Banshee

I know that this blog is going to be a few days late from Halloween but I had already written most of it so I am going forward with it anyway. I hope you enjoy it. In honor of Halloween this year I figured I would dedicate this blog post to an aptly named and themed roller coaster: Banshee.

Awesome Sign!

 
When I was thinking about a Halloween centered blog post dealing with amusement parks and roller coasters this ride instantly came to mind. This may come as a shock to those of you who read this blog but I have never been to an amusement park when the park was hosting their Halloween events. I have just never had the opportunity to go to an amusement park during the fall time frame. Also, most parks are only open on Saturdays and Sundays at this point of the year and as some of you may know I do not like going to amusement parks on weekends. That being said, unfortunately I won’t be able to bring you a report of a Halloween event at an amusement park yet. Hopefully there will come a day in the future when I will be able to visit a park during their Halloween event.

Awesome Theming!

 

Banshee is located at Kings Island just outside of Cincinnati Ohio. Before Banshee came to fruition though there used to be another roller coaster named Son of Beast (pic Below) that donned the huge area of land that Banshee now sits on. This coaster (Son of Beast or SOB) was a HUGE 218 foot tall wooden roller coaster with a 214 foot drop reaching speeds of 78 mph. Can anyone see where I am going with this? If not think of this question. Do you think a wooden coaster built over 200 feet tall going almost 80 mph will work in the long run? The answer is clearly no! I am not sure who the engineer was that designed SOB but they sure did fail miserably. As you can imagine a wooden coaster that tall and that fast did not make for a smooth ride and because of this there were a few serious injuries including law suits and other problems. Did I mention SOB also cost $25 million to build?! I think it is safe to say it may be one of the highest priced coasters to fail.

Then...

 

...Now!

 

I had visited the park in 2001 and SOB was closed. I was upset because I really wanted to ride a ride most people called crazy and bad. Why you might ask? Well because I had to see for myself if people’s opinions of the ride were true (yup, they were true). I visited again in 2006 and wouldn’t you know it their huge 200 foot wooden coaster sit SBNO (standing but not operating). I mean really? So I decided to try one last time in 2009 to ride SOB. Finally it was open and I got to ride it with my Dad. The first part of the ride was really cool. There was about a fifty foot drop right out of the station with a turn into the very long loud lift hill. In what seemed like an eternity to reach the top of the 218 foot wooden structure, when you finally made it to the top it was a rush. I mean there are just some things that shouldn’t be done and that is reach heights of over 200 feet on a wooden coaster. I can assure you it hasn’t been done since.

Proof I survived SOB! Dad wasn't so lucky

 

The best part of the ride was the 214 foot drop. I mean the drop was incredibly long, fast, and fun. Then after that the ride was nothing but rough, rough, rough, and more rough. The layout of the ride wasn’t very exciting either. It was essentially a helix here, helix there, with a hill or two thrown in. Oh, and the ride was 7,000 feet long! Yikes! So, about a week or so after my Dad and I rode SOB there was an accident with injuries. That was the final straw and SOB was closed. Again, the ride was a design failure and because of this had to be shut down. Son of Beast was finally torn down in 2012 over three years later. I have to say I am glad that I finally got to ride SOB but it is one coaster that I wasn’t sad to see go.

Banshee is here to take you away Son of Beast!

 

This is where Banshee comes in. First, what the heck is a Banshee anyway? According to Wikipedia the Banshee is "a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the underworld. In legend, a banshee is a fairy woman who begins to wail if someone is about to die." So basically Banshee is the female version of the Grim Reaper. This would in turn explain where the idea of roller coaster Banshee came from involving the Son of Beast demise. Kudos to Kings Island for aptly naming and theming this roller coaster to replace Son of Beast.

RIP SOB

 

Banshee is a huge steel inverted roller coaster. It holds the record for longest inverted coaster in the world at 4,124 feet of track. The ride is 167 feet tall with a 150 foot drop reaching speeds of 68 mph. The coaster also showcases seven mind blowing inversions (yup, they are mind blowing). Banshee is a coaster that really utilizes the terrain that it is built on. There is a huge dip in elevation from the top of the ride to the back of the ride. This allows the ride to naturally pick up speed throughout the course.

4,124 Feet of Awesomeness! photo credit Rik Engelen

 

As you leave the station on Banshee you go up the 167 foot lift hill quickly. When you are at the top you see the drop you are about to go down and realize, “wow, that’s a steep drop!” Steep it is indeed and very thrilling. As you crest the top of the lift hill there is a speaker that blasts the Banshee wail right as you go over (awesome effect). After reaching 68 mph you hit a huge loop followed by another loop that goes around the lift hill (cool design). From there you go up high into an in-line-twist inversion followed by huge drop down the ravine. This is where the coaster continues to pick up speed as you hit another inversion followed by two more inversions (told you, mind blowing).

LOOP!!!

  

Ok, phew, the ride is finally over. Nope. Banshee decides to kick it up a notch, in the finale, by sending you through a zero-g roll (cool element) then into a downward helix into the brake run. It is one of the coolest finishes to a roller coaster out there. The whole ride from start to finish is one of sheer speed and intensity. Seriously every element you take feels like you are 100’s of feet in the air and that is a good thing. The coaster is so intense it was hard for me to ride it more than 3-4 times in a row. You ride it a few times in a row and then you take a seat to catch your breath. That seemed to be the trend with most of the other people I saw too. Oh, and I am not complaining.

Every element feels so high

 

I am screaming like a Banshee

 

Kings Island spent $24 million on this coaster and I would say it was worth every penny. I am sure they will see a huge increase in attendance because of this ride as well as the sale of the great merchandise they had in the gift shop. I was able to visit the park back in May of this year (see previous blog post on Kings Island) and I was really blown away by the ride. It was very intense yet still smooth and fun. The theming was also top notch and created an eerie gothic vibe which I thought was great. There was even a cemetery as part of the queue with a huge monument, with flame, to the now “dead” Son of Beast (see above - nice touch Kings Island). The station was really cool as well, being built to look like a church cathedral. While I cannot say whether or not Banshee will take your spirit if you ride, I can say you miss a great opportunity if you don’t. If you do ride though, Banshee will take your breath away. Muhaha ha ha ha, Happy Halloween!

Theming = Amazing

Love the Station

The Lights are Cool

 

“In legend, a banshee wails nearby when someone is about to die. There are Irish families who are believed to have banshees attached to them, and whose cries herald the death of a member of that family.” - Irish Legend