Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

[chargersmichael]

That sign looks amazing! IMO. I know Kings Island has a big winner with this ride! I really like what Cedar Fair has done over the years with their parks.

[thrillrider]

This looks amazing!!

 

If I had to nitpick just one thing about that sign, it would be the cut out top hand of the banshee...just seems to not pop out like the rest of the sign. Not a big deal, but something that just stood out to "me".

[glouthan]

^That's what I thought too. The rest just pops for some reason - I really like the three dimensional "claws". Less than one week 'til Media Day!

[Fooz]

If I was a ki resident i'd be crossing my fingers and toes that it's a great ride!

[UrbanLegend]

This looks amazing!!

 

If I had to nitpick just one thing about that sign, it would be the cut out top hand of the banshee...just seems to not pop out like the rest of the sign. Not a big deal, but something that just stood out to "me".

 

Gotta get that illusion of depth somehow. Plus in that picture, for some reason, the outline of the hand makes the clouds behind it look 2D. Pretty nifty.

[DrachenFire2]

Found a new testing video!!

Edited April 11, 2014 by DrachenFire2

[KBrylczyk]

^ I want this ride to be good. I really do. Like, REALLY do. It just looks way too floaty through the elements. It's missing that snap that the inverts used to have.

[DrachenFire2]

NEW TESTING VIDEO

 

 

Update* I was trying to make it easier for you peeps haha.

[coasterlover420]

I'm honestly not even concerned about the speed like everyone else seems to be. Once summer comes along and it's super hot outside and the trains are loaded with ACErs, that thing is going to haul ass! What I am concerned about is the track becoming rough like Gatekeeper has become. I'm not sure if it was just the design of the wing trains that was destroying the track, but B&M does seem to be going bigger with CF the past couple years. I hope Banshee does not suffer a similar fate.

[gerstlaueringvar]

^ I don't think it's the train's problem. FOTR aka Parrot Coaster got rough after only a few days of operation. Maybe Wing coaster type is not suitable to achieve high speed. Furius Baco, Gatekeeper, FOTR are all rough coasters but X-Flight is glass smooth.

[Diamondbacker27]

Kings Island opens in almost 6 days

 

-7 up days and 2 hours to be exact.-

[coasterbill]

NEW TESTING VIDEO

 

 

Update* I was trying to make it easier for you peeps haha.

 

Look at the speed it takes that barrel roll, and how drawn out the barrel roll is. While I have no doubt in my mind that this will be fun because of it's size and speed, I think it's going to be completely and entirely forceless just like every other B&M built in the U.S. in the last 10 years (maybe I'll give Tatsu and Manta a pass though I wouldn't call them forceful but they do have those pretzels). People who are really in denial will mention the wheels, the temperature or speculate that the trains may not have had water dummies in them but give me a break. It will get a little bit faster, but it's probably not going to be that much faster.

 

It's so frustrating because B&M used to build barrel rolls like

.

 

Now take a look at the dive loop. It's long and drawn out just like Griffon and Sheikra... which are good rides, but they're not like they used to be.

is how B&M used to build barrel rolls and how B&M used to take downward half loops (the second half of a cobra roll ends up being pretty much the same as a dive loop). Watch the back car dive down that cobra roll and then watch Banshee do it with it's first inversion. It's actually kind of depressing because B&M is capable of building amazing rides. All of a sudden they love to build drawn out inversions with no forces. I guess they've determined that that's what people want but I'm glad Intamin and RMC don't agree.

 

I'm sorry because I didn't want to make judgments about this ride before riding it but since B&M keeps using the same formula over and over it's kind of hard not to. Like I said I'm sure it will be fun... but it could be so much better if B&M just went back to what made them great in the first place.

[Diamondbacker27]

I can't watch the video as of right now. But even though the inversions are drawn out it will still be a great ride IMO. And the more people who complain about it the better. Because why complain if you know your going to be first in line?

 

No I'm not directing this exactly at you Coasterbill, it's about everyone complaining.

[OrlandoGuy]

^^even the fastest roller coasters look slow from that distance though. I remember the first time I saw Montu from thE BGT parking lot I thought it didnt look like anything special as it went through its morning test run. You could very well be right, but a video from that distance isnt the best indicator of the final product.

[jmicha]

That and it's not known in that video if the final wheel setup had been chosen, if the water dummies were on the train, if the weather was slowing the train down, etc. Chances are Banshee will run similarly to how most modern B&M coasters run, but it won't be known until people actually ride it.

[thepoint4life23]

Like he said from out side the park things will not look as fast as they are. aslo does anyone know if Banshee will be part of morning ert

[Diamondbacker27]

That and it's not known in that video if the final wheel setup had been chosen, if the water dummies were on the train, if the weather was slowing the train down, etc. Chances are Banshee will run similarly to how most modern B&M coasters run, but it won't be known until people actually ride it.

People have rode it, and they say things such as "Best day of the year!" But then again, they probably only say this because it will get money rolling into the park.

[Solid Gold]

I find the "the ride just looks slow in the testing videos" argument to nearly always be a flawed and too hopeful one. Especially when talking about new B&Ms. The Barrel roll on this one is obviously nothing like Kumba or BTR's.

 

I will be shocked if this one is good enough to land in the Mitch Hawker top 40.

[SFOGdude25]

I've never had a big problem with B&M's new designs. I like them all, old and new. I really like the feeling of flying, and that is something that Banshee appears to do really well.

 

Going away from Banshee for a minute, I found this cool picture from Greg Scheid's Twitter.

According to him, this is a new patio area near the back door of the FestHaus.

Looks pretty nice to me!

Edited April 11, 2014 by SFOGdude25

[Diamondbacker27]

Well, that goes to show you can't please everybody ^^

[gerstlaueringvar]

Maybe there's no snaps or tight elements like corkscrews to let people judge the intensity of this ride from videos. The speed of Dragon Khan through the 0 G Roll and the corkscrews can give people an idea but Banshee's elements are all too big.

[Solid Gold]

We'll see when it opens, and I'm sure it will have a ton of fans, probably a lot of people who like it more than Raptor or what not. It's certainly a big bad coaster. It's not like B&M ever makes bad rides.

 

But, from the video, it really really does look like it has the intensity of a feather pillow.

[Diamondbacker27]

We'll see when it opens, and I'm sure it will have a ton of fans, probably a lot of people who like it more than Raptor or what not. It's certainly a big bad coaster. It's not like B&M ever makes bad rides.

 

But, from the video, it really really does look like it has the intensity of a feather pillow.

Well would you rather have nothing at all?

[Solid Gold]

It's a loaded question, because the ride hasn't even opened yet. It may be a fantastic, forceful beast of a ride, but all indications say otherwise.

 

I know for 24 million you can certainly build better coasters, but they wouldn't all fit into KI or be successful investments like this one will be.

[coasterbill]

Well would you rather have nothing at all?

 

That has nothing to do with the conversation we're having. Let's look at what I said...

 

While I have no doubt in my mind that this will be fun because of it's size and speed, I think it's going to be completely and entirely forceless just like every other B&M built in the U.S. in the last 10 years

 

See, I said it was going to be fun. But in the way that Silver Bullet and Gatekeeper are fun... not in the way more intense B&M rides like Raptor and Kumba are fun. If your ideal ride is a middle of the road fun but forgettable B&M coaster like Diamondback, Hydra, Silver Bullet or Intimidator for example then this is perfect for you. I'm just frustrated that B&M used to build "OMFG WTF JUST HAPPENED TO ME" rides like Kumba, Montu, Raptor, Alpengeist (though the second half is a little slower than the first) and Nemesis (which I'm yet to ride) and now they build floaty rides like this that just kind of glide around the course through drawn out elements designed to be really comfortable and re-rideable even when it comes at the expense of intensity.

 

When a park spends 25 million dollars with RMC or Intamin you know you're going to get a ridiculously insane coaster. When someone spends that with B&M they get a ride that rides just like every other ride they've built in the last 10+ years.

 

The thing that makes the great coaster manufacturers great is that they were / are innovators. Arrow, Intamin, RMC... they all got better and better over time (I think Arrow's last 2 coasters were Tennessee Tornado and X which most people consider the 2 best Arrow coasters ever except for the crazy people who think Magnum is gods gift to coaster fans. I'm not an X fan but at least it was innovative, and a lot of people love it.

 

RMC has always been awesome and Wildfire looks like it's going to be their best ride to date. They keep going higher and faster and trying new things.

 

Intamin dominated the steel coaster polls, so they decided to re-invent wood coasters and they built rides like T Express and El Toro which are considered the best wood coasters in the world. They keep going higher and faster and trying new things... they built the world's tallest drop tower, the world's tallest coaster, the world's fastest coaster... they never stop innovating.

 

And then there's B&M. When they came out they changed the industry, they made looping coasters higher, faster and smoother than anyone else did (successfully). They started with smaller rides and innovated to the point where they built huge, amazing rides like Montu, Kumba and Alpengeist.

 

And then they just stopped. They kept building new rides with similar layouts while continuing to make them more and more forceless. The only innovations they've come up with over the last few years are concepts like the Wingrider and the Flying coaster that are very similar to what other manufacturers were already doing, and their versions almost always turned out being forceless compared to their predecessors.

 

B&M is the only company I know of that built significantly better rides 15 years ago than they do now. Even companies like Zamperla are better now than they were 15 years ago. B&M has a solid business model by playing it safe... but the result is coasters that aren't as good as they should be.

 

Banshee will be fun, but for 25 million dollars it should be great. it should be Kumba with almost 2 decades of innovation added on to it. Instead it will be a ride that doesn't even belong in the same conversation as Kumba, Alpengeist, Nemesis, Montu or even Batman.

Edited April 11, 2014 by coasterbill