Which Ride Will Leave Next

[MysticsTimber]

Now, before everybody freaks out on NewDay420 for suggesting that, think about it. A couple of parks have lost their racing coasters from the 70's recently. Racer is most certainly not the most popular ride. I know that nostalgia runs deep with a lot of people (including me!) with it, but at some point it does need to go. For years we've suggested a repaint, retracking, or for one side to go backwards again. Yet, we see no changes.

Just give it an RMC conversion, and I'll be happy.

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[westcoaster]

Co go could be moved re themed to Riverton or to the waterpark...could be cool with a themed building.

[CoastersRZ]

Racer does typically receive some track work every off season.  While it could use some paint touch ups here and there, I think it is kept in relatively good maintenance in terms of paint.  Long gone are the days of the red track and blue hand rails.  

 

As long as wood coasters are maintained, there is no need to remove them.  They don`t have a "useful life" like steel coasters do.  And even then, steel coasters can live on.  Look at Hulk at Islands of Adventure.  They essentially replaced all the track and supports on the ride during its recent refurbishment.

 

If KI were to get a RMC, I would hope that it would be an original creation, and not a renovation of The Racer.  With us getting a GCI, and CP rumored to be getting a RMC remake to Mean Streak, I doubt that we would see a RMC at KI anytime soon.

[BlondyRidesOn]

The Racer is #3 in annual ridership behind Diamondback (#2) and Banshee (#1) as of at least 2015:

http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php/topic/30475-kings-island-rider-counts/page-2

The lines are short due to the high capacity, which is why it looks unpopular.

[King Ding Dong]

 

If KI were to get a RMC, I would hope that it would be an original creation, and not a renovation of The Racer.  With us getting a GCI, and CP rumored to be getting a RMC remake to Mean Streak, I doubt that we would see a RMC at KI anytime soon.

Rumored? C'mon Man!

[CoastersRZ]

While their maybe strong evidence that points to a Rocky Mountain Construction conversion of Mean Streak, until Cedar Point or Cedar Fair officially state such, it is just a rumor.

[King Ding Dong]

So installed patented RMC products are not enough to elevate above the rumor level for you? C'mon Man!

[Tr0y]

I would be somewhat OK with a toppler track conversion to The Racer, yet keep the current layout but i fear if they choose to go RMC it will be to the extreme, as in a layout change and conversion to I-box. It wouldn't be the first wooden racing coaster converted before, the first one being Colossus at Six Flags which was shocking to me. Tho I think The Racer would have more popularity if they ran one side of the Racer backwards again.

[matt112986]

I always tend to think that The Bat would go before Vortex, the park seems to have more to gain that way. There is tons of space back there and the queue could be shortened a lot. It could also potentially reopen the old SOB station to use. I don't see anything really going anytime soon though. Cedar Fair seems to tear stuff down when its a problem not due to age. Cedar Point has both kinds of Arrows that are older than than their KI counterparts. KI also seems to have some potential spots for new coasters without tearing anything out, such as the old Crypt building.

[KatieF]

I don't see The Racer moving for awhile not only for nostalgic reasons-- but for merchandising and advertisement. The Brady Bunch riding that coaster is still talked about too much, you know? Last time I rode it, I thought it was great except for needing a fresh coat of paint in the tunnel waiting to return to the station. Lots of hand prints and maybe a large vomit spot! I wouldn't want to see it get an RMC conversion either, but that's just me personally.

If I had to make a prediction for a coaster, I'd pick The Vortex. The past few times I've been to the park--Vortex was down for hours and even when it was reopened, the line wasn't long. It sounded rough when it was running, and the paint was fading quickly. My biggest pick for a ride leaving would be Boo Blasters. I hope it would just be replaced with another dark ride, hopefully with a Peanuts theme. 

[BuckeyeBond]

I wouldn't mind seeing Congo Falls go. I think Kings Island could find a much better attraction for that area.

[SonofBaconator]

I honestly think they'd only get rid of a ride if something was immediately going to replace it within the next year or so. I don't know what they would fit in the Congo falls space

[chad_1138]

11 hours ago, KatieF said:

I don't see The Racer moving for awhile not only for nostalgic reasons-- but for merchandising and advertisement. The Brady Bunch riding that coaster is still talked about too much, you know? Last time I rode it, I thought it was great except for needing a fresh coat of paint in the tunnel waiting to return to the station. Lots of hand prints and maybe a large vomit spot! I wouldn't want to see it get an RMC conversion either, but that's just me personally.

If I had to make a prediction for a coaster, I'd pick The Vortex. The past few times I've been to the park--Vortex was down for hours and even when it was reopened, the line wasn't long. It sounded rough when it was running, and the paint was fading quickly. My biggest pick for a ride leaving would be Boo Blasters. I hope it would just be replaced with another dark ride, hopefully with a Peanuts theme. 

Totally agree.  Would love to see a "Disney World style" Peanuts ride.  Amazing!!!!

[KatieF]

2 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

I honestly think they'd only get rid of a ride if something was immediately going to replace it within the next year or so. I don't know what they would fit in the Congo falls space

I wonder if they added a little more theming to Congo Falls if that would attract more people to it. I always skip Congo Falls truthfully, but I might not if there was a little more to look at.

[Creed Bratton]

I'd like to see Congo Falls stay, but I'd like there to be a way to not walk around in wet clothes until I dried and not have to change into swim gear. That could be said for any of the water rides at the park though. 

I think the queue needs to be changed a bit, to be more direct, more pronounced. Half the time it looks like guests are just heading to Drop Tower. 

 

[BuckeyeBond]

On 3/5/2017 at 1:07 PM, SonofBaconator said:

I honestly think they'd only get rid of a ride if something was immediately going to replace it within the next year or so. I don't know what they would fit in the Congo falls space

A more unique version of an S&S 4-D free fly would be fine with me. I would like to see a better version than the model Six Flags have cloned.

[Creed Bratton]

3 hours ago, BuckeyeBond said:

A more unique version of an S&S 4-D free fly would be fine with me. I would like to see a better version than the model Six Flags have cloned.

I've thought about that too, but I can't put my finger on what that would look like.

[BuckeyeBond]

14 minutes ago, chugh43 said:

I've thought about that too, but I can't put my finger on what that would look like.

Maybe something like this could be designed for that area. It would certainly fit.

[TheBEASTunchained]

On ‎3‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 0:01 PM, BuckeyeBond said:

I wouldn't mind seeing Congo Falls go. I think Kings Island could find a much better attraction for that area.

I don't personally see the removal of Congo Falls taking place until TimberWolf is removed.

I'll also go ahead and say that I believe this "double removal" will take place in the next 10-12 years.

 

Food for thought: Carowinds just scrapped a similar ride to Congo Falls because they needed the room as part of their new "County Fair" expansion. I'm certainly not implying that we're getting that sort of expansion, but rather that rides like Congo Falls tend to be an easy choice to remove if in the way of future planned expansion areas. When the time comes when that area of Action Zone is needed for expansion, don't expect to see the ride or amphitheater stick around.

 

See also: Congo Falls wait time, even on most hot August days......

[SonofBaconator]

1 hour ago, BuckeyeBond said:

Maybe something like this could be designed for that area. It would certainly fit.

I always thought that type of coaster would work well in X-Base or even on a piece of land outside BLSC

[freaks76]

52 minutes ago, TheBEASTunchained said:

See also: Congo Falls wait time, even on most hot August days......

Which, a lot of times, is more than walk on. 

I've seen more than once an empty boat sent out just to let a few folks off the boat before it. 

[Tien Shinhan]

On 11/13/2016 at 0:51 PM, tuxedoman52 said:

Now, before everybody freaks out on NewDay420 for suggesting that, think about it. A couple of parks have lost their racing coasters from the 70's recently. Racer is most certainly not the most popular ride. I know that nostalgia runs deep with a lot of people (including me!) with it, but at some point it does need to go. For years we've suggested a repaint, retracking, or for one side to go backwards again. Yet, we see no changes.

Yeah, you're right. Especially since Carowinds took out Thunder Road, I sometimes worry about rides like The Racer and Rebel Yell going, but I don't think they're as likely to go because they're both ACE Landmarks. But you never know.

 

And I agree that maybe restoring The Racer back to the way it originally was back in 1972 wouldn't be a bad idea.

[silver2005]

The difference between Thunder Road's placement and Racer's placement is the fact that there wasn't giant hills behind TH.  You can't really do much with the land behind Racer.  

I think KI's focus of any kind of expansion will be in Rivertown and Action Zone in consideration of Timberwolf's future. 

[MaestroJr]

Unless of an accident I see The Racer staying around and not leaving anytime soon. Also considering it's historical place in roller coasters. I love it and hope for a new paint job but it's fun regardless. 

I could see The Bat leaving soon as even though it's a lot of fun for me, it's popularity is decreasing every year. 

[BringBackOurEagles]

On 6/16/2016 at 6:44 PM, CP Maverick said:

I wouldn't be sad if they lost Stunt Track. What I'd love to see is a way to connect X-Base to the rest of the park so that it's not a dead end. Perhaps they will relocate some of the maintenance sheds behind racer and connect to the end of Coney Mall near WindSeeker and Dinosaurs.

I think if they get rid of the merch booths/games where Skylab used to be, they could open up a nice big pathway between The Racer's initial turn toward the lift hill and the last turn of Adventure Express which could connect into a big x-base expansion. Connect all the way through to the FOF exit and add a flat and food and bathrooms that everyone has been suggesting for years. This would be good to do in conjuction with the potential giga in 2022 whose lift could head between FOF and AE and run the whole safari grounds or over behind Banshee. It's not great placement for the station, optically, but it would add excitement to Coney Mall which hasn't had a major upgrade in a while and also that placement would look really nice in the skyline. Especially if it was Intamin (I know, I know - still holding out hope that they will get it together) instead of B&M since Diamondback is heading off the other direction and Banshee would be in the foreground. 

If you removed Congo Falls and Invertigo (wouldn't be sad to see either one go), I think that would be a great spot for the station for a nice big Mack or Intamin (ok fine, not intamin) hyper/multi-launch utilizing the land from right next to the main gate over behind timberwolf. Then in a few years when The Bat becomes too expensive to maintain or, like King Cobra, there are just no parts left, both that coaster and Timberwolf can go making room for a massive expansion in that corner.

[IndyGuy4KI]

12 hours ago, MaestroJr said:

I could see The Bat leaving soon as even though it's a lot of fun for me, it's popularity is decreasing every year. 

What are you basing your statement on that its popularity is decreasing?

[SonofBaconator]

Agreed, I think that The Bat is a pretty popular ride for what it is. I always see semi-full to full trains when I ride it so there's no indication that it's losing popularity. If the GP likes it, it stays.

[MaestroJr]

Oh I just meant that whenever I ride its line is usually not very long and I just thought that maybe people forget its back there. I guess usually after Banshee people ride The Bat and that's usually when I ride it. I just thought that maybe it's short line was an indicator. I would hate to see it go as its one of few still around and is a great ride with great history. MaestroJr

[Tien Shinhan]

22 minutes ago, MaestroJr said:

Oh I just meant that whenever I ride its line is usually not very long and I just thought that maybe people forget its back there. I guess usually after Banshee people ride The Bat and that's usually when I ride it. I just thought that maybe it's short line was an indicator. I would hate to see it go as its one of few still around and is a great ride with great history. MaestroJr

It might just seem like a long line because the path to The Bat is a very long path.

[calakapepe]

I agree the old Skylab location could open up a new path towards x base.. that access road could be avoided by a balcony.

And i will say it happens at times that I'll go to ride The Bat and turn back because the line is too long