An Inside Look at Kings Island Public Relation's Response to the Banshee Incident

[KIPRWhistleblower754]

To preface, I am an associate working in Kings Island's Public Relations Department, reporting to Chad Showalter. After witnessing the reaction and response by my department to the tragic events that occurred that night, I am simply appalled and ashamed to have been a part of such a response. If Brad would like to ban me or delete this post, I understand. It doesn't shine the park and its leadership in a positive light and this site, after all, is a fan site. However, if you choose to let this stay, please read on for a window into how Kings Island's PR department operates.

I will be remaining anonymous to protect my position, however it is likely I will be resigning soon. If you would like proof of my position in the department, I have attached screenshots of me logged into our X handle. If you still choose not to believe me, that is your right, but I still feel the need to get this out.

Around 8:15 that night, I got a call from Chad Showalter himself (as others did) asking me to come to the park immediately to figure out how to deal with the media in light of a major incident. I wasn't told what it was but I threw some clothes on and rushed to the park. Luckily I only live ten minutes away but others with longer commutes arrived up to thirty minutes later. We all went into a meeting room in the leadership building (adjacent to the operations building) and were soon briefed on the situation. We were told a man was critically injured after being struck by Banshee, and that the media was already reaching out for questions. Chad put each of us on a different method of communication, such as emails, phone calls, and social media messages.

This was when things started to get strange. Chad, who had just told us the severity of the incident, told us to play it down and tell the local media that he seemed to have "walked away" from the incident. One of my colleagues told him that the media would find out eventually, but he wouldn't have it. He told us to think about the present, or upper leadership would be on him. So, that's what we did. We gave the media the spiel he gave us, saying that the situation seemed to be under control and that the guest walked away. You will see and probably have seen that when the media initially picked up the story this is what they reported.

Of course we were given pushback by some members of the press, as they had heard the fire/ems radio firsthand. We told them that was all we knew. As all of us juggled the chaotic situation, Chad sat in his office, door closed. We were left wondering what exactly he was doing to remedy the situation, as we were the ones doing everything. We stayed through the night, fielding calls, emails, and messages locally and from across the country. We left around 5 AM, just before the local media would begin their morning news programs.

I returned to the office at 9 AM, as per my schedule. The day started as normal, with a heightened sense of tension in the air. For all we knew, Chad had never left his office. His door remained closed. At 1 PM, he walked into the office. I figured he was returning from lunch. This wasn't true. He had left around 2 AM the night before and came in late today to get more sleep. Meanwhile we were doing damage control and providing the same story we had provided the night before. I was astonished at this. He arrived with updated instructions on how to interact with the media. Our new command was to say "no comment" to every request.

The next day, we got a taste of what it was like to be on Chad Showalter's bad side. He came in at his normal hour as scheduled, this time fiery and explosive. He called a meeting. We were then told there was a leaker, maybe two. Some employees who spoke to the media. He was obviously infuriated that his damage control had blown up into pieces. We were demeaned in ways I had never been before in my entire professional career.

He retreated to his office, this time the door remained open, leaving his fiery conversations loud and clear for all to hear. He was talking to people named Dustin and Bonnie, I'm not sure who these individuals are, but I'm led to believe via context that they have something to do with operations, perhaps rides in particular. He barked commands at them. He told them to find the culprit at all costs, and bring them to him. When they seemed to pushback, his voice grew in anger, barking more commands and threats at the poor associates on the other line.

The talk around the office now is a search is on for the leaker(s). I hear that supervisors at Banshee are talking to their associates individually, asking them if they were the ones who interviewed. So far, as far as I can tell, no one has been caught. But if someone is, I feel bad for what they're about to endure.

To this day, we have not posted a statement on any form of social media. Not even an acknowledgment. After a similar incident at Cedar Point, they tweeted that an accident happened and that their hearts went out to anybody affected. Why couldn't we have done that? It all comes down from Chad, and his fragile ego. He bans people from the park at will, with no regard to who they may be. He is a person who has little morals and no respect for the park he was hired to represent. This disastrous response is not surprising to many within the department. His attitude has been this way for quite some time, now it's just out in the open.

[Orion-XL200]

I personally am not surprised. I do know one of the two people you mentioned that he spoke to, is in operations. You are not the wrong in the least about the door remaining closed.

Best of luck to you, I can't imagine the situation you've been put in. 

Also:
Cedar Point - At approximately 5 p.m., a guest entered a... | Facebook

[KIPRWhistleblower754]

13 minutes ago, Orion-XL200 said:

I personally am not surprised. I do know one of the two people you mentioned that he spoke to, is in operations. You are not the wrong in the least about the door remaining closed.

Best of luck to you, I can't imagine the situation you've been put in. 

Also:
Cedar Point - At approximately 5 p.m., a guest entered a... | Facebook

Thanks, I appreciate it. And thanks for the post link. I was trying to go back and find it because I knew they said something. The unfortunate thing is it would’ve been so easy for Chad to have us do that. But a different approach was chosen and here we are.

[Coasterteam]

I have fully archived this post as well, in case any site admins are pushed by Kings Island leadership to delete it. You can find it on various archiving sites like archive.org or by reaching out to me on other platforms (same username) where I can provide a link. 

If what you say is indeed true, then I feel terribly sorry that you had to go through that. Something tragic like that should not be kept hidden and quiet, it is a major event that requires transparency to show that the park even cares a little. Sure it's not fun to deal with but it's not something that you should be required to lie about when you know the actual truth.

[Benjamin22]

Yikes not a good look for the park. The approach to down play an incident like this is kind of bizarre especially when the park clearly isn’t at fault for what happened. 

[Kenban]

As a warning, I suspect it will not be that difficult for management at the park to figure out your identity.  But you likely knew that before you made your post.

I agree with you.  The park has handled this incident terribly.  The park being more transparent would have done no harm to the parks reputation.  I have spoken with a number of people about the accident and everyone I have spoken with has placed all of the blame on the individual.

The park should have made a statement when the accident occurred basically saying that an individual entered a restricted area, and was injured and transported to a hospital.  The ride has been closed to perform inspections and that the state will inspect the ride before reopening.  The park could also wish for a quick recovery, etc.

The park could have said something and shown some humanity, instead of trying to bury its head in the sand and act like nothing happened.

Personally I have had minimal interactions with Chad, but what I do know, makes me think he is the wrong person for the job.

 

[CoasterJack]

First off thank you for sharing. I agree with Kenban above. Obviously the whole thing is a terrible situation mostly outside of the control of the park. However doesn't that the park couldn't make better light of it in certain situations. Agreed that an updated statement assuring people the ride was properly inspected, out of the park's control, etc. As park PR, you want to setting as much straight as you can legally, as it prevents customers from being deterred from wild stories.

My friend from California even mentioned that from the national ABC story he read, it was based off exclusively by witnessed and a "supposed park employee". That's not the fault of the whistle blower, that's fault on the park for not clearly things up sooner. I understand you can't report everything to the news stations for legal reasons , but also they can't be doing the bare minimum every time.

Again, I'm sorry you've had to go through all of this, and it sounds like it's been a rough enviroment for a lot of the PR team at KI, as well as members of some other departments . It sucks to be damage control, man I understand the mental load can be mind shattering, especially when covering up a truly tragic incident, it feels terrible. Even if Chad was recieving critisim from higher up, still shouldn't be dishing it out to the entire team like that, sounds very unprofessional and something like that wouldn't stand one bit where I come from. This takes courage. I wish you the best in finding a position elsewhere, it seems like you have a great work ethic and most of all a very strong moral judgement. Sounds to me like the park could be using a whole lot more people like you, less like a certain other representative.

[SonofBaconator]

2 hours ago, CoasterJack said:

Agreed that an updated statement assuring people the ride was properly inspected, out of the park's control, etc. As park PR, you want to setting as much straight as you can legally, as it prevents customers from being deterred from wild stories.

You’re absolutely right. Someone broke park rules, trespassed, and paid the ultimate price for it- that’s not on the park. If I was in charge of PR, I’d want to get the facts out as soon as possible so that media personnel don’t have to speculate. 
 

“At approximately (insert time) last night, a park guest entered a restricted area in the Action Zone area of the park and was struck by the Banshee roller coaster. At this time we are unable to provide information on the condition of the individual nor the riders who were on the ride at the time of impact. We are working with the state of Ohio as well as local law enforcement as they conduct their investigations into this matter. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the individual and their family, as well as the riders on the train, park staff and others who were involved. We will provide more information once it becomes available. All inquiries should be directed to info@visitkingsisland.com.”

What I said was transparent and to the point. It took me 5 minutes to come up with that and it A.) acknowledged that an incident occurred. B.) Provided information. C.) Expressed cooperation and sympathy. D.) Redirected inquires to the park’s email. 

[Coastercrush]

Are we the least bit surprised?  

[jzarley]

Wow. This was an amazing (and troubling) read. 

[Oldschool75]

If this is true, then just WOW.


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[Tr0y]

On 6/30/2024 at 9:21 PM, KIPRWhistleblower754 said:

Thanks, I appreciate it. And thanks for the post link. I was trying to go back and find it because I knew they said something. The unfortunate thing is it would’ve been so easy for Chad to have us do that. But a different approach was chosen and here we are.

So were you fired or did you quit?

[Oldiesmann]

In the day and age of social media, there is no "damage control" in any situation regardless of who's at fault. People will go to whatever source they can to get the answers, which is exactly what happened in this case. My sister found out about it through a Butler County Scanner page on Facebook and relayed the info to me. As we all know, the media quickly turned to other sources for details of the incident and the park didn't have any control over that. You can't just ignore facts and try to sweep things under the rug - especially in the age of "first to report" where every media outlet jumps on a potential story as soon as they can so they could possibly brag about being the first to report it if it blows up at some point.

I don't fault the park for being mad at an employee for speaking to the media, but given how things were handled here, I can't say I blame said employee, especially if they can remain anonymous. Yelling at other employees to figure out who it was certainly wasn't the right response though.

[SonofBaconator]

8 hours ago, Oldiesmann said:

I don't fault the park for being mad at an employee for speaking to the media, but given how things were handled here, I can't say I blame said employee, especially if they can remain anonymous. Yelling at other employees to figure out who it was certainly wasn't the right response though.

Especially if you had already publicly made a statement from the beginning; which the park did not. If something newsworthy happens at your park and you don’t address it in a timely manner, you’re liable to have other employees speak up because people want to know what happened.

In my opinion, not releasing a statement as soon as possible is an insult to the bystanders who were involved the incident: riders, associates, etc. When you’re in charge of being the bridge between the park and the general public, you want to address this as soon as possible.

When I was in college, we were given scenarios where we worked at a company where something went wrong and we had to write up a PR response to the incident. Responding to incidents is textbook PR practice…if you’re not taking the time to address issues your company is having, you shouldn’t be surprised when other employees speak on behalf of the park- because you certainly didn’t.

[brenthodge]

1 hour ago, gforce1994 said:

NO! That’s not how it’s done.
Example: In 1912 Phillip Franklin released a statement as soon as possible as soon as one of his ships had an incident. He said the ship was still afloat and in contact with other ships. What was the name of his ship? Titanic. Furthermore, when he was making those statements, there were some in the company who were beginning to receive reports that it wasn’t an incident, but a disaster.

 

You release a statement once you get the information, not as soon as possible. 

Combine the two “as soon as possible with the facts known at this time, shared in a way that won’t opinionize or anticipate an eventual outcome.” In this case, “a person, after entering a restricted area, was struck by a roller coaster car in motion. The person was taken via life flight to etc etc. at this time we have no additional information as to their status or the status of anyone else directly involved. We take the safety of our guests and employees seriously, and are closely monitoring this situation. We will share additional information as soon as it is made available to us.”

[IBEW_Sparky]

And you SURE as Hell dont say "The boat floated safely to port and the passengers walked away"!  This is exactly why I DONT like spin-doctors in any fashion unless they are carrying a Pocket Full of Kryptonite, the entire nature of their job is BS, be it good BS or bad BS, its ALL BS and so many of these problems could be averted if spin doctor positions were A)Dissolved or B)ALL parent companies grow the balls to tell the truth when things happen, be they good things or. bad things, period.  So the shareholders get a little ****y when bad events occur or bad news is reported, they can stuff it and take the bad with the good like all regular humans have to on a daily basis.  What @brenthodge and @SonofBaconator said in their statements would be "doing it right".  I applaud the employee for talking to the Fox outlet and if I knew who it was Id throw him a $20 for doing it!

[thatbandguy8807]

Wow, what a scumbag. Never did care for him (chad). I personally know Dustin as I used to work with him when he was a regular rides associate (great guy). Yes, he is the rides' operational manager, which is why Chad was yelling at him to find the employee. Chad has done nothing, it seems, in this situation. Poor excuse of a pr rep. Sadly, it's not surprising, though, from other stuff I've heard/seen from him in the past. I don't blame ya for wanting to leave the company after all of that. In my opinion, he should have been doing a lot more/helping out to smooth over the situation instead of hiding and being lazy/blaming others for his ideas, but what do i know. It's crazy how ki used to have, in my opinion, one of the best pr people in the industry, and now they have this mess that is chad.

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[SonofBaconator]

6 hours ago, IBEW_Sparky said:

What @brenthodge and @SonofBaconator said in their statements would be "doing it right". 

I don’t pretend to know everything on the subject. As I mentioned, I went to college for a lot of this stuff, and this whole debacle seems like something we would study.

[StormChaser97]

Unacceptable on so many levels… I would hope something would be done in terms of accountability but I never count on that lol

[Hoeter]

Redacted.


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[Tr0y]

The person who created this thread is not who they claim to be.
 

Simple photo editing and now look, I too am a whistleblower:

 

 

[Oldiesmann]

18 minutes ago, Tr0y said:

The person who created this thread is likely not who they claim to be.

In the original post it shows "Edit Profile" when viewing the KI feed (exactly what you see when you login to X and click on "Profile" on the left side, with your own info in place of KI's) and both screenshots also show the correct account info in the lower left corner (not just a KI logo like yours do). It is of course entirely possible for someone to manipulate images to make them very difficult to distinguish from the real thing, but why would someone go to all that trouble and make up a lengthy story about how things happened, when there are plenty of others who could quickly verify whether said events actually did happen?

[Tr0y]

23 minutes ago, Oldiesmann said:

In the original post it shows "Edit Profile" when viewing the KI feed (exactly what you see when you login to X and click on "Profile" on the left side, with your own info in place of KI's) and both screenshots also show the correct account info in the lower left corner (not just a KI logo like yours do). It is of course entirely possible for someone to manipulate images to make them very difficult to distinguish from the real thing, but why would someone go to all that trouble and make up a lengthy story about how things happened, when there are plenty of others who could quickly verify whether said events actually did happen?

That’s because mine is how X looks on mobile via iPhone, the OG photos appear to be from the desktop X webpage. Their photos are also incorrect because the desktop version shows the parks birthday. I can only think the reason this was done was to get a certain individual in trouble. 

 

[Oldiesmann]

The desktop version on mine does not show the park's birthday. It shows "Joined in April 2009" just like the original photo.

[Tr0y]

19 minutes ago, Oldiesmann said:

The desktop version on mine does not show the park's birthday. It shows "Joined in April 2009" just like the original photo.

Regardless you can see how easily I was able to mimic some photos. And a story can be created in minutes with AI via ChatGPT.

[SonofBaconator]

@Tr0y, regardless of how people choose to believe the credibility of the post, the issue still remains- this incident wasn’t addressed appropriately.

As @Orion-XL200 shared, this issue happened at another Cedar Fair park nearly 10 years ago…same type of ride….same type of accident.

 

This post was made the DAY OF the accident. 
 

If you want to cut the PR team some slack by saying that “our incident occurred at night so let’s give them a grace period”, thats fine. Let’s see what the park posted the day after the Banshee incident, this would be on June 20th.

 

I’m not seeing any official statement from the park’s Facebook page like we saw with Cedar Point. If anything it looked like the park avoided making any posts between June 19th-June 22nd.
 

There was a statement made by the PR team acknowledging the incident but nothing coming from the park’s official accounts that I noticed.

It just seems weird why the park wouldn’t want to directly communicate with their guests on this type of matter.

[Tr0y]

1 hour ago, SonofBaconator said:

@Tr0y, regardless of how people choose to believe the credibility of the post, the issue still remains- this incident wasn’t addressed appropriately.

As @Orion-XL200 shared, this issue happened at another Cedar Fair park nearly 10 years ago…same type of ride….same type of accident.

 

This post was made the DAY OF the accident. 
 

If you want to cut the PR team some slack by saying that “our incident occurred at night so let’s give them a grace period”, thats fine. Let’s see what the park posted the day after the Banshee incident, this would be on June 20th.

 

I’m not seeing any official statement from the park’s Facebook page like we saw with Cedar Point. If anything it looked like the park avoided making any posts between June 19th-June 22nd.
 

There was a statement made by the PR team acknowledging the incident but nothing coming from the park’s official accounts that I noticed.

It just seems weird why the park wouldn’t want to directly communicate with their guests on this type of matter.

Because they simply don’t have to post it on their social media platforms. They made a statement to the news outlets and that satisfied the general public. 

Have you ever seen Walt Disney World post a statement on one of its social media platforms when a death or accident happens on its property? I haven’t, does that make the Mouse incompetent?

[SonofBaconator]

7 hours ago, Tr0y said:

Because they simply don’t have to post it on their social media platforms. They made a statement to the news outlets and that satisfied the general public. 

Have you ever seen Walt Disney World post a statement on one of its social media platforms when a death or accident happens on its property? I haven’t, does that make the Mouse incompetent?

People are going to have their own opinions on the matter and that’s completely fine. Just remember that there are people who do feel strongly about stuff like this, otherwise they wouldn’t be taking the time out of their day to speak about it.

[super7]

The KI PR dept does not seem like a good job for someone with high ethics if they are instructed to lie.    Cedar Fair has not been an unethical company over the recent years, but this is a new level of unethical behavior. 
 

Regardless of whose fault the incident was, it doesn’t take much effort to show some human decency and care about the victim more than hiding the truth of the incident.    At least CP showed some decency toward the family of the victim that day.    

[SonofBaconator]

I’ve been reading a book and in one of the chapters it talks about fault and responsibility:

The author used an example of someone dropping off a baby on a random stranger’s doorstep. Is the homeowner at fault for having the baby dropped on their doorstep? No. Are they responsible? Yes. Whether they call the authorities, take the baby in as their own, leave it, etc, that abandoned baby their responsibility even though they’re not at fault.

After reading this it made me think of the Banshee incident in a sense. Is the park at fault for a man blatantly ignoring park rules to retrieve a loose article? No. Is the park responsible? Yes- it still happened on their property. It’s their responsibility to act during incidents such as this- calling EMS, evacuating riders, communicating with guests on the situation, etc.

In summary, fault is about assigning blame, while responsibility is about taking ownership and action to manage or resolve a situation, regardless of who is at fault.

When Cedar Point made their statement about Raptor’s incident, they took action to manage the situation even though it was not their fault, which presented a strong sense of responsibility on their part.

It’s fitting that the word “response” can be found in the word “responsibility”, considering the former is the main topic of discussion at the moment.