Possible Area 72 expansion??

[Oldschool75]

Just an observation from riding Orion multiple times this year. It appears there may have been some core samplings done on the other side of Orion's fence. What I see are small round spots in the grass that appear to be filled in with gravel. These spots aappear to be fresh. The photos don't really show as clearly as the view from Orion, but you can't take pictures from rides. LOL
 

 

Before people say "thats from Firehawk", here is a photo that will show you that the land was graded during Orion's construction so they are clearly new "holes"
Just wondering what could be in store for the future??

[Benjamin22]

Wow really exciting information, a flat ride would be excellent back there! Thanks for sharing.

[gforce1994]

I’d assume a coaster or tall attraction. That appears to be bore holes, which are used for sites with large loading conditions.

 

It likely isn’t a flat ride, as a flat ride is spread out over an area using a spread footing. 
 

The thing is the bores are not in an arrangement that would indicate a building. The randomness of the bores screams a coasters. We have seen bores taken at KI in the past. At the beginning of the 2018 there were bores by the old Dinosaurs Alive attraction.

Bores are usually for deep foundations, so, that of in itself would rule out maintenance buildings.

[Oldschool75]

8 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

I’d assume a coaster or tall attraction. That appears to be bore holes, which are used for sites with large loading conditions.

 

It likely isn’t a flat ride, as a flat ride is spread out over an area using a spread footing. 

It could be an elevated flat ride, something that would require a foundation that had to handle high stress . I highly doubt a new coaster. 

 

or maybe for a new train bridge to allow the train to go around the park??? That would be nice. 

[CoastersRZ]

The placement would be curious if they are needed soil core sample locations.  Orion’s maintenance track, station, and queue are all in the way.  Unless they are testing to determine the soil bearing pressure to relocate one or some of the maintenance buildings located at the Front of Area 72 to free up room there for a new flat ride.

[gforce1994]

16 minutes ago, CoastersRZ said:

The placement would be curious if they are needed soil core sample locations.  Orion’s maintenance track, station, and queue are all in the way.  Unless they are testing to determine the soil bearing pressure to relocate one or some of the maintenance buildings located at the Front of Area 72 to free up room there for a new flat ride.

The thing is the bores are not in an arrangement that would indicate a building. The randomness of the bores screams a coasters. We have seen bores taken at KI in the past. At the beginning of the 2018 there were bores by the old Dinosaurs Alive attraction.

Bores are usually for deep foundations, so, that of in itself would rule out maintenance buildings.

[SonofBaconator]

I doubt a new coaster would be built literally right next to our brand new giga within a short amount of time; perhaps a decade or so down the road but not anytime soon. 

In regards to expansion I think it would be a great spot. You certanly have room under the giant break run for foot traffic underneath and the area to the left of Orion's entrance would make a great pathway. It would give KI the opportunity to truly expand outwards beyond current park limits and push into old LCS land.

My question would be, would you let it dead end behind Orion's break run or would you have a path wrap around FoF?

 

[FUN&ONLY!]

Area 72 is a relatively small area, so I would really like to see an expansion. However, it is going to be hard to expand Area 72 behind Orion without creating some sort of bottleneck.

[SonofBaconator]

Also, we have to acknowledge the giant space behind BLSC

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

I highly doubt this means anything. Also, it would be difficult to expand back there. You can't just add a path to a couple flats. You need to have extra things like food/drink stands, games, gift shops, etc. I think the area left of FOF would be better for a flat ride. 

[purdude86]

2 hours ago, CoastersRZ said:

The placement would be curious if they are needed soil core sample locations.  Orion’s maintenance track, station, and queue are all in the way.  Unless they are testing to determine the soil bearing pressure to relocate one or some of the maintenance buildings located at the Front of Area 72 to free up room there for a new flat ride.

This would be a nice idea honestly. It would allow plenty of easy expansion for the area where the current buildings are as well as to the side of FoF. 

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Might want to calm down the thread before Coaster Nation creates a 2 page article on how this is a 200 foot wing coaster and John Matarese starts a whole story on it lol. 

[calakapepe]

Laughed at your arrow for the lady with her phone XD

[FUN&ONLY!]

31 minutes ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Might want to calm down the thread before Coaster Nation creates a 2 page article on how this is a 200 foot wing coaster and John Matarese starts a whole story on it lol. 

I actually wouldn’t mind if John Materese made a story about it. WCPO would reach out to Kings Island, so they would probably release a statement on it like with the markers at the front of the park.

[MrSourNinja]

1 hour ago, purdude86 said:

This would be a nice idea honestly. It would allow plenty of easy expansion for the area where the current buildings are as well as to the side of FoF. 

I agree. The maintenance shed next to the break run I feel fits better than a flat ride as well.

[DiamondbackFan]

Have we ruled out gophers?

[IndyGuy4KI]

14 hours ago, gforce1994 said:

The thing is the bores are not in an arrangement that would indicate a building. The randomness of the bores screams a coasters. We have seen bores taken at KI in the past. At the beginning of the 2018 there were bores by the old Dinosaurs Alive attraction.

Bores are usually for deep foundations, so, that of in itself would rule out maintenance buildings.

Come on @gforce1994. Every time the park moves dirt, puts up a flag, mows the grass, or marks a tree for removal you jump right to a coaster. Let's expand our possibilities and include all ideas. That is what makes a discussion like this fun.

[SonofBaconator]

Because it makes perfect sense to start building a brand new coaster right next to our new giga, especially when it disregards the empty hole where Vortex used to be.

[Dj325]

13 hours ago, Hawaiian Coasters 325 said:

Might want to calm down the thread before Coaster Nation creates a 2 page article on how this is a 200 foot wing coaster and John Matarese starts a whole story on it lol. 

Yeah. Don't want another RMC Son of Beast situation. LoL

 

10 hours ago, DiamondbackFan said:

Have we ruled out gophers?

LoL

[starlitfire]

While I doubt KI has immediate plans to build a coaster behind Orion and FoF, I could easily imagine a couple of sci-fi flats to fill out the area. While I'm not as well versed on flat rides as I am on coasters, I could imagine a Musik Express-type ride fitting in well with the theme.

Edit to add: I did a quick search of flat rides and found Zamperla's flat pages section of their website. I think a Giant Air Race would fit as well. Link to Zamperla's website

Edited June 24, 2021 by starlitfire
Added another flat ride to my speculation list.

[IndyGuy4KI]

1 hour ago, starlitfire said:

Edit to add: I did a quick search of flat rides and found Zamperla's flat pages section of their website. I think a Giant Air Race would fit as well. Link to Zamperla's website

Make them little UFO's. That would fit and be very fun.

[BeeastFarmer]

It could also be remnants of Firehawk.  With Orion costing 32 million dollars, they may have not excavated everything from it and just did some soil covering.

[Oldschool75]

It could also be remnants of Firehawk.  With Orion costing 32 million dollars, they may have not excavated everything from it and just did some soil covering.

Did you not read my post? The area was graded. There are no remnants of Firehawk.


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[SonofBaconator]

1 hour ago, Oldschool75 said:

Did you not read my post? The area was graded. There are no remnants of Firehawk.


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Not trying to exclude any possibilities, but weren't there a ton of construction vehicles in that area when Orion was being built?

[BeeastFarmer]

1 hour ago, Oldschool75 said:

Did you not read my post? The area was graded. There are no remnants of Firehawk.


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Your post mentioned nothing about grading, excavation, or Firehawk.  To quote:  "Just an observation from riding Orion multiple times this year. It appears there may have been some core samplings done on the other side of Orion's fence. What I see are small round spots in the grass that appear to be filled in with gravel. These spots aappear to be fresh. The photos don't really show as clearly as the view from Orion, but you can't take pictures from rides. LOL"

 

My post said they have have left part of Firehawk (footings, ancillary concrete etc) in the ground after they excavated the land that was needed for Orion.  This may have been done out of the immediate construction area to save costs--I believe it was a $32 million coaster.  I am postulating as is everyone, including you (unless you have insider information, which by KIC TOS you must reveal).  So I have no idea if this was the case in the land grading after they excavated.  I saw it numerous times in my previous career.  
 

[Oldschool75]

21 minutes ago, BeeastFarmer said:

Your post mentioned nothing about grading, excavation, or Firehawk.  To quote:  "Just an observation from riding Orion multiple times this year. It appears there may have been some core samplings done on the other side of Orion's fence. What I see are small round spots in the grass that appear to be filled in with gravel. These spots aappear to be fresh. The photos don't really show as clearly as the view from Orion, but you can't take pictures from rides. LOL"

 

My post said they have have left part of Firehawk (footings, ancillary concrete etc) in the ground after they excavated the land that was needed for Orion.  This may have been done out of the immediate construction area to save costs--I believe it was a $32 million coaster.  I am postulating as is everyone, including you (unless you have insider information, which by KIC TOS you must reveal).  So I have no idea if this was the case in the land grading after they excavated.  I saw it numerous times in my previous career.  
 

You might want to look above the last photo   

 

Also, the grass did not grow until well after Orion was completed. 

[BeeastFarmer]

6 minutes ago, Oldschool75 said:

You might want to look above the last photo   

 

Also, the grass did not grow until well after Orion was completed. 

I stand corrected, I did not read that portion of your post until you pointed it out.

I did not pay that close attention when I was at the park yesterday (I like to enjoy the here and now).  You have been or did.  But until things develop further (or not), I do think that it could be remnants of destruction or construction of Orion.  I think that is prime real estate for future development, but they have bigger fish to fry currently:  Action Zone, Snoopy, Soak City and a big plot of land where Vortex once stood.  Plus, a 50th anniversary celebration for next year.  Not to mention having to deal with the after effects of a pandemic locally and chain wide.  It would make more sense to let the new Area 72 mature before adding to it.  But I am not an amusement park designer or planner.

And I am a little confused about the last picture--are you saying this was a construction picture?  There is a train on the track with people in it, and it is not a clear picture.  If those spots that look like core drills are remnants that were covered, it would make sense that they appear now.  If they were covered with a few inches to a foot of soil, it can wash away and whatever seed mixture was sown usually dies off quickly with thin soil and sunlight.

Regardless, I do hope your theory ends up being correct and we do eventually have an expanded Area 72.  

[Hawaiian Coasters 325]

Made an Area 72 expansion idea. It involves demolishing the current maintenance buildings and building new ones on the other side of Orion (red rectangles). It is based on Carowinds Aeronautica Landing and would feature 3 new flats: A Zamperla Air Race and Nebulaz, a gravitron ride, and a trabant. It would also feature a new restaurant with a patio and bar overlooking Orion.

  

[Taylor.B03]

We all know that this is just prep for Orion's extension 

[Taylor.B03]

32 minutes ago, Taylor.B03 said:

We all know that this is just prep for Orion's extension 

Well I just realized that this discussion is 1 year old