One Kings Island roller coaster offering last rides
Kings Island fans are chasing rumors after the amusement park dropped a hint that something big is going down at the end of October.
A sign and a gravesite display with 11 chairs has led to speculation that the park is closing one of its 12 adult roller coasters.
Kings Island fans on the amusement park’s Facebook page suggested that Firehawk might be getting the ax. It’s next to the already dark Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit, and if both were leveled, they speculate, it would make room for a big new attraction. What could that be? Some still have fingers crossed for a reprise of Son of Beast. One poster suggested that flowers and pieces of wood laid at the Son of Beast’s tombstone hints at that.
Other fans are hoping that if the amusement park clears that much land, it will be for a “giga” coaster. A giga coaster is a roller coaster that’s between 300 and 399 feet tall and completes a full circuit. The first giga coaster was Millennium Force, which opened at Cedar Point in 2000.
Screamscape.com, a website for theme parks, says there is new paperwork for a construction project at the park filed for something described as “2018, 2019 & 2020 Additions & Modifications to Kings Island Park.” Kings Island visitors are puzzling over which coaster the park is going to kill at the end of October. And they want to know what’s coming next.
The filing mentions Bolliger & Mabillard on contracts for the project, according to Screamscape.
On Monday, the park confirmed that the ride leaving is one of the park’s 16 roller coasters.
Spokesman Chad Showalter said final rides will begin this weekend, with last days of operation during the final weekend of Halloween Haunt and the Great Pumpkin Fest, Oct 26-28.
But which coaster’s going away?