Backlot Stunt Coaster (Kings Island)
This article is about the Backlot Stunt Coaster at Kings Island. For the other two rides of the same name see Backlot Stunt Coaster (Kings Dominion) and Backlot Stunt Coaster (Canada's Wonderland).
Backlot Stunt Coaster | |
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Kings Island | |
Location | Kings Island |
Park section | Coney Mall |
Status | Operating |
Opening date | May 20, 2005 |
Cost | $2,500,000 |
General statistics | |
Type | Steel |
Manufacturer | Premier Rides |
Designer | Ingenieur Büro Stengel GmbH |
Lift/launch system | LIM Launch Track |
Inversions | 0 |
Duration | 1:04 |
Backlot Stunt Coaster at RCDB |
The Backlot Stunt Coaster is a launched roller coaster currently open at Kings Island that originally opened as The Italian Job: Stunt Track. The ride was originally themed to the climactic chase scene at the end of the 2003 film The Italian Job, but was changed to a more generic theme at the start of the 2008 season due to the park no longer being associated with Paramount and Viacom properties. The ride features unique cars which resemble ¾ scale MINI Cooper cars. Special effects are incorporated throughout the ride which include a helicopter that attacks riders with simulated machine gun fire, pyrotechnic and water effects. During the rides opening year, it featured an on board audio soundtrack. The boost at the beginning of the ride goes from 0-40 miles per hour in 3 seconds. Though it is a launched coaster, it is geared more toward families than others of the type like Flight of Fear. An identical clone of the ride opened at Canada's Wonderland in 2005, and another clone opened at Kings Dominion in 2006.
Ride Description
Accelerating from 0 - 40 miles per hour, the ride rockets into a three story "parking garage" shell, passing through three upwards helices meant to mirror the ascension of a car through a true parking garage. The car then drops from the top of the helices into a street lined with highway signs and three police cars, with sirens and lights flashing. Slaloming between the officers, the cars pass a sign reading 'Left Lane Must Turn Left." Just then, the train flies upward and into a turn banked at 88 degrees, flying down into a dip and then passing down a set of "subway stairs."
The train then passes a "No Entry" sign and comes to a halt in front of a black tunnel. Just then, a helicopter rises to the trains left, shooting simulated gunfire. Under Paramount's operation, the gunfire cracked pipes and barrels, which sprayed "gasoline" (truly, water) all around riders. Though that effect has since been removed, the second round of gunfire still ignites where the gasoline would've splashed, catching two barrels on fire before a gas tank explodes. Just then, riders hit the second launch, flying into the darkness, twisting and dropping before flying out of the "broken billboard", splashing down in an L.A. aqueduct, and turning into the rides station.
External links
39°20′30″N 84°15′57″W / 39.341724°N 84.2658073°W