Volcano, for all its technological faults, was a HUGE hit for Kings Dominion. Easily the most popular ride in the entire park from opening to Twisted Timbers’ opening.
@@theunknown0887 the layout was just kind of short and boring outside of the launches, i guess I've never seen people list it as a top coaster so maybe it isnt overrated but i personally don't really miss it since i think it'd be very easy to replace it with a better ride
If paramount never sold them, Canada's wonderland would be la ronde Ontario, kings island would be like a mid tier six flags, and kings Dominion would probably be the best of the 5... Thanks for helping cedar fair
I was at Kings Dominion on opening day of Hurler one week shy of my 15th birthday. That coaster was atrocious on its very first day of operation and I was a teenager. I still remember thinking how absolutely boring and awful it was. I rode Shockwave in 1992 (I was 12) for the first time on a class trip to KD. It was so innovative and fun. I rode it each time thereafter when I'd go to KD. Fast foward 21 years to 2013 and I rode it for the last time. I was 34 in 2013 and Motrin couldn't take away the horrible pain I felt the rest of the day. Great list! 🙂
Glad to see Flight Deck, my favorite B&M invert currently, make it to the wins. It's short, but sooo sweet. Intense, snappy, and that corkscrew is absolutely amazing. I just love it so much.
Flight Deck is a sad story. It was never supposed to be built. It was supposed to be a B&M invert, but Cedar Fair had an exclusivity clause and Wonderland was too close. Thankfully Walter remembered this and gave us Leviathan, saying that he "owed" Wonderland over the Top Gun screwjob
It was supposedly supposed to go where behemoth is now, so then behemoth would of gone where leviathan is now, so no leviathan, I think it worked out in the end
My first coaster I ever rode was Outer Limits Flight of Fear in 1996, a ride I did not know it was a coaster, and getting me obsessed with coasters. The line was about 2 hours when I first rode it in 1996.
Volcano was awesome. It’s a shame that it died. I remember standing in line for ages for that ride when I was a teenager, and I know I didn’t appreciate it as much then as I do now. Hypersonic XLC was also awesome, and sorely missed.
I've only been to Kings Island out of the five (my home park) and The Bat is criminally underrated. A short ride but it's a great option for those who think Banshee is too intense or uncomfortable. Hope to hit up Carowinds and KD next year. Great content, as always.
Just wanna say, man, you deserve some respect (if not an award lol) for your ability to _constantly_ come up with a topic/subject for a video. I mean my god, some of your videos are compilations/lists of some of the most back-of-the-mind facts/observations one could fathom. I respect you for that, man. No way in hell could I figure out a way to talk about coasters as extensively as you have and do. Props, man. Props. While I admit I don’t watch every single video you put out, I’m certainly remaining subscribed and watching a fair chunk of them. Love the videos, man!
California’s Great America is my home park, so it’s really nice to see flight deck raised so high. It’s my favorite coaster at the park and probably my favorite in general, I always marathon it when I visit the park. Also, I agree that psycho mouse has the worst capacity and slowest moving line in the whole park
I will never forget a ride op going "put your head against the headrest or the ride will do it for you" back when Hypersonic XLC was new. I miss the way Paramount was willing to take risks at Kings Dominion, and they usually only took rides away to quickly replace them with something better. Wonder why they were so bad at maintaining attractions while Wonderland didn't seem to have the same issues. If Paramount would have invested just a little more and better leveraged their movie properties, then I think they could have realized that dream to compete with Universal and Disney.
I feel like Volcano would be my top choice for defunct roller coasters that I would have loved to ride. Second would be Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and third would be Dueling Dragons at Islands of Adventure.
Hypersonic XLC is my #1, it was supposed to come to my home park, CGA but height limitations prevented it. Still bummed I never made it to KD to ride. Dueling Dragons is probably my 2nd, followed by Volcano
After going to Carowinds for this first time this year I was blown away by how excellent Afterburn was. I rode that as many times as I could since I was so impressed, also much shorter lines than others.
Hurler actually does have airtime, but you have to be unusually light (like me) or a kid to experience it. Don't worry, it's still not strong at all, no one's missing much.
Woah. It's obvious Wayne is talking about Six Flags bc Illinois, but it totally sounded like he was referencing CGA in the context of this video when he said "Great America." Woah. I really like the unique themes for these best and worst videos! I can't believe there could have been a Godzilla B&M invert in an alternate reality.
It's been probably 15 years since I went to King's Dominion. That was at the point Paramount was just like "F it" and not really keeping up the park. With the exception of Flight of Fear, I rode each of those coasters you mentioned from Kings Dominion. The Hurler was ok when it first opened, but by the last time I rode it, it seemed like it would come off the track around that banked right turn. The Italian Job was interesting, especially for it's time. It was unusual being able to climb up a corkscrew. That said, this was the ride that set my motion sickness into motion to a point where I can't ride more than one or two coasters in an entire day. The wild mouse type rides can all go to hell. They're hands down the scariest rides in any park. Flight of Fear, as of my last visit to King's Dominion, only operated some times. It was usually during the fall. Word was that was due to maintenance issues. Hypersonic XLC was ok. The launch was what played the biggest mind game on you. Volcano was good and was definitely a trailblazer in the launch coaster segment. There weren't alot when it came out. The visual of the fire coming out of the volcano while the ride was going made it seem more extreme than what it really was. There was a pre-existing water ride in the volcano's structure that was removed to build the coaster and reuse the waiting area.
I'll never forget the final weekend of Volcano. Nobody(probably besides the staff that worked that ride) knew it was going down. The following weekend when the park opened back up for daily operations it was closed. Rumors spread that they were working on the track, adding new footers, new launcher, new dispatch board, etc etc. One that made it seem true was that they were shut down due to using the wrong bolts on the coaster. Never knew that the last night of the night I had on that ride would be my last ride ever. Hopefully whatever they're planning to replace it lives up the hype.
Odd fact. MACK Wild Mice all have different restraints for whatever stupid reason. I really enjoyed the one at Hershey and the SF clones, but the paramount ones are garbage. Lol. Just can’t stand the restraints and trains for some reason.
I think it’s pretty rad that for a very short window, Kings Dominion had four, yes four, launched coasters. I’m glad I got a few rides on Hypersonic and Volcano will forever be a favorite
I get the feeling that Paramount constantly picked such weird manufacturers because either A. They just really wanted to give people a chance Or B. They didn’t know who was worth giving business to
Flying Ace at K.I. must've fixed their restraints, I was dreading getting that Credit but was surprised when I got on it. Definitely the type of ride I think Vekoma intended it to be.
I got to ride Afterburn earlier this year and got one singular ride on it...but in the back row. It was my first ever inverted coaster and it was really intense! I loved every second of it!
Top Gun at KI was pre-planned by KECO... I wouldn't exactly call it Paramount's addition. KI was already getting it whether the park had changed hands or not.
With the exception of Son of Beast, all the Paramount rides at King's Island were fun...but most were short. It was hard to go from Vortex or the Beast, and then get on...Top Gun. While I still enjoy Top Gun today for what it is, it was heavily over-hyped at its opening. My favorite Paramount ride is Outer Limits, but my neck can't take it anymore. It's still insanely popular--even on a cool April day, there's easily an hour wait. Overall, they did a decent job for a movie studio, but I'm thrilled (pun intended) to have Cedar Fair in possession of King's Island now. They just make the best coasters.
Kings Island is my home park. I can’t believe you picked Top Gun over Flight of Fear much less even had Flight of Fear in the middle tier. It’s a great roller coaster, even though Cedar Fair turned on a lot of lights. It’s no longer nearly pitch black. You can see most of the inside when your riding it now.
I've been to King's Island and King's Dominion during their Paramount Days. Since King's Island is one of my home parks I've been consistently going to the park since 1999 (previous visit was this year). But, it seemed that King's Dominion was Paramount's favorite park along with Kings Island.
Carowinds was my nearest park for quite awhile. While I do find the back half of Stealth/NightHawk disappointing, I'm obsessed with the flip element on the drop and the inverted loop. I recall Hurler being decent but think a RMC update of it would be killer.
Backlot stunt coaster and Verbolten are a very similar intensity. launched coasters with indoor portions and special effects, either the biggest family coaster possible or the smallest thrill coaster possible.
I went to Paramount Kings Dominion in summer of 2000. Hurler was okay back then, and Outer Limits was fun, but would’ve been more fun without the over the shoulder restraints. But I LOVED Volcano the Blast Coaster! In 2000, it was the best coaster in the park!
I'm always happy to see my home park Carowinds getting a top spot. I remember going to Carowinds when I was younger and it was owned by Paramount, I was too scared to ride rollercoasters back then but I would have loved to ride the Super Saturator. Sad I never got that chance.
If I got to ride Volcano, it would be my favorite of these. Of those that I've ridden, my favorite is Flight Deck at CGA. I found it to be so intense, while Afterburn has always run quite slow for me. I call it B&Ms family invert.
The worst part about Top Gun/Flight Deck is that it was supposed to be a B&M Inverted coaster but B&M was too busy and so Paramount went with Vakoma instead.
Silver Streak doesn't have the same restraints that were shown in the clips of the other similar coasters. Last time I rode, the restraints came nowhere near my head, so it's just a "shake and bang" as El Toro Ryan puts it.
I've Paramount was interested in a Morgan hyper for Great America that would have had an Elevator lift, but it never got far. I wonder what the first Hypers went for vs Afterburn, with Kings Dominion being the only other park not having a hyper (but they Cedar did give them I-305)
@@AirtimeThrills I was specifying B&M vs B&M, I just said I heard Paramount was looking into working with them. Just like with Michigan's Adventure, It was shelved
Kings Island was my home park and I grew up during the paramount era. I was heartbroken when Cedar Fair took over and changed everything I knew...HAHA! I was a teenager when Cedar Fair took over though and I didn't have a strong understanding of why the names were changing, rides being removed, etc. Ahhh...The good times of being a naive GP :D
I wish Kings Island would have after changing the name back to The Bat they would have got the original train cars that had the bat design on them.. I like that they renamed it to pay homage to the original but I think they definitely could have also put the cool Bat designed trains that was on the original ride. Also tomb raider at Kings Island was right up there with universal and Disney with theming. It was the type of Darkrai you didn't see except for places like universal or Disney It was an amazing dark ride. Also volcano blaster was a great ride very unique but the look of it was not great. It always to me looked like it was under construction because the support beams looked like scaffolding and I know there's not much they could do about it but I always thought it would be cool if they painted the support beams the color to match the volcano or wrap or cover the support columns in the same material they made the volcano out of and then made the track like lava color. Early so we thought that would be a cool touch but with that being said still a great coaster it's a shame they got rid of it.
The Bat’s 1981 trains were probably scrapped and they probably couldn’t get new ones since Arrow is defunct and I’m not sure if S&S has supplied parts for the model. Tomb Raider wasn’t perfect at theming since the show building was completely visible, and the ride itself has nothing to do with Pokèmon.
I was there for the Italian job media day as well as boomerang bay. Tomb raider was waaay underrated and awesome giant top spin. Sad that it's not there anymore but mystic serves it as the q.
(Note, out of these i've only been to Kings Dominion) Kings Dominion's version of the Hurler I rode only a single time. It was rainy and I nearly lost my sunglasses on it. Twisted Timbers is so much better Backlot Stunt Coaster is still alright. Sadly they removed or disabled the pyrotechnics I've ridden Flight of Fear a few times. It got rough a few years ago, but this summer it was SO much smoother I rode Volcano just two or so years before its' closure. An absolute blast. Definitely in my top 5.
I can’t ever say Backlot is a family coaster, because I’ve only threw up after 1 coaster, and it was that. It was also my second time, so I wanted to give it another chance, after 2 years ago I felt like I was going to throw up. Note to self: only ride Behemoth, Leviathon, Vortex, Yukon Striker, and some smooth coaster
Beyond sad that I missed Volcano but now I’m thinking I need to re-ride Afterburn. I rode it in the front once and thought it was beyond tame. But being a local with a season pass perhaps I’ll give up a ride or two on Fury to try out a back seat ride on it.
Are there any successful prototypes brought straight from the testing grounds? It'd be neat to see which were the most and least successful prototypes by the time they actually ran at parks 🤷
also let me also say that in my opinion flight of fear(s) are way underrated. maybe because they're clones? tbh I think those launches are more intense than kinda ka, 2nd to only Xcelerator st Knotts. also the indoor-darkness-fear factor really plays into it, even as a 30 year old adult
When my family and I went to kings dominion for my birthday my cousins and I rode the apple zapple when it was the ricochet over 20 times and we were really the only one riding so the majority were back to back rides
i was on a ride like #16 at Prater in Vienna, and I found it pretty nice actually. we went on it two or three times. maybe that one is smoother and keep up better
i got on afterburn at Carowinds 2 yrs ago. its a good fun ride. i also enjoyed nighthawk alot too. i honestly dont get why nighthawk gets so much hate. its a lot of fun
Say what you want about Paramount but I guaruntee we'd see the height record held by a T-Rex (perhaps at Canada's Wonderland, I don't think they would have done that park dirty forever in terms of coasters, especially since their non-coaster additions to that park like Sledge Hammer were so good) and a safer bet is we'd have RMC Son of Beast which would probably be better than Steel Vengence in terms of general consensus among enthusiasts. Cedar Fair has done a better job with these parks overall, especially Canada's Wonderland and Carowinds. As much as I detested the decision to remove Thunder Road for a waterpark expansion you cannot deny that the 3 coasters Cedar Fair has added make the park far better than it was. Kings Island is definately a better park than it was under Paramount but it's a toss up whether it would be better under the Paramount model. RMC Son of Beast alone could make it better. Kings Dominion is probably better? I305 and Twisted Timbers are probably the 2 best coasters in the park's history but the 8 year coaster drout and replacing Volcano with a cut and paste 4D free spin really leave a bad taste in your mouth to put it one way. Great America has Railblaizer and Gold Striker as the best coasters in their history and the future looks bright for that park. But it's a toss up because the investment isn't a result of Paramount/Cedar Fair differences, it's a result of the new stadium.
@@kirbysuperstaruhh3769 Yep. Oof. That being said, I am more optomistic than most. The land is only zoned for an amusement park, from what I've heard it doesn't sound like they'll rezone it. And Gold Striker was retracked over the offseason (which to me means Cedar Fair intends to operate it for at least 5 more years or sell it to another operator. If they were just trying to get out they would've diverted those efforts to another coaster). I don't think the park will close, for example I could see the 49ers organization buying the park and promoting it as a means of "tailgating" (say, open the park 5-6 hours before the game on game day no matter what and include a CGA ticket with a 49ers ticket). This isn't the first time the park's future has been in jepordy.
My second ever coaster i ever rode was silver streak at my home park canadas wonderland and i personally didnt mind it i didnt experience any headbanging and i sat at the back
Hello, I am having a bit of trouble. I haven't grayed out on a coaster yet and the intense rides I have ridden are superman ultimate flight, nitro, el toro, batman the ride, talon, and possessed. What coaster will make me gray out? I really want to experience some pure intensity.
OG Hurler at KD was amazing when I rode it in the late 90's. Fast, smooth, packed with powerful airtime and laterals. Just like Thunder Run at Kentucky Kraphole. Unfortunately, it wasn't maintained and the trims/poor condition just murdered any fun the ride had. I think it's probably the biggest good > bad I've seen on a coaster. Having said that, Twisted Timbers is a much better ride.
Okay but the rugrats ride was amazing as a kid so I'm baffled at that review lmao I think you just need to be a young kid when you first ride it maybe and son of beast was everyone's favorite. Personally so disappointed I never went on it as a kid before it closed.
Top Gun / The Bat at Kings Island was not a Paramount coaster, it was already under development when Great American Financial owned the park, all Paramount did was theme it.
Miss the paramount parks. They just were missing more big thrill rides imo. Wonder how many bidders were for son of beast?? Obviously they would go with the lowest bidder to built it.
@@AirtimeThrills RCCA was going from park to park pitching that layout. Kings Island was the park that bit. The book Kings Island: A Ride Through Time has a big section explaining Son of Beast
You made one huge mistake with this video and your mini documentary about the Paramount Parks. You forgot to start the video with "And now we're pleased to bring you our Feature Presentation" with the famous Paramount jingle in the background.
I've been on tons of launched coasters. None are as intense as Hypersonic's launch was. It felt like being rear-ended by a semi. There is also no louder brake run in the history of coasters. You could hear that train stopping from anywhere in the park for some reason. Hurler was trash from opening day onward. The best part was how in line, Wayne and Garth would do a video safety skit. It was all downhill from there. Boring and rough. Volcano was great, but MAN its line was intolerable. Always the longest line in the park, sometimes over 3 hours. And while the launch around the back and up and out of the volcano was awesome, the rest of the layout was awful. The barrel rolls were so slow there was no sense of zero gravity, and then when it does finally do a dive, it's directly into the brake run. Visually stunning, launch was awesome, but ultimately overrated and not worth the wait. Shockwave was underrated. It had some really nice airtime and G's. Dudes whining about their nuts were exaggerating 99% if the time. Underappreciated ride. Anaconda coulda been one of Arrow's all-time best loopers if they had just gotten rid of that butterfly element after the midcourse brakes. That single dip and turn ruins the whole ride. The rest of it is actually pretty smooth, but nobody remembers anything other than getting their head bashed in at that one part. Flight of Fear getting redesigned to use a lapbar instead of over the shoulder restraints tremendously improved that ride. It was a real headbanger its first few years.
Honestly, Canads's Wonderland has easily the worst coaster lineup of all parks on Earth with more than 9 coasters, and it's easily the shitty coaster capital of the world
Volcano, for all its technological faults, was a HUGE hit for Kings Dominion. Easily the most popular ride in the entire park from opening to Twisted Timbers’ opening.
On twisted timber’s media day it still had the longest wait time in the park 😂
yea definitely, every time i would go there, we would easily wait in the line for over 2 hours
Super overrated ride imo the launches were fun but that was it
@@exiledrabbit I disagree that it was overrated but I will admit that it did have a somewhat nasty rattle in its final years...
@@theunknown0887 the layout was just kind of short and boring outside of the launches, i guess I've never seen people list it as a top coaster so maybe it isnt overrated but i personally don't really miss it since i think it'd be very easy to replace it with a better ride
If paramount never sold them, Canada's wonderland would be la ronde Ontario, kings island would be like a mid tier six flags, and kings Dominion would probably be the best of the 5... Thanks for helping cedar fair
*Cries in California Great America*
@@johnfoltz8183 wipes away tears with smile in Railblazer
Rip Carowinds
@@bserpas king's dominion:. Am I a joke to you!?
@@bserpas well, if cedar fair hadn't bought cga, trailblazer wouldn't have come to life
I was at Kings Dominion on opening day of Hurler one week shy of my 15th birthday. That coaster was atrocious on its very first day of operation and I was a teenager. I still remember thinking how absolutely boring and awful it was.
I rode Shockwave in 1992 (I was 12) for the first time on a class trip to KD. It was so innovative and fun. I rode it each time thereafter when I'd go to KD. Fast foward 21 years to 2013 and I rode it for the last time. I was 34 in 2013 and Motrin couldn't take away the horrible pain I felt the rest of the day.
Great list! 🙂
Glad to see Flight Deck, my favorite B&M invert currently, make it to the wins. It's short, but sooo sweet. Intense, snappy, and that corkscrew is absolutely amazing. I just love it so much.
Flight Deck is a sad story. It was never supposed to be built. It was supposed to be a B&M invert, but Cedar Fair had an exclusivity clause and Wonderland was too close. Thankfully Walter remembered this and gave us Leviathan, saying that he "owed" Wonderland over the Top Gun screwjob
Paramount Parks, not building B&Ms because of proximity rules.
It was supposedly supposed to go where behemoth is now, so then behemoth would of gone where leviathan is now, so no leviathan, I think it worked out in the end
Where did you get this amazing information from.
@@David51295 amusement insiders
@@justiceman2723 okay.
My first coaster I ever rode was Outer Limits Flight of Fear in 1996, a ride I did not know it was a coaster, and getting me obsessed with coasters. The line was about 2 hours when I first rode it in 1996.
Volcano was awesome. It’s a shame that it died. I remember standing in line for ages for that ride when I was a teenager, and I know I didn’t appreciate it as much then as I do now. Hypersonic XLC was also awesome, and sorely missed.
I remember by day at KD in 2008, Volcano had by far the longest line
Tbh it looks WAAYY to overhyped
I've only been to Kings Island out of the five (my home park) and The Bat is criminally underrated. A short ride but it's a great option for those who think Banshee is too intense or uncomfortable. Hope to hit up Carowinds and KD next year.
Great content, as always.
Just wanna say, man, you deserve some respect (if not an award lol) for your ability to _constantly_ come up with a topic/subject for a video. I mean my god, some of your videos are compilations/lists of some of the most back-of-the-mind facts/observations one could fathom. I respect you for that, man. No way in hell could I figure out a way to talk about coasters as extensively as you have and do. Props, man. Props. While I admit I don’t watch every single video you put out, I’m certainly remaining subscribed and watching a fair chunk of them. Love the videos, man!
California’s Great America is my home park, so it’s really nice to see flight deck raised so high. It’s my favorite coaster at the park and probably my favorite in general, I always marathon it when I visit the park. Also, I agree that psycho mouse has the worst capacity and slowest moving line in the whole park
I will never forget a ride op going "put your head against the headrest or the ride will do it for you" back when Hypersonic XLC was new. I miss the way Paramount was willing to take risks at Kings Dominion, and they usually only took rides away to quickly replace them with something better. Wonder why they were so bad at maintaining attractions while Wonderland didn't seem to have the same issues.
If Paramount would have invested just a little more and better leveraged their movie properties, then I think they could have realized that dream to compete with Universal and Disney.
Unless Micheal Eisner followed up the ABC acquisition by buying Paramount so they could realize their plan of building Disney’s America in Virginia.
I feel like Volcano would be my top choice for defunct roller coasters that I would have loved to ride. Second would be Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, and third would be Dueling Dragons at Islands of Adventure.
I feel so lucky I went on all three
Hypersonic XLC is my #1, it was supposed to come to my home park, CGA but height limitations prevented it. Still bummed I never made it to KD to ride. Dueling Dragons is probably my 2nd, followed by Volcano
For me, those would be Loop Coaster at Tojoko Toy Kingdom, Eagle Fortress and Dueling Dragons
After going to Carowinds for this first time this year I was blown away by how excellent Afterburn was. I rode that as many times as I could since I was so impressed, also much shorter lines than others.
Paramount is pleased to bring you our Feature Presentation
Hurler actually does have airtime, but you have to be unusually light (like me) or a kid to experience it. Don't worry, it's still not strong at all, no one's missing much.
Woah. It's obvious Wayne is talking about Six Flags bc Illinois, but it totally sounded like he was referencing CGA in the context of this video when he said "Great America." Woah.
I really like the unique themes for these best and worst videos! I can't believe there could have been a Godzilla B&M invert in an alternate reality.
Well remember when that movie came out the park still would have been Mariots great America
@@zanewebb2665 Idk I thought it was just called Great America before Paramount acquired it in 1992.
It's been probably 15 years since I went to King's Dominion. That was at the point Paramount was just like "F it" and not really keeping up the park.
With the exception of Flight of Fear, I rode each of those coasters you mentioned from Kings Dominion.
The Hurler was ok when it first opened, but by the last time I rode it, it seemed like it would come off the track around that banked right turn.
The Italian Job was interesting, especially for it's time. It was unusual being able to climb up a corkscrew. That said, this was the ride that set my motion sickness into motion to a point where I can't ride more than one or two coasters in an entire day.
The wild mouse type rides can all go to hell. They're hands down the scariest rides in any park.
Flight of Fear, as of my last visit to King's Dominion, only operated some times. It was usually during the fall. Word was that was due to maintenance issues.
Hypersonic XLC was ok. The launch was what played the biggest mind game on you.
Volcano was good and was definitely a trailblazer in the launch coaster segment. There weren't alot when it came out. The visual of the fire coming out of the volcano while the ride was going made it seem more extreme than what it really was. There was a pre-existing water ride in the volcano's structure that was removed to build the coaster and reuse the waiting area.
If Paramount were Disney they would have changed the name of Hurler to “Paramount’s The Hurler the Ride: A Wayne’s World Coaster”
If Paramount were Disney they would’ve done more sequels than just Charlotte’s Web 2.
I wonder does Chris gray out in his car? Jk good video!
I'll never forget the final weekend of Volcano. Nobody(probably besides the staff that worked that ride) knew it was going down. The following weekend when the park opened back up for daily operations it was closed. Rumors spread that they were working on the track, adding new footers, new launcher, new dispatch board, etc etc. One that made it seem true was that they were shut down due to using the wrong bolts on the coaster. Never knew that the last night of the night I had on that ride would be my last ride ever. Hopefully whatever they're planning to replace it lives up the hype.
Odd fact. MACK Wild Mice all have different restraints for whatever stupid reason. I really enjoyed the one at Hershey and the SF clones, but the paramount ones are garbage. Lol. Just can’t stand the restraints and trains for some reason.
Wait a minute, what Mack wild mice at Six Flags?
@@RY30DM Dark Knight indoor clones.
I think it’s pretty rad that for a very short window, Kings Dominion had four, yes four, launched coasters. I’m glad I got a few rides on Hypersonic and Volcano will forever be a favorite
I get the feeling that Paramount constantly picked such weird manufacturers because either
A. They just really wanted to give people a chance
Or
B. They didn’t know who was worth giving business to
Flying Ace at K.I. must've fixed their restraints, I was dreading getting that Credit but was surprised when I got on it. Definitely the type of ride I think Vekoma intended it to be.
They aren’t that bad at theme lake management
I got to ride Afterburn earlier this year and got one singular ride on it...but in the back row. It was my first ever inverted coaster and it was really intense! I loved every second of it!
Psycho Mouse is one of my favorite rides at Great America. It scares the hell out of a lot of people I know, but it’s fun to me!
Top Gun at KI was pre-planned by KECO... I wouldn't exactly call it Paramount's addition. KI was already getting it whether the park had changed hands or not.
Swoop!
Well Done Chris, I highly agree with Afterburn as number 1. Very cool topic 🥃
I was about to get up and go to work. Guess I gotta be late today.
Worth it
With the exception of Son of Beast, all the Paramount rides at King's Island were fun...but most were short. It was hard to go from Vortex or the Beast, and then get on...Top Gun. While I still enjoy Top Gun today for what it is, it was heavily over-hyped at its opening. My favorite Paramount ride is Outer Limits, but my neck can't take it anymore. It's still insanely popular--even on a cool April day, there's easily an hour wait.
Overall, they did a decent job for a movie studio, but I'm thrilled (pun intended) to have Cedar Fair in possession of King's Island now. They just make the best coasters.
Suspended coasters cant really be that long. They keep needing to go downhill so they run out of steam quick
I want to go on something more thrilling than Air Powered Vertical Coaster 1.
Silver streak at Canadas wonderland actually received the new trains
Really? Dang i didnt know that, thats great
Kings Island is my home park. I can’t believe you picked Top Gun over Flight of Fear much less even had Flight of Fear in the middle tier. It’s a great roller coaster, even though Cedar Fair turned on a lot of lights. It’s no longer nearly pitch black. You can see most of the inside when your riding it now.
I’m very fond of the Paramount era. I visited Carowinds for the first time in 2004 when they had Top Gun and Borg Assimilator. Very nostalgic for me
I've been to King's Island and King's Dominion during their Paramount Days. Since King's Island is one of my home parks I've been consistently going to the park since 1999 (previous visit was this year). But, it seemed that King's Dominion was Paramount's favorite park along with Kings Island.
Instead of the Italian Stunt Coaster we almost got a coaster themed to the Addams Family.
When Chris uploads, it’s a great day.
Carowinds was my nearest park for quite awhile. While I do find the back half of Stealth/NightHawk disappointing, I'm obsessed with the flip element on the drop and the inverted loop. I recall Hurler being decent but think a RMC update of it would be killer.
Backlot stunt coaster and Verbolten are a very similar intensity. launched coasters with indoor portions and special effects, either the biggest family coaster possible or the smallest thrill coaster possible.
I went to Paramount Kings Dominion in summer of 2000. Hurler was okay back then, and Outer Limits was fun, but would’ve been more fun without the over the shoulder restraints. But I LOVED Volcano the Blast Coaster! In 2000, it was the best coaster in the park!
"Vortex of Suck" is my new metal band name.
Saw the title and instantly got memories of Son of Beast
My friends and I practically lived at carowinds during the summer during late 90’s. I love what cedar fair has done but I miss all the theming
I'm always happy to see my home park Carowinds getting a top spot. I remember going to Carowinds when I was younger and it was owned by Paramount, I was too scared to ride rollercoasters back then but I would have loved to ride the Super Saturator. Sad I never got that chance.
If I got to ride Volcano, it would be my favorite of these. Of those that I've ridden, my favorite is Flight Deck at CGA. I found it to be so intense, while Afterburn has always run quite slow for me. I call it B&Ms family invert.
The worst part about Top Gun/Flight Deck is that it was supposed to be a B&M Inverted coaster but B&M was too busy and so Paramount went with Vakoma instead.
Silver Streak doesn't have the same restraints that were shown in the clips of the other similar coasters. Last time I rode, the restraints came nowhere near my head, so it's just a "shake and bang" as El Toro Ryan puts it.
I got on Volcano once in 1999 and I have the most fond memories of that.
I've Paramount was interested in a Morgan hyper for Great America that would have had an Elevator lift, but it never got far. I wonder what the first Hypers went for vs Afterburn, with Kings Dominion being the only other park not having a hyper (but they Cedar did give them I-305)
Im sure the Morgan Hypers were cheaper than Afterburn
@@AirtimeThrills I was specifying B&M vs B&M, I just said I heard Paramount was looking into working with them. Just like with Michigan's Adventure, It was shelved
I’d like to see more addition rankings, specifically one for SFGAm!
I love when I’m watching an airtime thrills video and he releases a new one
oh heck yeah!!! so excited to watch this!!!
I hate what Paramount did to Kings Island. Stunt coaster looks like a scar in what would otherwise be beautiful green space.
Kings Island was my home park and I grew up during the paramount era. I was heartbroken when Cedar Fair took over and changed everything I knew...HAHA! I was a teenager when Cedar Fair took over though and I didn't have a strong understanding of why the names were changing, rides being removed, etc. Ahhh...The good times of being a naive GP :D
Well they did go for a mostly generic approach, like Six Flags did a few years later.
I thought I was the only one who grayed out on Backlot. Makes me feel a little less weak knowing I’m not the only one.
I wish Kings Island would have after changing the name back to The Bat they would have got the original train cars that had the bat design on them.. I like that they renamed it to pay homage to the original but I think they definitely could have also put the cool Bat designed trains that was on the original ride.
Also tomb raider at Kings Island was right up there with universal and Disney with theming.
It was the type of Darkrai you didn't see except for places like universal or Disney It was an amazing dark ride.
Also volcano blaster was a great ride very unique but the look of it was not great.
It always to me looked like it was under construction because the support beams looked like scaffolding and I know there's not much they could do about it but I always thought it would be cool if they painted the support beams the color to match the volcano or wrap or cover the support columns in the same material they made the volcano out of and then made the track like lava color. Early so we thought that would be a cool touch but with that being said still a great coaster it's a shame they got rid of it.
The Bat’s 1981 trains were probably scrapped and they probably couldn’t get new ones since Arrow is defunct and I’m not sure if S&S has supplied parts for the model. Tomb Raider wasn’t perfect at theming since the show building was completely visible, and the ride itself has nothing to do with Pokèmon.
3:54 Putting a Vekoma SLC right next to a Zamperla Volare creates a Vortex Of Death Machines.
I was there for the Italian job media day as well as boomerang bay. Tomb raider was waaay underrated and awesome giant top spin. Sad that it's not there anymore but mystic serves it as the q.
Top Gun at Great America was my favorite when I was in HS 😂
(Note, out of these i've only been to Kings Dominion)
Kings Dominion's version of the Hurler I rode only a single time. It was rainy and I nearly lost my sunglasses on it. Twisted Timbers is so much better
Backlot Stunt Coaster is still alright. Sadly they removed or disabled the pyrotechnics
I've ridden Flight of Fear a few times. It got rough a few years ago, but this summer it was SO much smoother
I rode Volcano just two or so years before its' closure. An absolute blast. Definitely in my top 5.
I can’t ever say Backlot is a family coaster, because I’ve only threw up after 1 coaster, and it was that. It was also my second time, so I wanted to give it another chance, after 2 years ago I felt like I was going to throw up. Note to self: only ride Behemoth, Leviathon, Vortex, Yukon Striker, and some smooth coaster
Been waiting for this!
Thanks again for the dinner reminder
Beyond sad that I missed Volcano but now I’m thinking I need to re-ride Afterburn. I rode it in the front once and thought it was beyond tame. But being a local with a season pass perhaps I’ll give up a ride or two on Fury to try out a back seat ride on it.
We aren't going to talk about how son of beast just put itself back up at the very end.
love your vids keep it up 🐐
Are there any successful prototypes brought straight from the testing grounds? It'd be neat to see which were the most and least successful prototypes by the time they actually ran at parks 🤷
Here’s something rare, I got a lights on ride on backlot stunt at ki! :>
also let me also say that in my opinion flight of fear(s) are way underrated. maybe because they're clones? tbh I think those launches are more intense than kinda ka, 2nd to only Xcelerator st Knotts. also the indoor-darkness-fear factor really plays into it, even as a 30 year old adult
When my family and I went to kings dominion for my birthday my cousins and I rode the apple zapple when it was the ricochet over 20 times and we were really the only one riding so the majority were back to back rides
Once again requesting that Cedar Fair replace Time Warp with literally anything else. I swear even a second SLC would be an upgrade.
Great video!
Thanks so much for the heart!
i was on a ride like #16 at Prater in Vienna, and I found it pretty nice actually. we went on it two or three times. maybe that one is smoother and keep up better
I miss this
i got on afterburn at Carowinds 2 yrs ago. its a good fun ride. i also enjoyed nighthawk alot too. i honestly dont get why nighthawk gets so much hate. its a lot of fun
I was so upset when stealth was taken out of CGA. I would take stealth anyway over some lame waterslides
I feel old. I remember when flight of fear opened at kd.
Say what you want about Paramount but I guaruntee we'd see the height record held by a T-Rex (perhaps at Canada's Wonderland, I don't think they would have done that park dirty forever in terms of coasters, especially since their non-coaster additions to that park like Sledge Hammer were so good) and a safer bet is we'd have RMC Son of Beast which would probably be better than Steel Vengence in terms of general consensus among enthusiasts. Cedar Fair has done a better job with these parks overall, especially Canada's Wonderland and Carowinds. As much as I detested the decision to remove Thunder Road for a waterpark expansion you cannot deny that the 3 coasters Cedar Fair has added make the park far better than it was. Kings Island is definately a better park than it was under Paramount but it's a toss up whether it would be better under the Paramount model. RMC Son of Beast alone could make it better. Kings Dominion is probably better? I305 and Twisted Timbers are probably the 2 best coasters in the park's history but the 8 year coaster drout and replacing Volcano with a cut and paste 4D free spin really leave a bad taste in your mouth to put it one way. Great America has Railblaizer and Gold Striker as the best coasters in their history and the future looks bright for that park. But it's a toss up because the investment isn't a result of Paramount/Cedar Fair differences, it's a result of the new stadium.
"and the future looks bright for that park"
Not anymore :(
@@kirbysuperstaruhh3769 Yep. Oof. That being said, I am more optomistic than most. The land is only zoned for an amusement park, from what I've heard it doesn't sound like they'll rezone it. And Gold Striker was retracked over the offseason (which to me means Cedar Fair intends to operate it for at least 5 more years or sell it to another operator. If they were just trying to get out they would've diverted those efforts to another coaster). I don't think the park will close, for example I could see the 49ers organization buying the park and promoting it as a means of "tailgating" (say, open the park 5-6 hours before the game on game day no matter what and include a CGA ticket with a 49ers ticket). This isn't the first time the park's future has been in jepordy.
Top Gun (The Bat) was already under construction when paramount bought the park.
What was it going to be?
@@DoswarePictures Swoop. Themed to a bird because it was going to be in Wild Animal Habitat. The book Kings Island: A Ride Through Time talks about it
My second ever coaster i ever rode was silver streak at my home park canadas wonderland and i personally didnt mind it i didnt experience any headbanging and i sat at the back
Kings Dominion was on a roll during the paramount days. Cedar Fair is systematically destroying the park since they got it unfortunately :/
Hello, I am having a bit of trouble. I haven't grayed out on a coaster yet and the intense rides I have ridden are superman ultimate flight, nitro, el toro, batman the ride, talon, and possessed. What coaster will make me gray out? I really want to experience some pure intensity.
Both Batman and Nitro have me grey out about 90% of the time, but I guess ymmv.
Otherwise, I remember Maverick and Skyrush being plenty intense.
i recommend i305
OG Hurler at KD was amazing when I rode it in the late 90's. Fast, smooth, packed with powerful airtime and laterals. Just like Thunder Run at Kentucky Kraphole. Unfortunately, it wasn't maintained and the trims/poor condition just murdered any fun the ride had. I think it's probably the biggest good > bad I've seen on a coaster.
Having said that, Twisted Timbers is a much better ride.
genius video idea
Okay but the rugrats ride was amazing as a kid so I'm baffled at that review lmao I think you just need to be a young kid when you first ride it maybe and son of beast was everyone's favorite. Personally so disappointed I never went on it as a kid before it closed.
Top Gun / The Bat at Kings Island was not a Paramount coaster, it was already under development when Great American Financial owned the park, all Paramount did was theme it.
hey did you know that invertigo is leaving kings island next season i know this because one of my friends work there
A vortex of suck. I knew there was I reason I still follow you. Lol.
Cool!
Miss the paramount parks. They just were missing more big thrill rides imo. Wonder how many bidders were for son of beast?? Obviously they would go with the lowest bidder to built it.
I wonder if other manufacturers thought it was beyond their abilities
@@AirtimeThrills RCCA was going from park to park pitching that layout. Kings Island was the park that bit. The book Kings Island: A Ride Through Time has a big section explaining Son of Beast
@@kienthusiast3666 Thanks for the info - I didn't know it was RCCA pitching the layout
@@AirtimeThrills you are welcome, it’s a great book, definitely worth checking out
My dad grew up with PKI, and he said he loved Son of Beast.
You made one huge mistake with this video and your mini documentary about the Paramount Parks. You forgot to start the video with "And now we're pleased to bring you our Feature Presentation" with the famous Paramount jingle in the background.
I've been on tons of launched coasters. None are as intense as Hypersonic's launch was. It felt like being rear-ended by a semi. There is also no louder brake run in the history of coasters. You could hear that train stopping from anywhere in the park for some reason.
Hurler was trash from opening day onward. The best part was how in line, Wayne and Garth would do a video safety skit. It was all downhill from there. Boring and rough.
Volcano was great, but MAN its line was intolerable. Always the longest line in the park, sometimes over 3 hours. And while the launch around the back and up and out of the volcano was awesome, the rest of the layout was awful. The barrel rolls were so slow there was no sense of zero gravity, and then when it does finally do a dive, it's directly into the brake run. Visually stunning, launch was awesome, but ultimately overrated and not worth the wait.
Shockwave was underrated. It had some really nice airtime and G's. Dudes whining about their nuts were exaggerating 99% if the time. Underappreciated ride.
Anaconda coulda been one of Arrow's all-time best loopers if they had just gotten rid of that butterfly element after the midcourse brakes. That single dip and turn ruins the whole ride. The rest of it is actually pretty smooth, but nobody remembers anything other than getting their head bashed in at that one part.
Flight of Fear getting redesigned to use a lapbar instead of over the shoulder restraints tremendously improved that ride. It was a real headbanger its first few years.
it doesn’t really rain a lot here in charlotte, if it rains it literally rains for a hour tops
Carowinds used to SUCK
R.I.P. Volcano.
Yes
Honestly, Canads's Wonderland has easily the worst coaster lineup of all parks on Earth with more than 9 coasters, and it's easily the shitty coaster capital of the world
I absolutely adore flight of fear