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Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

p. 832: Camp Snoopy announced for 2024!

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So wait just to be clear after this weekend Firehawk won’t be open again until the last weekend in October?

I'm pretty sure it's open every weekend (if all goes well) starting this weekend until the end of October. Then it's closed for good.

 

Damn we’re going to miss it’s last operation weekend by one weekend. Yeah after having to cancel two trips to park over the summer we planned third trip for October which turns out will be the weekend before. I’ve already ridden a Vekoma Flyer(Nighthawk) but none of my friends have ever ridden a one so I really wanted them to ride Firehawk.

Not sure what you mean. It will be open for you guys, just won't be the last weekend.

 

From Twitter

R.I.P. Firehawk. Final rides will begin this weekend, with its last days of operation occurring during the final weekend of Halloween Haunt and The Great Pumpkin Fest, October 26-28.

Reading comprehension, people.

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It scared me too, but that was mostly because I couldn't shake the irrational fear of it falling apart mid-flight! I kept pushing up on the armrests because for some reason I thought that not applying all of my weight to the restraints would help. Really didn't care for any of the Vekoma Flying Dutchman coasters. Whatever is to come is guaranteed to be better.

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So wait just to be clear after this weekend Firehawk won’t be open again until the last weekend in October?

I'm pretty sure it's open every weekend (if all goes well) starting this weekend until the end of October. Then it's closed for good.

 

Damn we’re going to miss it’s last operation weekend by one weekend. Yeah after having to cancel two trips to park over the summer we planned third trip for October which turns out will be the weekend before. I’ve already ridden a Vekoma Flyer(Nighthawk) but none of my friends have ever ridden a one so I really wanted them to ride Firehawk.

Not sure what you mean. It will be open for you guys, just won't be the last weekend.

 

From Twitter

R.I.P. Firehawk. Final rides will begin this weekend, with its last days of operation occurring during the final weekend of Halloween Haunt and The Great Pumpkin Fest, October 26-28.

Reading comprehension, people.

 

Yeah I misinterpreted the wording in the article a little bit. Regardless I’m looking forward to finally getting to this park and. I’m already planning on buying fastlane+ (at the park though) since were only going to the park on the 20th and I want to make the most out of it.

Edited by 9Armgeddon4
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It’s not a smooth B&M but I still really enjoyed my ride on Firehawk. I’ll definitely miss that “oh shit” moment when the first time your life relies on the restraints is 115ft up in the air, and floating through the top of that loop at the back seat and then immediately landing on your back (it’s more punchy than a B&M Pretzel Loop IMO)

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The B&M versions load faster, have more forces, don't put people through the elements on their back's for 2/3s of the ride, and don't shake like a Mexican Space Shuttle. I last rode Firehawk in 2009 and I've been to KI like 5-6 times since. I honestly forget the park even has it because it is so out of my consciousness. Being a stan for the Flying Dutchmen is a form of mental illness IMO. The only downside to me is that the 500 or so people who sat in line for that hunk of crap for two hours will need to go somewhere else and occupy other space.

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I have only ridden Firehawk at KI once, but X-Flight was butter smooth...Interesting to hear if it was rough at KI. We also had a really awesome maintenance guy at GL that genuinely loved XF, he babied that thing! Was the only ride that got a wheel greasin' (surface of the wheels, not the bearing area) almost every morning, that I know of. They didn't do that on Steel Venom or Dominator or anything. Perhaps a Vekoma requirement lol. Either way, that thing was never rough in the slightest bit at GL.

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I have only ridden Firehawk at KI once, but X-Flight was butter smooth...Interesting to hear if it was rough at KI. We also had a really awesome maintenance guy at GL that genuinely loved XF, he babied that thing! Was the only ride that got a wheel greasin' (surface of the wheels, not the bearing area) almost every morning, that I know of. They didn't do that on Steel Venom or Dominator or anything. Perhaps a Vekoma requirement lol. Either way, that thing was never rough in the slightest bit at GL.

 

I remember back in 2001 having the Vekoma engineers on site before the ride opened to the public and they proved to us you can ride without the vest, fun fun times. The Dutch are insane!

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I remember back in 2001 having the Vekoma engineers on site before the ride opened to the public and they proved to us you can ride without the vest, fun fun times. The Dutch are insane!

 

Heard about that from the select few who got to partake in that experience Not sure i'd do it, but it's still crazy to think about. I can just imagine these torso's flopping around when in the flying position lol.

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I never found these rides to be all that rough, but I also don’t find them to be all that good and I never ride them because of their atrocious capacities and wait times.

 

Agreed. Not bad but just not good either. I didn't even bother riding it on my last visit (2016) and with Banshee, Diamondback and The Beast on site among other better coasters why would you? Bring on the new hotness!

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With the exception of Tatsu's pretzel loop, I generally find the Vekoma flyers more forceful and intense overall. However they are also much more awkward, loud, and rattly (in the case of Nighthawk). They're not completely horrible rides, but if Six Flags America and Carowinds follow suit in the next few years, I won't really shed a tear.

 

Can't wait to see what replaces Firehawk.

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I never found these rides to be all that rough, but I also don’t find them to be all that good and I never ride them because of their atrocious capacities and wait times.

 

I hear you on that. The times that I've ridden Batwing, it takes several minutes for a dispatch.

 

That and laying on my back and going up the lift hill staring at the sun isn't fun.

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This was actually my favorite ride at Geauga Lake and I was surprised at how much I still enjoyed it when I rode again a decade later as Firehawk. It felt a lot smoother to me than Nighthawk. I'm disappointed to lose it over Vortex, but I'm talking as a dispassionate, California enthusiast who has only been to Kings Island twice. I'm sure if I was an Ohio local with the same nostalgia for Vortex that I have for Viper I'd be happy with this decision too.

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I never found these rides to be all that rough, but I also don’t find them to be all that good and I never ride them because of their atrocious capacities and wait times.

 

I hear you on that. The times that I've ridden Batwing, it takes several minutes for a dispatch.

 

That and laying on my back and going up the lift hill staring at the sun isn't fun.

 

That was the worst part of the experience, if you ask me! That's why I haven't ridden it except at night in forever! Going to ride it for the last time tonight!

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KI is my home park and I typically rode Firehawk about once a year. I enjoy the ride, and I think it's fun and relatively smooth. The vertical loop was a lot of fun in that the movement was the opposite of the B&M Pretzel Loops and gave negative G's at the top, as opposed to high positive G's at the bottom of a Pretzel Loop. It's just not worth it for the lines that this thing gets. I laughed when this was added to the FLP, but I understand that decision was likely based on wait times.

 

If the 2020 B&M is a Flyer, I look forward to the mutiny on social media.

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I've ridden plenty times in the past years and never, ever found the ride rough, at all. It feels buttery smooth, to me, especially for being a Vekoma.

 

I actually enjoy the ride experience (moreso in the last cars), but I never found it worth the atrociously long waits and slow dispatch times it usually has. The fact the queue is hidden from the main pathway doesn't help, either. I won't miss it because I'm very, very confident whatever Kings Island plans to replace it with will be much more worth it.

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It’ll be interesting to see if CF is on a mission to rid their parks of fliers in the same way they are hellbent in ridding the parks of stand-ups. For those hoping Firehawk will be replaced with a B&M version... I think if CF had any interest, they would have jumped on that bandwagon back when fliers were in vogue. It just ain’t happening, and the removal of Firehawk just solidifies that.

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