with the coaster? When I heard the rumors it was being removed I also heard it was being scrapped with the trains and other components being sent to Carowinds. But was just looking for confirmation.

Except the park announced they are removing a coaster not a flat ride.

Very possible, there is plenty of time for Kings Island to tear it down, send it to a scrapyard, and have it recycled into steel for Clermont.

If you want to read up on what was known as of two months ago I would read this https://www.pennlive.com/life/2018/07/hersheypark_2020_attraction.html At least in regards to the coaster, we already know they have permission for it to be 220 feet tall, the layout is a traditional B&M hyper with a hammerhead turnaround, I suspect it will be a B&M hyper, the announcement is unlikely to go into that much detail but it's always possible.

This is a little unexpected. A couple of weeks ago a bunch of details on new coasters for almost all of the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks were posted on multiple sites. Then a few days ago a twitter account with a history of leaking major amusement park details posted pictures of slides which basically had the same information as the original leaks. What I never expected is that according to the Orlando Sentinel "SeaWorld spokesman Travis Claytor confirmed Tuesday the images are real and pulled from a company presentation, although he stressed nothing has been made final or approved yet." So here you go direct from https://twitter.com/AmusementLeaks BGW looks like a Soaring with Dragon design. The height waiver is either not going to be used or is for a different attraction. But it does appear they are not building a giga for 2020. I still suspect it is for a Starflyer, or the giga was just not in the budget with the huge number of rides they are building. BGT, this basically confirms what people assumed from the Tigris announcement, RMC will be converting Gwazi. SWSA has been rumored to be getting a GCI and that's what this looks like. SWSD is a different design but it looks like a Skywarp. SWO is the one I am not certain about. There is a LOT of 2020 rides out there at this point.

No one said they stopped making them. The parts are expensive not impossible to purchase. Anyways this is out of date, Vekoma has totally redesigned the Flying Dutchman and the next generation model is being built right now at Phantasialand in Germany. Basiclly the entire coaster has been redesigned from the track to the trains. It’s a much better design (assuming it is reliable) but nothing is going to be compatible with the original version. Here is a video of the prototype testing. The train is sideways at load so all the seats are next to each other upright in the station. It goes up the lift hill in that orientation and they rotate 90 degrees as you approach the top of the lift hill to put you in the correct orientation.

It would be a lot better if the park would just remove the gate at the bottom of the stairs or at the very least turn off the magnetic lock. Without the store there is little point to forcing you through the building.

Anyone who thinks Firehawk is moving needs to understand just how expensive moving a coaster is. The standard rule of thumb is it costs about 50% of buying and building a new coaster. For rides that are mechanically reliable and in good shape it still makes sense because it is still a considerable savings over new. In this case we are dealing with a model of which only 3 coasters were ever built, so there are a LOT of custom components which are expensive. It is still very possible, but I am expecting Firehawk to be scrapped, and the trains and other salvageable components to be shipped to Carowinds to keep Nighthawk operating. Why spend $10 to $15 million moving and installing Firehawk when you can get something reliable instead?

I have zero doubts the decision was made for maintenance, operating costs, and declining popularity. But at the same time I think the location of the next coaster will tell a lot about when the decision was made. Coasters take time to design and Cedar Fair cannot just move the ride or change the design, once the contracts are signed without paying penalties and possibly effecting the opening date. The design for the ride would have been finished long before the declaration the chain was going to look at closing rides. If the ride is basically in the same location as Firehawk it probably was the plan from the beginning. On the other hand, if the rides would not have interfered with each other then it likely was a more recent decision.

All I said is that we do not know it is a coaster. I did not rule anything out. It could be anything at this point in time. My guess is that it is Firehawk and I suspect it will be ripped apart and headed for scrap.

I have no idea how you come to that conclusion. All I see is that we would receive a warning so people could get last rides in. Since that warning has not occured we do not know it is a coaster.

If we are taking the 10/28/2018 to be the date of the announcement and not just the final day of operations then this is confirmation it is not a coaster. If the park was going to announce final rides I would think it would have done it at the start of Haunt or worst case very soon. Would the park have the same consideration for a flat ride? Although that is a pretty short list, Drop Tower and Congo Falls are the only two that stand out to me as possibilities, Drop Tower feels more likely. There are a handful of other options around the park, like the big box and Timberwolf. This is starting to feel like the parking lot toll booths.

My gut says Firehawk. It’s just such a maintenance nightmare, the trains could be sent to Carowinds to keep Nighthawk going for a while longer. But I could see it being Vortex, while it is reliable, it is getting old and has not aged well. It also has a very prominent location which could be well suited to a replacement coaster. I would be shocked if it was WindSeeker.

My first guess is a Zamperla Air Race. Since the new ride for 2018 was a Endeavor from Zamperla this feels likely. The other ride that comes to mind is a Gerstlauer Sky Roller. The only one in North America is at Canada’s Wonderland so it would be more unique, but I think the Zamperla is a lot more likely.

I have been on it three times with the VR. I cannot say I will miss it. It synced well for me but I always heard a few people on the train complain it never showed movement and were stuck at the intro for the whole ride. It ruined the capacity of the ride, and with the reservation system which the average out of town guest never bothered to figure out, it left a lot of unhappy travelers. With the ride taking 5+ minutes to load and running a single train it might have been able to dispatch 10 trains an hour, that’s a total of 320 people an hour, and from what I witnessed even that is likely high.