KINGS ISLAND, Ohio – Can you handle Orion?
Fans of Kings Island will be able to ride the “giga coaster” when it debuts at the theme park in spring 2020. The park said it’s one of only seven such “giga coasters” in the world—a class of roller coasts with a drop of 300 to 399 feet.
Riders will plunge 300 feet on the first drop and race through seven hills and 5,321 feet of track at speeds reaching more than 90 mph on the park’s tallest, fastest and longest steel coaster.
Swizerland’s Bolliger & Mabillard—the same firm responsible for the park’s Banshee and Diamondback roller coasters—designed the ride.
Kings Island said Orion will have a space theme:
“Themed to the park’s new Area 72, the ride features the latest prototype vehicle developed by the Project X initiative. Scientists are in a race against time to develop technology capable of weaving transport vehicles through a coming meteor storm and traveling to a new planet within the Orion constellation. For the program to be successful, it needs volunteers to help with testing.”
The “volunteers,” of course, are those brave enough to ride the “giga coaster.” The ride will be located in the old site for the Firehawk roller coaster, which was taken down last year.
You can check out the promotional video for the ride below: