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Just for clarification, the piece of track being delivered came from the plant in Batavia today.

DavidW shutting his mouth cause he doesn't know much

Short video clip of track being delivered to the Banshee construction site today.

A coaster that hangs riders would not be a good thing.

Suspended and inverted are not the same.

Hardly. Just doing his thang.

There will be many places on Banshee where the track is underneath.

Suspended and inverted are not the same. Indeed. Normally a suspended student is not inverted. At least not nowadays.

This thing looks amazing! I can't believe the progress this thing has been making!

Can you say "loose article"? Loose article.

Cedar Fair realize that B&M isn't that great? Why? Because of a little rattle? I'm sorry how does work? Never. Not once, have I seen someone get off of a B&M coaster not smiling. Scott Skinned his knee on the platform of Diamondback once, but he still laughed/cried on the way to the first aid station. So if people get off happy and smiling, why should Cedar Fair not purchase B&M's? And if this is going to turn into an empty battle between B&M and Intamin, stop it right now, because we took care of that issue awhile ago.

I rode Diamondback last Friday night. I find nothing rough about Diamondbck. I think many people are getting to the point that if they feel a little vibration or a little rattle they say the ride was rough. I continue to ride Diamondback in every seat and I don't find it rough.

When they're told to go home.

I sure hope the 6 million dollar coaster is something we, completely, didn't expect. I don't mind it being a used product, I'm just excited to see what exactly it is.

..or take the tram.

Is it just me but I actually enjoy waiting in the long lines to ride a new coaster. Watching it go threw the course ect.... and just trying to take it all in is an experience it self/

On Sunday, Oct. 20th we decided to take the kids over to KI for one last visit for the season. They had not been to a Hollow-weekends in the past and wanted to let them experience that. We did not get to the park until around 1 PM. Man it was quite busy! We got in and headed to Kite Eating Tree! We all rode it as a family. (That is why we all like to do this one!) We realized that we had not gotten the kids measured so we got them measured in front of Boo Blasters. The kids got in queue for Charlie Brown's Wind Up. While in line there we meet up with Lillybug and her daughter Zoey. Zoey rode the same cycle as my children and they were playing with each other as we talked with Lillian. Darlene happened to pass us and started talking. A few minutes later Beastie1860 (Melissa) and her mom showed up after getting out of the Ed Alonzo show. Since my wife was talking to Lillian and Darlene, Melissa and her mom took my kids on BBOBH. After we got off there, Lillian said she had to leave and she and Zoey went home. We then took the kids over to ride on Joe Cool's Dodgem School. We then wanted to check out Howl-O-Palooza so we went to the train station in Rivertown and rode the train over to Soak City. It was packed over there, but the kids had a good time with all the activities going on. Foam Pit (Looked like a kids car wash!) Pony Rides Ed Alonzo duck in the petting Zoo! We watched Charlie Brown's Spooktacular After that we headed back towards the other side of the park. At this point it was getting to be about 5 PM. My son wanted to get a ride in on a bigger ride so Melissa, Korbin, (my son) and I got in line for The Beast. Got a nice, but cool ride in on it. We then started making our way down Coney Mall and of course had to take a few pics of Banshee! My wife wanted a elephant ear so we stopped and got one of those before we left. She said it was good, but I did not have any of it... We then decided it was time to start heading back to Indy since it was now 6 PM. We said goodbye to Melissa and her mom and on the way home stopped at a Cracker Barrel for dinner. On the wall was this really old RC cola memorabilia. I had a to get a picture of this for Ryan and send it to him. I know you are laughing if you know the joke! We did not get much riding in on this Sunday, but the kids had a good time at the park with all the other activities that they had for them to participate in. Thanks for reading!

Terp being a smartass

I drove by the plant in Batavia today on the way to my mom's (I live about ten minutes from it) and I didn't really see anything but two weeks ago I saw a few footers and pieces of track. It's exciting to live so close to where all the magic starts. Next year will be my first trip to KI in eight years, even though I spent most of my summers up until 2007 there. It's only a half-hour drive for me I always planned on going back sooner but I haven't been in the best place financially or physically,and things just come up. You know how it is I can't wait to go back in April, though. I've been following all the news pretty closely and I must say Banshee already looks stunning from I-71.

Which is a better fate than sitting in a field in Thorntown Indiana and rusting away...

That coaster has been demolished. Even before it was, it had fallen into corrosive disrepair.

Here's your coaster....LOL http://rcdb.com/314.htm?p=879

Well I agree B&M is smooth but my son and his girlfriend and my daughter rode Diamondback about a month ago and all complained about how rough it was. Very odd for B&M. Anyone else experienced it lately on that ride?

They put some tracks on for the lift loop exit this morning.

And then, if this group's clever, season pass marketing begins--hot and heavy.

There must be a demand for the bobble head for you to sell it for $20...

Those blend in really well with theming. Hard to even tell that they are there. Doubt Kings Island would be able to do that. But they don't blend in with the sky!... LOL These were taking on my July 2012 Florida B&M trip. I believe Beast Man was with me on this trip. I do believe Banshee will have something similar. The net's don't really bother me, just annoying when trying to get photos like this. I do hope that they take out the advertisement sign that is right there at Banshee's dive loop. That will make for an amazing photo op.

Unless you live life in the Fast Lane...

I think it's absolutely ridiculous Kings Island doesn't have tram service. A best day ever should include those who have limited mobility but would love to come to the park. In my Mom's last years, Dollywood got her visits. You see, THEY made her feel welcome, and the trams, though she never used them, were part of that. She mentioned them often as I pushed her in a wheelchair.

I do. And as I have told my son numerous times "that's part of it".

Backlot Stunt Coaster's control panel still has The Italian Job Logo on it.

Hi, new here. I've been a lurker for quite some time but Banshee was that final push I needed to motivate myself to register. I'm Jarrett, I live an hour away from Kings Island (though haven't managed to get down much since I'm a new driver and can't drive that far just yet), and I've been virtually stalking that webcam. I feel like Banshee's definitely going to completely redefine crowd distribution at Kings Island. I feel like while both The Beast and Diamondback are amazing rides, they aren't very repeatable. Your first ride on Diamondback is great, but throughout the day you start enjoying it a bit less. The Beast can get better as the track warms up throughout the day (especially after a rainstorm when the forest is misty and humid) and it's my favorite wooden coaster, but like Diamondback, it gets stale pretty quickly. I feel like Banshee's going to not only be as awesome the tenth time you ride it that day as the first, but it'll be the best ride at the park. Action Zone's been slowly declining in attendance since Son of Beast's demise, and I think it'll be as crowded as it once was with Banshee's opening. About Gatekeeper, the thing that I don't like about it is the fact that you have to buy a locker for your bag. It's bad enough you do it with Dragster and Millennium, but I understand, sort of, since both have double stations. Gatekeeper doesn't and Wild Eagle has cubbies, why can't Gatekeeper? If loose articles are that much of a problem, they should provide them. Also, this'll be my first media day/opening day (whenever I decide to ride it), how do you get into a media day? Can this site do it or do you need to be part of something like ACE or TPR? Sorry for the question if people don't normally do things like that here. I feel like that dive loop will be pretty intense, though, looking at support placement. That's going to look extremely menacing towering over the midway!

But is the staging area actually within the construction site proper? If not, then what Don said was true... from a certain point of view.

It isn't. That coaster was smashed to bits and removed.

I really think this coaster is going to be a surprise. It just does not seem like Ed Hart adding a 6-7 million dollar coaster unless he is adding another prototype.

Gatekeeper was smooth as glass at the beginning of the season (Media Day). Then on opening weekend of Halloweekends when I rode it, I noticed that It developed a "bump" worse than Diamondback's rattle in the back. Diamondback is more of a vibration, but Gatekeeper actually BOUNCES. Of the 41 B&M's I have ridden, the Cedar Point trio are the worst. I rode it for the first time ever the same weekend you mentioned and I wasn't a fan at all. Mostly because of the restraints painfully pinning me in but I agree Gatekeeper definitely bounces. That ride hurt me. I was sore for days

Gatekeeper was smooth as glass at the beginning of the season (Media Day). Then on opening weekend of Halloweekends when I rode it, I noticed that It developed a "bump" worse than Diamondback's rattle in the back. Diamondback is more of a vibration, but Gatekeeper actually BOUNCES. Of the 41 B&M's I have ridden, the Cedar Point trio are the worst.

Just out of curiosity, what exactly happens when a wheel fails? Is it simply that the outer lamination (urethane?) comes off, or is it a deeper mechanical issue like a bearing or shaft? I guess a better question is: what is the typical failure mode for a coaster wheel? Are there warning signs of imminent failure? Could a wheel failure cause a train to valley (due to friction/drag)? I would think that if there was even a remote chance of this, those in charge would see to it that any problems are addressed immediately, but I don't know... Any experience that someone has with these things is that much more than I...I'm just fascinated by the machinery involved! Jason-who is ignorant but curious.

^I agree with what you've said. I notice the vibration in the back three cars, esp on brown train. I refuse to ride brown train in the very last car, it's a disaster on your body

no. we rode it saturday and it was still very smooth imo. my brother rode it for the first time and the first thing he said he loved about it was how "smooth" it was. Well then you must have ridden in a good seat... green train I suppose? I admit, Diamondback still is considerably smooth in most of it's seats, but in others it is getting pretty bad (especially close to the back). From my experience, green train is the smoothest, red is okay, and brown is the worst. The very back right side on brown train is almost unbearable IMO.

I'm sure that there were times that the crew was hitting 1600 - 1700 pph, nearly double Maverick's capacity. Most people think that Gatekeeper wasn't as popular as the big Intamin coasters because the lines at the end of the day were much shorter at Gatekeeper, when the reality is that Gatekeeper just pumped through a ton more people than the Intamins did which allowed lines to shrink during the day. Wasn't there some talk about Gatekeeper reaching 2 million riders this season if it hasn't done so already?

Found this on you tube...If you have a while, it's a great video about the Haunted Mansion. http://youtu.be/LeQstsAAv5c

Oh wait...

Who said anything about opening day?

^ If you do that you miss out on all the great things life has to offer. Those blend in really well with theming. Hard to even tell that they are there. Doubt Kings Island would be able to do that.

^^ ...more likely Fast Lane Plus.

I can see it now...

Work is now being done to re-construct and paint the ride-op booth of Breakdance at Kentucky Kingdom..... Photo Courtesy of The New Kentucky Kingdom) ((Now the ride just needs a new sign.... ))

Very busy day usually, lines reaching up into the 2-3 hour range of people attempting to get their last rides of the season in. Joking, obviously, this will be fourth or fifth closing day in a row and I have had the best days of the year as far as crowds go. The only bummer is the limited hours of operation, 11-7 that day.

Members from a select number of roller coasters clubs and organizations will be able to RSVP to attend Banshee Media Day. Those clubs and organizations will be announced at a later date.