Banshee (roller coaster)

Banshee is an inverted roller coaster located at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio, United States. Designed and manufactured by Swiss company Bolliger & Mabillard, the ride opened to the public on April 18, 2014, and is the longest inverted coaster in the world, featuring a track length of 4,124 feet (1,257 m). Banshee was also the most expensive project in Kings Island's history at the time, costing the park $24 million to construct. The ride includes seven inversions and travels up to a maximum speed of 68 mph (109 km/h). It operates with three trains, each with eight cars, producing an hourly capacity of 1,650 riders.

Banshee was built at the former location of a short-lived, record-breaking wooden coaster, Son of Beast, as well as the Thunder Alley go-kart attraction. The ride was officially announced on August 8, 2013, although its name "Banshee" had been trademarked earlier in April 2013. Construction took place from August 2013 through January 2014. When Banshee opened, it was well-received, accommodating over one million riders in less than three months. It has also consistently ranked among the top 50 steel roller coasters worldwide in the annual Golden Ticket Awards publication from Amusement Today.

Banshee was built at the former location of Son of Beast, a wooden roller coaster plagued with issues and demolished in 2012, and the Thunder Alley go-kart attraction that was removed the same year. A memorial for Son of Beast is located in Banshee's queue line. Following their removal, it was not immediately clear what would replace the attractions.

Construction on a new attraction began on April 22, 2013, and a trademark for the name "Banshee" was filed the next day. Owner Cedar Fair had previously considered using the name for a stand-up roller coaster at Cedar Point, though Cedar Point's coaster was ultimately named Mantis. Kings Island began teasing the new attraction on the first day of the 2013 season. Along the perimeter of the former Thunder Alley go-kart track, a fence was set up with a sign that read, "Due to the increasing occurrence of mysterious and bone-chilling screams, it has become necessary to close this section of the park until the cause of this evil phenomenon can be identified." During the course of the summer, several clues about the attraction were set up around the construction site. On June 10, 2013, the park launched their social media campaign by posting a photo showing the construction site with the caption, "Field of Dreams". The campaign continued with five scarecrows around the construction site and several Twitter posts about the future attraction. Then, at the beginning of July 2013, recordings of someone screaming could be heard by park guests near the construction area. Two weeks later, farm owls were placed in nearby trees.

On July 31, 2013, Kings Island detailed plans to reveal a new world record-breaking attraction at 10 p.m. on August 8. Media packages containing a silver comb, artificial hair, and a tag were sent out to media outlets to notify them of the upcoming announcement. A limited number of tickets were also made available to the public giving access to a tour of the construction site prior to the revealing and reserved seats at the event, with net proceeds being donated to breast cancer research. Blueprints for the project were leaked to the public on August 1, 2013. One week later, on August 8, Kings Island officially announced that it was constructing Banshee, the world's longest inverted roller coaster. Banshee would feature seven inversions, including a pretzel knot inversion and a vertical loop around the lift hill. Banshee would be the second coaster constructed at Kings Island by Swiss company Bolliger & Mabillard (after Diamondback, which opened in 2009), as well as the park's 14th operating roller coaster.

The foundation work for the supports was done by R.E. Middleton, and the rest of the ride's construction was performed by Adena Corporation. The first pieces of track and supports were delivered to the park from Clermont Steel Fabricators on August 16, 2013; the first track piece was erected on August 27, 2013. The lift hill was completed on September 29, 2013, and by the end of October, other elements such as the first drop, dive loop, and vertical loop were installed. Work on the station commenced that November, and the ride was 40 percent complete by the next month. The final piece of track was installed on January 23, 2014. Workers began installing the ride's trains that February, and testing began on March 15.

Kings Island hosted a preview event for Banshee on April 17, 2014. Several hundred journalists and members of the public, coming from 28 U.S. states as well as Canada and the UK, gathered at the park at as early as 4:00 a.m. The ride officially opened to the public the next day, April 18, 2014. At a cost of $24 million, the ride was the single biggest investment in Kings Island's history at the time. Banshee's opening coincided with increased ticket sales at Kings Island, which opened for the season on the same day. Kings Island officials reported that more people visited the park during the weekend of April 18–20, 2014, than on any other opening weekend in the park's 43-year history.

Banshee had attracted one million riders by July 10, 2014, less than three months after its opening. On that day, Kings Island gave the ride's millionth guest a gift package and a commemorative sign. At the time, Banshee was projected to be Kings Island's most popular new ride in 25 years; by comparison, Vortex had given 2,183,642 rides the year after it opened in 1987. The ride recorded its two-millionth rider on November 2, 2014.