Decoding 2020

[CoasterMegRN]

quick side note as I see some people posting about their top 10. Is there a thread for discussing our "coaster lists?" I'd love to read that!

 

Edit: @McSalsa started a thread for this over in the "Polls" topic. Go take a look and add your thoughts!

[McSalsa]

29 minutes ago, gad198 said:

Six Flags and Busch season pass holders have a nearly zero chance of ever seeing a project like this at any of their respective parks anytime soon. 

One note on this: Six Flags I agree with (they seem to be very heavy into cheaper additions recently so a Giga is clearly not what they'd have in mind) but Busch MIGHT be a chain that sees a Giga in the future. For 2020, they are adding a large Intamin launch coaster at Williamsburg as well as the massive RMC Gwazi (though we don't know how long RMC Gwazi is supposed to be either), and a smaller B&M Dive Coaster in California to boot. I would not be totally shocked if they decided to do a Giga coaster at one of their bigger parks down the line, especially with how serious Busch seems to be on new coasters since Mako opened in 2016.

Herschend would be another possible chain to add Gigas, given that Dollywood has added some very big rides this decade like Wild Eagle and Lightning Rod, and they have been building expensive expansions to their parks as well.

These are probably the only other chains besides Cedar Fair I could see realistically getting Giga coasters though. Disney and Universal have the money, but they tend to focus heavily on theme, and I don't think you could do a super-themed Giga that easily. And smaller parks like Holiday World and Kentucky Kingdom just don't have the money to blow on a 300-foot roller coaster.

2 minutes ago, AdventureExpress35 said:

CoasterMac305’s “Polaris” video prediction on YouTube looks like a really fun ride, but I can see why the main knock on it would be a short track length.

Agreed- I really like that concept and his version of the layout. Another Youtuber- CanadaCoasterFan- pointed out his layout has elements from Leviathan (high speed airtime hill and big airtime hill), Fury (Treble Clef), and Shambhala (Weird Giant Helix Thing) which basically makes it seem possible Kings Island just went for the "B&M's Greatest Hyper/Giga Element Hits" with this layout. Record-breaking or not, if that is or is at least close to the layout we are getting, it will be a awesome ride. BTW for those who have not seen CoasterMac305's video, here it is again so you don't need to search a billion (seemingly) pages for it:

 

[SonofBaconator]

The Shambala curve also might be taller than people are predicting which could give the ride some more length.

[RuthlessAirtime]

1 hour ago, fryoj said:

48 minutes ago, gad198 said:

 Eight seconds! 

  

In a completely unrelated note, I drew a layout that would fit perfectly in that opening. Any resemblance to any known or unknown leaked layouts is completely coincidental. 

Mental exercise time - pull up your phone and let 8-10 seconds go by on your stopwatch and think about how long that is on a roller coaster.

That photo of the layout from that perspective makes it look so short

[ldhudsonjr]

2 hours ago, Codyfryguy said:

We dont have enough points for a recon plane yet

Haha I also wanted to try and work a CoD joke in there, you beat me to it! lol

[SonofBaconator]

What do you guys think in terms of theming? Will it be high like Banshee or Mystic Timbers or in the lower end like Diamondback? I don't know how much you can pull from Orion or Polaris but space would certainly be the main theme.

[WoodVengeance]

Just now, SonofBaconator said:

What do you guys think in terms of theming? Will it be high like Banshee or Mystic Timbers or in the lower end like Diamondback? I don't know how much you can pull from Orion or Polaris but space would certainly be the main theme.

I think there's still a lot they could do with the theming if it's going to be based around a space theme. I could imagine sci-fi music being played all throughout the queue and lighting all throughout the coaster layout, making it one of the most magnificent coasters to look at during the night.

[ohiocoasterfan]

Worlds first enclosed Giga. Just one long tunnel with LED stars.

[Melody]

I was part of the Banshee and Mystic Timbers decoding threads from the beginning. Have taken a break from the forum but just spend the last 2 whole days reading every single post / page from the beginning and finally caught up! WHEWWW! I feel like my brain is gonna explode from all the info here wow! I have not been lucky enough to ride any giga so I don't have much to add and just wanted to say thanks to everyone who posted pictures and did the math to help decode. I am excited for this ride since it'll be my first giga either way but hope we do get at least one record breaking or never before seen new element to make it stand out!


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[RuthlessAirtime]

14 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

What do you guys think in terms of theming? Will it be high like Banshee or Mystic Timbers or in the lower end like Diamondback? I don't know how much you can pull from Orion or Polaris but space would certainly be the main theme.

Reposting this from earlier. I'm a fan of the Orion name. Anything celestial themed would be awesome. I think white trains with black/orange "spaceship" markings would be sick. Anything that makes it feel like we're going to space. A bright blue/teal LED light bar on the lift would be cool. @ohiocoasterfan had the right idea with an LED tunnel. Doesn't have to be underground, just any tunnel with some kind of lights inside (maybe after the first drop) to emphasize the sensation of moving at warp speed.

Above all, I want this song to be playing in the station (or something similar). Anything to give off the vibes that we're about to go on an epic cosmic journey.

 

[corn4ahead]

9 minutes ago, ohiocoasterfan said:

Worlds first enclosed Giga. Just one long tunnel with LED stars.

It would be like a faster Tron Lightcycle Power Run coaster at Shanghai Disneyland.

I think you're on to something....

[fryoj]

7 minutes ago, ohiocoasterfan said:

Worlds first enclosed Giga. Just one long tunnel with LED stars.

 

[SilentGloves]

I've read and/or skimmed most of this thread, and I have a thought out of left field that's probably extremely unlikely, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway.  Cedar Point's 150th is happening in 2020, and Kings Island's 50th is 2022.  I expect (and it's been floated by CF personnel) that there will be new rides at these milestones.  What if KI has a second major (and perhaps even larger) attraction planned for 2022?  We'll call it "Orion," since folks have been keen to use the "Polaris" name for the 2020 attraction.  Just a passing thought.  Discuss.

[sixohdieselrage]

13 hours ago, Ben43065 said:

^^^ That area of the clearing has at least been expand a bit. Don’t know how much until our spy plane gets some more shots.

The plane must wait for weather to clear. 

[RuthlessAirtime]

3 minutes ago, SilentGloves said:

I've read and/or skimmed most of this thread, and I have a thought out of left field that's probably extremely unlikely, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway.  Cedar Point's 150th is happening in 2020, and Kings Island's 50th is 2022.  I expect (and it's been floated by CF personnel) that there will be new rides at these milestones.  What if KI has a second major (and perhaps even larger) attraction planned for 2022?  We'll call it "Orion," since folks have been keen to use the "Polaris" name for the 2020 attraction.  Just a passing thought.  Discuss.

I am currently somewhat surprised they seem to be going the giga route just 2 years before their 50th. Seems like a huge project you'd want to open for your 50th anniversary.

If they had something even more significant/longer surprised for their 50th I'd be less surprised. It would explain the small footprint of this ride – there's a lot of land around the backside of X-Base and it would make sense if they were saving that land for something insane on their 50th. I wouldn't put too much stock into that idea though, since that would be two huge investments back to back in 2 years which is uncommon for KI.

[SonofBaconator]

I wouldn't want to install a giga the same year of a major anniversary; much like I wouldn't want my birthday on Christmas. 

[BeastlyKI]

10 minutes ago, SilentGloves said:

I've read and/or skimmed most of this thread, and I have a thought out of left field that's probably extremely unlikely, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway.  Cedar Point's 150th is happening in 2020, and Kings Island's 50th is 2022.  I expect (and it's been floated by CF personnel) that there will be new rides at these milestones.  What if KI has a second major (and perhaps even larger) attraction planned for 2022?  We'll call it "Orion," since folks have been keen to use the "Polaris" name for the 2020 attraction.  Just a passing thought.  Discuss.

I don’t think Cedar Point is going to get anything out of this world for their anniversary. I think what they do get will be informative to what we can expect for Kings Island anniversary.

[RuthlessAirtime]

5 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

I wouldn't want to install a giga the same year of a major anniversary; much like I wouldn't want my birthday on Christmas. 

Looking at it from a purely financial standpoint that kinda makes sense. They might be banking on higher visitorship purely on the merit of that year being their 50th. Following that logic, it makes sense you'd want to open a major attraction 2-3 years prior to boost attendance, and then let the 50th anniversary do the attendance work on its own.

[KI FANATIC 37]

10 minutes ago, sixohdieselrage said:

The spy plane must wait for weather to clear. 

@sixohdieselrage sitting here like...

[SilentGloves]

3 minutes ago, RuthlessAirtime said:

I am currently somewhat surprised they seem to be going the giga route just 2 years before their 50th. Seems like a huge project you'd want to open for your 50th anniversary.

If they had something even more significant/longer surprised for their 50th I'd be less surprised. It would explain the small footprint of this ride – there's a lot of land around the backside of X-Base and it would make sense if they were saving that land for something insane.

The reason I was thinking this is somewhat out there, but Polaris is a single star, while Orion is a constellation.  Twitter replies have alluded to a "constellation."  A constellation is a group of stars; and a "star" can also be defined as the headlining attraction; something preeminent.  It would be an amazing troll if KI built two coasters two years apart that interacted in some way.  I realize I'm getting into tinfoil hat territory, but it is fun to speculate.  The truth is, this is the best time for coasters there has ever been, and this thread is mostly complaining about that fact.

Even more ironic is that you couldn't pay me enough to ride even the most tame coaster.  I just enjoy a good mystery and impressive engineering.

[BeastForever]

Quote

I've read and/or skimmed most of this thread, and I have a thought out of left field that's probably extremely unlikely, but I'm going to throw it out there anyway.  Cedar Point's 150th is happening in 2020, and Kings Island's 50th is 2022.  I expect (and it's been floated by CF personnel) that there will be new rides at these milestones.  What if KI has a second major (and perhaps even larger) attraction planned for 2022?  We'll call it "Orion," since folks have been keen to use the "Polaris" name for the 2020 attraction.  Just a passing thought.  Discuss.

 

The way I see it, anniversaries have virtually no true bearing on when major investments are made.This is why for the past year or I've been bemused at all CP fans that thought they were getting another major coaster for 2020 simply because it would be the 150th....

Historically, there has been no real link between major investments and anniversaries.

Now, do they happen to coincide every once in a while because that just so happened to be the right year to add a new coaster (I305 - KD's 35th)? Of course.

But Cedar Point for example, is not going to rush into a $20 million+ ride exclusively so that it its on their 150th.

Why?

Because suppose that instead of 1870, the park actually opened in 1865? 1878? 1912? 1951?

KI instead opens in 1967, 1974, 1980, 1999 etc......

This would not change whats smart from an investment standpoint.

 

 

[thatguyfromohio]

I wouldn't want to install a giga the same year of a major anniversary; much like I wouldn't want my birthday on Christmas. 

My birthday is on December 24


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[Melody]

It seems while catching up on this whole thread eveything that popped into my head I wanted to say by a few pages later someone already beat me to it haha. I really figured we would not be getting the giga until the 50th in 2022 so if we do get it now like it seems I too think they aren't using all the land back behind Banshee where SOB was because there is already a plan in place for something to go there in the future. To me most likely an RMC. I could also see Vortex eventually turning into a Floorless or a Dive Machine going there. Probably not as soon as 2022 as that would be too soon for another coaster? But who knows? Just my thoughts


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[SilentGloves]

2 minutes ago, BeastForever said:

 

The way I see it, anniversaries have virtually no true bearing on when major investments are made.This is why for the past year or I've been bemused at all CP fans that thought they were getting another major coaster for 2020 simply because it would be the 150th....

Historically, there has been no real link between major investments and anniversaries.

Now, do they happen to coincide every once in a while because that just so happened to be the right year to add a new coaster (I305 - KD's 35th)? Of course.

But Cedar Point for example, is not going to rush into a $20 million+ ride exclusively so that it its on their 150th.

Why?

Because suppose that instead of 1870, the park actually opened in 1865? 1878? 1912? 1951?

KI instead opens in 1967, 1974, 1980, 1999 etc......

This would not change whats smart from an investment standpoint.

These are certainly fair points, and my speculation is more about the fun of speculation than any corporate reality.

[SonofBaconator]

@Melody I do find it interesting that they're seemingly trying to squeeze a massive ride in a relatively tight space when there's so much more land that's readily available. I never thought I'd see a coaster ever get close to the back part of The Beast and now there's clearing along the mcbr. 

[sixohdieselrage]

15 minutes ago, KI FANATIC 37 said:

@sixohdieselrage sitting here like...

Thank God I have 37 points. :-D

[Melody]

Ride op on Flight of Fear yesterday righg before we launched: "who's ready to ride Polaris?". Which pretty much means Polaris is confirmed*

*- to not be the name.

 

This actually makes me think that they could possibly be renaming FOF to Polaris and the new coaster will be Orion and the whole area could be rethemed to the "Constellation" hence the teasers?

 

EDIT: I do also think its most likely just 2 trandmarks in case one falls thru as a backup but just thought it's a possibility?

 

 

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[SilentGloves]

11 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

@Melody I do find it interesting that they're seemingly trying to squeeze a massive ride in a relatively tight space when there's so much more land that's readily available. I never thought I'd see a coaster ever get close to the back part of The Beast and now there's clearing along the mcbr. 

It is worth noting that KI has something the CP can never have.  Huge amounts of unused land.  If CF wants to continue to dominate the coaster world, I would speculate that by 2040, KI will be the premier park  or second premier park in the CF portfolio for this reason alone:  It has the largest developable real estate of any CF park (aside from KD).

[jcovelli]

16 minutes ago, Melody said:

 I could also see Vortex eventually turning into a Floorless or a Dive Machine going there. 
 

I would like to see 2 or 3 extreme flat rides where Vortex is. Great flat rides are what Kings Island is really missing. 

[Turtlepower]

2 hours ago, McSalsa said:

Agreed- I really like that concept and his version of the layout. Another Youtuber- CanadaCoasterFan- pointed out his layout has elements from Leviathan (high speed airtime hill and big airtime hill), Fury (Treble Clef), and Shambhala (Weird Giant Helix Thing) which basically makes it seem possible Kings Island just went for the "B&M's Greatest Hyper/Giga Element Hits" with this layout. Record-breaking or not, if that is or is at least close to the layout we are getting, it will be a awesome ride. 

 

I was thinking the same thing about this being a "best of" for B&M. I will admit the layout looked like a joke, but it's grown on me the last few days. Length I'm sure will be the thing it gets dinged for the most, but if it goes as long as Leviathan, the only difference between it and Fury time-wise is Fury's very last camel back. 

I think this is going to be one of the better looking roller coasters in the world. I imagine the 300 foot lift hill right next to the Shambhala helix standing over The Racer will be an iconic image of the park. I think the ride experience as we know it will be exciting, and if there's a surprise somewhere it could be legendary.