Banshee Open's at Kings Island
© On April 18th, Kings Island opened for their 42nd season premiering the world's longest inverted roller coaster, Banshee. Sending riders through 4124.1 feet of track and seven mind-bending inversions at speeds up to 68 miles per hour makes Banshee another great coaster designed by B&M. For those who don’t know a Banshee is an Irish legend of a female spirit whose wailing warns of an impending death in a house. Kings Island took that legend and added touches of it to the ride so the thrills start as you soon approach. The first this you are greeted by is the Banshee sign which has a steam element around it to add to the mystery. Once entering the queue line you will see many Celtic inspired grave stones and make sure you don’t miss the great tribute to Son of Beast which once stood where Banshee now stands. The station is well themed sticking with the Celtic feel of a castle. The Trains on Banshee are a great cross between Raptor and GateKeeper; they have the look and feel of Raptor but the harness of GateKeeper. Once load into the trains you are sent out of the station over the midway and up the lift hill. As you approach the top of the lift hill right before the drop you are treated to the scream of the Banshee. Then you are sent into all the great elements of the ride which include Curved Drop, Dive Loop, Looping interacting with the lift, Zero-G-Roll, Batwing, Outside Loop, Spiral, In-Line-Roll, and Carousel. This 2 minutes, 40 seconds ride will have you screaming like a Banshee, so hold on and enjoy!!