Kings Island | Orion | B&M Giga Coaster

[vaugc002]

To be fair, I can get where @CrashCoaster is coming from with the Shambhala ampersand comparisons; that was the first thing that came into my mind when I saw that element!

Am I the only one who's remotely excited about this coaster, or anything B&M are building in 2020? I think both Orion and Candymonium look like fantastic rides, but the overwhelming opinion on both seems to be negative... I almost feel like I'm in a minority for still liking B&M.

But it's not an ampersand Matt.

 

[Matt N]

But it's not an ampersand Matt.

Perhaps a figure 8 would be a better name for it? To be fair, I also think Shambhala's looks more like a figure 8 than an ampersand...

 

[Crazycoaster]

It’s not an ampersand tbh, it’s too short. It’s more like Apollo’s Helix. Ampersands exit in the same direction as they enter, are much steeper/higher and less drawn out.

 

[JJLehto]

This is the giga that KI fanboys deserve after bitching and moaning for the past 10 years for one.

For real. I'm almost sad all the "KI Giga!" jokes will end... there's still Knott's at least lol

Am I the only one who's remotely excited about this coaster, or anything B&M are building in 2020? I think both Orion and Candymonium look like fantastic rides, but the overwhelming opinion on both seems to be negative... I almost feel like I'm in a minority for still liking B&M.

Nah I am, just ya know I'm less excited than I could be. Doesn't mean I'm not.
Hey I used to be the biggest B&M fanboy, just with time they fell a bit behind and became, imho, a tad cautious/are conservative. Which is unfortunate since they were the innovative company making forceful rides. But yeah, I don't dislike em nor am I not excited just not the same.

I am deff excited to ride both of em next year! Cause (SOME) B&M's do seem to decline with time...gotta em ASAP.

 

[Antinos]

Regarding the ride's airtime moments: I don't think people are paying close enough attention to the ride's profiling and/or don't properly understand ride dynamics. RMC's wave turns, including Twisted Cyclone's wall rider element, have a very distinct W profiling from above while following a vertical parabolic trajectory. Relative to the train and riders at 90*, it translates to 0g in a lateral direction, but actually throwing you out of your seat vertically. Also, the turnaround is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a reverse treble clef. B&M actually took a page out of RMC's book with Fury's, as the top 20ish percent of the element follow a perfect parabolic trajectory after the ride completes turning around, all while the train is oriented sideways. Orion's turnaround does not showcase any of that - the element rises, rolls into its turn, and dives. That's it. We might experience some floaties as the train crests and begins to roll, but that'll be about it.

Regarding what's a giga: to be honest, I literally haven't heard height classes excluding the drop until a few weeks ago, and I think it's just to get KI fanboys' panties all in a wad. To me, if there's an element over whatever height, it counts, and thus Apollo's Chariot is a hyper coaster, Goliath at SFOG is a hyper coaster, and Orion is a giga coaster. And I've heard people throw all sorts of arguments at it, from point of reference to intent to what B&M calls their product line (from that standpoint, ALL of their airtime focused coasters are hyper coasters, including Fury, Leviathan, Goliath (La Ronde), and Hollywood Dream). And although I count Red Force and Tower of Terror II, I completely understand why people don't and thus I have them in an offshoot as non-traditional coasters. But yeah...enjoy your goddamn 300+ foot tall coasters, no matter how they're sliced

 

[MLDesigns]

Man it's so refreshing to see someone that actually knows how the shaping of elements plays into the forces you'll experience. Keep on demolishing this ride antinos<3

 

[Jcoasters]

We might experience some floaties as the train crests and begins to roll, but that'll be about it.

Yeah, that's what I meant.

I think one thing people aren't talking about is the first element. It appears to be around 0g, I think this is B&M doing something similar to a wave turn or wall stall. If you study the layout, there seems to be four major point of sideways airtime, with the last one being the strongest.

The Intamin wall stall is 0 g. I Understand RMC is ejector. The turnaround does appear to have brief floater during the initial transition.

The first element seems to be more like 0.2 G or something, except for the transitions. I think it will give a nice sensation.

Now, what they should have done, is banked it outwards

 

[CrashCoaster]

Yeah, that's what I meant.



The Intamin wall stall is 0 g. I Understand RMC is ejector. The turnaround does appear to have brief floater during the initial transition.

The first element seems to be more like 0.2 G or something, except for the transitions. I think it will give a nice sensation.

Now, what they should have done, is banked it outwards

I'd be surprised if B&M ever make an RMC/Intamin-style coaster tbh.

 

[Jcoasters]

Me too, but now they make launched wing coasters and gigas with sideways airtime. Of course, the way they do it is extremely refined and basic, in a good sense. I think that sometimes overly wacky layouts make some of the GP confused in various senses.

 

[hendrixmarshall]

I think the sideways air time "a la Fury" is better than the rmc wave turns for my taste. I'm just hoping that it doesn't get the KI treatment of "almost a great ride". Me and the kids joke about it being the "no fly zone" whenever KI comes up in conversation.

 

[Hyde]

I think that sometimes overly wacky layouts make some of the GP confused in various senses.

I mean, I have yet to find a GP refuse to ride an RMC because they were confused on the coaster was designed.

 

[tomahawk]

To be fair, I can get where @CrashCoaster is coming from with the Shambhala ampersand comparisons; that was the first thing that came into my mind when I saw that element!

Am I the only one who's remotely excited about this coaster, or anything B&M are building in 2020? I think both Orion and Candymonium look like fantastic rides, but the overwhelming opinion on both seems to be negative... I almost feel like I'm in a minority for still liking B&M.

You're positive about everything though.

I haven't heard anyone truly believe it will be bad, but in a park full of mediocre to atrocious coasters, and horribly maintained, pretty sure in 3 years this will shake like crazy.

 

[Jarrett]

Honestly, Banshee’s rattle actually hasn’t been as bad since it first opened. It’s still there but on such a fun ride, it’s barely noticeable. Diamondback has a bit of a rattle but it’s really only severe coming out of the hammerhead. Hell, even Fury’s picked up a bit of one when we rode it this year but it’s again, barely noticeable.

It’s enthusiast hair splitting like this that gives Kings Island it’s bad rap honestly. Like, if a rattle is SLC bad in that it’s slamming your head into the restraint, yeah that’s understandable why someone wouldn’t like it. But very minor trembling on a machine that’s surging with tons of kinetic energy? Grow up, it’s practically inevitable. I’ve not ridden any coaster bar RMC or Mack that didn’t have a bit of texture to it. It’s not going to get to the point that it should detract from a ride experience like a typical giga.

 

[Hutch]

The real kicker with Banshee and Diamondback is that when you compare them to similar rides, their rattles stand out a lot more. There are so many other B&M inverts and hypers that are so much smoother, a lot of which don't have a vibration at all. In fact I think just about every other B&M invert and hyper I've done are a lot smoother than Banshee and Diamondback, respectively. When you see what those rides could be like, it's a real shame. Especially for Banshee, which was rattly when I first did it within 2 years of opening, and having done it again recently there have been no signs of improvement.

I'm sure Orion will ride like a dream when it first opens, when the park has two B&Ms that don't ride like they should, it's no question that people would already have concerns about the rattle down the line.

You know, It's kind of unheard of nowadays. People worried about a brand new B&M being rattly? It's funny that's a genuine concern here, despite B&M's reputation of smooth rides.

 

[Jarrett]

Went back to the park yesterday to snag Orion shirts for Kaylee and I (they were out of all sizes except 3XL so that was a bust) but I used it as an opportunity to snag some photos!

In addition to those silver transfer track? supports I got a few weeks ago, we now have track on site! Pictures don’t do it justice, this blue is a bit deeper than shown in the rendering and in person it is GORGEOUS.

We also have the crane that was spotted in the parking lot on announcement night and some more rebar for footers.

These footers are almost certainly where they’ll start. They’re for the station, transfer track, and brake run, exactly where they started Banshee’s construction. Wouldn’t be surprised to see it go vertical as early as today, by the end of the week for sure.

However, the site was quiet yesterday, so this’ll probably be another instance of M-F construction as we’ve seen in the past.

Can’t wait to see this thing go up! Hoping we’ll be able to see that massive lift hill taking shape during the later stage of the season, it would be great from a marketing standpoint to have that thing ominously looming over all those Haunt guests.


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[ultimate poaster]

Man this is awesome! Just like everyone else here, I love it when a group of people gets the short end of the stick! Only thing better is when taxes get raised on poor people.

 

[Jarrett]

Man this is awesome! Just like everyone else here, I love it when a group of people gets the short end of the stick! Only thing better is when taxes get raised on poor people.

I can’t tell if this is KI fanboy Orion hate or KI hater Orion hate but honestly, I don’t see it as getting the short end of the stick. It looks like a fun giga with some fairly rare elements and good transitions between them. I’m betting it’ll be a mid-tier giga, not quite as good as Fury but around as good as Millennium.

 

[LiveForTheLaunch]

Tries to avoid cred names for my son, Kings Island releases a coaster with the same name as my kid's middle name ?

Honestly, much like everyone else here, I don't think it will be anything out of this world, but I think it will be a fun coaster in the same way as Leviathan. Not a top ten by any means, but still something you look forward to riding on every visit!

 

[Niles]

To the Americans who do not like the look of this coaster i think we should trade.

The UK is getting a 10 inversion coaster next year and you can have that, we have one like it already and this would have the most inversions in your country, amazing right? So yea we will take the giga as it does not seem to wanted the way it is, and hay you might get the giga you what in the future ?

 

[ultimate poaster]

I can’t tell if this is KI fanboy Orion hate or KI hater Orion hate but honestly, I don’t see it as getting the short end of the stick. It looks like a fun giga with some fairly rare elements and good transitions between them. I’m betting it’ll be a mid-tier giga, not quite as good as Fury but around as good as Millennium.

Short end of the stick is settling for a mid-tier giga.