USA: Kings Island Announces New Giga Coaster for 2020

Located close to the city of Cincinnati (Ohio), Cedar Fair’s Kings Island amusement park has recently announced to build a new giga coaster, set to open in spring 2020 under the name of “Orion®”. The attraction will take riders on a thrilling space adventure in the new “Area 72” theme area currently under construction.

With a first drop of over 91 meters (300 feet), the planned new coaster classifies as a “giga coaster” – according to the park, there are only six other installations of this rollercoaster type (with a height of 300-399 feet) worldwide. The 1.6 meter long coaster for Kings Island will be supplied by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M).

On “Orion”, riders will rush along the track at a maximum speed of 146 km/h (91 mph), experiencing a total of eight drops. Three trains with eight cars (riders are seated four across in a single row) will allow for a capacity of 1,650 riders per hour (given a ride time of three minutes). (eap)