X-Flight to be Reborn as Firehawk at Kings Island
I wanted to save my 100th post for my first theme park review, but some big news was confirmed this morning. Cedar Fair has wasted no time in making changes at its newly acquired parks. At Kings Island, they’ve removed Son of Beast’s sole loop and now they’re giving the former Cedar Point competitor a Vekoma flying coaster. Kings Island has gotten X-Flight from Geauga Lake (another Cedar Fair Park). X-Flight will be reborn as Firehawk. It will be painted gray and red and it will be positioned just behind Flight of Fear in the Coney Mall section of the park.
X-Flight’s green track had been spotted at Kings Island weeks ago. No one was sure if the park
could have the coaster up and running in 2007 or not. Most off-season construction projects start earlier in the winter. Firehawk is set to debut Memorial Day Weekend, just in time for the heavy traffic season for most parks. It will be Kings Island’s 14th roller coaster.
I visited Geauga Lake in 2005 when X-Flight was there. My wife and I skipped it because we’d already ridden Batwing at Six Flags America; which is very similar. Aside from that, X-Flight didn’t have an interesting location or exceptional theming. We’ll see what Cedar Fair and Kings Island do with the relocated coaster. So far, I’m liking Cedar Fair’s management style. Sounds like an idea for another post.
See Kings Island’s site for a virtual coaster video of Firehawk. The video’s pretty exaggerated as you fly over the Ohio countryside. And it features 80′s metal?
****Update****
Fly over pictures of Kings Island have surfaced. You can see where the park has been clearing land for Firehawk. Thanks to PKICentral & Alton from the bell_Curve for the link.
Also, links to newer constructions photos can be found in this post:
Firehawk Construction Photos
What do you think of Firehawk? Leave a comment below.
February 6, 2007 at 11:42
I love X-Flight, but now I'll have to drive 6 hours to ride it instead of 2 hours. Have you heard whether Geauga Lake will put anything new in place of X-Flight?
February 6, 2007 at 17:00
Nope. I haven't heard of any new rides/coasters coming to Geauga yet. I had fun when I went to that park. It was empty because it was a dreary day in late October, but it's a decent park.News Plus Notes just had a post detailing some small improvements at Geauga Lake for 2007. That might be all the park's getting for now. I also thought that I heard that Villain was getting some much needed rehab. I enjoyed it except for that painful trick-track section. Lastly, you might want to frequent sites like Geauga Guide.These guys would be the first to know of anything going on there. Thanks for stopping by!
January 28, 2008 at 08:40
In case all of you haven't heard geauga lake is no more this year. There's only wildwater kingdom now. This really sucks, geauga lake wasn't the best but it was in my top ten parks.
January 28, 2008 at 17:05
Thanks for the heads up, but the Geauga saga and its untimely demise is pretty well covered in my Geauga Lake posts. Thanks for stopping by.