Kings Island announces Banshee

I have no complaints at all. This looks spectacular.

I don't think not having a MCB will affect operation or capacity. If you watch Raptor, rarely do you see a train pulling out of the station just as another train is clearing the MCB. Most of the time, a train is coming into the station as another train is beginning to climb the lift.

Now its time to retheme the awful Action Zone generic area into Transylvania.......

I'm not sure I'm ready to let go of the world's only Gary Busey-themed drop tower just yet.

Cool colors, very interesting layout, what looks like a pretty steep drop, and two regular loops (honestly one of my favorite inversions)? No MCBR? This excites me!

Travis, I don't know how much they can theme this to be "girl power"-ish. If we look at this as representing women, does this mean we're all a bunch of hysterical screaming wenches? ;) Oh, wait...don't answer that. *laugh*

Regarding 3-train ops, and this is a total guess on my part, but the POV video looks like it's a very long station brake at the end of the ride. I think the B&Ms are reliable enough, along with magnet technology to do one very long straight brake run. It would be no different than Diamondback in a sense.

I love the theme they did. Very nice. Looking forward to riding it at some point.

BrettV said:

Looks awesome to me. The only question I have - will 3 train operation occur without a midcourse block? I know there are several coasters that do it (Magnum, Dragon Challenge) so I would think it wont be an issue.

Yeah, the "MCBR" is simply moved to the end of the run. You mentioned a couple of examples of this already. There are plenty more.

It's also why I laugh when people complain about GateKeeper's weak ending. If you think about it, all that really happened was that the design didn't get back to the station in enough time so they had to add the the little twist and dip between the two final brakes blocks.

I mean if you think GateKeeper's ending is weak, then you must really hate Banshee's - it goes from the MCBR right into more brakes. ;)

I thought all coasters have a weak ending. They stop, and then you get off. Oh wait, that could be interpreted as a strong (i.e., happy) ending. ;)

Really stupid question here, so please don't laugh:

Why do MCBRs help the capacity? I heard a ride op once say not to allow a dispatch of the next train until the previous one went through the MCBR because of the possibility the first train could get stuck on the brake run. So if you have to wait for the trains to go through basically the whole course anyway, what is the point?

I keep hearing rumors about other web sites posting information regarding the name change and re-themeing of Flight Deck to The Bat for next season. Does anybody have the link to those sites that they can post? I'm interested to hear if it is indeed true that the ride will be re-themed to coincide with the Banshee opening.

bunky,

I always assumed that the lift hill acted as a blocking section, so that a train could be on the lift as another train was in the block ahead of it. If the first train didn't clear the MCB by the time the second train reached the top of the lift then the computer would shut the lift down. But based on what the ride op told you, maybe that's not the case. Or maybe they want to avoid stranding riders on the lift so they avoid the situation altogether by waiting for the first train to clear the MCB.

Regardless, if a train is in the station ready to dispatch, having to wait that additional 20 to 30 seconds for the first train to clear the entire course, if there was no MCB, would start to add up. The thing is that the next train usually isn't ready to dispatch at the moment the first train reaches the MCB. That train is typically (as I noted in my Raptor example) approaching the final brake run as the next train is being dispatched, and by the time it reaches to top of the lift, the first train has made it to the station.

Shouldn't the headline read "Kings Island confirmes Banshee after Tek and Gonch announced it months ago"?

;)

I'm kidding. But not really.

I'll be honest, I didn't know crap.

It started as a wish. Moved to predicition status. Almost a sure thing one the construction site was seen. Was confirmed with the blueprint.

I used logic. (gasp!)

from the look of the POV, it looks like the "MCBR" is actually attached to the final break run at the station making a double break run. That will allow for the 3 train operation... I don't know why more aren't like that.

Batman the ride has no mid course, and runs 3 trains with no problem. So, why would anyone think that 3 train operation on a much longer coaster, would be any different? I would also bet that they have improved on that since the first Batman was built at Great America over 20 years ago.

One train climbs the lift, one loads in the station, and the other sits in the block before the station, with still room for a 4th train to sit in the block behind it. If there is a shut down, all three trains can be controlled with no problem. I have also been on Raptor, where it seems that the mid-course is not on at all, and you just fly through there. Makes the ride much more exciting. They can also stack 3 trains on there as well.

The only problem I see with it, is the masses who will come to ride it. If the crowds for Gate Keeper are huge, can only imagine what this will do.

Batman the Ride has 2 trains.

Batman the Ride has 2 trains.

High five!

I'll be honest, all I knew was invert. I didn't know Banshee (and was skeptical of that all the way up till it was announced), nor did I know the layout or anything like that.

no mid course brake means serious stacking when they run 3 trains.

The addition of banshee means the park has another record for most inverts in a park! lmfao

gamerguy said:

no mid course brake means serious stacking when they run 3 trains.

But it's not stacking if there's two brake runs at the end of the ride meant to hold trains and create blocks for three-train operations. At that point it's design.