Discussing Land and Space in and around Vortex

[CedarPointer]

20 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

“Built” as in it was erected- the coaster itself was built for an other park but was later relocated to Sandusky-it was never custom built for CP.  If it was custom built, CP would have had three trains.

Oh, I should have been more specific, I was talking about Alpenfury. Didn't realize Siren's Curse also had terrible capacity (but, of course, they could have just, y'know, put it at literally any other park).

[kingsislandfan1972]

All these speculations on what is going on with the old Vortex land... meanwhile we all know deep down its going to be another Coca-Cola refresh station! 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

AlpenFury also only has two trains and was designed specifically for Canada's Wonderland. I think Siren's Curse has more than 12 riders per train.

[ethancoaster]

On 11/29/2022 at 6:26 PM, ethancoaster said:

I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to bring this concept to life in Planet Coaster, and here it is!

 

 

The ride entry plaza pays homage to Vortex, with the ride's station being themed to the fictional "Vortex Vehicles" auto shop. Not stopping at Vortex, the ride's paint scheme also pays homage to the park's original Demon coaster with an alternating yellow-orange-red color scheme, with all of the visible inversions being red.

The queue borrows some inspiration from Lightning Rod at Dollywood, with guests walking through the bottom of the auto shop:

The boarding station has some light theming, with license plates displaying the different states Cedar Fair properties are located in:

I made a few modifications to the layout, so it is actually a 10-inversion coaster. This would give it the record for the most inversions of any coaster in North America in addition to the previously established launch coaster inversion record:

Riders park in a launch tunnel while engine-revving sound effects play, with lighting effects at night:

The ride launches into its first element, a 16-story sea-serpent roll:

After exiting, the ride travels over a brief ejector speed hill before flying into a twisted reverse cobra roll:

After exiting that maneuver, the ride flies into a zero-g stall near the entry plaza:

The ride rounds a low-to-the-ground turn filled with positive g's, before ejecting riders sideways into a wave turn:

The ride travels over another speed hill and into an underground batwing maneuver, paying homage to Vortex.

The ride exits the batwing and coasts over an off-axis airtime hill before climbing into the midcourse brake run.

The MCBR slows the trains enough for riders to enjoy a hangtime-filled station fly-by, exciting guests in line.

The ride rounds one final turn and goes into an in-line roll above the ride's entrance.

 

Here's an overhead view:

This ride was designed with Vekoma in mind, but I think if Kings Island were to actually build something like this, I think Zamperla would be an interesting candidate. They're rumored to be working on Dragster a few hours north, as well as providing the two rides in Adventure Port next year. I'd be interested to see what they could do with their overhauled coaster division.

 

What do y'all think? Comments, criticisms, concerns? 

 

If they end up going with Vekoma, I’d like to forward this concept again ;)

[BeeastFarmer]

^ What a twisted mess of steel!  I love it!

[Diamondback_Is_King]

Cool concept @ethancoaster! Did you use custom supports?

[ethancoaster]

I used custom supports for the first inversion, but the rest are auto-generated.

Kings Island isn’t my home park but I really hope y’all get something like this. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

ML Designs created a concept of a Vekoma Ghostrider with an extended layout in The Vortex plot and it actually fits pretty well! 

 

[BeeastFarmer]

That looks incredible. 

[SonofBaconator]

Quote

Height: 176ft 
Top Speed: 74mph
Launches: 2 - 55mph and 74mph
Length: 4,158ft
Inversions: 5 or 6

Maybe they could render it orange and blue so we could see what a Vortex homage would look like.

[DonHelbig]

I’d like to see a Big Bear Mountain type coaster in the spot once occupied by The Vortex. While some wouldn’t be excited about it, the majority of Kings Island visitors would be since it would have broader appeal. 

[KIfan73]

^ I just looked that up on YouTube.  That’s almost exactly what I’ve always had pictured in my mind of what I wish would go in that spot!

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

I've made a Planet Coaster ride of what I think Vortex could look like if it was a 15 inversion monster.

Stats:
187 ft.
76 mph.
15 Inversions
5451 ft in length.
4.1 G.s

The coaster also features a dual sided locker system like on Siren's Curse. But the lockers are found at the top floor. Two Disability elevators for each side.

Genesis is a fictional company and the antagonist of the ride.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

5 hours ago, DonHelbig said:

I’d like to see a Big Bear Mountain type coaster in the spot once occupied by The Vortex. While some wouldn’t be excited about it, the majority of Kings Island visitors would be since it would have broader appeal. 

I think a Big Bear Mountain style coaster would be a great fit in The Bat area if/when Six Flags decides to retire it. Have it utilize the terrain and run through the forest. Give it a "Dark Forest Adventure" style theme. 

If not The Bat area, the area in between The Crypt building and The Beast would work.

I would prefer to see a multi inversion focused coaster on The Vortex site mainly due to the departure of Vortex and Firehawk and Invertigo's future being likely up in the air. 

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

24 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

I think a Big Bear Mountain style coaster would be a great fit in The Bat area if/when Six Flags decides to retire it. Have it utilize the terrain and run through the forest. Give it a "Dark Forest Adventure" style theme. 

If not The Bat area, the area in between The Crypt building and The Beast would work.

I would prefer to see a multi inversion focused coaster on The Vortex site mainly due to the departure of Vortex and Firehawk and Invertigo's future being likely up in the air. 

I wholly agree with you on that first point! The Crypt's building and area would be better suited to a Rivertown expansion so a new lake and town area could be added alongside a new dedicated entertainment venue. 

The Vortex plot should be occupied by a thrill coaster — not a family thrill coaster. It doesn't need to be the biggest or baddest of anything, but a Big Bear Mountain-style coaster would not fit what the area does need. Whatever replaces Vortex needs to be photogenic and vertically diverse. Photogenic to give guests a new visually stunning ride to view from the pathways. Vertically diverse so it both adds to Kings Island's skyline while filling out the space provided by the ravine. The park also has a desperate need for an inversion machine, and family coasters very notably do not feature inversions. If the park was looking to make their next coaster family-friendly, why would they use the Vekoma Ghostrider model on the most recent survey?

 

I understand that Kings Island is a "family park", but those families grow up and want more thrilling coasters as their children get tired of what the park has. There's an argument to be made that it should have a 48" height requirement (or similar). I get why that might be. The issue is that Kings Island has been playing it safe and it has not worked out in their favor very much. Orion was made to appeal to families and didn't receive a high enough ROI: though Orion opened in July during the middle of a global pandemic, so there were other issues with its opening. River Racers was designed to appeal to a larger audience while leaving more budget for other attractions and did not receive very stellar reviews in its first season of operation. My point with these two examples is that appealing to a broader audience hasn't really worked out well for Kings Island. Yes, families who want thrills could go up to Cedar Point, but it's unlikely that they would go as often as they might if they could have something more thrilling at KI. As families struggle more with the economy there's also less chance that they'd be willing to travel the 3+ hours.

[Diamondback_Is_King]

7 hours ago, Cedar Fair Fanboy said:

I've made a Planet Coaster ride of what I think Vortex could look like if it was a 15 inversion monster.

Stats:
187 ft.
76 mph.
15 Inversions
5451 ft in length.
4.1 G.s

The coaster also features a dual sided locker system like on Siren's Curse. But the lockers are found at the top floor. Two Disability elevators for each side.

Genesis is a fictional company and the antagonist of the ride.

That's a really cool concept! I really like the lockers you made and the metal detectors!

 

5 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

I think a Big Bear Mountain style coaster would be a great fit in The Bat area if/when Six Flags decides to retire it. Have it utilize the terrain and run through the forest. Give it a "Dark Forest Adventure" style theme. 

There is a lot of potential with a Big Bear Mountain type ride in The Bat area, because there is so much space, elevation, and trees. Especially if you start up on top of the hill, you can just keep gaining speed on the way down (but then I guess you have to come back up the hill so maybe not).