Banshee Howls at King's Island - 8/22/2014

Banshee opened at King's Island in Mason, Ohio on
Friday, April 18, 2014.

Mason, Ohio - “Banshee gave me flashbacks to 1992, when I rode the brand new Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Great America,” says Bill Linkenheimer III of Pittsburgh Pa. and former president of the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE). [Bollinger & Mabillard’s] first inverted coaster provided a real WOW factor with its sensationally smooth and exciting acrobatics that have never been experienced before while riding a roller coaster. Exiting my first ride ofBanshee, I found myself saying those same things all over again, some 22 years later.”

Banshee opened to the public at King’s Island on Friday, April 18, 2014 to screams of approval by the general public and roller coaster enthusiasts alike. The roller coaster stands 167 feet above the park’s midway and reaches a top speed of 68 mph through seven inversions along its 4,124-ft. course. With the trains hanging below the steel track, leaving riders’ feet dangling freely, it currently holds the record for the longest inverted roller coaster in the world.

“First time seeing it, I thought it would be a really nice coaster,” says Ricky Drop of Morgantown, W.Va. who traveled to King’s Island for ACE’s annual Spring Conference. “After riding it; all I could say was ‘wow!’ The speed, the drops and the inversions are awesome!”

Designed by Swiss ride manufacturers Bollinger & Mabillard (B&M), Banshee is the first roller coaster of it’s type to be built in the United States since thePatriot roller coaster opened in 2006 at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Mo.. In addition to its massive size, Banshee marks new innovation for inverted roller coasters beginning with a new restraint system never before seen on such rides. The over-the-shoulder restraint lies flat across the rider’s chest with no visual obstruction in any direction. This restraint system had previously only been used on B&M’s wing coasters. While these restraints have received some criticism in the past for locking uncomfortably at the rider’s shoulders, Banshee’s trains offer new flexibility to reduce this issue.

“I thought Banshee's restraints were comfortable and comparable to similar systems like it,” says Rev. Cliff Herring of Whitehall, Pa. “The trains were smooth and did not seem very different than other [inverted] coasters.”

As the train crests the lift hill, it immediately dives down Banshee’s alarmingly steep first drop of 150 feet and then proceeds to soar into the first two elements of the ride. A diving loop flips riders high over the midway before sending them plummeting back to the earth only to send them directly into a vertical loop which encircles the lift hill. This is the only inverted coaster in the world to perform such a stunt and one of only three coasters from B&M to execute it at all; the other two being Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa in Tampa Bay, Fl. and Riddler’s Revenge at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Ca.

Banshee currently holds the world record as the longest
inverted roller coaster at 4,124-ft.

“Banshee is much like Riddler’s Revenge in that the inversions are so big, the ride, while powerful, is also very graceful and does not wear you down as some other extreme rides can,” says David Lipnicky of Grand Prairie, Tx. and current Vice President of ACE. “I think anyone who is mentally and physically ready and able to ride should give it a try.”

Following the loop, riders are treated to five more upside-down elements including a zero-g-roll, a pretzel loop which flips them twice, a second vertical loop and an in-line twist before rolling back into the station. The lack of trim brakes anywhere on the ride allows for a flowing movement without having the ride be split up into sections.

“Banshee is a superb record breaking coaster that provides a long and what seems like never ending array of elements,” says Dawayne Kimery of Kansas City, Mo. “The thrill of the fast paced transitions from one inversion to another is not hindered by the use of brake systems like on other inverted coasters.”

King’s Island managed to get the word out about Banshee through a massive marketing campaign. It began in 2013 when special halloween-themed teaser ads began popping up around the park and online via the park’s website and social media. After the park officially announced the ride on Aug. 8. 2013, construction videos began to emerge on websites like Facebook and YouTube. It was a marketing strategy that Cedar Fair has utilized to great extent on other such groundbreaking projects such as GateKeeper at the neighboring park; Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.

Riders are flipped upside-down a total of seven times
throughout Banshee's layout.

“Banshee's announcement was not only an affirmation that the people at Cedar Fair knew exactly what Kings Island needed, but an affirmation of the remarkable continued relevancy of the inverted coaster,” says Alexander Dicky of Murfreesboro, Tenn. “Kings Island was on top of the social media outlets. They gave us updates pretty much every day because they knew that's what we wanted!”

Banshee may be set back in a corner of the park, but park guests should have little difficulty finding their way to it. Quite aside from the magenta track with royal blue support structures, Banshee is appropriately named thanks to the other-worldly howling that the trains produce as they speed through the course. Irish folklore says that the howling of a banshee allegedly foretold death and/or misfortune to those who heard it. Keeping in this lore in the theming of the coaster. The queing line is decorated as a cemetery with statues and tombstones peppered throughout while the station is designed like an old-fashioned church.

“I like the Gaelic-themed tombstones throughout the area as well as the overall look of the loading station building,” says David Hahner Jr. of Pittsburgh, Pa. and ACE Historian. “ The memorial to Son of Beast with the ‘eternal light’ torch a fitting tribute to the once record breaking wooden coaster that once sat on that same spot.  

Son of Beast opened in 2000 as the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world, as well as the only wooden coaster to feature a vertical loop. Accidents and maintenance issues began to be reported in 2006 resulting in a decline in the ride’s popularity. The final incident in which a woman suffered a head injury on the ride  occurred in 2009 resulting in the ride being shut down indefinitely pending investigations and legal matters. The coaster was demolished in 2013 to make way for Banshee

According to Irish lore, the howling of a banshee is said to
foretell misfortune and/or death to those who hear it.

“Son of Beast will be missed a lot, as it set the bar really high for what more could you do on a wooden coaster,” says Alan Hewston of Parma Heights, Ohio. “Yes, a bit bumpy and jolty, but heck, that sucker was moving and what did you expect from a woodie going that fast and that extreme a ride.”

Banshee is currently open to the public at King’s Island and has a height requirement of 52 inches in order to ride.