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eek! Top gun!


Cody
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... when your about to pull into the station the cars scrape the cat walk.

If I remember correctly, it has always done that. It's not necessarily a "scrape" as it is a positioning.. since it swings, they have to put in a "blocked" position to keep the cars from swinging while entering/exiting. Sure, it bumps a bit right there, but it has to to get lined up.

deb

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I dont expect Top Gun to stay longer then 5 years. Its never been painted since its been open and its getting real old. Besides the land its on is good for a good woodie or a steel coaster. I see lots of land back where its at and as long as Kings Island keeps being tree huggers you wont see any new rides on the land KI owns where a very large area of trees are. They just need to build out more. They have the land. You just have to use it.

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i overheard a rumor over the weekend (not about ride removals- so don't slam me yet). It wasn't ride ops or anyone in KI clothing for that matter... they were in construction gear who were commenting something along the lines of... "(insert company name here) submitted the bid to pull those turnstiles and reposition the ride line entrances."

has anyone heard anything to that? it makes sense... neither TG or SOB use more than half of their line capacity even on busy days.

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Incorrect. Top Gun has indeed been painted since it opened back in 1993. It originally had red track. When the park unveiled the Action Zone with Face Off and Drop Zone in 1999, Top Gun (and King Cobra) were repainted. That is when Top Gun got its current silver track color.

And I wouldn`t call Kings Island a tree hugger. Yes, they did design The Beast to save as many trees as possibly. But that was more than 25 years ago. Look at the Action Zone. Yards and yards of concrete with little or no shade trees. And don`t forget all the trees that were ripped out from the old Antique Car site when the park put in Italian Job in 2005.

And to touch on your comment Elmer Fudd, it will be interesting to see if they intend to keep Top Gun open for the nightly portion of Halloween Haunt. Because, the new Haunt building they have built appears as if either the exit or entrance will share Top Gun`s entrance for about ten feet. Which might make that area rather congested if they do intend to open Top Gun. Unless, of course, they plan on doing some reworking in that area.

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That, by the way, would be an incorrect assumption. Son of Beast, believe it or not, has had to use the queue lines in the Top Gun exit plaza since 2000. I wouldn`t be surprised if they`ve even been used a couple of times this year on really crowded days.

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The car does not scrape the catwalk. That is the positioner wheel hitting the guide rails on the bottom of the track.

When TG was repainted, they just painted over the old paint, therefor making it a primer.

Actually, when it comes to valley rides, you DO build the lift going up the hill to save on money for lift supports. Last time I checked, TG's lift DOES go up the valley wall.

TG is going nowhere. Its a really bad spot for anything other than a short coaster.

As for land that KI owns that direction: Gun is pretty much the edge of that property. Behind there is nothing but storage areas (which need to be kept) and a couple greenhouses.

SOB doesnt have turnstyles? What are those things in the Gun exit that go back and forth? Decoration?

Come on people, lets use common sense in these discussions PLEASE.

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i never said i wanted to see it removed. i think everyone would agree that TG has needed some TLC for several years now... and it never seems to happen. which i contend is a bad sign for it's future.

as a side note, I have never seen a primer paint a dark red.

How about this dark red primer?

IMG_7010.jpg

Aswell I think it is ridiculous that we're all of a sudden on this ride removal thing.

People talking about removing Tomb Raider, removing Congo, removing Top Gun, removing Vortex, removing Action Theater, removing SOB, removing Days of Thunder; threads about your least favorite ride, what should be removed next, which ride you would take out, etc. Its kind of getting out of hand dont you think? Why does everyone all of a sudden seem to want so many things removed? None of the rides are going anywhere untill there is something to take its place. I cant imagine why anyone would just want a ride to no longer be there. If you dont like it, then dont ride it, but dont ask for it to be removed.

Top gun is a good, very intense coaster. I cannot say that there is a better suspended coaster than Top Gun. All others seem to follow the trend of Iron Dragon or Big Bad Wolf of slow, continuous, and boring, with a second boring lift.

And yes top gun has a red primer to mask the old red paint that used to be on the track.

Come on people, lets use common sense in these discussions PLEASE.

Agreed

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SOB doesnt have turnstyles? What are those things in the Gun exit that go back and forth? Decoration?

I've never heard anyone call switchbacks turnstiles before.

I've never heard anyone call queues switchbacks either.

If you look a the terms 'switchback' and 'turnstyle' in old railroad talk, they're both technically wrong, however I think 'turnstyle' is a more commonly accepted term for queues.

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I just find it funny that someone who calls themself "Rumor Smasher" is now creating rumors.

hah, I didnt say it was going to get takeing out. I said I had a feeling. two differnt things, I just cant see top gun being there in the 09 season.

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SOB doesnt have turnstyles? What are those things in the Gun exit that go back and forth? Decoration?

I've never heard anyone call switchbacks turnstiles before.

I've never heard anyone call queues switchbacks either.

If you look a the terms 'switchback' and 'turnstyle' in old railroad talk, they're both technically wrong, however I think 'turnstyle' is a more commonly accepted term for queues.

I always associated this with turnstyle:

img_perimeter_turnstyle.jpg

this with switchback

switchback%20on%20MP%20train.JPG

and this with queue:

hf06queue.jpg

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I have a bad feeling that top gun is on its last leg. What are your comments on this ride? and if it was taken out, what would best fit in its place.

Well okay you did have a feeling about the ride. About the only thing that will change with Top Gun is the name and a new paint job. I bet Tomb Raider will get a new name in the coming years also.

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Does anyone remember when KI used to have Klingon characters walking around the park? I used to love those guys. There was one that was REALLY tall and looked really cool. But I was a lot younger then too, so it may have been me.

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I thought that "Q" was the charater on Star Trek the Next Generation.

No Q is the scientist in all of the James Bond movies.

Q - Star Trek

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_(James_Bond)" target="_blank">Q-James Bond

</a>

Queue

Turnstile

Switchback

...and yes I did just quote wikipedia...

Oh wow -- from here on out on this site, we will refer to turn styles as baffle gates!!

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Just a couple comments...

The turnstiles/switchbacks/queue lines for SOB were all in use on Sautrday, July 21st. We were there for a special event, and rode Top Gun. All of the queues for SOB were in use. I ran into a former coworker while there who told me that 7/21 was KI's busiest day of the year so far.

Top Gun merchandise does not use a license. The park pays a royalty based on the revenue generated by Top Gun souvenirs. The park could continue with Top Gun merchandise indefinitly as long as they are willing to pay the royalty. I recall as far back as 2001 that there was no open-to-buy for Top Gun merchandise, so no new was purchased. The corporate office did a small refresh of Top Gun product in 2002, but the sales did not justify buying/developing new inventory. I don't recall the exact amount, but the royalty paid on Top Gun merchandise was pretty low, maybe 2% of gross sales. Not sure what contract (if any) is in place for the actual attraction.

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There is an arrangement in place for the attraction, as there is for each of the movie themed attractions. This has been covered during the Cedar Fair conference calls more than once. As they individually expire, I can't imagine why Cedar Fair would even consider renewing them. Why do advertising for Paramount AND have to pay to do it in addition?

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top gun is boring its soo short and you have to walk an hour to it lol

So if they removed TG, and replaced it with something else; what gives you the notion that it would not take just as long to walk back to the new ride?

Haven't we been through this a thousand times already?

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?...&hl=Top+Gun

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?...&hl=Top+Gun

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?...&hl=Top+Gun

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?...&hl=Top+Gun

First it's Vortex, then TG, then AE, yadda, yadda, yadda. Addition through subtraction $UCKS!

Now we all know that the member known as RumorSmasher is nothing more than a troll. DON'T FEED THE TROLLS! His sources are nothing more than conversations that he has with himself.

The only reason KI, or any other park is going to remove a ride is purely from a cost standpoint (unless you are complete idiots like Paramount i.e. Eagles, FoF, 'tiques etc.). And as of right now TG is not at the point of costing more than it's worth. Not to mention many of the other reasons like: what else would go back there?, why put something else back there?, why remove a great starter coaster? etc.

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