Project 2025/Caldera: Rapterra (Launched B&M Wing Coaster)

[jscll]

The previous interation was never a serious final design. It was more of a "What can you sell us that fits in this budget and this plot of land."
Most manufactures are not going to spend much time developing anything more than a rough layout until they get a deposit paid on the project. That is why it was a near clone of an existing ride.
I wonder if KD solicited designs from any other manufatures on the project?

 

[Intimidator325]

I’m just glad the speculation phase is over I was TIRED lol. Anyway with just recently riding gatekeeper and being surprised with how good it was I am very happy about this news and the fact that it’s a launch makes this 10 times better!

 

[madmax]

I’ve heard thunderbird’s launch is crazy so I’m getting hyped now

 

[cschnizer]

My thoughts on this. I’m alright with this if it lives up to or above the caliber of Thunderbird. Really hope it’s not like that peewee layout leaked back in 2019. Hopefully a good layout can fit in that land. Also as somebody who thought a B&M wing would be a slow boring layout, I almost forgot that almost all Volcano did after coming out the top was meander around with three inline twists. However, the park still needs an inverted coaster.

And in true Cedar Fair fashion, (at least in these renders) it's got that signature burnt orange track

That’s not funny! There’s literally a burnt Orange coaster right next to where this will go! (It’s where the crocodiles lurk). Dominator also has orange track most of its way. We’ve gotta keep the B&M’s uniquely colored. I’d be glad if it actually had yellow track with brown or maroon supports in memory of Volcano. But imo Kings Dominion really needs a coaster other than Woodstock with bright blue track. Heck, Gatekeeper has blue track! What a coincidence.

 

[madmax]

However, the park still needs an inverted coaster

I mean do they really need it with Alpengeist up the road?

 

[Zachary]

I mean do they really need it with Alpengeist up the road?

I don't think so. Is it a gap in their lineup? Sure. That said, I think getting something that no one else in the entire region has is far more impactful than just filling a hole in only your lineup.

One day an invert for KD would be nice. I think the wing is a must better choice right now though.

 

[cschnizer]

I mean do they really need it with Alpengeist up the road?

A launch invert like Gerstlauer’s Infinity Invert model would be cool and different enough from Alpie.

I don't think so. Is it a gap in their lineup? Sure. That said, I think getting something that no one else in the entire region has is far more impactful than just filling a hole in only your lineup.

One day an invert for KD would be nice. I think the wing is a must better choice right now though.

Tbh I thought the opposite for a while. I thought that they could’ve saved the wing coaster for another area of the park. But this does sort of work.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

Just thinking “KD + Thunderbird” gets me so excited. I LOVED watching Thunderbird at a distance at Holiday World. Just seeing that orange immelman sitting there silently and every few minutes you’d watch that wing train soar up it so smoothly without fail. Wonder what the initial “high element” will be and how tall? I would have easily taken several laps on Thunder if not for……um the Voyage being right there but I only took 2 and it was definitely the best paced wing of the 3 I’ve done. I could make the argument wings are more exciting than floorless coasters personally with all the near miss and exposed visuals.

I will also note there are 18 inverts in the US and only 4 wings. Coincidentally there are 18 wings worldwide with quite a few of them in China.

 

[warfelg]

I don't think so. Is it a gap in their lineup? Sure. That said, I think getting something that no one else in the entire region has is far more impactful than just filling a hole in only your lineup.

One day an invert for KD would be nice. I think the wing is a must better choice right now though.

I think a nice family invert in the future would fill a hole in the lineup and be something different.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

I wouldn’t be shocked at all if some sort of “inverted” model ends up in the park down the road. I personally would be shocked if it was a B&M invert with all the different options for that style out there. I also would hope it would be different for the sake of standing out.

At the same time a Dragonflier clone would look GREAT where peanuts showplace is. That or a family boomerang.

 

[Zachary]

I could make the argument wings are more exciting than floorless coasters personally with all the near miss and exposed visuals.

This is part of makes the wing great for KD right now in my opinion. If they put as much theming into this as they did Phase 1 of Jungle X-Pedition (no reason to believe they won't and I'd say the station plans look like they certainly plan to), that stands to positively impact a wing's ride experience more than almost any other model. Give us all the near-miss elements!

 

[madmax]

Have to imagine this will have the same 5 car train as thunderbird right

 

[Chorizo]

This coaster is absolutely the perfect fit for KD, and will be crazy popular with the GP. The park has felt out of balance for a long time, I would argue even before Volcano was removed. Their coaster collection, to me at least, felt incongruent. This coaster feels like the glue that will bind their great but messy coaster lineup together, giving them a true modern steel behemoth that can be enjoyed by everyone (over 52"). The park has laid the groundwork with Jungle-X, Grizzly retrack, and vastly improved dining. Now it finally feels like that hard work will pay off for them.

Also, on the basis of it being next to Tumbili, it's crazy that these coaster models are being compared when their only similarity is that the seats are next to the track. I don't see anyone complaining about Racer 75, Twisted Timbers, and Grizzly all being right next to each other when those are much more similar ride experiences than an S&S Free Spin and a B&M Wing.

 

[cschnizer]

Also, on the basis of it being next to Tumbili, it's crazy that these coaster models are being compared when their only similarity is that the seats are next to the track. I don't see anyone complaining about Racer 75, Twisted Timbers, and Grizzly all being right next to each other when those are much more similar ride experiences than an S&S Free Spin and a B&M Wing.

Because coasters with seating on the sides of the track aren't as common as those with above track seating, or even inverted seating. Also TT is a much different ride experience than R75 or Grizzly. Lots of airtime and whip, three inversions, and glass smooth.

But that wasn't the main reason why I was initially opposed to the wing coaster. Cost was the big factor. Is this a sign that Cedar Fair is willing to invest $20M or more in KD and hope it pays off? Or is that the limit? I imagine if it's below $20M it would have to be slightly smaller than Thunderbird correct?

Family invert would be nice for KD but it's not like I didn't mention merely posts ago that a launched infinity invert would differ enough from Alpengeist as well. Launches, airtime, more variety in inversions and elements (like dive loops, zero-g stalls, and that one crazy turn on Storm), and two-across seating. The argument that KD can't get any inverted thrill coasters because of Alpengeist is just silly. Pennsylvania literally has Great Bear and Talon. Seems like little to no one appreciates any concepts I have these days, when they're more realistic than replacing Volcano with an Intamin multi-launch.

 

[Zachary]

Just FYI: The original Reddit post has now been deleted. I've mirrored the original images in my initial post about the leak, here.

 

[CoasterAuditor]

Here’s some footage I took of Thunderbird if anybody wanted to watch it be nice and smooth for a minute.

 

[CoasterMac]

Have to imagine this will have the same 5 car train as thunderbird right

Yep. Have to puzzle the renders together to see it, but I do count 5 rows of air gates.

 

[cschnizer]

20 passenger trains is an improvement, but I think capacity wouldn't be much better than Volcano. Really hope they have an efficient ride crew.

 

[Gavin]

It's a B&M, they literally eat crowds.

 

[AlpenChariot]

20 riders per train assuming two trains and a dispatch interval of right about 90 seconds on a good day would yield 800 per hour. Not terrible but not as good as Dominator.