Vortex was a

steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated whee ...

located at

Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and expan ...

amusement park in

Mason, Ohio Mason is a city in southwestern Warren County, Ohio, United States, approximately north of downtown Cincinnati. As of the 2020 census, Mason's population was 34,792. Mason is home to Kings Island amusement park and one of the largest tennis stad ...

. Designed and manufactured by

Arrow Dynamics Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (194 ...

at a cost of $4 million, the ride officially opened to the public on April 11, 1987. Vortex debuted as the tallest, full-circuit roller coaster in the world with a height of . It was also the first coaster to feature six inversions. Vortex occupied the same location in the park once held by The Bat, the world's first suspended roller coaster. Tied to the coaster's debut, attendance at Kings Island exceeded 3 million in 1987 for the first time. It accommodated more than 46 million guests throughout its lifespan, making Vortex one of the most frequently-ridden attractions in park history. It closed permanently on October 27, 2019.

History

On May 30, 1986, Kings Island announced that they would be adding a new roller coaster for the 1987 season. For the design and construction of the attraction, Kings Island turned to

, an industry-leading manufacturer at the time. It would sit in the former location of The Bat, the world's first suspended roller coaster, which was removed after the 1984 season. The defunct coaster's line queue and

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...

were retained and reused for the new ride. Construction began in early June 1986 when The Bat's area was cleared. The following month, Kings Island announced that they would be naming the new coaster Vortex. The park invested over $4 million in the ride, which required 750 tons of steel to construct. It opened to the public on April 11, 1987, and helped the park exceed 3 million visitors for the first time in its history. At its inauguration, Vortex briefly set two world records among full-circuit roller coasters. It was the tallest at and featured the most inversions with six. Both were surpassed the following year with the debut of

Shockwave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

Six Flags Great America Six Flags Great America is a amusement park located in Gurnee, Illinois, within the northern Chicago metropolitan area. The amusement park originally opened as Marriott's Great America on May 29, 1976, as one of two theme parks built by the Ma ...

. On September 27, 2019, the park announced plans to close Vortex permanently on October 27, 2019. Area Manager Don Helbig stated that the coaster had reached the end of its service life. During its lifespan, Vortex accommodated over 46 million riders, ranking it seventh in Kings Island's history . While Vortex was demolished, the trains were taken to

Carowinds Carowinds is a amusement park located adjacent to Interstate 77 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The park straddles the North Carolina-South Carolina state line, with a portion of the park located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. However, it has an of ...

so that

Carolina Cyclone Carolina Cyclone is an Arrow Dynamics roller coaster located at Carowinds in Charlotte, North Carolina. The coaster is located in the Carolina Boardwalk area of the park. Built in 1980 by world-renowned (and now defunct) coaster manufacturer Arrow ...

could use them as replacement parts. On September 29, 2020, Kings Island announced that they would be selling pieces of Vortex for $198.70. The pieces would be sold in 1.5-inch slices, capped with metal plates and mounted in a display stand.

Ride experience

Inversions

Layout

As the train left the station, it dipped slightly, taking a hard right into the beginning of the lift hill. After ascending slowly and reaching the top, the train dipped several feet into tester hill, immediately making a right hand turn into a , 55-degree drop. The train then ascended into a left-hand turn that was slightly banked, as the track leveled out. After turning roughly 180 degrees, the track straightened briefly before descending into a sharp left turn that took riders through two vertical loops. Following the vertical loops, the train ascended and made a 180-degree turn to the right into a mid-course

brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track meant to slow or stop a roller coaster train. Brake runs may be located anywhere along the circuit of a coaster and may be designed to bring the train to a complete halt or to simply adjust ...

, slowing the train nearly to a complete stop. The train then dropped into a pair of corkscrews, the second of which threaded through the gap directly between the previously-encountered vertical loops. The train then went through a right hand turn and a

boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool, typically constructed with aerofoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight. A returning boomerang is designed to return to the thrower, while a non-returning b ...

, that inverted riders two additional times. There was an

on-ride camera An on-ride camera is a camera mounted alongside the track of a roller coaster, log flume or other thrill ride that automatically photographs all of the riders on each passing vehicle. They are often mounted at the most intense or fastest part of th ...

in the dip of the boomerang at its midpoint. The train then entered its final maneuver – a 450-degree ascending clockwise helix – that generated positive g forces before the train hit the final brake run. The train made a final right-hand turn before returning the station.

Incidents

On July 2, 2011, a computer detected damage to Vortex's chain lift as a train was pulling out of the station. The ride was stopped and all passengers were able to safely exit. The ride remained closed for several weeks while a replacement part was on order.

References

External links

Official ''Vortex'' page
{{Kings Island Roller coasters in Ohio Roller coasters operated by Cedar Fair 1987 establishments in Ohio