Is Orion a Giga coaster or not?

[Dj325]

Ok, I know that a good amount of fans have been asking this since the ride was announced. When Kings Island announced that they would finally be getting a giga coaster, the fans started to question whether this was true or not. In case you don't know what a giga coaster is, it's any roller coaster with a height range of 300 - 399 ft. Another type of roller coaster is a hyper coaster, which is any roller coaster with a height range of 200 - 299 ft. Well, Orion has a height 287 ft., which would put it into the category of a hyper coaster. Although, Kings Island is deciding to call it a giga coaster. I think that we should at least try to settle this debate. So, here's the question: Is Orion a Hyper, Giga, or something else? Your answer must include a reason for your. Evidence like things people have said in videos you've watched or stuff mentioned in articles you've read are optional. Please note that I can't 100% guarantee that this will settle the debate. This is the best I can do.

[MoreFogPlease]

I don't see any reason that the correct measure shouldn't be height of the drop, or otherwise the difference between the highest point and the lowest point on the roller coaster.

If we're just going by height above the ground, then the Big Apple Coaster in Vegas was a strata coaster 6 years before Dragster, and in fact it is a double-strata coaster.

[BoddaH1994]

I’ve just always supposed that since Cedar Fair coined the term “giga coaster” then if they say it is then it is.

[KIghostguy]

"Cedar Fair defined what a giga coaster is. The coaster enthusiasts did not define that. Cedar Fair defined a giga coaster as being either a height or a drop of at least 300 feet, and it [Orion] meets that definition."--Mike Koontz

[VortexBFForever]

Cedar Fair themselves coined the term giga, so they have the authority to modify that definition as needed. As of 2020, they define a giga coaster as any coaster with a height or drop of at least 300 feet, the latter of which Orion has.

If Orion is not a giga, then that means Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood (168 ft tall; 228-ft second drop) is not a hyper. I have not heard anyone question whether Phantom's Revenge is a hyper.

[KIghostguy]

7 minutes ago, VortexBFForever said:

If Orion is not a giga, then that means Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood (168 ft tall; 228-ft second drop) is not a hyper. I have not heard anyone question whether Phantom's Revenge is a hyper.

Same thing with Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. No one questions that that ride is a hyper. Yet lots of people question Orion's designation. It doesn't make much sense in my opinion!

Also, no one questions that Yukon Striker is the world's tallest dive coaster--a record that's broken by the drop, not the lift hill height.

[dbackdreams]

Well duh it is a giga because you drive down that big hill. I was talking to my algebra teacher and I finally starting to understand it when we solved problems she made up with Diamondback and orion!  But she said you can't throw like mystical timbers in there  numbers have to be like each other 

[SonofBaconator]

People question it because its the 1st giga to have a 300ft drop but not have its highest peak crest the 300ft mark. If Orion was 300ft with a 287ft drop you'd have people saying its not a giga because the drop isn't 300ft.

You fall 300ft regardless of height so its a giga.

[Dj325]

1 minute ago, SonofBaconator said:

People question it because its the 1st giga to have a 300ft drop but not have its highest peak crest the 300ft mark. If Orion was 300ft with a 287ft drop you'd have people saying its not a giga because the drop isn't 300ft.

You fall 300ft regardless of height so its a giga.

Very good reasoning.

[IndyGuy4KI]

1 minute ago, SonofBaconator said:

You fall 300ft regardless of height so its a giga.

KIC post of the day!

[SonofBaconator]

2 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

KIC post of the day!

I don't get why people have to be so technical. There are only 9 coasters across the entire globe that feature a 300ft drop and Orion's one of them. And guess what- there's also 9 coasters across the globe that go over 90mph and Orion's one of them.

If people are going to be petty just remember that some park's don't even hit 200ft.

[Gordon Bombay]

Orion is great, but I feel like it was designed for a smaller American park and just copy/pasted here. 

[SonofBaconator]

1 hour ago, Gordon Bombay said:

Orion is great, but I feel like it was designed for a smaller American park and just copy/pasted here. 

I think because its layout is pretty compact for the most part with it almost 100% running along side Racer. I don't think fans thought "out and back" when they imagined their giga.

[Rivertown Rider]

Like others have said it is definitely a giga coaster. 

Yes I would have preferred it to have another element or two and have been a little taller but it is still a great coaster.

[NegativeGs]

In my opinion, Orion is a giga coaster. Why? Well, simply because the change in elevation between the top of the lift hill and the bottom of the first drop is at least 300 feet. And may I add, an awesome first drop.

[Kenban]

How tall would Orion be if it was built on flat ground?  Around 305 feet tall.

How tall would it be if instead of a slight rise in ground level under the lift there was instead around a 25 foot drop in ground level?  330+ feet tall, making it the “tallest” giga.  Would it actually deserve that title, no.  Either way it’s the same ride, just more steel would have been used.  If either of those were true no one would even question if it was a giga.  Frankly it’s time for this stupid pointless debate to end and to move on.

Height is a terrible measurement on its own because fantastic rides like Lightning Rod get screwed, since it’s a terrain coaster it has a 165 ft drop, but It is only around 50 feet tall.  At the other end parks cheat, Superman Escape from Krypton flat out does not deserve the title of strata coaster in my opinion.  Putting the station on top of a hill and building out over the slope so the tower is taller is cheating.  The same ride located in Australia when it still existed was 377 feet tall instead of 415 feet.  Also why count the height of the track on a shuttle coaster, if the train never reaches that point does it matter if the ride is that height, or should the measurement be the highest point reached during the ride?

[SnakePlissken]

This thread and any like it are just meant to stir the pot and also beat a dead horse. They should be locked. This has been discussed to death and so much so that the word Budget typed besides coaster was banned.

 

[Tr0y]

Orion is a hyper coaster per its manufacturer B&M. That is it’s model, you can find this on B&M’s website: https://www.bolliger-mabillard.com/product/hyper-coaster. Which is what Diamondback is. If you compare Orion to the other Giga coasters in the world. Every other Giga coaster reaches a height of 300ft or more and drop of 300ft or more. Orion does not, being only 287ft tall. So personally I don’t consider Orion a Giga, but it’s 2020 and even steel coasters can now be considered wood. *cough*  RMC  *cough*

[Bansheelover]

3 hours ago, Tr0y said:

Orion is a hyper coaster per its manufacturer B&M. That is it’s model, you can find this on B&M’s website: https://www.bolliger-mabillard.com/product/hyper-coaster. Which is what Diamondback is. If you compare Orion to the other Giga coasters in the world. Every other Giga coaster reaches a height of 300ft or more and drop of 300ft or more. Orion does not, being only 287ft tall. So personally I don’t consider Orion a Giga, but it’s 2020 and even steel coasters can now be considered wood. *cough*  RMC  *cough*

With that explanation then Fury 325 and Leviathan are hypers as well since B&M doesn’t use the term giga. A giga coaster is whatever Cedar Fair defines it. The coaster could be absolutely flat, and then drop 305ft from the station to be a giga. Who really cares what is. It’s an amazing ride that dominants the skyline.  When you’re on it you’re eye level with WindSeeker. 13 ft doesn’t make a difference. 

[SonofBaconator]

If Orion was 250ft with a 300ft drop I could see people complaining. Its not though. 13 feet isn't all that much of a difference in height. Just looking at the ride, you don't even notice. 

Again, you fall 300ft so its a giga. 

I agree with @SnakePlissken, this thread should be locked. Its going to turn into another debate section when the park and the chain have already called it a giga. If you don't want to call it that than fine, but people still going to ride it either way.

[TombRaiderFTW]

18 hours ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I’ve just always supposed that since Cedar Fair coined the term “giga coaster” then if they say it is then it is.

 

18 hours ago, KIghostguy said:

"Cedar Fair defined what a giga coaster is. [...]

 

18 hours ago, VortexBFForever said:

Cedar Fair themselves coined the term giga, so they have the authority to modify that definition as needed.

This doesn't ultimately matter that much, but did Cedar Fair coin the term "giga?" I definitely thought that was Intamin's term, and Cedar Fair took it and ran with it when coaster enthusiasts started applying it to non-Intamin coasters that are 300-399 feet tall. There are small plaques on Millennium Force's trains that say something along the lines of "Intamin Giga Coaster."

[silver2005]

From what I understand, the term giga was coined from mimicking how bytes on a computer are grouped into megabytes, gigabytes, etc. which is why 400-499 ft coasters are sometimes referred to as tera-coasters.  I believe early on when coasters like Magnum came into the world, hyper coasters were sometimes referred to as mega coasters, thus, giga was given to the 300-399 ft range.  

[wabashcr]

It really doesn't matter at all to me, but I do think they changed the definition of giga to include Orion.  Before Orion, I don't remember anyone debating whether giga meant 300' total height or length of drop.  Seems to me it was always understood to mean total height.  If CF says it's a giga, it's a giga.  But if the term ever had any significant meaning, I'd argue it has less so now, since they've expanded it to include Orion.

[Dj325]

19 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

I don't get why people have to be so technical. There are only 9 coasters across the entire globe that feature a 300ft drop and Orion's one of them. And guess what- there's also 9 coasters across the globe that go over 90mph and Orion's one of them.

If people are going to be petty just remember that some park's don't even hit 200ft.

Like Michigan's Adventure? Actually, they barely even get a coaster.

[silver2005]

For my personal definition, a giga is a coaster with a drop that starts from 300-399 ft up and/or has a 300-399 ft drop with no elements that go above that.

For example with my similar application of a hyper coaster with the above applying to 200-299 ft, I include Phantom's Revenge in that category with its 230 ft second drop although you never go up that amount. 

This is just my personal definition and I don't care how others apply it.   

[Oldschool75]

17 hours ago, Gordon Bombay said:

Orion is great, but I feel like it was designed for a smaller American park and just copy/pasted here. 

Like a park where you can have a "Great" time?

[SonofBaconator]

1 hour ago, Dj325 said:

Like Michigan's Adventure? Actually, they barely even get a coaster.

If you ever read Dick Kinzel's book, he talks about how he wanted to build a ground up park in Michigan but just decided to acquire Michigan's Adventure instead. Its kinda strange that they wanted to build a park yet they hardly added anything once they acquired MI. Maybe they thought the park had enough rides.

[Dj325]

8 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

If you ever read Dick Kinzel's book, he talks about how he wanted to build a ground up park in Michigan but just decided to acquire Michigan's Adventure instead. Its kinda strange that they wanted to build a park yet they hardly added anything once they acquired MI. Maybe they thought the park had enough rides.

Interesting

[silver2005]

It doesn't really make sense to build in Michigan because Cedar Point and SFGAm have a hold on all of Michigan's market.  MIA is more of a niche park.  I will agree that MIA could use more love.  I think they could use another 1 or 2 good family coasters and 1 higher thrill coaster (something like a Eurofighter) with some additional flats.  The area by Thunderhawk could use some expansion, perhaps make it loop back around the other side of Wolverine Wildcat back to Shivering Timbers. 

Back to your regularly scheduled giga discussion.

[coaster sally]

Intamin is the only manufacturer that offers a Giga Coaster in their catalog.