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Kings Island
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cedar Fair Entertainment
 Park News - (11/20/20) Kings Island has confirmed on their blog that the park is replacing more than 500 feet of track on The Racer over the off-season. According to the description of the work involved, it looks like the re-tracking will take place from the bottom of the first drops all the way through to “the 65-foot tall forth hill on both sides of the ride”.
(10/4/20) Kings Island is offering up a piece of park history for sale. 1.5 inch track slices from the former Vortex coaster have been set up in an attractive display format that are now being offered for sale in the Kings Island Emporium gift shop… but it will set you back a pretty penny. The track slices are priced at $198.70 for the display kit that comes with a certificate of authenticity and signed by the park’s VP and GM, and include a Vortex postcard set. Park guests are limited to the purchase of just two, but if there are sets leftover they say they will begin selling them online as well starting the week of Oct. 5th.
(9/22/20) According to a reader who visited the park, they let us know that Kings Island was able to make the needed repairs to The Racer and they report seeing both sides of the coaster open once again over the weekend.
(9/18/20) According to a couple of guest reports sent in, The Racer at Kings Island was said to be closed as of over last weekend. Workers were spotted out on the tracks at one point with tools and the sound of saws could be heard. According to another source, The Racer had been closed for a couple of weeks prior, after some kind of issue came up with a very rough section of track on the Red side near Windseeker. It isn’t known if this section of the ride will be able to be repaired and re-tracked in time to reopen it before the end of the season or not.
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(9/7/20) According to a source, the markings spotted outside of Kings Island are not for a new attraction at all, but instead are for a $1.2 million waterline installation project that will run down a 10,300 foot stretch of Columbia Road. So sorry folks… nothing to see here.
(8/13/20) Coaster Nation has posted a new video showing off the survey markings spotted outside of the Kings Island entry plaza area this week that now run down along the parking lot to the left of the entrance all the way back to where the amipheather is.
If it wasn’t for the fact that the park just build Orion, I would be thinking that a new big roller coaster may be in the works, but this is a little too soon I think for that. So what could could they be planning? Could this perhaps be just some kind of planned infrastructure upgrade? Or maybe some form of tram that might run between the Great Wolf Lodge and the theme park entrance? You never can tell, so stay tuned.
(8/12/20) According to a post at CoasterNation, new construction markers have been spotted on the grounds just outside the entrance to Kings Island. Perhaps this could be for new infrastructure... or perhaps the park is considering some kind of new attraction that would run across the entrance plaza, much like Gatekeeper at Cedar Point.
(8/5/20) Kings Island has posted an update regarding the rest of their 2020 season. The park has confirmed that they will continue to operate on select days through to Nov. 1st. They will also launch a new family event starting Sept. 26 called Tricks and Treats Fall Fest. Unfortunately they have also cancelled Halloween Haunt and WinterFest.
(7/23/20) Much like Cedar Point, Kings Island has also removed the requirement to have a reservation in advance in order to visit the theme park. The park has also updated their calender to include August dates, though unfortunately it looks like things will quickly head to weekend only operations very soon.
(7/22/20) A big congratulations from Screamscape go out to Jared Ream. Jared has been a long time coaster fan, but over time and work/life choices, he gained weight to the point where it became difficult, if not impossible, to enjoy his love of coasters. When Kings Island announced that they would be building Orion last year, he was determined to drop the weight and ride Orion.
Over the course of the past year Jared was able to drop from a high weird of 430 pounds down to 240 pounds, a loss of an amazing 190 pounds over a 321 day time period which is just astounding. The story has a happy ending too as Jared went to Kings Island and took his victory rides on Orion once the park opened.
Jared was asked to post a playback of his journey online and you can read it here.
Way to go!
(7/11/20) A reader sent in a picture just taken at Kings Island showing off the former site of the park’s Vortex coaster as seen from the queue to The Beast’s station. Looking over the clearing you can actually still make out of couple pieces of track on the ground for some reason, but otherwise the site has been entirely cleared, with piles of concrete here and there.
With Orion now open, I guess we will have some time to build up speculation about what will replace Vortex in the future.
(6/23/20) Kings Island has released new details about the plans to reopen the theme park. The park will open only to season passholders starting on July 2 and will not open to regular guests until July 12, 2020. Reservations and face masks are required for everyone, and all guests must undergo a temperature scan before entry. If a member of your party scans at 100.4º or higher the entire party will be asked to reschedule their visit for another day.
(6/10/20) Kings Island will be reopening in a controlled series of phases, starting with opening just to passholders starting July 2-11. This will be followed by reopening to passholders and regular day guests starting on July 12, 2020. Reservations are required to get into the park in order to limit the overall capacity level and everyone must undergo a temperature screening before being allowed into the park and face masks are required.
(6/5/20) The latest update from Cedar Fair declares that their Ohio area theme parks (Cedar Point and Kings Island) have been cleared by the state to reopen. They are currently working out the details about how and when to reopen and should be ready to announce a date soon.
(5/10/20) Kings Island reports that they will delay the planned Grand Carnivale and Summer Nights special events planned for the park this summer until the 2021 season.
(3/22/20) On Friday afternoon all Cedar Fair owned theme parks announced on their social media streams the same basic message, stating that the plan for them was now to hopefully “reopen all properties mid-May or as soon thereafter as possible.” For some parks this will be a reopening, for others their seasons will be delayed by several weeks, but for a few this is just a delay of a week or two. Check your local park’s website as the date get closer to see each park’s actual opening date once things have begun to settle down.
(2/15/20) You may recall back in December some of the local residents near Kings Island had been filing complaints about the noise levels from the park, including a predicted increase from the addition of Orion. Kings Island has come forward to address the issues and added that Orion’s rail sections will now be pre-filled with sand to reduce the sound levels from the ride, and the park has “initiated a project” to go back and fill “certain sections” of Diamondback’s track with sand based on recommendations from an acoustic engineer. After the park opens the noise levels will be checked again to see how effective the process was on the adjusted sections and determine what further action can be done with additional modifications, if needed.
The addition of sand to the track of B&M coasters has been a long-time noise-reduction solution in place used on many of their coasters around the world, as well as at other Cedar Fair owned parks.
(1/25/20) I had a few of you ask about Vortex at Kings Island and according to some photo found on Facebook, the demolition of Vortex has begun in full force. According to another tip sent my way, it sounds like some of Vortex will live on at Carowinds for a time, as the trains were apparently sent to the N/S Carolina theme park to be used on that park’s Carolina Cyclone coaster. This will actually be the second coaster trains to make their way to Carowinds from Kings Island, as the Firehawk trains were also sent there for Nighthawk.
2020 - ORION - (7/12/20) A great collection of pictures showing off a TON of easter eggs included in the ORION themed area and queue that make references to other rides at Kings Island (past and present) as well as attractions at other Cedar Fair parks. Click it out at Coaster101.
(6/28/20) Kings Island has released the official POV video of ORION at last and you can check it out below. It looks very fast and should be a bit hit with the park guests, especially as Orion will be ready to roll on opening day.
(5/17/20) A little good news for Kings Island fans, a video was posted showing off Orion making test runs over the weekend. Check it out below and enjoy!
(3/7/20) Some great aerial footage shows off the new Orion roller coaster coming to Kings Island. Check it out below!
(2/23/20) Kings Island reported that Orion successfully completed its first test run over the weekend. The park posted a quick video clip online of the train making the first test run.
(1/31/20) Good news for those waiting to ride Orion, Kings Island reports that the final piece of track was installed on Thursday. They go on to report some other fun stats, such as the $30 million budget and that it took nearly 160 truck-loads to deliver all the steel used for Orion to the park. At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if Orion is able to take the first test run before the end of February as long as things start to warm up.
(1/18/20) According to the local news, Kings Island has set April 11th as the opening day for their new Orion coaster.
(12/8/19) Kings Island offered up a backstage construction tour of the Orion site the other day and you can check out some of the great footage posted to Wild Gravity Travels this weekend, giving us what is probably the last close-up looks at Orion until 2020.
(11/23/19) Another construction update of Orion at Kings Island was posted to Wild Gravity Travels this weekend, showing off the progress on the buildout from the first drop over to the second hill as well as some early signs of construction to build the extra “Area 72” theme enhancements to the area around the entrance to Orion, which will include the existing Flight of Fear attraction.
(11/20/19) One of the new lead coaster cars for Orion from B&M was on display at IAAPA t his week.
(11/7/19) The latest construction update on Orion shows that Kings Island has surged ahead and have topped off Orion’s lift hill. You can see photos of the top of the lift hill piece being put into place at Wild Gravity Travels.
(10/27/19) A few new shots of Orion’s lift hill and first drop track sections being installed have been posted to Wild Gravity Travels this weekend.
(10/19/19) Wild Gravity Travels has posted one more Orion construction update with shots from the park’s Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately the park will be closing the Eiffel Tower for the season at the end of this weekend, making views into the site much harder to come by.
(10/14/19) Another new construction update for Orion can be found at WildGravityTravels this week as more track has gone up to form the brake run.
(10/1/19) A quick time-lapse video from the Kings Island construction camera footage shows off the progress made on Orion this past week.
(9/29/19) A new Orion construction update has been posted to WildGravityTravels this week as Orion’s lift hill is now going vertical.
(9/10/19) Head on over to Wild Gravity Travels this week to see the latest construction update from Orion, including a look at the first track section to go vertical.
(9/2/19) A new construction update from Kings Island showing off the progress of Orion has been posted to Wild Gravity Travels. It was also reported that one of the old Firehawk trains (the yellow one) was spotted on the back of a truck heading South on 71 from the park. I’m not sure where they are sending it, but previously I was wondering if they might show up at Carowinds to be used for parts as they are the only other Cedar Fair park to have a Vekoma Flying Dutchman coaster. That doesn’t seem to be the quickest route to the Carowinds from there however, so the final destination may still be unknown. Of course, they could also be donating one of the trains to the National Roller Coaster Museum as well for preservation.
(8/27/19) Wild Gravity Travels has a new Orion construction update from Kings Island this week, as a ton of new coaster pieces have arrived on-site.
(8/20/19) For those wanting an even better look at Orion, check out the two new videos below showing off a POV run on the coaster as well as an aerial “birdseye” view of all the action.
(8/16/19) Kings Island finally get the cat out of the bag on what has possibly been the worst kept secret of the year. They played it like pros though, with a fine teaser campaign that ran everyone wild until the very end when they announced ORION, a new B&M Giga Coaster is coming to the park for 2020.
As I’d mentioned a few times in conversations with a few of you in email and social media, Orion will not surpass Fury 325 as the king of the Giga Coasters. Orion will feature a 300 foot first drop, hit 91mph at the bottom and send riders on a twisted high speed journey through 5,321 feet of track and over 8 airtime hills to become the tallest, fastest and longest steel coaster in the park. While not mentioned in the preview video, RCDB lists the lift hill height of Orion as just 287 feet.
For those who like to compare stats, it will have the same first drop height as Millennium Force, but be 1274 feet shorter in length. If you want to compare it to Fury 325, Fury stands 325 feet tall, has a 320 foot drop, and is 6602 feet in length and hits a top speed of 95mph.
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