Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

My guess would be Vortex based on the line "The air is eerily calm."

 

That has me thinking Vortex as well (unless it's Windseeker, for some reason). I have an irrational love of Arrow Megaloopers, so I'm hoping that's just a throwaway line, and not a hint.

Apparently there are 12 chairs around wind seeker and a grave. I don't know if this is just a standard prop used before??? Or a hint. I don't know if it would make sense to put a coaster station there, or go out of their way to make an element by wind seeker.

Windseeker fits that clue as well, and it is close enough to Dinos Alive to probably make a station work for that area with track passing over or around Racer somehow. I doubt remember if those decorations were there last year for haunt or not unfortunately. Aren't the windseekers kinda unreliable as well?

Isn't CGA supposed to get a Windseeker within the next few years?

Firehawk is a flying coaster with a test pilot “theme” so the calm skies part fits. It’s also notoriously unreliable and is in the way of accessing all that land where the dinos were, and also back into the animal safari land that leads all the way back around to Banshee, including where SOB’s helix/MCBR structure was.

The Bat was just repainted etc in 2014, Invertigo is a tiny footprint (unless Congo Falls and the amphitheater also come out), and WindSeeker has gotten over its initial reliability problems. Vortex has extremely high capacity and has had the aforementioned foundation refurb.

My “vote” based on how they’ve worded that sign, and the factors I just mentioned, is Firehawk.

Edit: Also, check out the wording on this page. Firehawk’s listing and ride page are obviously still there, but take a good look at the introductory text, and you’ll notice something missing... https://www.visitkingsisland.com/play/rides-coasters

I would hope that Firehawk is the coaster getting the axe, but I hope it gets relocated to a smaller property within the chain. It could be a top-notch ride at a number of other parks. Kings Island just hasn't struck me as the park for it.

As for Vortex, even if it's old technology, it seems like a good fit there, and it's a nice people-eater. I think it has life still left within it.

With a lot of the reliability problems being related to the track switchers for the dual stations, if they converted to single station, it would work well at a smaller park. KI needs capacity and sometimes it feels like Firehawk’s is even lower than Invertigo.

The awkward restraint system doesn’t help, either.

Capacity is my biggest criticism of its placement at Kings Island. I worked it as X-Flight at Geauga Lake in 2005 (hence my selection of a Vekoma avatar), and even though we really made it our mission to check those trains as efficiently as possible, you can only move so fast. The slow recline didn't help matters. Even with both stations running, things just don't move too quickly. At a smaller park in the chain, it wouldn't be much of a problem, but Kings Island needs people-eaters.

It’s too bad none of the Dutchmen ever got the original onboard recline-on-lift to work, that would have helped capacity a lot and allowed for three train op.

Even though Vortex's popularity has been declining gradually over the years, it still give more rides than people think (it's a people eater - so yes there will be many times when it's a straight walk-on, but lines don't necessarily indicate ridership!)

 

As of 2014, it still got over 1m riders.

 

Granted, it's probably well below that by now, but I could imagine its still in the 750k range.

 

As far as I know, Arrow loopers are among the most inexpensive coasters to operate (as is most sit-down coasters with a traditional chain lift.)

 

Whatever Vortex's ridership is now, I still don't think the yearly total operating cost / # of riders is high enough to justify its removal.

Where does that ridership info come from? I love that.

 

Anyway, I generally agree with you but I also know most of the Arrow mega-loopers have been removed in recent years so I wonder if they just have a shelf life due to their design. I mean honestly couldn’t it come down to how thick the tubular steel track is or something as simple as that? At a certain point a steel coaster requires retracking or removal and obviously due to cost most just get removed. I wish they could just replace track easily like a wooden coaster.

Kings Island used to post ridership numbers on their website, but stopped doing so after 2015. I found those numbers archived on KI Central...

In the meantime, I also stumbled across some more numbers, from 2015...

I've seen a lot of comments on social media all but begging for it to be Firehawk. Am I the only one that loves that ride? I know most people aren't quite as much of a fan of it as I am, but I didn't think I'd see people wanting to see it torn down.

 

King's Island has such a good lineup though, there's really nothing I wouldn't be a little sad to see gone. Adventure Express would be tolerable, Vortex would only be missed a little, almost anything else would be pretty sad.

 

Anything but The Bat, though. We're losing those coasters too fast, and The Bat is definitely the best one we have left...

 

I hope it isn't Firehawk either. I just love that flying coaster as it is quite an adrenaline rush! As for the other coasters rumoured for removal, I would be sad to see them go too as I greatly enjoyed all of them during my July 2014 and June 2016 visits. Unfortunately nothing lasts forever, but thankfully I do have some wonderful photos and memories riding the coasters rumoured for removal at Kings Island during my two visits to the park.

Totally agree.

I personally like Firehawk a lot, and its without question favorite Vekoma (even though that's not saying much).

Factoring in capacity and reliability, it doesn't do that well if you're one to consider the "overall experience" of rides, but the ride itself is pretty solid IMO...

Or at least, its certainly superior to any one of those sleeping pills on wheels Six Flags knows as Supermen: Ultimate Flight...

A lot of people complain about Firehawk's lift hill, having to face directly toward the sun, and the ARB's being really loud, but if you ask me I'd rather have that than being stuck in the flying position when in the station and waiting on the final brake-run.

And from my experiences on S:UF at SFGAd, B&M flyers don't seem to be that reliable either. Perhaps I had just been unlucky, but of the 4 times I've been to Great Adventure, S:UF had at least one prolonged technical delay/issue, whether it was waiting in line, or worse, ON THE RIDE.

One time, I was stuck in the flying position for 20 minutes! Not a fun experience. Felt like I was going to pass out and die. If I get stuck on a Vekoma flyer though, oh well, then I can just take a nice nap haha.

Firehawk is a flying coaster with a test pilot “theme” so the calm skies part fits. It’s also notoriously unreliable and is in the way of accessing all that land where the dinos were, and also back into the animal safari land that leads all the way back around to Banshee, including where SOB’s helix/MCBR structure was.

 

The Bat was just repainted etc in 2014, Invertigo is a tiny footprint (unless Congo Falls and the amphitheater also come out), and WindSeeker has gotten over its initial reliability problems. Vortex has extremely high capacity and has had the aforementioned foundation refurb.

 

My “vote” based on how they’ve worded that sign, and the factors I just mentioned, is Firehawk.

 

Edit: Also, check out the wording on this page. Firehawk’s listing and ride page are obviously still there, but take a good look at the introductory text, and you’ll notice something missing... https://www.visitkingsisland.com/play/rides-coasters

Just because a ride was just rehabbed, doesn't mean anything. There are several examples out there. Witches wheel is one of them.

Isn't CGA supposed to get a Windseeker within the next few years?

The CGA master plan shows a Star Flyer. Valleyfair put one in last year. With the KBF debacle, I doubt California would approve another Windseeker in the state.

The Bat was just repainted etc in 2014, Invertigo is a tiny footprint (unless Congo Falls and the amphitheater also come out), and WindSeeker has gotten over its initial reliability problems. Vortex has extremely high capacity and has had the aforementioned foundation refurb.

Carowinds was in the process of a multi-year, multi-milion dollar refurb of Thunder Road and still took it out in 2015 due to unforeseen lift hill structural problems that were going to cost more than it was worth to keep. They also repainted a pair of slides for Carolina Harbor in 2016 to only rip them out at the end of that season for the new County Fair. Cedar Fair is not a newbie when it comes to rehabbing attractions and pulling them out a year later (or the same year). For all we know, Vortex, while perfectly safe to operate currently, may have some issues in the long run that we're not aware of that were found when doing the foundation refurb. Not saying they did, but it's in the realm of possibility.

So is there a possibility that this ride (windseeker??) may be being removed in relation to the antique cars? Or, could we be seeing early clearing and construction next year for 2019's addition?

After Coasterstock 2018, I think all are of the opinion that Firehawk is an expendable part of Kings Island's coaster collection. Axe it. Burn dat ish down. Put in more picnic groves and gazebos. The PG won't notice.

Firehawk is really not loved by the park guests (not just enthusiasts) given its locations, operations, the fact that it's known as "that coaster behind Flight of Fear that we might as well ride since it took so long get over here" and general nature of Firewhawk being the only major coaster in the park that was never actually weaved into the parks footprint (e.g. it feels thrown between a field and the utility roads and if I didn't know any better, I would think I was at Six Flags America). The PG love the the charm of Kings Island, something KD, CGA, and Carrowinds never really maintained as well as Kings Island. Firehawk never fit into that (surprisingly, everything else in park does including Backlot Stunt Coaster, Vortex, and Flight of Fear).

If the ride could stand relocation again/shelf life beyond 5+ more years, Michigan Adventure would love Firehawk (and is the only Cedar Fair park that could make space for the darn contraption).

Actually, as much as it'd be nice to see MiA get a new (to them) coaster, I actually feel it's more likely that Dorney Park actually gets the love first, and when you look at the space given by the removed Stinger (and relocating the Flyers), and the empty field next to it, Firehawk would actually fit in well there also. Furthermore, it could be marketed (which really, is always going to be prime rationale when it comes to adding coasters into parks) as Pennsylvania's ONLY flying coaster - which in a coaster and amusement park packed state like Pennsylvania, would be saying something. As others have stated, a coaster with as atrocious of capacity as Firehawk has, really is better suited to operate in a park that has very minimal lines as it is. Hmmm... I wonder which park in CF's chain is notorious for non-existent lines... Until the novelty wears off, Flying coasters do generate GP interest, and I'm sure DP would see a nice spike in attendance next year were they to put it there. I know Michiganders would flock to MiA if it was put there! If a B&M Wing is the forthcoming 2020 coaster, a flying theme would definitely fit in well back there in that area.

KI is such a great park, but Firehawk just doesn't seem to fit in well there, and I never ride it unless it's Haunt, and dark out. I certainly wouldn't cry if Vortex bid adieu, since that coaster is murder on my body! But I just don't think its time has come quite yet...

Really pains me to read some of the responses here to firehawk, why would you want any coaster removed when they have the space to keep it AND build something new? I like firehawk, I like vortex, and they need to keep both. Removing a coaster is never good when there is so much space available that there is no need. KI isn’t running out of room like CP so keep them all and keep adding imo.

In fact, I’d take firehawk over any B&M forceless flyer any day of the week. Will be funny if they tear it down to build a b&m flyer instead of a giga you’re all praying for

It's not going to be a flat, it's going to be a coaster.

https://www.wlwt.com/article/rip-kings-island-confirms-one-of-its-biggest-roller-coasters-is-leaving/23398846

MASON, Ohio —Kings Island confirmed rumors Monday surrounding a grave site for one of its roller coasters.

 

Park officials said the ride leaving is one of the park's 16 roller coasters. Final rides will start this weekend, park officials said.

 

Guests at the annual Halloween Haunt were the first to see a new gravesite in the park's "ride graveyard."

 

The grave site was set up like a funeral service, hinting at the removal of one of their roller coasters with an RIP sign during its annual Halloween Haunt.

 

The sign reads, "The air is eerily calm as we make final preparations for the ill-fated demise of one of our own."

 

The sign shows a death date of Oct. 28, following by hashtags #RestInPiecesKI #ItsBigItsGone #RIP2018Ki.

 

Park officials said they will reveal what coaster is leaving later this week.

I am a big fan of B&M and Vekoma flyers. I am sure Thunderhawk gets home sick being away from GL and Moving Firehawk next to it would make it feel much better. If the good people of Ohio dont want it we will happily take it off your hands

Is anyone else getting a "funeral for Mean Streak" vibe off of this announcement so far?

I scrapped my plans to go to Haunt at KI last year, and instead had KI planned for 2020/2021 when I heard of the new coaster rumors.

If Vortex, Bat, or Adventure Express is getting scrapped, I'll make the trip for it. I have a soft spot for Arrow, and missing out on one of the custom loopers will really hurt. But if it's Invertigo or Firehawk, I won't feel too bad about missing it.

v Thanks for reminding me.

If it's the Bat I'll lose my shit, otherwise bye felicia.

I still stand by Vortex as the one that’s being removed. However, if it is Firehawk and though CF doesn’t actually do many relocations, Worlds of Fun would be a better park as it would be much more marketable there than at Dorney someone mentioned. WoF is in more need than Dorney for something big.

I'll be at least a little sad no matter which coaster is leaving, unless it's Invertigo (which I don't think it is). I just think that KI's coaster lineup is so solid and they all have a place there. Invertigo is the only coaster I skip when I visit outside of the 3/4 that are in Planet Snoopy.

Obviously there are many coasters that aren't leaving like Banshee, Diamondback, etc. but it would be a crime if they remove The Bat.

So, we know that a new B&M is in the works for 2020.

If it turns out to be Vortex I could see a B&M looper taking the place.

If it's Firehawk I could see the giga coaster becoming a reality.

Either route, I'm hoping Kings Island is starting to replace their older coasters with modern versions. I think they have a great diverse collection and they just need to hit the refresh button on a handful of coasters that were once the world's first/fastest/tallest, but aren't providing the thrills anymore.

If it's the Bat I'll lose my shit, otherwise bye felicia.

The Bat was the biggest surprise of all on a recent CP/KI trip. I didn't have high hopes after riding Iron Dragon. The Bat was a great ride. On one of my rides I sat front row with a guy who would give Robb a run for his money on vocals

After suffering through Nighthawk and Batwing, I'd have no qualms with it being Firehawk. I skipped it.

I liked Vortex, but it is a one ride per trip kind of ride for me. It's not the worst Arrow looper I've done (Corkscrew), but it certainly isn't the best (Loch Ness Monster).

None of KI's coasters blew me away, but I liked all of them. If I lived closer, I'd definitely head out there for a last ride on whatever is leaving.

They better not touch the flume, the bat or Adventure Express