This is an interesting fact.    Out of the 16 mine trains built by arrow since 1966, all are still operating except Dexter Frebish Electric Roller Ride/Excalibur at Astroworld.  And that coaster was removed to be replaced by an SLC, not because of ride age or mechanical issues.

AE appears that it will have a VERY long life if the park chooses.

They are relatively low maintenance rides. The trains don't experience any extreme speed or hard g forces. They should last a long time plus due to the slower speed it doesn't feel as rough. Plus they are good family coasters and fill a good spot in almost any park line up.

I've always been curious as to why this model always had so many lift hills. 

I would love to see Adventure Express get some TLC for its 30th anniversary next year. It would be nice if they brought back the old station soundtrack and fixed the final tunnel.

I saw this on Coaster Nation’s Facebook, and I genuinely want to know what this is about because the post doesn’t really explain anything. It says Adventure Express was re-tracked and new special effects were added, but I find this highly unlikely to have occurred within the last week. If anyone has ridden it today, has anything actually changed?

Just now, FUN&ONLY! said:

I saw this on Coaster Nation’s Facebook, and I genuinely want to know what this is about because the post doesn’t really explain anything. It says Adventure Express was re-tracked and new special effects were added but I find this highly unlikely to have occurred within the last week. If anyone has ridden it today, has anything changed?

Yes, the helix and the lower valley had new track placed (its red compared to the normal brown), and there’s new lighting effects on the final lift.

Just now, gforce1994 said:

Yes, the helix and the lower valley had new track placed (its red compared to the normal brown), and there’s new lighting effects on the final lift.

Seriously? That is pretty cool! I could see this being the start of a complete renovation for 2021. I could see the rest of the track being painted red or the new track being painted brown to match the old track. If you have any pictures, that would be great!

1 minute ago, gforce1994 said:

Yes, the helix and the lower valley had new track placed (its red compared to the normal brown), and there’s new lighting effects on the final lift.

This would explain why AE was closed the last few weekends.

1 minute ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

Seriously? That is pretty cool! I could see this being the start of a complete renovation for 2021. I could see the rest of the track being painted red or the new track being painted brown to match the old track. If you have any pictures, that would be great!

I’ll try to get some. It’s in the helix away from the midway, but it’s noticeable when you ride it. The effects were pretty neat.

Thanks for sharing @gforce1994, and if you can get pictures that would be even better. This is really interesting, and it is probably for Adventure Express’ anniversary next year. I wonder where the Kings Island got new Arrow track manufactured.

That is so exciting! Thanks @gforce1994. I hope someone can get some pics somehow. I hope to see that last tunnel fixed up, it is appalling how it looks now.

When was AE closed? I rode it last Sunday night and didn't notice a difference.

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11 minutes ago, tuxedoman52 said:

When was AE closed? I rode it last Sunday night and didn't notice a difference.

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Past few weekends.

Did they remove the awful dip in the helix?   That dip is the perfect example of how amateur Arrow’s track work can be. 

1 hour ago, gforce1994 said:

Yes, the helix and the lower valley had new track placed (its red compared to the normal brown), and there’s new lighting effects on the final lift.

 

11 minutes ago, super7 said:

Did they remove the awful dip in the helix?   That dip is the perfect example of how amateur Arrow’s track work can be. 

 

There wasn’t any rough transitions.

The effects in the last tunnel do not appear to me to be new.  It just appears the existing effects have been fixed.  But it does look the best I have seen in a very long time.

There are a few feet of red track, the area it is in is very smooth now.  It’s hard to tell while riding but I do not think the sections correspond to track segments.  Which suggests to me that the rail or maybe more was cut out and refurbished or replaced.  Overall though it’s a few feet of track, maybe 10 ft total.

55 minutes ago, Kenban said:

The effects in the last tunnel do not appear to me to be new.  It just appears the existing effects have been fixed.  But it does look the best I have seen in a very long time.

There are a few feet of red track, the area it is in is very smooth now.  It’s hard to tell while riding but I do not think the sections correspond to track segments.  Which suggests to me that the rail or maybe more was cut out and refurbished or replaced.  Overall though it’s a few feet of track, maybe 10 ft total.

So only about 10ft of track was replaced? 

8 minutes ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

So only about 10ft of track was replaced? 

I would say more. There were 10 foot sections of track being replaced.

15 minutes ago, gforce1994 said:

I would say more. There were 10 foot sections of track being replaced.

How many 10ft sections would you say then?

About 6.

There’s new LED’s light based fire effects, and more. The ride was flying through the course tonight!

Good to hear! I feel like night rides will be even better now with smoother track!

4 minutes ago, MDMC01 said:

Good to hear! I feel like night rides will be even better now with smoother track!

Just got off a night ride, it was much faster than before.

1 hour ago, gforce1994 said:

About 6.

Disagree. Just rode twice and there was only one section of about 15 feet that was new- the dip in the helix. 

3 minutes ago, DeltaFlyer said:

Disagree. Just rode twice and there was only one section of about 15 feet that was new- the dip in the helix. 

I did not feel it. It could be due to variances in the parts. 

My Eleventh Commandment senses are tingling.

I was just going to post something about this. I thought this new section was a test paint. I thought AE may be getting a paint job this offseason.

31 minutes ago, Thabto said:

I was just going to post something about this. I thought this new section was a test paint. I thought AE may be getting a paint job this offseason.

Maybe you are right. I definitely want to see it in the daylight tomorrow to tell if it’s actually new track or not. 

10 minutes ago, DeltaFlyer said:

Maybe you are right. I definitely want to see it in the daylight tomorrow to tell if it’s actually new track or not. 

It’s not paint, maintenance was reinforcing those sections two weeks ago.

Official KIC assessment. There was a 15-ft section and has been repaired/retract. There are some new LED lights in the final tunnel on the tiki guys.

The ride does not seem to ride any different or faster than it did before. Don't go expecting the whole ride to be retract and faster as reported earlier by another member.