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Kings Island | Orion | B&M Giga Coaster

Matt N said:
I’d be really interested to know why opinions of the park are so low;
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I'll chime in on this one. I'd describe the opinions on KI to be more "polarizing" than necessarily 'low', in that yes, for as many people that consider it to be one of their least favorite parks, there are a lot who consider it one of their favorite parks.

And I'd say that has to do with their polarizing headlining coaster selection. A lot hinges on how much you like Diamondback, Beast, and Banshee (whereas MT is pretty universally liked).

For every person that ranks Banshee as one of the worst, if not worst B&M inverts, there are about as many that have it as one of their favorite, if not favorite B&M invert.

Similar story for DB. I've seen it rank very highly on people's B&M hyper list but also very lowly - mostly contingent on how much, if at all the rattle and/or trim affected their opinion of the ride

Then there's the Beast, which many don't particularly care for, but some who have it one of their favorite coasters in general.

Therefore, if you love all of Diamondback, Banshee, Beast, and Mystic Timbers, (such as myself), and like some of their supporting coasters as well, then it is a great lineup. But if you have a disliking for some or all of those rides, and don't care for any of the minor coasters, then you're probably not going to like KI very much.

I know I'm speaking with a bias here, but to me KI is a great park. No we don't really have that slam-dunk top 10 or even top 25 coaster yet, but a very solid all-around lineup nonetheless.

Orion will be the closest thing we have that true destination coaster that we've been lacking, and I'm optimistic it can exceed the (admittedly, low) expectations. Counting the days to when I can try it out and put all of my preconceptions and speculation to rest.
 
Yes, the outside is rather dull, but I am intrigued for the Quonset and custom music.

Interesting fact: Orion and Mystic Timbers are the only coasters this side of the pond to feature IMAscores.
 
I still wish they added a zero G roll into this too give it the edge on diamondback. In my opinion this and diamondback are too similar for the same park, the GP won't notice much of a difference. I think a looping Mack giga would have done well here instead of another B&M tall. It's like putting a boomerang next too a giant inverted boomerang. I'm looking at you six flags new England ?
 
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bdrizzyb said:
I still wish they added a zero G roll into this too give it the edge on diamondback. In my opinion this and diamondback are too similar for the same park, the GP won't notice much of a difference. I think a looping Mack giga would have done well here instead of another B&M tall. It's like putting a boomerang next too a giant inverted boomerang. I'm looking at you six flags new England
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Zero-G Roll? On a B&M Giga?!

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bdrizzyb said:
You never know with innovation these days, it could happen!
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Uh... yeah...
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bdrizzyb said:
You never know with innovation these days, it could happen!
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Unfortunately not something expected from B&M. As good as B&M's are, they are very formulaic, and some people are getting tired of the same old stuff. I'm not tired of them, I just wish they did focused more on what they're good at here: airtime.

Meanwhile you got RMC, Intamin, S&S, and others killing it with their innovations of new rides and shaping of elements.
 
Got to see the Orion lift hill at night last night while coming back from a kayak trip; quite faint across the skyline, but looks very a la Millennium Force with a pulse blue and white uplighting.

To the entire notion of theme; comeon gang. Take a look at your giga list, which ironically is probably exclusively Cedar Fair coasters (lulz); themes are simply as @oriolat2 stated:
oriolat2 said:
CF parks have beautiful entrance signs for their attractions, a flashy light package but it feels pretty basic and generic. It's always the same: ride plaza (which normally has a photo op with the entrance sign and one of the ride's signature elements), field of switchbacks, large staircase to the station with different lanes and semi-covered ride station with a fixed cookie cutter structure (large bay area, unthemed loading gates, a manual bin for each train on the other side of the platform, control booth at the front of the station on the unload side, and a large ramp at the centre of the station building to clear the unloading area as fast as possible for optimal operation).
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Let's not kid ourselves: Fury 325, MF, Leviathan, and I305 (oh, and Superman: Escape from Krypton and Steel Dragon 2000 :p ) all have theme-lite at best. It's a motif, not a fully immersive experience - you are going 90+ MPH through massive layouts, with no room for thematic influence. The theme is a literal sign, possibly themed station, and soundtrack tops. Orion will hit all of those notes, and in that way be just about as themed as it could be.

Orion, as with every other Giga (and Strata for that matter), will be judged by it's ride experience and layout alone.
 
I find it interesting how this, and the other B&M gigas have chain lifts that end just before the crest of the hill, rather than after. Anyone know why that's done?
 
CrashCoaster said:
I find it interesting how this, and the other B&M gigas have chain lifts that end just before the crest of the hill, rather than after. Anyone know why that's done?
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I assume that the Chaindog is located on one of the last cars of the trains, so that there is no need for the last couple of meters/feet to have a chain on them. But this is more of a guess than actual knowledge.
 
Looks good. I like it. Ride time is too short, I think we can all agree on that, but it doesn't half motor through that layout. Such a shame it comes to such an abrupt end, so high off the ground and with so much momentum left in it. Why oh why didn't they use that really rather large plot of land to the right and in front of the brake run to throw in another helix and a camel-back or two?
Will I be jetting off to ride it asap? No. Candymonium looks better, I'll be going there first.
Besides, Orion would only be a +1 for me, whereas Hersheypark will be a +14, soooo... bit of a no brainer really.
 
The metal hut in Orion’s queue looks well themed, glad they have a short film playing on the tv screens inside. I do wish more of the queue was themed however.
 
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