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-1 Rating Posted by: BigJohnWC on 10/2/2002 2:00:00 PM

A decent suspended coaster, and I do like how its set over the water. Loses points for its shabby construction (its just not even close to sturdy) and an overall lack of creativity. TOP GUN at PKI is shorter (but not by much), but it uses the terrain much better and gives some great turns through the trees. This one feels like they said "lets just put a coaster here," and that was the end of it.

Shabby construction?
Well, of course, cause if it shakes its automatically bad. Wait, better tear down all wooden coasters too if thats the case... It has nothing to do with absorbing the energy, not at all...
Anywho, if you take a look, besides longer trains, and a different station setup, Top Gun at PKI is an exact clone of Vortex. So that throws that argument right out the window...

Actually .. no, no it doesnt. There are not enough supports on a majority of the coasters at this park. Both wooden coasters (specifically the WILD BEAST) and THE VORTEX were far too unstable. You can watch the VIOLENT shaking of the track and it was ridicualous. I would say that some newer, bigger coasters suffer from the same problem ... but there is a difference. NONE of the coasters at Wonderland were real record-breakers/trend-setters/unique rides. They used tride and true blue prints and designs but, I feel, did a half-hearted job of building them (or keeping with the upkeep). In addition, while TOP GUN is a clone of the ride, its location saves it significantly. TOP GUN uses the surrounding the terrain to give a great tree-top ride and add surprise to some of the twists and drops. VORTEX has little more going for it than the pond it passes over .. the rest of the track was just wrapping around air. Watch the train come back in the station on both rides. VORTEXs brake station swins and shakes severely ... TOP GUNs cars get one last good swing in then stop almost entirely (and smoothly) ... that, to me, is the difference between stronger and more well thought supports than what VORTEX has decided to represent.

Does making every few words BOLD help to emphasize your POINT?

Having spent the majority of my summer oerating the ride, seeing it come into the brakes hundreds of times a day, I will agree that it comes in fast (It was running faster this year than ever before), and the platform does shake. But its been doing the exact same thing for twelve years now, do you not think that it would have collapsed yet if the supports were inadequate?

Hey Skeeber...good to see you hear.

I havent been to PKI, but looking at pics, Id have to say Vortex is on par with Top Gun.

For the record .. two things, I try to put ride names in caps/bold ... I miss from time to time, but that is my goal (what can I say, had english & grammer drilled into my head for years ... some of it stuck). Also, Im not siting it the supports as "inadequate." Just "not-as-adequate." I really found this a common trait in many of the Canadian coasters Ive come across. They werent as up-kept as their American cousins OR their structure wasnt as overly re-enforced (sp?). Im not saying they left out "vital" parts, but just didnt appear as safe/sturdy as comparable coasters in the states. And, for the record, what you see in pictures must be deceiving ... TOP GUN (PKI) is almost a terrain coaster, with elements playing off the hillside and treeline, VORTEX (PKI) may have a similar track layout but loses out on its inter-action with its environment.

I just had to step in when I read the absurdity of "shabby construction". Honestly, have you ever taken a physics course in anything before.... I for one am quite happy with the fact that the coaster shakes, it is absolutely an insanely stupid idea if the coaster was rigid and didnt give or sway a little. I am basing my opinion on the fact that I am currently in enrolled in university and studying enginering. Stress fractures would start popping up everywhere and the thing would then have to be torn down. If you actually take the time to think about no coaster is techincally "shake free", just take a look at SUF in Ohio, or the boomerang coasters. And as far as Vortex being a clone there are quite obviously some very VISIBLE changes that arent quite hard to point out at all.

You know .. Ive been going through my comments again and again ... and I was like "where the hell are they thinking I said shabby construction?" Well, the answer finally comes when I bothered to re-read my review. Sorry ... lets call it work stress and blank moments for that confusion. ANYWAY ... Ill admit "shabby construction" was a bad word choice there. I think my statements in my previous comment were more appropriate to what I was trying to convey. So I apologize and will remove the "shabby" comment with an update in the coming weeks (Im leaving it there for now until this thread has relatively died). Also, one thing to hybridXs comment ... Im not talking about a simple "give." This is normal and Im aware of its needs (Ive been in these d*mn parks for over 27 years, I did notice that by now). However, what I was referring to was perhaps best but as the overall amount of give. Ive watched many American coasters sway and move and "give." And, I took time while in lines to watch many of the coasters at PCW. By comparison (and these numbers are not accurate at all, just a figure given for discussion sakes) if PKIs TOP GUN swayed 1 to 2 feet in either direction at the braking point, PCWs VORTEX would sway about 10 to 12 feet. It actually very distinctly reminded me of how a backyard swing set would move/sway over the years as the one pole started to get worked out of the ground and would pop-up a bit as you swung out. I rode the coaster, I wouldnt have gotten near it if I didnt think it was safe ... my remarks were made in regards to what I feel appear to be slightly less strict regulation in Canada than in the US cousins (not saying the US isnt full of needless extra regulation). And I chose a poor set of words to convey that. Like I said .. Ill update in the coming weeks with more precise terminology. One last note ... has anyone in this discussion grown as tired as I that Paramount & Six Flags cant think of new names for their rides?? It can get rather confusing as to which TOP GUN and which VORTEX were talking about (and why Paramount took soooo many names from PKI is beyond me. TOP GUN was their name, but VORTEX was Kings Island long before Paramount bought it ... and Im fairly certain, though not positive, that THE BAT at PCW uses the same logo sign the retired THE BAT from Kings Island used to use).

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