Banshee (roller coaster)

Banshee is an inverted roller coaster located at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio, United States. Designed and manufactured by Swiss company Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened to the public on April 18, 2014, and is the longest inverted coaster in the world, featuring a track length of 4124 ft. Banshee was also the most expensive project in Kings Island's history at the time, costing the park $24 million to construct. The ride includes seven inversions and travels up to a maximum speed of 68 mph. It operates with three trains, each with eight cars, producing an hourly capacity of 1,650 riders.

Banshee was built at the former location of a short-lived, record-breaking wooden coaster, Son of Beast, as well as the Thunder Alley go-kart attraction. The ride was officially announced on August 8, 2013, although its name "Banshee" had been trademarked earlier in April 2013. Construction took place from August 2013 through January 2014. When Banshee opened, it was well-received, accommodating over one million riders in less than three months. It has also consistently ranked among the top 50 steel roller coasters worldwide in the annual Golden Ticket Awards publication from Amusement Today.

History

Banshee was built at the former location of Son of Beast, a wooden roller coaster plagued with issues and demolished in 2012, and the Thunder Alley go-kart attraction that was removed the same year. A memorial for Son of Beast is located in Banshee's queue line.

Construction

Construction on a new attraction began on April 22, 2013,[2] and a trademark for the name "Banshee" was filed the next day.[3][4] Owner Cedar Fair had previously considered using the name for a stand-up roller coaster at Cedar Point, though Cedar Point's coaster was ultimately named Mantis.[5] Kings Island began teasing the new attraction on the first day of the 2013 season. Along the perimeter of the former Thunder Alley go-kart track, a fence was set up with a sign that read, "Due to the increasing occurrence of mysterious and bone-chilling screams, it has become necessary to close this section of the park until the cause of this evil phenomenon can be identified." During the course of the summer, several clues about the attraction were set up around the construction site.[6] On June 10, 2013, the park launched their social media campaign by posting a photo showing the construction site with the caption, "Field of Dreams".[7] The campaign continued with five scarecrows around the construction site and several Twitter posts about the future attraction.[8][9] Then, at the beginning of July 2013, recordings of someone screaming could be heard by park guests near the construction area.[10] Two weeks later, farm owls were placed in nearby trees.[11]

On July 31, 2013, Kings Island detailed plans to reveal a new world record-breaking attraction at 10 p.m. on August 8. Media packages containing a silver comb, artificial hair, and a tag were sent out to media outlets to notify them of the upcoming announcement.[12][13] A limited number of tickets were also made available to the public giving access to a tour of the construction site prior to the revealing and reserved seats at the event, with net proceeds being donated to breast cancer research.[14][15] Blueprints for the project were leaked to the public on August 1, 2013.[16] One week later, on August 8, Kings Island officially announced that it was constructing Banshee, the world's longest inverted roller coaster.[17][18] Banshee would feature seven inversions, including a pretzel knot inversion

The foundation work for the supports was done by R.E. Middleton, and the rest of the ride's construction was performed by Adena Corporation. The first pieces of track and supports were delivered to the park from Clermont Steel Fabricators on August 16, 2013;[22][23] the first track piece was erected on August 27, 2013.[24] The lift hill was completed on September 29, 2013,[25] and by the end of October, other elements such as the first drop, dive loop, and vertical loop were installed.[26][27] Work on the station commenced that November,[27] and the ride was 40 percent complete by the next month.[28]

Operation

Kings Island hosted a preview event for Banshee on April 17, 2014. Several hundred journalists and members of the public, coming from 28 U.S. states as well as Canada and the UK, gathered at the park at as early as 4:00 a.m.[35] The ride officially opened to the public the next day, April 18, 2014.[36][37] At a cost of $24 million, the ride was the single biggest investment in Kings Island's history at the time.[35][38][39] Banshee's opening coincided with increased ticket sales at Kings Island, which opened for the season on the same day. Kings Island officials reported that more people visited the park during the weekend of April 18–20, 2014, than on any other opening weekend in the park's 43-year history.[39]

Characteristics

Banshee stands 167 ft tall and features a first drop of 150 ft.[44][45] With a length of 4124 ft, the ride became the longest inverted roller coaster in the world when it opened in 2014.[46][47][48] The ride includes seven inversions: two vertical loops, a dive loop, a zero-g roll, a pretzel knot, and an inline twist.[44] It is also tied with Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa for achieving the most inversions on any inverted coaster.[49] The first vertical loop wraps around the lift hill, an element that can be found on two other Bolliger & Mabillard roller coasters, which are The Riddler's Revenge at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa.[50] Riders experience speeds of up to 68 mph on the ride, which lasts two minutes and forty seconds.[44] Due to the terrain underneath Banshee, the highest point of the lift hill is 208 ft above the lowest point of the ride, which is at the bottom of the pretzel knot.[2][27] As a result, Banshee reaches its maximum speed approximately halfway through the layout, rather than after the first drop, as is the case with most roller coasters.[2][45] Banshee operates with three trains made of steel and fiberglass with eight cars per train. In each car, riders are seated four across in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train.[44] The configuration has a theoretical capacity of 1,650 riders per hour.[27][44] Riders are secured by flexible, over-the-shoulder restraints and interlocking seat belts, known as vest restraints, similar to those used on Bolliger & Mabillard's Wing Coaster models.[51] Each train is painted a different color: blue, green, or purple.[52]

Banshee's tubular steel track was manufactured by Clermont Steel Fabricators in Batavia, Ohio.[53] At night, the ride is illuminated and features fog effects.[54]

As the name suggests, the ride is themed after the mythological female spirit of the same name. The ride's backstory details sightings and screams of the banshee dating back to when the construction of Kings Island began in 1970.[55] The ride features its own plaza area, with its station being themed appropriately.[56]

location	Kings Island
section	Action Zone
coordinates	39.34566°N, -84.26547°W
status	Operating
opened	April 18, 2014
cost	$24 million
previousattraction	Son of Beast Thunder Alley
type	Steel
type2	Inverted
manufacturer	Bolliger & Mabillard
model	Inverted Coaster
track	Terrain
lift	Chain lift hill
height ft	167
drop ft	150
length ft	4124
speed mph	68
inversions	7
duration	2:40
capacity	1,650
restriction in	52-78
trains	3
carspertrain	8
rowspercar	1
ridersperrow	4
virtual queue name	Fast Lane
virtual queue image	Cedar Fair Fast Lane availibility.svg
virtual queue status	available
rcdb number	6640

Banshee (roller coaster)

History

Construction

Operation

Characteristics

Ride experience

Incidents

Reception

External links

References