© Paramount Parks

Ten years ago this morning, hundreds of earthlings lined up in Ohio and Virginia to pay homage to a new milestone in the history of roller coasters. They lined up to get catapulted beyond the known limits of roller coaster technology to "a world where the imperfections of human existence are a thing of the past; where hunger and poverty are unknown; where everything is beauty, tranquility, and peace."

Yes, that Tuesday morning of June 18th, 1996, a new pair of roller coasters individually named Outer Limits: Flight of Fear took Paramount's parks Kings Dominion and Kings Island one step beyond the competition and into the future. These identical rides blasted their temerarious passengers from a dead standstill to fifty-four miles an hour in an unprecedented four seconds courtesy of new electromagnetic technology from Premier Rides: Linear Induction Motors, or LIMs. But that was just the icing on these 2,705-foot-long cakes. The layout of Outer Limits packed four inversions and dozens of twists and turns into a spaghetti-bowl-like maze of steel track, all crammed into an octangular ten-story building enshrouded in darkness and theming.

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The dawn of a new era

I still distinctly recall my own first Outer Limits experience back at age ten shortly after the start of my major coaster riding. That mass of hundreds upon hundreds of people packed the far corner of Kings Dominion, filling the main building and outdoor queue to capacity and then stretching nearly to the giant, vacant mountain that would soon become Volcano. "Is it worth the wait?" my dad asked someone who had just emerged from the exit, to which she replied with an absolute affirmative. After several hours of meandering through the switchbacks out in the eighty-degree summer heat, I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, or rather, vice versa in this case.

Venturing into that darkened building for the first time, half of the excitement came from the fact that I had no idea what to expect. I had never ridden a launched coaster before, never ridden a dark ride before, and only had two loopers under my belt. But little did I know that no one had experienced anything quite like this ride before. I still remember becoming totally immersed in all of the theming: in the lighting effects, in the sound, in the cheesy queue video that everyone who's ever ridden either of these coasters surely remembers. Once inside the building, I was no longer simply waiting in a tedious line; I was ready to board a UFO and travel to an unknown galaxy.

© Brad Ruwe

Slowly ascending those steps into the UFO as the line inched forward, I still remember that sound. That ominous sound. That indescribable sound anyone who has ever ridden this ride will likely recall. And then, as the line finally approached the mouth of the station, there was finally a sight to associate with that sound: the astounding sight of a futuristic train disappearing before our very eyes in a metallic blur and hurtling straight into a black hole. Not only that, but returning completely empty. As I neared the front of the line, the sound became deafening; that sound of engines warming into action, and then the high-pitch explosion of the train screaming forward.

Then, it was our turn.

Stepping down into the car, we secured the lime-green over-the-shoulder harnesses. The attendants came around and checked them, then cleared the area. Thumbs up. Engines warming. Lights dimming. Then, in a split second, my mental definition of a roller coaster grew far broader. No longer did I think of a roller coaster as the slow, clicking, clanking trip to

© Brad Ruwe

the top and inevitable drop. It took on the expanded form of this futuristic ride that was blasting me seemingly beyond the limits of speed and into a blanket of darkness. Then, we hit the end of the launch and blasted straight up, upside-down, and over, flipping through impossible inversions and spiraling towards the ceiling. Or was that the floor? At last, we slowed down and came to a stop. We readied to step off.

But wait, it wasn't over yet... The course dived heavily to the left, spiraling down and through figure-eights, speeding up as the track nearly scraped the concrete floor. After one more flip, the track hopped into the brakes and the entire trainload cheered. And no, none of us fell out. We just exited at a different platform. I only got to experience that ride two or three times that season, but constantly found myself re-riding it and re-exploring the mystery of it in dreams.

An uncertain future

© Paramount Parks

In the decade elapsed, the coasters saw several significant changes. In 2001, the name Outer Limits was dropped from the front of the rides' names and references to the TV show removed from theming. But the more gratifying change came that same season with the removal of the infamous over-the-shoulder restraints that had lent the rides reputations of horrendous headbanging. Now, the two Flight of Fear coasters sported restraints from the lap down and freedom from the lap up for riders to raise their arms and enjoy the glass-smooth rides.

However, the most significant change to either of the coasters took place at the beginning of the 2006 season inside the Virginia park. To the despair of all but a few, Kings Dominion erected a fence in front of the Flight of Fear entrance and removed all references to the ride online and in-park while its Ohio counterpart continued happily riding its rails. The questions inherently poured in as to what the fate of this beloved ride would be, but those questions remain unanswered as this monumental attraction lives out its tenth anniversary in a dormant state. Rumors have ranged from Flight of Fear moving to another Paramount park such as Carowinds or Canada's Wonderland to the ride receiving a new theming job. Perhaps the most believable rumor is the latter, being that Paramount put out a survey several months back in which the ostensible possibility of an MTV theme for Flight of Fear was presented.

© Devin Olson

The rumor also circulated that the park was simply closing Flight of Fear to save on the electric bills due to the new arrival of a fourth launched coaster, Italian Job Turbo Coaster. Supposedly, the park feels that its new family version of the themed Premier Rides LIM coaster should be accepted as a replacement for Flight of Fear; that Mini Coopers are a worthy replacement for Fort Cooper and the city limits of LA for the outer limits of the universe. Yet, as popular as the new coaster may prove with the general public, there exists a longing for the ride that popularized the launched coasters once and for all. No one wants to see the existence Flight of Fear become another never-ending Drachen Fire saga.

Whatever the fate of this scream machine, I think all of us can agree that its chances of vanishing into oblivion are slim. What amusement park in its right mind would dispose of one of the single most popular and single most important

© Brad Ruwe

roller coasters ever engineered? Wherever Kings Dominion's Flight of Fear winds up, or whatever it winds up looking like when it eventually reopens, the coaster community can rejoice in the fact that an identical coaster still rocks the rails several hours northwest in the great state of Ohio. Perhaps with the Cedar Fair chain in charge of Paramount next season, Kings Dominion's Flight of Fear may reopen the same ride that it was through 2005. But as these amazing rides celebrate their anniversaries today, we can remember all of the great thrills they've provided and look forward to all of the thrills to come.

"This then is our invitation. Come with us. Enter our vessel. Follow our path across the cosmos and discover that which lies beyond this mortal sphere. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the deepest inner mind to... the outer limits."