Can someone explain the loops on coasters with loops at Kings Island?

[Blackhole6670]

I want to ride all the looping rides at Kings Island, but I am wondering what the different kind of loops and what they mean. I also want to know what the best inverted coaster is at Kings Island. Also can you explain why the looping coaster ride is the best and use on ride experiences so I know what it is like?

[bkroz]

Welcome!

I'll say this much - what you probably mean is what we'd call an "inversion." An inversion is a piece a track that turns riders upside down. A vertical loop is one kind of inversion, but there are many, many others - a corkscrew, an inclined loop, a dive loop or an Immelmann loop (same physical feature, just traversed in different directions; twisting out of a a half-loop leading into a half corkscrew), a cobra roll (which, I guess, is two half loops connected by two half corkscrews and turns riders upside down twice), a barrel roll (you twist around the track), a heartline roll (the track twists around you), and a zero-G roll are just a few.

 

Sometimes different ride manufacturers give different names to the same or similar elements. When Arrow built a roller coaster called Drachen Fire, they built what Bollinger and Mabillard called a 'cobra roll' and called it a 'bat wing' instead. 

 

Here's a list someone put together, but even that isn't exhaustive. 

 

You can learn a great deal by looking up roller coasters on the Roller Coaster Database site. For example, here's Banshee's page, which lists all of its elements including its 7 inversions.

 

At Kings Island, five roller coasters turn riders upside down: Firehawk, Flight of Fear, Banshee, Vortex, and Invertigo. Saying which is the best isn't as easy as it seems. Just because both Banshee and Vortex go upside down doesn't mean they're comparable rides at all.

 

What's it like to go upside down? Centripetal force pushes you back into your seat. When you go over airtime hills like on Diamondback, you feel weightless for a few seconds. When you go upside down, you feel heavier than normal for a few seconds, though the easier way to think about it is that you feel like you're pushed deeper back into your seat. Each element feels a bit different. A loop is quick and smooth; a barrel roll is like an elongated twist; a cobra roll has a little "snap" as you pass through the complex shape, etc.

[MDMC01]

Good explanation bkroz! 

 

As for the actual inversions the coasters themselves contain, the breakdown is as follows (* denotes 2 inversions in one element):

 

Banshee (7):

Dive loop (Barrel roll meets a giant half loop)

Loop

Zero-G Roll (Basically a barrel roll meets an airtime hill)

*Batwing (technically called a Pretzel Knot, when a corkscrew + half loop meets a half loop+ corkscrew, but they cross over each other)

Loop

Barrel Roll

 

Firehawk (4 or 7, depending on what you consider an inversion  ):

Lie-to Fly (when you roll into the flying position)

Fly-to-Lie (when you go from flying position to lying down

Loop

Lie to Fly

Barrel Roll

Barrel Roll

Fly to Lie

 

Flight of Fear (4):

*Cobra Roll ((Half loop + corkscrew) + (corkscrew +Half loop))

Sidewinder (Half loop + corkscrew)

Corkscrew

 

Invertigo (6)

*Cobra Roll

Loop

Loop (other way)

*Cobra Roll (other way)

 

Vortex (6):

-Loop

-Loop

-Corkscrew

-Corkscrew

-*Batwing ((corkscrew+half loop) + (half loop + corkscrew)

[silver2005]

With most of the looping inversions, the positive g's are plastering you to your seat, which also affects your head and sight (aka gray/black outs) so unless your exerting your body to keep more conscious during the loops, you'll won't notice you're upside down for very long, along with how those moments happen so quick.  Roll based inversions like corkscrews, 0g rolls, and dive loops tend to be more dynamic in feeling upside down since you are rolling to the side to get there vs doing a vertical maneuver like a loop.  There's a bit of weightlessness thrown in depending on how fast you take said inversions.  0g rolls in particular because they're on top of a hill.  A lot of the sensations will depend on the designer as well.  Arrow and Vekoma loopers can have some vibrations and shuffling going on during inversions.  B&M, Intamin, Schwarzkopf, Gerstlauer, and some of the other European based designers will have smoother tracks.  B&M's bigger loops and Arrow corkscrews that are taken slower (like on Vortex or CP's Corkscrew) can also have hang time.

[Gannersdaddy]

Good breakdown!  I think I am going to try to pay more attention to Flight of Fear, as I did not know all of those were in there!

[silver2005]

Flight of Fear's first 3 elements after the launch and the final element before the brakes are the 4 inversions.  

[kingsislandfan1972]

In my opinion, my favorite loop at Kings Island is on Flight of Fear, probably because I can feel it but cannot see it, it is awesome every time I ride it.

[NoChickens]

 And for me it's Vortex, I can see it, and feel it. 

[rcwizard13]

For me, it's got to be Firehawk. The force of its loop has always stood out to me.

[thegajone]

Everyone will have a different opinion on this, which is one of many reasons why coasters are so great! My personal favorite inversion elements at KI are the corkscrews on Vortex and the in-line twist at the end of Banshee. And my least favorite looping elements would be the vertical loops on Vortex.

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[DontWantToWait42mar0]

You have less of a chance of falling out when the loop is straight up and down.

Has to do with centrifugal force.

[The Interpreter]

You have less of a chance of falling out when the loop is straight up and down.

Has to do with centrifugal force.

Uh, no.

Centripetal force. And inertia.

[MDMC01]

I don't really have a favorite inversion, per say, but I do Banshee's barrel roll (as the only other coaster I've experienced this element on is Volcano: The Blast Coaster back in '01) and Firehawk's loop. 

[bkroz]

Before riding Volcano, I always like to prepare friends by explaining exactly what a heartline roll is and why it differs from the similar looking manuevers they've likely experienced dozens of times. Even as people with little interest in thrill rides or parks, I usually hear them go "whoa..." when we pass through Volcano's first one. It's really a pretty unusual and incredible feeling. 

[The Interpreter]

One of many, many reasons I adore that ride so very, very much.