Flight Deck to become the Bat?

[XjoshhyX]

I don't understand everyones fascination with renaming it to The Bat. I personally don't like the idea from a purely marketing standpoint. If you are changing the name to draw more people to it, but giving them the exact same TG/FD experience, I feel as if you are misleading visitors.

If a ride is renamed out of necessity, like the case was when CF took over, I can understand. But unless you are going to do what was mentioned earlier and get new cars and maybe even modify the track a bit, you aren't doing much good by renaming it.

The idea may be unique and a cool idea, but if they are going to try and bring back a classic in a new light, might as well do that with a whole new experience instead of using the money to "reinvigorate" a ride that has established itself pretty well over the years, even if that establishment isn't the best.

Just my 2 cents, but I'd rather see a wing rider in the future to take the namesake of The Bat.

[JTW]

I feel like Flight Deck will give more rides next year than it has in a long time. I'm sure people will either bypass Banshee when the line is long or "discover" the coaster back in the corner. That narrow area of AZ will probably be a zoo next year.

[Thomahawk]

I just wish they'd change the name to anything other than Flight Deck that is the dumbest name on the planet.

No offense to anyone who likes the name just my opinion

[Diamondback96]

Flight Deck isn't a terrible name... In fact, I think it would fit well in X-Base.

However, it does not fit with all of those trees around it. I don't know of any aircraft that flies that low, and I don't know of any flight decks in the middle of land.. Granted, that's not Cedar Fair's fault (or even Paramount's, aside from naming it Top Gun when there was already a plan for the name). CF is just making it worse by adding Banshee. You will now have to pass by a creepy-themed ride to get to a ride themed to... an aircraft carrier.

To be honest, the entirety of Action Zone is a mess theme-wise. Everything else in KI at least makes some sort of sense, aside from the industrial beige building in the middle of Old Cincinnati, and Diamondback too (although it's nowhere near as bad).

[SonofBaconator]

I think that flight deck is such a boring name. Like "you could have thought a little more about the name." I would like to see it turned into The Bat but I still like to listen to transformers when I walk along. Before Paramount came along, the ride was originally supposed to be called, Thunder Run.

[Diamondback96]

I don't think anyone is really sure on what it was going to be called originally.

Also, Thunder Run is (and always has been) the name of a roller coaster at Kentucky Kingdom. It opened prior to Flight Deck. If that was intended to be the name of FD, it probably wouldn't have opened as such. See Mantis at CP and Banshee at HW.

I've read here that the name was going to be Swoop.

[The Interpreter]

Or Swoop. And it wasn't Thunder Run. Thunder Road was one of the rumors.

I still like Swoop. Great name for a coaster.

Edit: Second!

[SonofBaconator]

Or Swoop. And it wasn't Thunder Run. Thunder Road was one of the rumors.

I still like Swoop. Great name for a coaster.

Edit: Second!

I would have liked Thundercracker better

"More than meets the eye"

[shawnofthedead]

If they make a graveyard of old coasters, SOB, King Corbra, The Bat. How can they rename Flight deck The Bat or any Other "Buried" coasters?

[ki4evr]

I say let the past remain in the past and live in the now and keep moving forward.

[purdude86]

I think renaming it to The Bat, with new trains and paint job would be good in addition to making that a new area in that corner as well. Could be a Dark Forest section ro something with The Bat and Banshee. They could even keep the rest of Action Zone as is as a seperate section.

It would be a small section with only two coasters but X-Base and Oktoberfest are both about the same size. Plus it has room for expansion back there to add even more rides to it.

This would allow it to be renamed for more of a reason as well with a retheming of an area and not making it sound just like a new ride either.

[Ride On_17]

Cedar Point used to have a ride named Shoot the Rapids.

Several years ago they unveiled a new ride called...Shoot the Rapids.

Just because there was a ride in the past with a certain name doesn't mean that the same name can't be used on another ride. It's been done before as I've just pointed out.

[XjoshhyX]

Cedar Point used to have a ride named Shoot the Rapids.

Several years ago they unveiled a new ride called...Shoot the Rapids.

Just because there was a ride in the past with a certain name doesn't mean that the same name can't be used on another ride. It's been done before as I've just pointed out.

And I understand this point, but at the same time, look at the teaser trailer for Banshee. You have buried The Bat already, and I think that teaser honestly puts the name change to rest. Whatever happens will happen.

[canobie#1]

I like the dark woods idea

[Tr0y]

I can agree with youngstud to a point ( he would rather have everything be intamin ), it would suck having nothing but b&m coasters built i would mucn prefer la variety of coasters.

[RingMaster]

I don't understand everyones fascination with renaming it to The Bat. I personally don't like the idea from a purely marketing standpoint. If you are changing the name to draw more people to it, but giving them the exact same TG/FD experience, I feel as if you are misleading visitors.

They've done it for several years with Halloween Haunt, and they may do it again this upcoming season. But, I mean, this is the same exact thing that has happened TWICE within less than five years with the kids' area, once when the rest of the former Hanna-Barbera Land was transformed into Nick Universe, and again when the whole "Universe" changed into Planet Snoopy. Popularity issues notwithstanding (by that I mean arguments that the ageless Peanuts brand is less relevant in this age than the constantly evolving Nickelodeon brand), people are fine with the changes.

[Jr for Birdy]

I can agree with youngstud to a point ( he would rather have everything be intamin ), it would suck having nothing but b&m coasters built i would mucn prefer la variety of coasters.

I wonder if by speeding up Banshee at the end of the ride will make it a huge progress in B&M coasters, as much as I love DB, after the MCBR it is boring! Maybe not for a newbie but I personally could care some after the turn!

[Tr0y]

I can agree with youngstud to a point ( he would rather have everything be intamin ), it would suck having nothing but b&m coasters built i would mucn prefer la variety of coasters.

I wonder if by speeding up Banshee at the end of the ride will make it a huge progress in B&M coasters, as much as I love DB, after the MCBR it is boring! Maybe not for a newbie but I personally could care some after the turn!

knowing b&m they will have trim brakes applied before you reach the batwing.

[Vortex]

Cedar Point used to have a ride named Shoot the Rapids.

Several years ago they unveiled a new ride called...Shoot the Rapids.

Just because there was a ride in the past with a certain name doesn't mean that the same name can't be used on another ride. It's been done before as I've just pointed out.

And I understand this point, but at the same time, look at the teaser trailer for Banshee. You have buried The Bat already, and I think that teaser honestly puts the name change to rest. Whatever happens will happen.

If you happen to goto Cedar Point during Halloween you will see a grave for the old Shoot The Rapids.

[jcgoble3]

Cedar Point used to have a ride named Shoot the Rapids.

Several years ago they unveiled a new ride called...Shoot the Rapids.

Just because there was a ride in the past with a certain name doesn't mean that the same name can't be used on another ride. It's been done before as I've just pointed out.

And I understand this point, but at the same time, look at the teaser trailer for Banshee. You have buried The Bat already, and I think that teaser honestly puts the name change to rest. Whatever happens will happen.

If you happen to goto Cedar Point during Halloween you will see a grave for the old Shoot The Rapids.

And perhaps the new one as well before too long. I can't see Cedar Fair tolerating the problems with that ride much longer, especially in light of the recent string of high-profile problems on other Intamin rides.

[HarvestmanMan]

I feel like most people who remember The Bat remember it being closed for repairs.

Thus, I don't think they'd change Flight Deck's name to something with that connotation.

[WailsLikeABanshee]

Good point, but with the new ride being right there, Flight Deck will most likely get some extra love like Vortex's paint job from Diamondback. They'll want it to look nice. Also, with Banshee drawing people to that section of the park, FD will probably see a ridership boost.

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[WailsLikeABanshee]

I love the idea of changing it to The Bat myself, but I bet the marketing and PR department would be spending a lot of time explaining that this was not the original Bat that killed people in the 80's.

 

I had someone just yesterday say they missed The Bat and hated they had to take it out because someone was killed on it. 

It's funny you say that. I'm pretty sure no one died on The Bat, and if memory serves, a woman died after riding Flight Deck (Top Gun, at the time, I think) on Black Sunday. It was due to a heart attack or preexisting condition.

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[McSalsa]

I love the idea of changing it to The Bat myself, but I bet the marketing and PR department would be spending a lot of time explaining that this was not the original Bat that killed people in the 80's.

I had someone just yesterday say they missed The Bat and hated they had to take it out because someone was killed on it.

It's funny you say that. I'm pretty sure no one died on The Bat, and if memory serves, a woman died after riding Flight Deck (Top Gun, at the time, I think) on Black Sunday. It was due to a heart attack or preexisting condition.

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Uhh...the deaths at Kings Island on "Black Sunday" were not on Flight Deck, as Black Sunday occured in 1991. Flight Deck was, at best, still in the planning stages as it did not open until 1993. What did happen on Black Sunday, according to the old KICentral history page (which I have saved to my computer in a text file for some odd reason for offline reference )...

"On June 9th, there are three deaths at the park on the day known as Black Sunday. Around 8:00 PM, a 20-year-old man entered the Oktoberfest pond, apparently to retrieve a lost hat. He was electrocuted instantly, and two people entered the pond to rescue him. Both the man who originally entered the pond and one of the rescuers died at a local hospital, and the other rescuer had serious injuries. The accident was linked to a faulty water pump, which had short-circuited, electrifying the water. An hour later, a woman boards the Flight Commander ride in Coney Mall, which allows riders to pitch the cars and flip them upside down. When her car flipped upside down, she lost consciousness and slipped out from underneath the shoulder harness, falling 50 feet onto concrete. She was later found to have been intoxicated at the time of the accident."

The most noteable incident to ever occur to Flight Deck? In 2002, during a morning test run, it crashed into a truck parked too close to the ride's track and one of its trains was badly damaged. But no deaths...same with The Bat, save it never hit a truck as far as I know.

[HarvestmanMan]

The main reason why KI would NOT rename FC as "The Bat" might be because of the stigma that the name carries. The Bat was notorious for being closed far more often than it was open.

Other than for "heritage" purposes, what motivation would they have to call it that with such a connotation?

[coasterfanatic83]

So they can use a super-cool new logo

[WailsLikeABanshee]

 

I love the idea of changing it to The Bat myself, but I bet the marketing and PR department would be spending a lot of time explaining that this was not the original Bat that killed people in the 80's.

 

I had someone just yesterday say they missed The Bat and hated they had to take it out because someone was killed on it. 

It's funny you say that. I'm pretty sure no one died on The Bat, and if memory serves, a woman died after riding Flight Deck (Top Gun, at the time, I think) on Black Sunday. It was due to a heart attack or preexisting condition.

Sent from my VS840 4G using Tapatalk

 

Uhh...the deaths at Kings Island on "Black Sunday" were not on Flight Deck, as Black Sunday occured in 1991. Flight Deck was, at best, still in the planning stages as it did not open until 1993. What did happen on Black Sunday, according to the old KICentral history page (which I have saved to my computer in a text file for some odd reason for offline reference )...

 

"On June 9th, there are three deaths at the park on the day known as Black Sunday. Around 8:00 PM, a 20-year-old man entered the Oktoberfest pond, apparently to retrieve a lost hat. He was electrocuted instantly, and two people entered the pond to rescue him. Both the man who originally entered the pond and one of the rescuers died at a local hospital, and the other rescuer had serious injuries. The accident was linked to a faulty water pump, which had short-circuited, electrifying the water. An hour later, a woman boards the Flight Commander ride in Coney Mall, which allows riders to pitch the cars and flip them upside down. When her car flipped upside down, she lost consciousness and slipped out from underneath the shoulder harness, falling 50 feet onto concrete. She was later found to have been intoxicated at the time of the accident."

 

The most noteable incident to ever occur to Flight Deck? In 2002, during a morning test run, it crashed into a truck parked too close to the ride's track and one of its trains was badly damaged. But no deaths...same with The Bat, save it never hit a truck as far as I know.

It seems to me I heard somewhere that a woman had a heart attack on Flight Deck. Thank you for pointing out the Black Sunday error, I sometimes get my dates mixed up. Seems I'll have to keep digging to find where I heard that.

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[Oldschool75]

Or maybe they are changing the name to Centurion? Cedar Fair just registered the name.

[thedevariouseffect]

Hmm...I like the name...pretty nifty

[Thrill_Biscuit]

Centurion sounds like a guard... like a ... gate keeper?

...or a Roman captain of 100 men, too. I'm just sayin'