What new attraction would make the best sense for KI?

[dropdasher]

Kings Island has many holes in its lineup. Not a single spinner, ejector machine, inversion focused sit down, or and intense launch. As of now, I’m guessing there are a few contenders for the next coaster:

S&S free spin (bigger model)

S&S hyper (Steel Curtain)

Mack multilaunch

Mack spinner 

B&M Dive

B&M wing

RMC hybrid ground up

There’s pros and cons to each. The free spin isn’t a groundbreaking ride and could be seen as the same thing as SFGAM’s Joker, but is cheap, don’t take up a ton of space, and are good rides. The hyper isn’t reliable but isn’t like anything in the area. The multi launch is very expensive but has a good ROI and a good ride. The spinner doesn’t have a ton of cons, but I don’t see them adding it. The dive could be seen as a Valravn ripoff as well as the wing with GateKeeper, but they’re GP magnets. RMC would be an enthusiast magnet, but I doubt CF works with RMC for a little bit. What are your thoughts?

[SonofBaconator]

52 minutes ago, ThrillKingsOryan said:

S&S free spin (bigger model)

S&S hyper (Steel Curtain)

Mack multilaunch

Mack spinner 

B&M Dive

B&M wing

RMC hybrid ground up

A freespin would be cool but I consider them to be "in between" coasters that are put in between larger investments

A S&S looper would be a more than suitable replacement for Vortex. I heard SC had issues but I'm not sure

A Mack multilaunch would be cool as well but I would prefer it heavy on inversions like Helix

A Mack spinner would be fresh and exciting

A B&M dive would be cool if it was a mini that focused on inversions instead of height

A B&M wing would be redundant honestly

An RMC ground up would be nice but would it be compared with Steel Vengeance?

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

For new attraction, there is more than just new coasters. I expect to see more family rides, flat rides, and/or interactive attractions/events in the next few years. I think once most of the covid procedures are lifted, something along the lines of Forbidden Frontier at CP would be an excellent addition. 

[westcoaster]

I keep saying Kings Island has potential besides the Weather to be Knotts of the East for Cedar Fair. Some nice dark Rides even a semi dark ride in water park. 

Not to Scary stuff just Funtainment Foodtainment  and some Coasters of course. 

[purdude86]

I agree with most of the sentiments stated here.

An RMC would be my choice for a good ejector, intense, inverting ride. But I don't see it right now.

B&Ms and Mack multi-launches are expensive so following covid I imagine they will go for something more price concious next.

I could potentially see a spinner as it would be a great family friendly addition, possibly as a new expansion/revamp of Planet Snoopy. Could go around where the petting zoo currently is.

[McSalsa]

A model that keeps sticking out to me honestly is one you didn't list: Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster. HangTime at Knott's Berry Farm went over very well in 2018, and this model would do a few things to make it unique at KI/the region:

-Vertical Lift Hill. Nothing else at either Kings Island or Cedar Point has one of these.

-A Beyond Vertical Drop, something no other coaster at Kings Island has. Since it would be very different from Valravn it would not interfere with the CP Coaster, yet would still give Kings Island a "Dive" type coaster.

-Numerous inversions. Could easily feature 6+ and fill the gap left by the retirement of Vortex. They could even go for the North American or even world inversion records with this model, at which point you are also replacing the 5 inversions lost when Firehawk was removed.

-Can be VERY compact, so it would not really need the entire former Vortex plot- they could build a bigger one if desired, or even just leave extra space for more new flat rides/other additions as well as the coaster itself. If they go bigger infinity coasters can go over 200 feet tall as well.

-Very likely way cheaper than a large B&M or Mack coaster. Due to the COVID pandemic, this could be a huge factor.

 

[SonofBaconator]

If it had a light package like Hangtime I'd be down. I would be worried about size and capacity though. I would want something comparable to Vortex in size so I would be willing to wait. 

What's the biggest Gerstlauer ever made?

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

For an infinity, I actually discovered this concept on YouTube. I love the theme and would work well in Rivertown. 

 

[WoodVengeance]

12 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

If it had a light package like Hangtime I'd be down. I would be worried about size and capacity though. I would want something comparable to Vortex in size so I would be willing to wait. 

What's the biggest Gerstlauer ever made?

Hangtime has 16 person trains (4 rows), but Gerstlauer can put more rows on the trains if Kings Island wanted. On Gerstlauer's website, they say they can put between 2 to 7 rows on their Infinity Coaster trains.

[Shawn Meyer]

I've said it on other topics, but I would love to see a ground up rmc in the spot of Vortex. If not there, maybe in the spot of The Bat. I've heard rumors that might be the next roller coaster getting the boot. I also wouldn't mind seeing a B&M Floorless model come to Kings Island. I've mentioned this before too on other topics on KI central. Have a similar layout like Dominator at Kings Dominion.

[David Ellis]

Sounds about right.....Anything's possible.

[McSalsa]

16 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

If it had a light package like Hangtime I'd be down. I would be worried about size and capacity though. I would want something comparable to Vortex in size so I would be willing to wait. 

What's the biggest Gerstlauer ever made?

I am pretty sure it is Schwur des Karnan...and in terms of raw size stats, it's massive.

https://rcdb.com/11615.htm

239.5 feet tall- taller than Diamondback! 219.8 foot drop. 90 degree drop. 4,051.8 feet long. Only 1 inversion though (if Kings Island is replacing Vortex with one of these they will want more inversions than that obviously though). These infinity coasters clearly range from tiny to mammoth.

15 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

For an infinity, I actually discovered this concept on YouTube. I love the theme and would work well in Rivertown. 

 

...holy cow, that looks awesome. The theming does look a little much for a ride at a park like Kings Island, but then again Kings Island has been increasing how much theming they have for their new rides (see Mystic Timbers and Orion) for the last few additions so I wouldn't completely rule it out. I am pretty sure the sign above Beast calls it the Kings Canyon Mining Company though as of late (before 2019 it was Beast Canyon).

The theme works though: for over 40 years, The Beast has tormented and caused mayhem for the workers of the Kings Canyon Mining Company. In 1987, they constructed a huge robot to battle The Beast, which did so for 33 years (ties Vortex into the story) until its steel weakened due to age and The Beast finally defeated it in 2019. However, the workers have constructed another huge machine, ready to battle The Beast once again.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

27 minutes ago, McSalsa said:

The theme works though: for over 40 years, The Beast has tormented and caused mayhem for the workers of the Kings Canyon Mining Company. In 1987, they constructed a huge robot to battle The Beast, which did so for 33 years (ties Vortex into the story) until its steel weakened due to age and The Beast finally defeated it in 2019. However, the workers have constructed another huge machine, ready to battle The Beast once again.

..Introducing Kings Mills Striker! This coaster will feature a beyond vertical drop, multiple inversions, and multiple airtime moments through the woods and hills of the Kings Canyon Mining Company.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I have an idea for the queue line: Have it start in the Arcade building (keep some of the games in there and have that space available for overflow) and have the entrance be in there and have it be all enclosed and it starts where you go down stairs into the current valley and it is enclosed all the way to the station. Basically the queue line would be like being inside an abandoned mine shaft. They could have some mining equiptment and other mining/country props as theming as well as an IMASCORE soundtrack in the mine (maybe pull a Helix and have a soundtrack for the queue itself and another one for the station). Knowing CF they would probably put FunTV's in it sadly though. Just an idea. I honestly think they would have an overflow available in the Arcade and for opening weekend and first few weeks they would do access passes for it (I think access passes are going to be the future of new coaster openings so that they don't have to manage a 4 hour line and can get revenue that they would miss out on.)

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I know this may just look a little messy, but I did a little sketch on what a Maverick like coaster could look like in The Vortex plot if it started in Rivertown. Picture is taken from the park's cinematic video from the Eiffel Tower: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2gyKbhMufE

 

Heres the sketch:

 

[Shawn Meyer]

^ I can see where you're going with this, but I have some ideas for you. I would put the station where The Vortex station was and have the layout turn to the right just like Vortex. Instead of a normal chain lift, the train shoots up like 107 feet then drops at a 95 degree angle just like Maverick. They layout still drops straight, but turns crazy wild like how Maverick does to the right; in front of The Beast service road there. I could see the layout start to use the ravine a little where it dips to it's advantage too. What do you think?

[grsupercity]

On 2/7/2021 at 12:35 PM, WoodVengeance said:

Hangtime has 16 person trains (4 rows), but Gerstlauer can put more rows on the trains if Kings Island wanted. On Gerstlauer's website, they say they can put between 2 to 7 rows on their Infinity Coaster trains.

I believe anything more then 4 and they will not do a vertical lift

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

47 minutes ago, Shawn Meyer said:

^ I can see where you're going with this, but I have some ideas for you. I would put the station where The Vortex station was and have the layout turn to the right just like Vortex. Instead of a normal chain lift, the train shoots up like 107 feet then drops at a 95 degree angle just like Maverick. They layout still drops straight, but turns crazy wild like how Maverick does to the right; in front of The Beast service road there. I could see the layout start to use the ravine a little where it dips to it's advantage too. What do you think?

If they do that, I think they would give it a car theme. I would honestly prefer a Rivertown/country theme, but I wouldn't mind it being in Coney Mall themed to a fast car. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Another idea I made. This time it goes out into the woods like The Beast. Action Theater gets demolished for the turnaround:

 

[Shawn Meyer]

^ I like that idea. It's a shame that action theater hasn't gotten much love since the 90s and early 2000s. 

[purdude86]

I like the second idea better too as it leaves some room to add another flat at least to Coney Mall to fill out that end of the path. I'd prefer a coaster to go more to Coney Mall than Rivertown though. Think something like Hangtime would be great and can still leave some room for an addition in Rivertown too as they are more compact. My only hesitance for it would be building into the woods would thin trees out more and hate to see more removed and it would probably open up the woods around The Beast too much. Don't want it to lose it's secluded feeling. I'd also keep the space of Action Theatre for a new darkride too.

[grsupercity]

I think either a Vekoma mad house or a flying theater good be good fits for KI

[purdude86]

Love for it to keep a mine theme but think either of those would be good additions for the old Tomb Raider building. Love to see a flying theatre but not sure what theme they’d use in that location. Maybe a madhouse there with a haunted mine theme and a flying theatre around Internstional Street or Coney Mall

[David Ellis]

I agree and I can see where you're going with this so apparently, the idea sounds right to me so therefore, I wouldn't be surprised if I would envision something like this nearly like Maverick like coaster that Cedar Point has.....I have a feeling Kings Island might be going with that.

[bjcolglazier]

Would another ride like Flight of Fear make sense? Nobody talks about it much, but a ride built in 1996 has some awfully long lines day in, day out at Kings Island. It's the closest thing we have to Magic Mountain. Doesn't move a lot of people quickly but the fix for that is to built something bigger/longer. And yes, people will wait to ride it, that much we already know.

[CoastersRZ]

I think Flight of Fear`s line length is partly as you mentioned, its low rider capacity.  But it is also an indoor roller coaster, which means the indoor queue, station and ride are all in air conditioning.  What other ride at KI besides Boo Blasters has that.

As far as new ride additions, I would love to see a new flat ride added back in Area 72.  Give kids that are too short for Flight of Fear and Orion something to do while waiting on older siblings to ride those rides.  While not a high capacity ride I would love to see some classic flat rides added to the park, particularly in Coney Mall.  A ride like Music Express would be a good fit, as would an S&S Swing ride.

[SonofBaconator]

^^ We used to have 4 enclosed rides that were open at one point: Flight of Fear, TRTR/Crypt, the Scooby Doo/Boo Blasters, and the Action Theater. Now we're down to just Flight of Fear and Boo Blasters. The Crypt building really has potential to be something more than a haunted house in the same can be said for Action Theater. Weather management wants to invest in them as full-time ride buildings versus convenient haunted houses has been evident for a while. Unfortunately for the Crypt building it was custom built for a ride that no longer exists at the park so it's hard to put something in it that isn't a haunted house.

If you want something new that's custom built you have to account for capacity and that would mean making the building pretty big. Parks like Universal and Disney have dozens upon dozens of buildings that hold multiple dark rides- our park is flooded with coasters. 

The only way to truly have more dark rides at Kings Island would be to look into the existing infrastructure we have which is the action theater and the Crypt building. You can put something like a wild mouse in the Crypt building and have it go in and out of the building like mystery mine but they don't have great capacity...not at least for what you're trying to pull off in terms of having disney-esque inside rides

[Rivertown Rider]

I completely agree about using the Crypt building and the more flats piece. 

Something that could work in the Crypt building is a Flying Theater like Soarin'.  That would be a space they could also do a custom built Phantom Theater redo as well.

A Tilt a Whirl would be a nice compact ride for Area 72 and the basketball game between Jukebox Diner and the Drink stand would a great spot for a Musik Express.

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I think if a flat ride goes to Area 72, it'll likely be an air race imo. Just imagine an air race to go along with the government/flight study base theme going on there. 

[purdude86]

That's what I always pictured for an initial flat ride in the area. It just fits the theme of the area really well.

A tilt-a-whirl themed to beer barrels could be a great addition to Oktoberfest. Would be a nice homage to Der Spinning Keggers.