Decoding 2020

[presto123]

3 minutes ago, jeessse said:

Based on the current pictures, these are the areas that I can verify as having been cleared or having construction.

Has to be more clearing to come I would think. This ride would only be the length of The Racer with current cleared space.

[thatguyfromohio]

I still see it being laid out like this. Firehawk area eventually being used for a flat ride or raptor track in the future, due to their compact lay out.


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[ohiocoasterfan]

I still see it being laid out like this. Firehawk area eventually being used for a flat ride or raptor track in the future, due to their compact lay out.


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That’s my thought to. I see it dropping down to the other side of FoF and using all the cleared land behind Banshee where SoB double helix was. Plenty of room to make that layout a Giga. It would catch some good speed dropping into that ravine.


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[fryoj]

4 hours ago, Ben43065 said:

So I have a question. If the land clearing was to grow would they have left the equipment on property? Has anyone been able to see if there’s still equipment on property to clear the land? 

I'm pretty sure you can see at least an excavator in one of the pics on site. I'm sure theres a dozer somewhere too. They have more work to do there even if they are done knocking down trees. 

4 hours ago, DeltaFlyer said:

Also interesting to note that Firehawk’s Transformer and Transformer pad has been left in place. I would assume it’s intended to be reused for something, whether that is a coaster, flat, or other building isn’t possible to say from that. It is still significant that it’s still there, though. Most of the other site utilities seem to have been removed, so it would have made sense to go ahead and remove it as well, but it was carefully undisturbed. I’m sure that some of the storm drains were left as well, and that is what we are seeing with some of the cones out there. 

If it is indeed a transformer, they'd need the power company to come out and remove it. That's not something they'd typically let a customer touch. So it could be as simple as waiting on them to come remove it. If it's not in the way of anything, or they are just going to relocate it, that could end up being a bit before they touch it. 

[kirbias1]

[ohiocoasterfan]

It’s hard to tell if that is new clearing or just stands out because of the contrast between Fall and Summer foliage. If you zoom in on the Winter picture it already may have been cleared.

[fryoj]

Thats from October. They hadn't even closed Firehawk yet. They just started clearing by The Racer in the last few weeks. Even if that is legit clearing, theres no reason to think it has anything to do with the 2020 project. They wouldn't start clearing then stop for 6 months. 

[sixohdieselrage]

There is definitely new clearing that has occurred between mid March and Preview night. 

[fryoj]

28 minutes ago, sixohdieselrage said:

There is definitely new clearing that has occurred between mid March and Preview night. 

Are you talking about by The Racer, or the small area in the pic above just above the boneyard?

[sixohdieselrage]

@fryojBoth places. And on that side of the park in general. 

[upstop]

Very interesting. It looks like the tiny pond is missing in the top picture when compared to the bottom picture (there are two ponds and it’s not the obviously larger pond... it’s still there) it also looks like there are three spots, maybe soil sample areas?

[RollerColt]

So cool to see the speculation thread has begun. I wonder if the weather (rain, rain, rain) has played a role in the timeline for clearing out certain areas. 

[fryoj]

23 minutes ago, upstop said:

Very interesting. It looks like the tiny pond is missing in the top picture when compared to the bottom picture (there are two ponds and it’s not the obviously larger pond... it’s still there) it also looks like there are three spots, maybe soil sample areas?

I still see both ponds in both pictures. Just the green blends with the foliage around it. Whatever was done between March and October though in that area doesn't scream coaster prep. 

 

3 hours ago, sixohdieselrage said:

@fryojBoth places. And on that side of the park in general. 

OK. The stuff by The Racer was the obvious clearing. Nothing I've seen from the Eiffel Tower shows the small clearing shown above. If they have indeed done more work in that area since October, that might be a sign of something coaster related. Otherwise, I'm leaning toward it being something that was going to happen regardless of what they built this year.

[Fye Coasters]

On 4/19/2019 at 8:45 PM, sixohdieselrage said:

Where is that picture? It's actually mine. They need to credit the right people @Fye Coasters...

Also, here is a larger one of the clearing that I took. I also have one of the new building out that direction.  

that was NOT one of our photos, that was a photo in one of the comments just to make that clear, Please edit that statement, thanks. We DO NOT take drone shots of the park so i dont want any credit for a photo thats not mine. thanks  But yeah we are super excited. Now we did take a photo from the Eiffel tower. 

[Browntggrr]

I heard through a reliable source that the sasquatches out back have been moving dirt piles around again........

[DeltaFlyer]

13 hours ago, fryoj said:

I'm pretty sure you can see at least an excavator in one of the pics on site. I'm sure theres a dozer somewhere too. They have more work to do there even if they are done knocking down trees. 

There are several pieces of construction equipment out behind Racer near the Action Theater. As I recall there were several dozers and excavators. 

13 hours ago, fryoj said:

If it is indeed a transformer, they'd need the power company to come out and remove it. That's not something they'd typically let a customer touch. So it could be as simple as waiting on them to come remove it. If it's not in the way of anything, or they are just going to relocate it, that could end up being a bit before they touch it. 

Not necessarily. The park buys what is called "Primary Power" from the utility (Duke). This means the power comes in at about 14,000 Volts to a demarcation point, and from that point on it is the parks responsibility for distribution and any further step down. That is in comparison to "Secondary Power" where the customer purchases the power already stepped down to a more reasonable 480V or 208V for commercial or 120/240 for residential. When purchasing secondary power, the utility provides the transformer and transformer pad, and it is the customers responsibility from then on. 

Since KI is purchasing power at 14kV, they own all of the distribution equipment that is in the park, and are responsible for maintaining it. Kings Island is basically a small city- it makes sense for them to have their own equipment. It is highly unlikely that Duke would own that transformer. If you go back and look at the KMAA drawings you can see that the EC was responsible for providing the transformer and not the Utility. I can see no reason why Firehawk would have been any different. If they left that transformer there, they intend to reuse it. It does not make sense to demo that entire structure and leave it perfectly intact along with the underground conduit if it were being intended to be relocated or removed. It has also been ~4 months since Firehawk's demolition was started, and probably 2 months since it was completed. I doubt the Utility would want their property sitting around that long if it was theirs. 

Source: Experience as an MEP engineer

[sixohdieselrage]

2 hours ago, Fye Coasters said:

that was NOT one of our photos, that was a photo in one of the comments just to make that clear, Please edit that statement, thanks. We DO NOT take drone shots of the park so i dont want any credit for a photo thats not mine. thanks  But yeah we are super excited. Now we did take a photo from the Eiffel tower. 

First of all, I tagged you guys on here so you knew what I was talking about. I did NOT claim that you guys took it. I knew very well that I posted it to help your page. And that's why i made the statement there that i took it. Again, the comment was directed to the reposter of picture. If I said you guys needed to credit the right people, I would have wrote "@Fye Coasters needs to credit the right person." Not the other way around. 

Second, I have never taken a single drone shot of any part of the park. All of my pictures are either from a plane, or from the ET, and are mine. Guess it's time to add a watermark. Lol

[Fye Coasters]

4 minutes ago, sixohdieselrage said:

First of all, I tagged you guys on here so you knew what I was talking about. I did NOT claim that you guys took it. I knew very well that I posted it to help your page. And that's why i made the statement there that i took it. Again, the comment was directed to the reporter of picture. If I said you guys needed to credit the right people, I would have wrote "@Fye Coasters needs to credit the right person." Not the other way around. 

Second, I have never taken a single drone shot of any part of the park. All of my pictures are either from a plane, or from the ET, and are mine. Guess it's time to add a watermark. Lol

I guess i read this wrong then lol i thought you were getting on us for posting one of your photos, you posted one in the comments, and i Know you do the plane i forgot lol. Im not mad or nothing. Just didnt want to take credit for one of your photos. 

[sixohdieselrage]

@Fye Coasters It's fine. I've read stuff wrong on here as well. We are all human. 

[FoolCrzy]

Watching the Banshee Webcam, I just saw a concrete truck leaving. It was behind Banshee headed from the back of the park to the front.

[jbeast]

Just like everyone else on here, the hope for a new giga in that area sounds amazing. However, looking at it in person on Saturday...I'd sure love to see a custom RMC in that spot with some terrain hugging and long tunnels. That would be just as, or even better maybe.

[Turtlepower]

38 minutes ago, FoolCrzy said:

Watching the Banshee Webcam, I just saw a concrete truck leaving. It was behind Banshee headed from the back of the park to the front.

Just checked in on it for not even a minute and saw another coming from that direction. First nice day in a while, there seems to be work getting done and it will be interesting to see what's happened when the park opens Friday.

 

edit: And then saw another going the opposite direction, toward potential project. A lot of traffic.

[fryoj]

2 hours ago, DeltaFlyer said:

There are several pieces of construction equipment out behind Racer near the Action Theater. As I recall there were several dozers and excavators. 

Not necessarily. The park buys what is called "Primary Power" from the utility (Duke). This means the power comes in at about 14,000 Volts to a demarcation point, and from that point on it is the parks responsibility for distribution and any further step down. That is in comparison to "Secondary Power" where the customer purchases the power already stepped down to a more reasonable 480V or 208V for commercial or 120/240 for residential. When purchasing secondary power, the utility provides the transformer and transformer pad, and it is the customers responsibility from then on. 

Since KI is purchasing power at 14kV, they own all of the distribution equipment that is in the park, and are responsible for maintaining it. Kings Island is basically a small city- it makes sense for them to have their own equipment. It is highly unlikely that Duke would own that transformer. If you go back and look at the KMAA drawings you can see that the EC was responsible for providing the transformer and not the Utility. I can see no reason why Firehawk would have been any different. If they left that transformer there, they intend to reuse it. It does not make sense to demo that entire structure and leave it perfectly intact along with the underground conduit if it were being intended to be relocated or removed. It has also been ~4 months since Firehawk's demolition was started, and probably 2 months since it was completed. I doubt the Utility would want their property sitting around that long if it was theirs. 

Source: Experience as an MEP engineer

I guess I never considered that the park would own their own transformers. I'm used to dealing with jobs where the utility won't let you touch the equipment, but I've only wired up residential and small commercial buildings.

As to why it's still there, I agree that the plan is probably to reuse it. But it sitting there a few months doesn't automatically mean that. We don't know for sure what the plans are for the Firehawk plot. It's not a guarantee that the new coaster is going there. There were people saying the decision to remove Firehawk occurred last summer. If thats the case, the new coaster certainly isn't going there, and they could be still deciding what to do there. It's also possible that they are just going to relocate that service to another part of that plot. O'Rouke, to our knowledge, is the only contractor who's been on that plot, and they are not EC's. They could be waiting till they start actual construction to move the box. 

 

As to the concrete trucks, they are probably pouring the floor, or around that new pole barn they are building. 

[DeltaFlyer]

9 minutes ago, fryoj said:

I guess I never considered that the park would own their own transformers. I'm used to dealing with jobs where the utility won't let you touch the equipment, but I've only wired up residential and small commercial buildings.

As to why it's still there, I agree that the plan is probably to reuse it. But it sitting there a few months doesn't automatically mean that. We don't know for sure what the plans are for the Firehawk plot. It's not a guarantee that the new coaster is going there. There were people saying the decision to remove Firehawk occurred last summer. If thats the case, the new coaster certainly isn't going there, and they could be still deciding what to do there. It's also possible that they are just going to relocate that service to another part of that plot. O'Rouke, to our knowledge, is the only contractor who's been on that plot, and they are not EC's. They could be waiting till they start actual construction to move the box. 

It is entirely possible it is used for something other than a coaster. Flat rides and normal commercial buildings can also use 480V power. The new "Plaza" and associated buildings some people are talking about could have something to do with that. 

 

Also, with Firehawks's queue still remaining, wouldn't it be more likely to reuse it for a flat ride queue than a new coaster? It would be the right length for something like that. 

[ohiocoasterfan]

I would also think they would want to complete all the grading and earth work before moving any electrical. They’ve only been at this a month and it’s likely they’re not done.

[teenageninja]

Could that new building be storage for the floats for The Grand Carnivale?

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

1 hour ago, jbeast said:

Just like everyone else on here, the hope for a new giga in that area sounds amazing. However, looking at it in person on Saturday...I'd sure love to see a custom RMC in that spot with some terrain hugging and long tunnels. That would be just as, or even better maybe.

I would love that as well, but with the Notice of Commencement, I don't believe an RMC, but I do think an RMC could come eventually and maybe take the records of the tallest and fastest wooden coaster back!

[IndyGuy4KI]

4 minutes ago, teenageninja said:

Could that new building be storage for the floats for The Grand Carnivale?

Needing more storage for the new events they have going on could be a very good reason for that building.

[medford]

Have they given details of any parade route?  I've always envisioned any sort of parade with floats originating and staying up near international street and the fountains.  That is a long, long way from the fountains.  The building seems so far back, that logistically I would think it would be used for things that are not moved on a regular basis (at least from that building into/out of the park).  Off season maintenance might make sense, as well off season storage (ie winter fest/haunt stuff) to open up space where that stuff is currently stored.  They could also be transforming the KI graveyard into that building, to keep anything back there out of the elements year round.

It appears to be a decent sized pole barn, could be used for many things; however due to the location, I don't envision it as a place for things that are regularly moved

[Magenta Lizard]

They have not given any details of the route yet, but the parade acts as the kickoff for the street party along International Street in the evenings of Grand Carnivale. Thus, I have imagined it would basically travel along one side of International Street, around the base of the Eiffel Tower, and back along the other side of International Street. I personally believe the floats will come from and be stored in the backstage area at the end of International Street, to the right of the front gates as you enter. The access for it is between the ladies’ and mens’ restrooms.

That is not to say the new structure being built out there couldn’t be for storage, but I also don’t think it will be the right spot for float storage unless it is long-term storage after the shows are over this summer.