Top Gun is an Arrow suspended roller coaster located at Paramount’s Kings Island. Located in Paramount’s Action Zone, Top Gun attempts to theme the riders into the entire experience of an aircraft carrier and flying a jet just as in the movie. Though opened in April of 1993, the age of this coaster is not noticed in the theming. The queue moves around, through, and up an aircraft carrier themed core designed by John DeCuir, the production designer from the movie of the same name.
The ride itself is a short minute and a half long but good for the often boring suspended coaster variety. The lift hill is slow and sometimes has a moment of rollback towards the top. A nice bonus to this ride is the short lift hill with a longer drop. The ride drops into a small valley created by the park environmental reassignment patrol (not an official title or really a title at all just something I made up on the fly). Furthermore, Top Gun has some fantastic laterals, more than most suspended coasters. Overall, I definitely enjoy Top Gun, more than Iron Dragon (Draggin’ Iron, but that isn’t hard). I do not, however, enjoy the sluggishness of the lift hill but hey, you take the good, you take the bad…
Top Gun
- Height: 78’
- Length: 2352’
- Max Speed: 51 mph
- Duration: 1:30
Sources include: rcdb.com and Paramount’s Kings Island.