King Cobra
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| Manufacturer | Togo | ||||||||||||||
| Designer / calculations | James Rogan | ||||||||||||||
| Type | Steel - Stand-Up | ||||||||||||||
| Riders per train | 24 | ||||||||||||||
| Hourly capacity | 1250 | ||||||||||||||
| Propulsion | Chain lift hill | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 95 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Drop | 90 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Top speed | 50 mph | ||||||||||||||
| Length | 2219 feet | ||||||||||||||
| Inversions | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Drop angle | 53° | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2:00 | ||||||||||||||
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King Cobra was a steel stand-up roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, USA. Built by Togo, the ride operated from 1984 to 2001.[1]
History
King Cobra was announced in February 1983. A prototype stand-up coaster was fully built and tested at Togo's facility in Japan. It was then disassembled, relocated to Kings Island, and constructed. King Cobra opened on April 22, 1984.[2] It was the first Togo roller coaster in the United States.
Like Shockwave at Kings Dominion, King Cobra started with a single drop which led into the ride's only inversion, a vertical loop, with the rest of the layout consisting of bunny hills, a downwards helix, twists, and turns.
King Cobra was closed on August 24, 1999 following an accident on Shockwave at Kings Dominion.[3]
After Togo shut their American offices down in 2001, replacement parts for King Cobra became much more scarce.[4] The ride also became uncomfortable and less popular towards the end of its service life.[5] The ride was closed that same year. After sitting in storage for a few years, it was scrapped in December 2006.
Design
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Trains
2 trains with 6 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows, for a total of 24 riders per train. The trains were painted green and had black restraints.
Incident
On August 8, 1984, less than four months after the coaster's opening, a train derailed, injuring eight people.[6] The incident was blamed on defective parts, and King Cobra reopened in early September following the parts' replacements.[7]
References
- ↑ "A Blast From The Past – Kings Island’s King Cobra". NewsPlusNotes. http://newsplusnotes.blogspot.com/2010/01/blast-from-past-kings-islands-king.html.
- ↑ "Kings Island opens new coaster, Park issues challenge". 1984-06-17. pp. 34. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87655658/kings-island-opens-new-coaster-park/. Retrieved 2021-10-24.
- ↑ "Kings Island shuts down second ride indefinitely", Dayton Daily News (August 25, 1999), pp. 14. Retrieved on December 25, 2021.
- ↑ "Top 10 retired Kings Island rides we'll miss the most on National Roller Coaster Day". https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2020/08/13/10-favorite-retired-kings-island-rides-national-roller-coaster-day/3311160001/.
- ↑ Kings Island 2
- ↑ "5 Inspectors From Japan Check Cobra". 1984-08-11. pp. 31. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87655573/the-cincinnati-enquirer/. Retrieved 2012-10-24.
- ↑ "1984 Was a Good Year for Kings Island, Despite Cobra Incident", The Star Press (1984-09-09), pp. 34. Retrieved on 24 October 2021.
External links
- King Cobra on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
