prozach626

"Heartbreaking." Easily triggered.

^Agreed. Judging by the size, Orion's first hill looks like it should be taken with a lot of speed.

Great coverage so far. I always enjoy TPR IAAPA updates to get me looking forward to the next season. I'm sure some of the gripes can get a bit discouraging, but thanks for continuing to do your thing. Yeah. I'm sure it won't be a successful investment... Roller coaster enthusiasts praise GCI for their classic wooden coaster layouts, but when it comes to B&M's classic steel coaster layouts it's somehow cool to make fun of them. Not everything needs to be ground breaking to be good. The closest comparison I can make to roller coasters are sporty cars, which I also happen to enjoy. Driver oriented cars deliver great visuals and an engaging experience. There are so many innovative/different models that are a blast to drive like my STI, the Honda Type R, Golf R, Toyota Supra, etc. In the end, the American general public has a lot more interest in the classic American muscle car. It's a crowd pleaser even though they maintain the mostly unchanged formula of high horse power V8's, somewhat conservative looks, and a more comfortable experience than some of the more aggressive feeling styling such as the aforementioned cars. Incremental improvements are made with each model, but the general concept remains the same. Muscle cars don't fit my personal tastes, but to say muscle cars haven't been a huge success among the masses and using what definitely works is just close minded. Props for being cool, I guess? Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand how with so many new and exciting rides being constructed this year, which are on display at IAAPA, someone could be wanting more. I enjoy seeing the different ride vehicles. I remember seeing TPR reports ten years ago when there were cool models and physical designs displayed. With computer animations being so good right now, there's not as much of a need to haul in props. It's hard for some people to come to grips that IAAPA isn't a playground for enthusiasts. This isn't intended to be an all-you-can-eat carnival food buffet with a side of toys and models. IAAPA's intentions are business oriented.

That first drop and up into the hill looks a lot meaner than it did in the animations.

It's the same color that was on KI's animations.

Hmmmmm. This makes me think maybe you haven't ridden Afterburn at Carowinds.

I agree. Banshee is a front row ride for me, too.

"Clueless?" Your post came off as really condescending, just like most of the posts in this thread. I'll just leave this idiotic gem here:

The fact that Kings Island has trolled enthusiasts from the very beginning of this project only solidifies it as my favorite park. Tearing down Firehawk, 287 feet, Vortex closure, webcam outages/positioning? How about the announcement of antique cars on National Roller Coaster Day? Best park ever!

Worlds of fun (short stay) ---> Silver Dollar City ---> Six Flags St. Louis (short stay) ---> Holiday World and Kentucky Kingdom in one day ----> Kings Island ---> Cedar Point ---> Kennywood ---> Knoebels Just one way to squeeze in SDC.

Kings Island has a time lapse of the lift/first drop construction on their Facebook page. There is already a lot of controversy claiming that KI didn't live stream the webcams during the construction of the lift/drop to keep it from the public... for no good reason. I'm enjoying trolling these comments, very much. Well done KI! You've taken the spotlight off of the "It's not a giga" debate.

Either way, I had a few frighteningly fast rides on the Beast 1987-1989 (including during the Beast 10th anniversary party in March of '89... in the rain and snow!) People argue endlessly about how the Beast used to be (which usually includes the 1979 POV of the ride, fresh and tight, running very slow during a test run). The discussion is usually ... "well, you were young and you just remember if faster!" No. It was definitely faster on a regular basis. If you got a brakeless Beast ride back then, you knew it. If it went past half-way up the 2nd lift, you got what was (back then) considered a brakeless or near-brakeless ride. 1989 was my last fast ride on Beast. By 1992 (we would drive over from Cedar Point on days off), it seemed Beast lost all it's bite. Forward to the 2000s, and another big step-down in speed. Still fun, and will always be special to me, but not but a shade of what it used to be. Bummer to me, but it's life. Since we are in the Great America thread... there is the case of a brakeless American Eagle! What a treat that was. When the track is in top condition AND the brakes are off, I call that "Voyage meets Phoenix." True magic. You could get a taste of that around 2009-2010 when Shapiro was in charge. Eagle was his favorite coaster in the chain, and made sure it was kept in good condition and ran fast, albeit for a short period. It's back to it's usual self, but I still love it. Late 80s was horrible as the wooden track on the out run made it nearly un-rideable. Then they added the hybrid track; it's got that vibration, but it still runs fairly well. I'm too lazy to look it up, but there's actually a video that has been shared which compares vintage footage from Beast compared to modern footage. The speed is nearly identical. The one big change that has been made is that the skid pad has been replaced with a magnetic brake. The magnetic brake slows the train more abruptly, but not any more than it used to.

Although you could overcome it, one thing that comes to mind is that the park is incredibly hilly. Of course it goes without saying that ice and snow on pavement is generally not a good thing with a hilly terrain such as Holiday World. Also, HW only has so many locals who visit. I don't think you're going to bring people in from far away for that kind of event. Before anyone starts to argue that last point; Holiday World is not Dollywood or Silver Dollar City, and it's not in a tourist destination area.

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^Cedar Fair ran out of dark orange paint. Even I chuckled at the video from outside of the park where Diamondback looks bigger than Orion. The lifts oriented in the same direction don't help. This may be the most 'basic bitch' of the 'basic bitch' B&M gigas. I still hold that if it comes even close to the lesser B&M giga, being Leviathan, it will still kick ass. The whole thing is hilarious and I love it. Watching all of the anger, frustration, crying, bitching, and waves of all other E-drama unfold has been a troll's dream. Yet, at the same time I'm watching Orion go up and I can't help but to think that strictly from a visual standpoint this thing is starting to actually 'look' like Diamondback 2.0, as others have complained about. Especially for those who don't know what they're looking at. I'm certain I'll enjoy the hell out of this thing. Bring on the runway size brake run! I hope the calculations are wrong and the drop ends up being 298 feet. #notmygiga #imwithfury

You must be new here. Have a seat.

Thanks! Maybe it's the new Hannibarrels?

A couple more: Photo credit: Amusement Insiders Facebook Page

^^^ It wasn't worth being preserved. It's been repeatedly explained from a common sense financial point of view that parks keep attractions based on ridership and cost. King's Island is a business, not a museum. At this point, I can't tell if you're trolling. American Airlines retired one of their airplane models from their fleet just prior to Vortex closing. We saw banners and tributes in DFW when we were coming home from a trip. A week later, I saw a long segment on a news network about it. The planes were outdated and they didn't deliver as much rider comfort and efficiency as other modern aircraft. However, there were a ton of pilots, crew members, and maintenance techs who were pretty sad about the aircraft being retired. For quite a while, the airplanes were an icon for American Airlines. Despite some actual tears, not one person interviewed made mention of the possibility of preserving the airplanes. Related: According to every other coaster enthusiast Facebook user, Vortex was their #1 coaster on its final day of operation. It's going to land a solid #7 on the list.

We'll have to see when the lift is all topped off and we can get right up close and personal with it. The overall diameter of the lift is more and the supports will be wider and more spread out. The lift may not be that much taller, but I think when it's topped off it will look larger and more imposing. Despite only 70 feet of height difference, Leviathan's lift looked much larger than Behemoth's lift. Although 20'ish feet shy from that example height difference, it should still have a similar affect.

^^Word Now... Feast your eyes on this hyper coaster: #notmygiga [youtu_be] [/youtu_be] Space Odyssey music would or something have been more appropriate, but you know. Leave it to a Midwest city to ffck everything up just right. Not mad about it. Photo credit: Amusement Insiders FB page

Yeah, I remember that components were modified. I wasn't sure if that had anything to do with it or not. I bet I'll roll some eyes with this sentiment, but I wonder if there's any chance we'll see Boomerang head to the scrap yard within the next few years.

Worst time for disabling the webcam ever. fml

What is the matter with Boomerang? Are the issues always different? Is it age related? I've seen it running once. I'm glad Xcaliber looks like it's going to make a comeback soon. HITP, or next year?

PLEASE!