Vortex at Kings Island closing on October 27th

So one year after Firehawk left, another coaster is leaving Kings Island. This time it's Vortex:

KINGS ISLAND TO RETIRE VORTEX AFTER 33 SEASONS

Roller coaster fans, it???s time to make plans to visit Kings Island to say goodbye before the Vortex rides into history Oct. 27, the final day of the fall season.

The Vortex has been a guest favorite since it debuted April 11, 1987 and it is sad to see it go. I have vivid memories of seeing the ride take shape as it was being built during the fall and winter of 1986 and of my first rides on the coaster ??? 33 to be exact ??? on media day. While it remains popular, the ride has simply reached the end of its service life.

The Vortex was designed exclusively for Kings Island by Arrow Dynamics and included the following succession of thrills that had never been incorporated into one steel coaster before:

a 148-foot high lift and drop of 138 feet at a 55-degree angle
two vertical loops
one corkscrew
one boomerang turn
a 360-degree helix turn at the end
a top speed of 55 mph

The Vortex is notable as the first roller coaster in the world to send riders through six inversions on a continuous circuit. Overall, riders have been flipped upside down more than 275,000,000 times while riding Vortex.

Over the past 33 seasons more than 45 million guests have ridden Vortex. Only six attractions have given more rides since Kings Island opened its gates in 1972.

Final rides on Vortex will begin tonight when Halloween Haunt opens at 6 p.m.

Both 2019 and 2020 Gold and Platinum season passholders may use their pass for early rides on Vortex 30 minutes before Kings Island opens to the public every Saturday and Sunday through the end of the fall season.

Source: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/blog/2 ... 33-seasons

Well, that came out of nowhere. I always hate to see an old-school Arrow bite the dust, and I'm really sad I never got to get a ride on this one. It looked really unique and intense, especially that final batwing. Rest in peace.

On the bright side, that does clear up a huge plot of land, so I'm excited to see what the future holds. I'm not expecting anything next year, but I could totally see something like a B&M dive or an RMC Raptor/T-rex in that spot. Who knows?

just woke up to this and im still like WTF. I honestly dont think its that bad of a ride but i understand why its being removed. I remember working the ride in '16 and checking restraints gave me some good blisters on my hands haha. Im suure gonna miss it. Crazy to think in 3 years the skyline has changed with two coasters gone and one replacement. Wonder if with the removal we will see a new coaster in 2021 or 2022.

Well that's sad news, Vortex was quite high on my bucketlist tbh. I think we're coming into an era where all the classic Arrows are going considering their age. You could renovate a ride (hi Python), but why do that when you can add something new that's smoother and more exciting? That being said, I'm wondering what will replace it

[Dirk_Ermen]

Very sad news, they are basically taking down the best ride of the park...

Rubbish

F

[Paradox]

Another reason to hate this park

I'm cool with this, I won't ride rough rides just for the credit. I've never been to KI, but I would of probably avoided Vortex.

They were cheap poop compared to the Schwarzkopf's anyway, just horrible designs. I'll happily ride an old Schwarzkopf. Shockwave at SFOT comes to mind as a pleasant experience, Mindbender SFOG is on my bucket list!

Jcoasters wrote:

I'm cool with this, I won't ride rough rides just for the credit. I've never been to KI, but I would of probably avoided Vortex.

They were cheap poop compared to the Schwarzkopf's anyway, just horrible designs. I'll happily ride an old Schwarzkopf. Shockwave at SFOT comes to mind as a pleasant experience, Mindbender SFOG is on my bucket list!

Vortex is my favorite ride at KI. It has been for over a decade! It's supposedly leaving because Cedar Fair parks had to choose their "weakest link". It's an amazing Arrow, I feel the best they've made by far, way smoother than Viper. If everyone shocked to see it go, had stood up for it instead of following fad opinions it probably wouldn't have this fate now.

Nothing to to now but hope whatever takes its place can fill its void respectively

[Dirk_Ermen]

LuckyK wrote:

Jcoasters wrote:

I'm cool with this, I won't ride rough rides just for the credit. I've never been to KI, but I would of probably avoided Vortex.

They were cheap poop compared to the Schwarzkopf's anyway, just horrible designs. I'll happily ride an old Schwarzkopf. Shockwave at SFOT comes to mind as a pleasant experience, Mindbender SFOG is on my bucket list!

Vortex is my favorite ride at KI. It has been for over a decade! It's supposedly leaving because Cedar Fair parks had to choose their "weakest link". It's an amazing Arrow, I feel the best they've made by far, way smoother than Viper. If everyone shocked to see it go, had stood up for it instead of following fad opinions it probably wouldn't have this fate now.

Nothing to to now but hope whatever takes its place can fill its void respectively

It's mostly roller coaster enthusiasts that seem to enjoy this ride. We unfortunately only make up like 0,1% of the themepark's visitors, so we're a very small target group. Kinda sad though that they just announced this out of the blue. I'm sure there's a bunch of folks/enthusiasts who would have loved to schedule a visit before the actual closure.

So the ride is now closed and demolition has started:



Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters ... beginning/

[Dirk_Ermen]

RIP

For all those hoping that Vortex station might be saved since it was also the station for the former Bat...:



...well those hopes have been dashed.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters ... _from_kic/

Vortex demolition has now really begun:



Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters ... on_update/

This looks


weird

And just like that, Vortex is gone


Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Cu6iph_Gj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

[Dirk_Ermen]

RCT3andNL2stuff wrote:

And just like that, Vortex is gone


Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/B9Cu6iph_Gj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link