Banshee won’t be the only new thing to see at Kings Island in 2014. The park announced today that the park’s Flight Deck coaster will be re-themed and renamed to “The Bat” for next season as a nod to the park’s former suspended coaster of the same name.
We wrote about rumors of this exciting change late last week. The park sent us a press release today confirming the speculation:
“There was a lot of passion and enthusiasm around this name change by our guests,” Kings Island’s vice-president and general manager Greg Scheid said. “They told us this is a name they wanted us to bring back. We listened and we’re excited our guests will again be able to fly The Bat at Kings Island in 2014.
© Eric Sakowski
The original Bat operated for intermittently from 1981 to 1983, giving 1.8 million rides.
“The name also fits the characteristics of the ride. Similar to a bat in flight, riders soar through the air, swooping, circling and diving unexpectedly as they enjoy this ride.”
The Bat’s track will sport orange, while the supports will feature two shades of charcoal for the columns and structure. The trains will be black.
“Designed by the Arrow Dynamics Company, The Bat was custom designed for Kings Island when it debuted as Top Gun in 1993. Riders soar over the tree tops and through a hilly wooden terrain and a series of sharp turns on this seventh generation steel roller coaster. The attraction celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2013, giving its 20-millionth ride in June.”
I’m happy to see that Kings Island and Cedar Fair are investing in this historic coaster rather than removing it. I wish other parks would have followed.
Which Arrow suspended coaster would you like to see still operating?
Will they repaint it
Christian, the track will be burnt orange, while the supports will be two shades of charcoal gray.
for the question it would be both Eagle Fortress in South Korea (not that i’d personally go there, but from the people who rode it they liked it) and Big Bad Wolf, both used the terrain to their advantage (unlike a certain launch coaster *Verbolten*), but according to RCDB there are 4 defunct Arrow Suspendeds (including The Bat (original)) and one SBNO (Eagle Fortress), so they didn’t make that many, and only half of them operate now,
But also Hayabusa from Tokyo SummerLand would be nice to see running, it was the fastest at 60.3 MPH (http://rcdb.com/1203.htm?p=10350 picture of layout), and it looked liked it packed a punch,
But with the Flight Deck to Bat conversion i’m surprised that they’re not putting the Velkma floorless trains like what was done to Vampire at Chessington World of Adventures (http://rcdb.com/784.htm) in 2001,
Sorry about the rambling, just my thoughts on the fate of these rides,
I’d love to see XLR8 back up and running again! I used to love riding it when I’d visit Astroworld.
The Big Bad Wolf, loved that coaster!
Rode the Bat 🦇, in ‘81 with my girlfriend 3 times in the front car. Sadly this ride is now gone, but I married the girl! Great Memories!