McSalsa

Hmm...well, as yet another person who was once afraid of roller coasters and big scary rides, here's how I overcame my fear of coasters, step by step: -Saw construction and promos for Diamondback, thought it looked cool. -Sister took me to a Carnival a few weeks before Kings Island trip...I rode a couple flat rides, alas they had nothing that went upside down so I couldn't get any practice on that, but was able to warm-up a bit with rides like 1001 Nights, Monster, Yoyo Swings, etc etc. -Watched POVs of all the major coasters to get their layouts. As height and inversions were my main "issues", I ended up noticing Beast was mostly a low-to-the-ground coaster, but did have 2 big drops. I ended up wanting to try it first as it didn't look too bad. -Read stuff here on KICentral as a lurker. -Arrived at Kings Island and went up to the Eiffel Tower, getting a good look at all the rides I was likely about to "face off" against. -Sister tricked me into riding The Crypt, outright lying that it didn't go upside down...it did. All of two times. First time caught me off guard. Shockingly, when the ride ended, I was wanting more and was actually upset it ended so soon. So even though it was one of the most dissapointing rides I ever rode, it did serve a purpose to me... -Finally rode Beast...and loved it. Though the helix finale, which I for whatever reason did not pay attention to when watching the POV's, caught me off guard and did scare me just a bit that first time (and a few rides afterwards)...I actually DUCKED thinking that tunnel was going to chop my head off. -Having ridden a big fast coaster and something that went upside-down now, I decided to try combining the two and we rode Vortex- after a quick cooldown ride on Shake, Rattle, & Roll first though. The forceful inversions did scare me just a bit, but I was really making progress by this point. -Next I decided it was time to go for super-tall...Diamondback. This one caught me off guard, as I had zero idea what "airtime" even was before this ride and thus got quite the shock on the first few hills...but by the end I was loving it. -By this point, I was over coasters all the way, as next we headed to Son of Beast, which I assumed to be the scariest coaster at Kings Island in 2009. It broke down and was closed all day. I never did get to ride it, as it was SBNO by my next visit. So much for it. However, my fears of other rides still existed...Delirium still looked scary as did Drop Tower. But as I was more macho now, having faced rides like Diamondback & Vortex, I was eventually talked into riding both within a year & a half and now those are 2 of my favorite rides at Kings Island. Alas, this method will not work for everyone, as while I was able to jump in and ride Beast and stuff fairly early, we tried that with my best friends' girlfriend at Holiday World with Raven...and she was crying by the end. (She was OK after 10 minutes though) Personally, I'd start with Adventure Express or one of the kids coasters. Racer is just a bit tall and often has airtime, and BLSC has a pretty forceful helix and crazy dark tunnel section. But those 2 would be my next ones up, followed by Flight Deck after them (intense, but short). Again though- ask the person if they want to ride them or not first. Don't force anything...

I'm pretty sure it's right before the "batwing", or in that general area...

^ Also quite possible. It did cost them money to make the render video too. And hey, if they can save a few bucks by not rendering a ride that is hidden deep in the woods and is mostly out-of-sight to most park guests anyway...(The only place from within the park you can even see AE well from off-ride is the Blue Racer exit and it's q-line anyway)

I'm assuming it was just laziness- there is no real good reason to remove Adventure Express ATM. It isn't in Banshee's way at all, is only 22 years old which for a Mine Train is still young (there are Mine Trains from the 1960's still going very strong today), and is still popular with nearly a million riders every year. It has very high capacity (rarely will you wait more than 20 minutes at most!), and is reliable. And there's a large fanbase that would go bonkers on Kings Island if it were removed in 2014. Hopefully, Kings Island isn't dumb enough to remove this popular ride. Now Sling Shot is also not in the rendering video, though its removal would make more sense- it's over 10 years old, is an upcharge, and has fewer total rides given than any other ride in the park. I can see it going, leaving only 3 upcharge attractions- Dinosaurs Alive!, Dinosaurs Alive! 3D, and Xtreme Skyflyer- in the park. My theory is they didn't render everything because they wanted the video's frame rate to stay smooth (this animation was done on PC's), so they just rendered a bunch of the most popular rides that would be clearly visible in the video and left everything else- including AE- out...

Just looking at how the pool is doing ATM...wow, 27 votes, 27 POSITIVE first impressions. Though there are haters on Facebook already complaining how this isn't a Giga and about Fast Lane. Great job, Kings Island!

Banshee has a RCDB page already. http://rcdb.com/6640.htm However, it says only 2 trains...?

Well, this is simple. Kings Island has unleashed the plans for the new-for-2014 coaster, Banshee. What is your reaction? It is very simple, actually...just pick where you are on the list above. Comments also welcome. Enjoy the poll. If you dislike this poll, click back. For info on the new ride... https://www.visitkingsisland.com/Banshee#&panel1-1

WOW. JUST. WOW. ...this ride looks amazing...the colors, the logo, the station, the layout, the new restraints...everything...and no MCBR, so it doesn't stop until the final brakes and the rumor is it hits 68mph in the MIDDLE of the ride, aka it actually uses the terrain, which is always a plus. And the park did a great job hyping this up, too...such as The Bat leak and everything. I cannot wait for Banshee.

EPIC BUMP. Why did I epic bump this? Well...Google updated the street view of Kings Island drive/aka "the roads near the park" and apparently I-71 too, as well as the surrounding area. The in-park view is still from 2011, but now the outside-of-park view has been updated (it was previously photos from 2008 from "very far" & 2009 when closer) and now the photos are a mix between days in 2011 & 2012 (though from some spots on the left side of Kings Island Drive, it flips back to the 2009 set). Main difference is basically, it has WindSeeker now, and you can witness the color-changing of Invertigo in seconds ! Son of Beast is still standing and 100% intact in all the photos, from what I can tell. Also, the August 2011 day they drove past...looked pretty darn busy. That is all. UPDATE: OK, not all. You can also "drive around" the parking lot now! And for Cedar Point, you can finally "drive up" the Cedar Point causeway...which is very cool if you have never been to CP to really do so in real life...and you can also go on the road around the park, which is also very cool.

OK, here's a quick recap of my predictions... (Earliest Sign of New 2014 Ride) "I hope it's an Intamin Wooden Coaster! Or at least, some kind of wooden coaster!" (Park opens, footers first appear) "Uh-Oh. Not enough footers to be wooden...must be a B&M Giga, since construction is starting so early." I went with the Giga for a while, until... (Someone points out the supposed station footers look like they are for an Inverted coaster) "Wow, I can see that...it does look like an Invert..." And I have been in the "Invert" camp ever since. Well, except for 10 minutes or so a few days ago- that "fake" Bat web site that popped up had me thinking it was a Wing Rider for a brief peroid, though it still could be. And just for the record, even though I was kind of against a B&M Wing Rider due to Cedar Point just adding Gatekeeper this year, my initial thought upon seeing that was still... "Cool-Looking!" (Reads more posts on this thread) "Wait...a fake web site...Kings Island PR, if that's true, wow you are good." So pretty much while I think this will be an Inverted coaster, I'll probably be happy with whatever it is.

I do not know the answer to 'Kings Island opening on a Sunday' - I did however notice for the 1981 Bat spot/commercial...it advertises that The Bat will open on a Sunday.... For...what it's worth... Hmm...The (Original) Bat opening on a Sunday sounds interesting, but these days, Kings Island usually opens on a Saturday in Late April, with the following Sunday being rented out. If "The Bat" is Project 2014, and the opening day for it is correct, does that mean the company that rented it out gets to ride it before the GP on Opening Day does, forcing the GP to wait until the first weekend of May or something!?!? That would just be cruel to the GP...OPENING DAY 2014..."Big Shiny New Coaster. Fully Tested and Ready 2 Go. But you can't ride it until next week." I seriously doubt Kings Island would do something like that... Update: According to research and rcdb.com, The Bat did open on a Sunday- Sunday, April 26th, 1981. So there is that.

Hmm...I think I may have just noticed something on that leaked Bat page no one else did...it says the ride will open April 27th, 2014...guess what? That's a SUNDAY. Has Kings Island ever opened on a SUNDAY? I don't think so...and why does the page just say 2014 in the website location instead of the ride name? Hmm...yeah, I'm thinking this may well have been a DIVERsion now... I did love The Bat logo though. Perhaps they are teasing us with what they may have in mind for our next coaster after this one, to gauge our interest levels, aka "see how we respond to it?"...? This Kings Island PR. It be full of win.

Hate to do this, but...Original or 360?

A world breaking coaster.Oh my, I knew some people didn't like Vortex, but I had no idea that it could... wow. What? Vortex was the tallest full circuit in the world and the first with 6 inversions. You may know this. Not sure what you were saying First with 6 inversions, yes, but...as for tallest, it was actually 2nd behind... http://rcdb.com/185.htm However, back then I could easily see this ride being overlooked, especially since it's in Canada. And it kind of "cheats" to boost its height by being built onto a hillside, where Vortex is "all lift hill". So perhaps it could be debated. Oddly enough, a similar situtaion exists now between 2 wing coasters- Cedar Point's Gatekeeper and Dollywood's Wild Eagle. Wild Eagle is actually taller, standing 210 feet in the air, but it's built on top of a large hill and only has a 135-foot drop. This picture shows this very well: Gatekeeper is "only" 170 feet tall, but it doesn't have any "terrain height boosting" at all, so it has a 164-foot drop and Cedar Point has "World's Tallest Wing Coaster" as one of Gatekeeper's record claims... A bit off-topic, but I felt like posting this.

Well, those last 2 posts from Shaggy and Sheikra Rocks kind of just blew this open in my eyes at least- we've apparently got a B&M Invert coming to Kings Island in 2014. Name could be Banshee. Will probably break some sort of world record- height, speed, length, inversions, or all of the above? (Please say it's that last one ) If I am wrong...I will be shocked now. The footers, the transfer track, etc etc...it is all adding up now. In 8 more days, we shall know for sure...

Wow...this post is just awesome, and makes so much sense...it's not about who built it, how big it is, what type of ride, etc etc...in the end, it all comes down to "is this fun?" or not. Weather it be on an Intamin, a B&M, an Arrow, a GCI, etc etc...doesn't really matter. Well said, Don.

Arrow Dynamics invented the Hypercoaster. A full 10 years before Intamin or B&M built their first ones. You haven't heard of Cedar Point's Magnum XL-200? Opened in 1989, 205 feet tall...no inversions...aka, Hypercoaster #1... http://rcdb.com/11.htm Intamin didn't make their first hypercoaster until 1999, when "Superman: Ride of Steel" (now just Ride of Steel as Six Flags no longer owns the park) opened... http://rcdb.com/541.htm And B&M also made their first hypercoaster in 1999, when they opened "Apollo's Chariot" at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. http://rcdb.com/531.htm

Ehh, that will be a replacement WindSeeker because by then current WindSeeker will be old.

Don't forget our 2016 Stand-Up! And the 2022 Intamin Impulse! And in 2027, we finally get an Intamin Blitz! But then we have to wait until 2033 for the next coaster, which will be a B&M Wing Coaster that removes the then very old Drop Tower & Invertigo and goes over the front gate for a new main entrance! Note: Yeah, I'm just kidding, I don't honestly feel this pattern will continue past this point, and we didn't get the wooden coaster in 2011 as LordSkippy pointed out so...yeah.

I'm thinking Don read this post and is toying with us with his tweet about The Bat. But I never mentioned The Bat. Don's tweet could just be a Kings Island history flashback. Yeah I don't think his tweet has anything to do with 2014. Just a possibility he read that and is having some fun. More than likely you're right though.Here's something I found I thought was interesting: [Originally posted by Vortexfan May 28, 2012] Sorry I'm on a tablet and this is the best I could quote it. " Leviamania was definitely a huge success. Thanks to everyone that attended. It was a bit hard to hear at times, so I wanted to share this tidbit of information from the Q&A (Norm, Park GM): Canada's Wonderland was meant to get a B&M inverted intead of the Vekoma SLC model! The deal was ready to be signed HOWEVER, Cedar Point had an exlusivity deal that B&M could not build another invert with 200 miles (as the crow flies) of the park. Canada's Wonderland is at the 198 mile mark. Cedar Point refused to let Wonderland build what could have been an AMAZING invert. So we got what we did." The term "as the crow flies". We have scarecrows on the footers and the owls are actually scarecrows. Do a google search for owl and scarecrow and those exact plastic owls come up. The crow does not fly in that area ie a B&M invert may be built there. Just wanted to throw that out there in case those really are the clues. I know I know I'm overthinking it. But hey isn't this what the Decode 2014 thread is for. But KI isn't more than 200 miles away from CP either... I'm 99% sure that exclusive deal on B&M Inverts is looooong gone and dead by now. Hey, I just noticed something... 2009 Magnum XL-200, Cedar Point's Hypercoaster, turns 20. Kings Island gets a Hypercoaster, Diamondback. 2014 Raptor, Cedar Point's Full Circuit Inverted Coaster, turns 20. Kings Island gets ??? (signs pointing to invert right now...) Hmm...

Diamondback was August 8th, 2008. I'm expecting a similar announcement date for Project 2014, to be honest. If August comes and goes and we still don't know what Project 2014 is...I'll be a bit confused, honestly. And on that thought, I just realized we are that close already!?!? Wow...time sure is flying this year, huh?

Of course! I'm 2 hours away, have small kids, and I have school tomorrow. I wouldn't do something so stupid and lose my platinums. Or even be arrested Oh thank goodness. I kind of figured it was a joke...however, in light of recent events, I couldn't be too sure.

Just for the record: I really, really hope that you guys who are talking about going up to the B&M Plant and hiding until a Semi truck leaves with track/supports are just joking. I really, really hope that was just a joke. We already apparently got flak from the recent trespassing incident, and if that happens again...KIC's rep could go down the toilet. (Not that I have any clue if that person was a KIC member or not) You can have a snickers party though, just stay on your own property and don't trespass...

Hmm...I'd better clarify something- while I did suggest a Giga would "drown out" Diamondback's popularity, it would not happen overnight- for the first few years, Diamondback would still be very popular as it is still fairly new. However, 10 years down the road, when 2-3 more new coasters have likely shown up in the park, the effect would be very noticeable- the Giga will likely still have long lines unless something else had drawn guests attention away from even it, and Diamondback, while it may still have some popularity, it would be overcome by the ride's high capacity and thus Diamondback would end up in a situation similar to Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point where it's line is always uber-short. This is also what I think may also happen with Behemoth @ Canada's Wonderland once that park adds a couple more new coasters to aid their lineup- let's say, CW gets a B&M Wing Rider and RMC Wooden Coaster (not that it matters, these are just some thoughts on what could be next @ CW)- there will eventually be a very noticeable gap in popularity between Leviathan and Behemoth by that point. Granted, this is just random speculation, and I could be wrong.

Wow...having those supports show up at the B&M Plant, word of track being painted inside, the footers...yep, looks like we at least have what type of coaster Kings Island is building for 2014...or at least we are 90%+ sure. The announcement should be in a few weeks at most, my guess. (Diamondback was Aug. 8th, Gatekeeper was the 13th, etc etc.) My reaction: Excited. While I have never actually ridden a B&M Inverted coaster before (never been able to visit CP due to limited funds), their reputation, for the most part, is actually pretty good. Plus, these are known line-eaters, so wait times will be reasonable once the hype for the new ride dies down a bit. This also... -Doesn't render Diamondback pointless, which a B&M Giga might have done. If not instantly, within a few years DB's popularity would drop like a rock if there were a even bigger version of the same coaster in the same park. An Intamin Giga probably could have co-existed, though. -Keeps Gatekeeper relevant in 2015, as a new Wing Coaster @ KI would have made it look like Cedar Fair is just adding the same type of ride to every park. Matt Ouimet said he wanted to look for holes in each park's ride lineups, and add rides that those parks felt they needed. This seems to indicate he is doing just that. Lots of Kings Island fans (including lots of people on here) began asking for a B&M Invert for their next coaster almost as soon as Diamondback went up, I recall. Well, looks like our wish has been granted. We asked for this. -Makes every coaster in that section of the park suspended or inverted, as it will go in with Invertigo (Vekoma Inverted Boomerang), and Flight Deck (Arrow Suspended) as the two other coasters already in that section. I actually kind of like that, as it makes what section of the park to go to for Inverted rides easy. Also, we have a Inverted coaster for kids...does Kings Island suddenly become the Inverted coaster capital of the world, or something!?!? Oh, and on the topic of what to call a "hyper", I have various classifications: Diamondback "Traditional" Hyper Coaster STEEL PHANTOM @ KENNYWOOD (Drop is over 200', making it a "hyper" in my book) Hyper-Looping Coaster Son of Beast Wooden Hyper-Looping Coaster 2000 to 2006, just Wooden Hyper 2007-2009 PROJECT 2014 (?) Inverted Hyper-Looping Coaster That's how I do it, at least. To everyone their own opinions. These are just my own.