King Cobra (roller coaster)

In early 1983, Kings Island announced that they would be planning their next roller coaster.[3] It was set to open for the 1984 season, three years after The Bat. The park decided to go with TOGO to build the attraction. A prototype stand-up coaster named Astro-Comet was fully built and tested at their facility in Japan. Kings Island wanted to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first roller coaster in the United States by adding a unique one-of-a-kind thrill ride. Astro-Comet featured a 95-foot (29 m) tall chain lift hill, a 66-foot (20 m) tall vertical loop, a 540-degree helix, a "trick-track" element and airtime moments. Park management decided to buy the prototype and ship it to Ohio. Construction of the new coaster would begin in December 1983. At the same time, Kings Island would name the attraction King Cobra. It was completed in time to open on April 22, 1984. The ride was marketed as the world's first stand-up roller coaster.[4]

On August 24, 1999, both King Cobra and Drop Tower: Scream Zone were closed indefinitely after two separate accidents occurred at Kings Dominion and California's Great America.[5] King Cobra would eventually reopen two days later on August 26.[6]

After the ride's manufacturer, TOGO, went out of business in 2001, parts for the ride became more expensive and harder to find. Following the 2001 season, Paramount Parks began to dismantle King Cobra and put it up for sale. The trains were stored inside the Flight of Fear building and the track in one of Kings Island's "graveyards" located on old Wild Animal Habitat land. When the ride didn't sell, the track was scrapped and the trains were relocated to Kings Dominion to be used as spare parts for Shockwave.

As of 2010, remnants of the King Cobra could still be spotted in some back areas of Kings Island near Flight of Fear.[2]

King Cobra, in foreground, viewed from the Eiffel Tower (1996)

After being loaded into the 24 passenger stand-up trains, the riders were taken up a 95-foot (29 m) hill, before turning 180 degrees to the right and encountering the first drop. The riders were first welcomed by the vertical loop, which was taken quickly and smoothly. Shortly after, the train climbed up the first camelback hill, allowing for some floater airtime, then dropped into a 540-degree helix, which had riders standing almost completely sideways. Upon exiting the helix, the second camelback hill was encountered and followed by the unique "trick track" section of the ride, where the track was straight, but banked to the left before turning to the right. Before hitting the brake run, the track went over two bunny hills, allowing brief moments of airtime, before the ride came to a complete stop. The train then turned to the right and was brought back to the station.

Several parks featured stand-up roller coasters similar in design to King Cobra. SkyRider at Canada's Wonderland was a duplicate of King Cobra that opened a year later in 1985. It was closed in 2014 and moved to Cavallino Matto in Italy, where it reopened in 2015 as Freestyle.[7][8] Shockwave at Kings Dominion featured a similar layout as well, with the exception of its finale: After reaching the second camelback hill, the track turned left into a bunny hill before entering the brake run, as opposed to King Cobra's turn to the right. Shockwave closed permanently in 2015. Pink Typhoon Standing Coaster (formerly Star Jet) at Washuzan Highland, one of the last remaining Togo stand-up coasters in operation, is also similar until the second camelback hill. The trick track is replaced by a bunny hill, which then leads to a right turn and a second bunny hill prior to the final brake run. Unlike the others, Pink Typhoon originally featured sit-down roller coaster trains, but one was eventually replaced by a stand-up model, while the other sit-down train was turned backwards.[9]