Orion Reviews

[LAGuy75]

1 hour ago, RayFields said:

Sorry but I take these more established coaster enthusiasts opinions in much higher regard than yours

 

 

Thanks for taking into account the fact you have no idea who I am and what I do and where I’ve been (not to mention who I work for  ) AND how many times I have been on the ride. If you knew you would probably change your tune just a little bit. You can have any opinion you wish but I’m certain your definition of “more established” would absolutely need to be adjusted. 

You have every right to enjoy Orion but it’s important to realize that not everyone has the same opinion and for you to claim one persons option of something is any less valid than anyone else’s puts nobody but YOU in a negative light. 
 

I’m so happy you enjoy Orion so much! Nobody is trying to take that from you or lessen the enjoyment you get out of it! It’s a very cool, very fun ride and many people worked very hard to make it happen...it just doesn't crack my *Personal*  top 20.  Cheers! 

 

 

[BeeastFarmer]

19 hours ago, Fishely said:

It’s all about what the ride achieves in it’s time. If rides were only based on their duration, The Beast would be the best coaster in Ohio.

The Beast IS  the best roller coaster in Ohio....or anywhere for that matter.   (my opinion and opinions are subjective!)

[RayFields]

Here's a great very detailed review of Orion that tells you everything you need to know from the theming to breaking down each individual element. He describes how good the pacing is and states that the ride is the perfect length and in no way felt it was too short. He thinks that if another large helix was added it would have been slow and hindered the pacing. Basically his breakdown of each element is golden and mirrors what the majority of others are saying. Refreshing to read these intellectual reviews

 

 

[jimlaheyscar]

Doing tickets for Orion today.

[BeeastFarmer]

16 hours ago, LAGuy75 said:

I just got off Orion about thirty minutes ago.  Waited about 3 1/2 hours. It’s a decent super short ride with some good speed but it definitely ranks for me below Fury, Leviathan, I 305 and to an extent I still prefer Diamondbacks over all ride experience. It’s Still a good addition to the park and the GP seemed to enjoy it. I personally wouldn’t wait more than 45 minutes to ride it again but it will make the lines shorter for the other coasters in the park. 
 

One major note, however. The park has social distancing markers all through the queue...which is good...HOWEVER they have every queue lane open meaning even if you and your party are obeying social distancing in front and behind you it is IMPOSSIBLE to stay more than 6 feet away from the people to either side of you. At times with people leaning over or sitting on the queue rails the other guests come within inches of you. This totally defeats the purpose of even trying to social distance. May as well not even bother. 
 

People did seem pretty good about masks. But BOY HOWDY were some guests mad when there wasn’t any place to get water. It’s all a learning curve. 

The markers in the queue line are spaced 12' apart.  So they are staggered.  If you stop at the line and hold your position, I found that the people behind you will catch on.  So I think they handled it well and logically.  I just would make sure not to touch the railings, I saw a YouTube "star" alternate between making out with his girlfriend, put his hands down his shorts, and then touch the railings.

[RayFields]

 

DP phone home

[lifetimecoaster]

24 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

The markers in the queue line are spaced 12' apart.  So they are staggered.  If you stop at the line and hold your position, I found that the people behind you will catch on.  So I think they handled it well and logically.  I just would make sure not to touch the railings, I saw a YouTube "star" alternate between making out with his girlfriend, put his hands down his shorts, and then touch the railings.

So, safe to say too that said "Youtube star" was likely also practicing mask removal procedures while in line for a ride? 

[chibul]

Orion is down.

[BeeastFarmer]

3 minutes ago, lifetimecoaster said:

So, safe to say too that said "Youtube star" was likely also practicing mask removal procedures while in line for a ride? 

Just when him and his girlfriend decided it was urgently needed to kiss and neck.

[coaster sally]

18 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Just when him and his girlfriend decided it was urgently needed to kiss and neck.

Pm me, I'm curious

[lifetimecoaster]

27 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Just when him and his girlfriend decided it was urgently needed to kiss and neck.

I mean, sometimes you've just got to. 

Editing to add..... what possesses people to decide that climbing all over each other in the sun on a 100 degree day is an exciting idea? I've never seen the luster of the idea.  

[LuckyluvsKI]

1 hour ago, lifetimecoaster said:

I mean, sometimes you've just got to. 

Editing to add..... what possesses people to decide that climbing all over each other in the sun on a 100 degree day is an exciting idea? I've never seen the luster of the idea.  

And that's in the open I dare not say what I've witnessed in the dark  queues of FOF ehh I swear one couple came real close to hiding in the corner to do the thing. They were going that hard at it

[disco2000]

3 hours ago, RayFields said:

What I meant is riders that have a larger coaster count and who obviously exhibit more broad mindedness and intelligence are those whose opinions I naturally favor. Just like if I'm looking to buy a new sports car I'll listen to the professional drivers who know how to utilize all the performance of the car than a novice/intermediate driver who is narrowing in on perceived faults that arise due to his lack of skill ( not being able to counter slight understeer, not shifting or getting on the brakes at the right time, etc)

And most professional drivers are under contract to a manufacturer....ever see Jimmie Johnson in anything other than a Chevy LOL

[LovinMeSomeBanshee]

38 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

And most professional drivers are under contract to a manufacturer....ever see Jimmie Johnson in anything other than a Chevy LOL

That’s because Jimmie has only ever drove for Hendrick.  The racing teams decide which manufacturer they race with.  If a driver changes teams, they can drive another manufacturer if that team does.

[RayFields]

1 hour ago, disco2000 said:

And most professional drivers are under contract to a manufacturer....ever see Jimmie Johnson in anything other than a Chevy LOL

No I meant professional drivers like Randy Probst who reviews street cars and has no affiliation with any manufacturer and due to his high skill level can give you an accurate assessment of the vehicle versus less skilled non professional drivers who nitpick insignificant "faults" due to their own driving inadequacies....

cork sniffer

A derogatory term used to describe a person that tends to overanalyze physical properties that may not even be relevant.

These people seem to split hairs on details and are usually just percieved as windbags who just like to hear themselves speak.

The implied insult of the word, is that the corksniffer, is a lab worker that microanalyzes everything to the extreme, but fails to see the big picture.

The term probably originated in the wine industry or the wine conneisour pastime to describe people that innaccurately believe they can tell the quality of a wine by sniffing the cork.

[DustinTheNow]

Has anyone seen good photos of Orion’s light package? I’m especially looking for images of the elements towards the middle of the ride.

[dbackdreams]

1 minute ago, DustinTheNow said:

Has anyone seen good photos of Orion’s light package? I’m especially looking for images of the elements towards the middle of the ride.

Ummm like all over the internet my dude did they do that to daimonbdack to

[IndyGuy4KI]

5 minutes ago, DustinTheNow said:

Has anyone seen good photos of Orion’s light package? I’m especially looking for images of the elements towards the middle of the ride.

Look near the end of the Orion Gallery.  There is now way to get photos of the middle of the ride at this point.

[jensenracing77]

Just got home from the park. We drove 6 hours round trip just to ride this and here is my review as what you would call a GP rider.

First, a little background. I am a former MX and FMX rider/racer and I am a one park wonder for the most part. Kings Island is my home park and has been since around 1980. I have been to Holiday World a few times as well but mostly for the water park. I also went to Cedar Point in 1997 but remember almost nothing of the place. Till now, Diamondback and Son of Beast were the two largest coasters I had ever ridden. 

For Orion, I absolutely loved it! That first drop is simply incredible and unlike anything I have experienced before. When I was watching the wave turn before riding I thought it was going to be awkward and to high before the twist started but that was not the case. I was on the second row (my girls were on the front row) and felt perfect. I am not a big enough roller coaster follower to know the correct terminology but the rest was the best I had ridden myself. If I was to make a complaint, I wish it could have been another 5 to 10 seconds longer. I suspect that if it was, it would have lost to much speed and made it feel off from the rest of the ride. I am looking forward to going back and riding the back row. 

The Beast will ALWAYS be my number 1 ride of all times because of many things but I have a new number 2. Diamondback and Banshee will now be tied for 3 and 4. 

[IndyGuy4KI]

KI blog post about Orion.

https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2020/july/kings-islands-new-orion-roller-coaster-is-out-of-this-world

[FUN&ONLY!]

2 hours ago, DustinTheNow said:

Has anyone seen good photos of Orion’s light package? I’m especially looking for images of the elements towards the middle of the ride.

Here is some video of most of the lights going. Since the park has been open late only once for the first riders event, it is a lot harder to get pictures of Orion at night.

[PatchesC]

On 7/2/2020 at 3:12 PM, Driver8rws said:

 

Sorry Don, I meant short TIME wise.

It may only be 10-20 sec shorter than Diamondback, but it just seemed over really quick.  

Orion is definitely the 1st (or 2nd) best coaster at K.I.!! 

Love ya @DonHelbig and all you do! 

I guess they could slow the lift speed and add more break to give you more ride time...

[Ki Man]

I think it's exactly what you would expect. It's just fine. Fury is the perfect layout for this style of coaster.

Orion reminds me of Goliath (RMC at SFGAm) because it's just a great drop and a handful of giant elements. 

The wave turn had so much potential and it doesn't do anything. The big turnout doesn't make an impression, then speed hill is eh, and the airtime hill will forever be criticized about the trim. The helix was fun, and was not intense as advertised. The final airtime hill was probably the best outside of the first drop.

I hope another rider or two will change my mind but it's a solid ride but nothing close to Fury. 

Top 10 in no order: Steel Vengeance, Maverick, DoDoDonpa, Hakugei, Outlaw Run, Fury, Scooby's Spooky Coaster, Skyrush, Phoenix, I305

[jensenracing77]

Just got home from the park. We drove 6 hours round trip just to ride this and here is my review as what you would call a GP rider.

First, a little background. I am a former MX and FMX rider/racer and I am a one park wonder for the most part. Kings Island is my home park and has been since around 1980. I have been to Holiday World a few times as well but mostly for the water park. I also went to Cedar Point in 1997 but remember almost nothing of the place. Till now, Diamondback and Son of Beast were the two largest coasters I had ever ridden. 

For Orion, I absolutely loved it! That first drop is simply incredible and unlike anything I have experienced before. When I was watching the wave turn before riding I thought it was going to be awkward and to high before the twist started but that was not the case. I was on the second row (my girls were on the front row) and felt perfect. I am not a big enough roller coaster follower to know the correct terminology but the rest was the best I had ridden myself. If I was to make a complaint, I wish it could have been another 5 to 10 seconds longer. I suspect that if it was, it would have lost to much speed and made it feel off from the rest of the ride. I am looking forward to going back and riding the back row. 

The Beast will ALWAYS be my number 1 ride of all times because of many things but I have a new number 2. Diamondback and Banshee will now be tied for 3 and 4. 

 

I forgot to mention earlier... I got to meet Don Helbig today! Very nice getting to talk to him. He was just passing by and a couple of us said hi and he stopped and started talking to us. I can tell he loves the park!

 

 

[jimlaheyscar]

Got 6 or 7 rides today. 

Good coaster. First drop was great. Speed hill and airtime hill are good.

Probably not in my top 10 or 20.  

It looks awesome though. Seeing the turnaround and first hill from other coasters is nice. 

Row 2 on first ride of the day had that rattle sound a lot. Didn't notice it so much later in the day. Looking forward to a few night rides tomorrow. 

By no means is it a bad ride. I just don't think it's necessarily a destination coaster like SteVe, Fury, Voyage, El Toro and some others. Great for the park. People will like it and you can cycle a ton of people quickly. And it's B&M so should always be running. 

[ninevolt]

My GP-centric Orion review summary:    Very nice, would reride, but probably not this season due to wait times/traffic/world-at-large.

Disclaimer:  I'm a one park person, but I've got a physics degree and therefore view coasters as giant steel tributes to differential equations -- I love both the ride experience, and the math involved in making the coasters feel that way.    

Once upon a time I worked in a centrifuge where I had to spin pilots and trainees at high Gs.   I've wound up appreciating exactly how G force affects the body.

We got to ride it once yesterday ( row 4 ) -- going into the ride, I wasn't terribly thrilled about the idea, but my 14 yr old has been obsessing about it since the original announcement and the CGI-rendered POV.

Lift hill:   Probably the best moment for me was as soon as we're out of the station and going up, my 14 year old old starts mumbling "what have i done why did i think this was a good idea".    I admit, I laughed more than I probably should have as a parent.

Drop:   Wow, that was a heck of a thing.     Definitely a great sensation of falling, and it's angled just enough that you have, for a brief glorious moment, that bit of sensory disassociation where you forget you're strapped into a chair until the drop starts bottoming out and you settle back in ever so slight and realize "oh hey, there's the train, forgot about it for a millisecond, and I'm not actually falling 300 feet into landscaping where the grass hasn't filled in."       Great feeling, A+, amazing view as you have the momentary sensation of impending gravitationally induced doom.

First hill/'wave turn' :   Nice mix of forces, should be really fun when they get back to running full trains.  Looking to my left to watch my kid's face go from anguish to OH YEAH THIS IS WHY WE DO THIS was also good. 

The Turnaround:    The banked turn, nice mix of forces, and exiting low to the ground with that slight left bank as you head into the next small airtime hill?     Perfection.     

Airtime hill coming out of the turnaround:    Oh, yeahhhhhhhhhh.      That was awesome.

Airtime hill with the trim:   I'm going to be a contrarian here and say that I think the trim hits perfectly, and scrubs enough velocity from the train to really throw riders forward/up just slightly enough to *ensure* maximum airtime while maintaining a GP-reasonable speed as you head into 'Orion's Belt'.   People are already commenting that they were on the borderline of greying out during the helix, and I think that's just about where they'd want to keep the ride.

( My kid's assessment of the trim:   "The trim is Orion's way of getting your attention -- it's the ride telling you that you will FLOAT AND PAY RESPECTS" )

Coming out of the helix under the headchopper-ish element?    Nice.    Last full hill before the popup into the brakes?   Felt great, and transitioned nicely into the final popup into the brakes, at which point my son's assessment of "Well, *that* just happened" was never more apt.

We'll re-ride it when we can -- we have reservations this coming Monday, but don't plan to return to the park till late August this season, if at all.     

Wife wants to get a few rides on Mystic Timbers, and I'd like a ride on Banshee -- so we have to play swap-the-kid-that-only-rides-flat-rides.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 4, 2020 by ninevolt

[kirbias1]

55 minutes ago, ninevolt said:

My GP-centric Orion review summary:    Very nice, would reride, but probably not this season due to wait times/traffic/world-at-large.

Disclaimer:  I'm a one park person, but I've got a physics degree and therefore view coasters as giant steel tributes to differential equations -- I love both the ride experience, and the math involved in making the coasters feel that way.    

Once upon a time I worked in a centrifuge where I had to spin pilots and trainees at high Gs.   I've wound up appreciating exactly how G force affects the body.

We got to ride it once yesterday ( row 4 ) -- going into the ride, I wasn't terribly thrilled about the idea, but my 14 yr old has been obsessing about it since the original announcement and the CGI-rendered POV.

Lift hill:   Probably the best moment for me was as soon as we're out of the station and going up, my 14 year old old starts mumbling "what have i done why did i think this was a good idea".    I admit, I laughed more than I probably should have as a parent.

Drop:   Wow, that was a heck of a thing.     Definitely a great sensation of falling, and it's angled just enough that you have, for a brief glorious moment, that bit of sensory disassociation where you forget you're strapped into a chair until the drop starts bottoming out and you settle back in ever so slight and realize "oh hey, there's the train, forgot about it for a millisecond, and I'm not actually falling 300 feet into landscaping where the grass hasn't filled in."       Great feeling, A+, amazing view as you have the momentary sensation of impending gravitationally induced doom.

First hill/'wave turn' :   Nice mix of forces, should be really fun when they get back to running full trains.  Looking to my left to watch my kid's face go from anguish to OH YEAH THIS IS WHY WE DO THIS was also good. 

The Turnaround:    The banked turn, nice mix of forces, and exiting low to the ground with that slight left bank as you head into the next small airtime hill?     Perfection.     

Airtime hill coming out of the turnaround:    Oh, yeahhhhhhhhhh.      That was awesome.

Airtime hill with the trim:   I'm going to be a contrarian here and say that I think the trim hits perfectly, and scrubs enough velocity from the train to really throw riders forward/up just slightly enough to *ensure* maximum airtime while maintaining a GP-reasonable speed as you head into 'Orion's Belt'.   People are already commenting that they were on the borderline of greying out during the helix, and I think that's just about where they'd want to keep the ride.

( My kid's assessment of the trim:   "The trim is Orion's way of getting your attention -- it's the ride telling you that you will FLOAT AND PAY RESPECTS" )

Coming out of the helix under the headchopper-ish element?    Nice.    Last full hill before the popup into the brakes?   Felt great, and transitioned nicely into the final popup into the brakes, at which point my son's assessment of "Well, *that* just happened" was never more apt.

We'll re-ride it when we can -- we have reservations this coming Monday, but don't plan to return to the park till late August this season, if at all.     

Wife wants to get a few rides on Mystic Timbers, and I'd like a ride on Banshee -- so we have to play swap-the-kid-that-only-rides-flat-rides.

 

 

 

 

 

Do you think the ride will be even better in the future when the trains have more weight by running full capacity as opposed to running at half capacity now?

[ninevolt]

11 minutes ago, kirbias1 said:

Do you think the ride will be even better in the future when the trains have more weight by running full capacity as opposed to running at half capacity now?

It's already good.   I think a full train's mass will be really noticeable in the wave turn/turn around --- but I also think it'll allow them to dial that trim in a bit more precisely for best effect.

I think the biggest improvement you'll see with full trains, though?     

The ability for a group of 3 or 4 to ride in a single row, share 52-ish glorious seconds drop-to-brakes of quality air time, hit the final brakes, and then turn and look at each other with the shared realization of what just happened, followed shortly thereafter by wondering how long it'd be before they can ride again or if they should just proceed Directly To Funnelcakes.

 

 

 

[Kingsislandfan]

The coaster is so smooth and amazingly quiet that is actually feels like flying.

lots of air time.

super fun coaster.

[RayFields]

Another very intelligent thoughtful review