CoasterKrazy Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 Can anyone give a description of what Top Gun was going to be, before Paramount bought Kings Island? I've heard from several places that it was originally going to be called "Thunder Run" or something to that effect, but I always wondered if any themeing had been planned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN1993 Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 I heard it woud be called Thunder Rod not Thunder Run. I dont no any thing else Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN1993 Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 Paramount's Kings Island: 1993 – The park becomes Paramount’s Kings Island. A suspended roller coaster, to be named Thunder Road by the former owners, is added and named Top Gun, beginning Paramount’s trend of naming most major new rides after one of their movies or television shows. Top Gun is located in what was once part of the Wild Animal Habitat and has the longest queue in the park. The Wild Animal Habitat & Monorail are closed at the end of the season. This is from the PKI CENTRAL timeline SORRY about the double post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harvesterofyoursorrow Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 Thunder Road was probably going to be themed to somthing like a race, hence Thunder ROAD. I'm not sure what it would of been exatly but that is my best guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkikid Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 I heard it was supposed to be called "The Swoop", but that was late 1992 when I worked there before Paramount bought Kings Island. Although we did know we were getting a suspended coaster, we didn't know what it was supposed to do (i.e. loop. barrel roll, ect.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelixSpiral Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 I believe Swoop was one of the names under consideration before the Paramount buy-out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Keep in mind that pre-Paramount, there was very little actual themeing for any of the rides. (AE and PT were the two most elaborately themed rides up until 1993...) "Swoop" was a pretty cool name...since it was to have been in the safari themed area, an African bird theme could have been pretty cool. If it would have been named Thunder Road, I have no idea how that would have fit in... (Although, I guess it would have fit in as well as TG's military aircraft theme in a safari area ) Doesn't either PKD or Carowinds have a wooden coaster named Thunder Road? Joel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerNut Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 Yes, Thunder Road is wooden backwards/forewards coaster at Carowinds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN1993 Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 It is kinda the same as The Racer and RECAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortex Posted July 4, 2005 Share Posted July 4, 2005 (edited) Back them the park did not say to much just that a hanging coaster like The Bat was going to be in the park. Before Top Gun the only other rides in Wild Animal Habitat where Amazon Falls, King Cobra, and the monorail. The monorail only lasted two season with Paramount. Then later on Amazon Falls became Congo Falls and the rest of the land Action Zone. Also the colors for the coaster where going to be black and red. You can still see some red paint on the track in some areas that need to be repainted. Edited July 4, 2005 by Vortex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Also the colors for the coaster where going to be black and red. You can still see some red paint on the track in some areas that need to be repainted. Top Gun was red,black, and silver for its first few seaons, up until its first paint job (1996/97 or so?) Here's a link to the pic when it still had red track: http://www.rcdb.com/ig73.htm?picture=1 In comparison, here's the track after the re-paint: http://www.rcdb.com/ig73.htm?picture=4 Joel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flightoffear1996 Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 It looks better with the other colors but doesnt White Water Canyon have the longest que in the park? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harvesterofyoursorrow Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 No, counting the space starting from the skyflyer area entrance to TG, then everything under the station, its the longest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortex Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 Also the colors for the coaster where going to be black and red. You can still see some red paint on the track in some areas that need to be repainted. Top Gun was red,black, and silver for its first few seaons, up until its first paint job (1996/97 or so?) Here's a link to the pic when it still had red track: http://www.rcdb.com/ig73.htm?picture=1 In comparison, here's the track after the re-paint: http://www.rcdb.com/ig73.htm?picture=4 Joel I ment that the ride theme colors where red and black. Sorry like I said pki did not give alot of information out. I will have to ask my friend that would know or he might have forgot its been a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortex Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 The reason the line is so long for Top Gun was you had to walk around the monorail station and then under that track. The Tunnel at the start of line was used for the monorail track. So when they took down the station the line just got alot bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 That is an excellent point! Also, was the "downstairs" themed portion of the station used any after the clearing of the monorail? The lengthened queue after the removal of the monorail may also contribute to why the "aircraft carrier" is no longer used... Joel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIVortex Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 The theme area under the station was used quite a few years after the Wild Animal Habitat was no longer used. It was probably the late 90's I beleive when they quit using the theming area of the que. But I could be wrong on the exact date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 I am glad that Paramount bought the park because where else would we hve got our theming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelixSpiral Posted July 6, 2005 Share Posted July 6, 2005 It was probably the late 90's I beleive when they quit using the theming area of the que. But I could be wrong on the exact date. 1999 was the last season that the radar area was used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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