OHIO — Kings Island will soon be home to the world's seventh "gigacoaster" — a roller coaster that is at least 300 feet tall.
Orion, the world's is set to open in the spring of 2020.
The steel coaster will plunge riders down an exhilarating 300-foot drop before sending them on a high-speed journey over seven more hills at speeds of up to 91 miles per hour.
Kings Island Vice President Mike Koontz said Orion will be the "tallest, fastest and longest" roller-coaster in the park's history.
It’s the most expensive, too, he added during the unveiling event Thursday evening. According to Koontz, constructing Orion's 5,321-foot track cost roughly what constructing the entirety of the original park did in 1972.
Blueprints filed with the city of Mason in spring 2019 then reignited speculation and hope.
The blueprints appeared to show Kings Island planned to build a super-tall coaster at the site of the former Firehawk ride. The blueprints simply referred to the new ride as "Project X."
The park disassembled Firehawk at the end of Kings Island's regular season last year.
