Vortex

Opened: April 11, 1987

Closed: October 27, 2019

Cost: $4 million

Type: Steel sit down, multi-element coaster

Track Length: 3,800

Lift Height: 148 feet

Drop of first hill: 138 feet   Angle of first Hill: 55 degrees

Maximum Speed; 50 miles per hour

Ride Time: 2 minutes, 30 seconds

Number of inversions: 6      1^st– 72’ high         2^nd– 62’ high       Corkscrew- 30’ high, 200’ long

Designed by: Arrow Dynamics

Manufactured by: Trains and track by Arrow Dynamics. Southern Ohio Fabricators manufactured the support columns.

Materials: 1,000 tons of steel

Hourly Capacity: 1,500 people per hour

Location: Coney Mall

Ridership: 46,030,684 riders from 1987 to Oct. 27th 2019, 7th most in park history.  Its record year was 1987 with 2,183,642- the most ever in one year by a new attraction at Kings Island. Each of the three trains traveled over 399,000 miles, the equivalent of 16 times around the world! (Numbers through the 2019 season).

World Records:  Vortex was the first coaster to feature six inversions.

Miscellaneous: Vortex has two vertical loops, one double corkscrew and one boomerang. Vortex reused the station from The Bat (the original coaster by that name that opened in 1981).  Also, some of the stairs from The Bat were reused to access Vortex`s block brake.

Fan tip: Many roller coaster enthusiasts have a favorite seat on Vortex. Try reading opinions from park fans on the KIC forum.

Construction

 

Photos

 

Vortex’s Last Operating Day on 10/27/19.