Banshee Restraints. Thoughts?

I was just looking at the photo of the Banshee restraints. Do they have restraints like these on any of the other new B&M inverts? I know that Gatekeeper and Wild Eagle have them, but it would be very cool if other inverted coasters followed! Though, unlike the Gatekeeper trains, it doesn't look like there is much room for your arms. I think these would be very welcome on Raptor, there are a few places where the shoulder harness beats the hell out of your ears. Though, i do hope they are not a gut crunch, as the gatekeeper ones are.

Makes me wonder if they are working on modifying the restraints for the stand up coasters. Though, with all the new ways to ride, I don't think riding standing up is that desired as it once was. Though, if they came out with a better "head and groin" friendly restraint system for stand ups, they would be greatly improved.

Are the B&M restraints similar to the Vekoma modified restraints they tried on their inverts? Or more similar to the flying coasters like the superman clones at Six Flags?

Timber-Rider said:

I was just looking at the photo of the Banshee restraints. Do they have restraints like these on any of the other new B&M inverts?

Nope this is the first time these Third Generation B&M Inverted Rolling Stock have been used before. The trains are nice, I like how there are only two columns supporting the row of seats now instead of four.

I doubt very much that any older B&M coasters are going to be retrofitted with new restraints.

I believe that last year Cedar Point was looking to make some adjustments to GateKeeper's restraints; it was something along the lines of locking the shoulder straps in place rather than allowing them to tighten throughout the ride. I would think Banshee would be the same way if it is a known comfort issue. Either way, the straps are a nice upgrade over the traditional OTSRs.

To answer your last question T-R, these B&M restraints are more like the Superman restraints, since they are both, you know, B&M.

One of the things I was worried about, before seeing the new trains was head banging. I think Banshee will quickly squash every other invert, just for the added comfort of not getting the crap slapped out of you while riding.

But, as for the older inverts, I hope that these trains will be considered. The only thing I can see people complaining about, is the new restraints being too secure. As I read that some people thought the Gatekeeper restraints lacked air time. But, that's not something I look for in an invert myself.

Another thing I'm curious about, is the lack of discussion about riding backwards on the Batman ride at Great America. Did anyone ever do this? I think these trains would also be perfect for a backwards ride.

does anyone know if banshee will have a special row for the bigger people like gatekeeper does??

The "big boy" seats on Gatekeeper weren't much more accommodating than the rest of seats, as the belts were only 1 inch longer. Haven't heard how Banshee's will be.

As for retrofitting older inverts, not sure about it. Looking at photos of new cars, they look slightly wider than older models. I could be wrong.

I do hope they fix the vests before-hand. Riding Gk closing weekend was more enjoyable than it was in early season.

I never thought the original B&M invert restraints were that bad and although I think these look better, I'd rather see a park spend the money towards a new ride or park upgrades rather than spending money to get these trains with the new restraints.

For Vekoma and SLC's, I was really looking forward to the new trains when Morey's got them but they really didn't help much. The old trains caused headbanging and the new trains were more comfortable but you could now feel shuffling the entire ride so I feel like it traded one problem for another.

The trains are wider, and i would guess that they sit a little lower too? So I could see quite a few clearance issues trying to get these onto older rides. With them being wider, they would also have to rework the MCBRs and lift hill catwalks as well.

YoshiFan said:

For Vekoma and SLC's, I was really looking forward to the new trains when Morey's got them but they really didn't help much.

Yup. I'd ride one of the better SLC's (SFA's comes to mind) with the old restraints over the one at Morey's with the new restraints. I can see what they were going for, but they ride is just profoundly terrible regardless of what's going on with the restraints.

Haven't been on an SLC, but we did get Carolina Cobra with the new restraints....we weren't interested in a re-ride, but agreed that the ride was VASTLY improved (just not enough, LOL).

Here's another photo of the trains provided by the park.

That's cool that the park provides the trains for you to ride on . I was worried that I would have to bring my own:)

You think it's free but they jacked up the ticket price by $5 the year they added "free" trains to all the roller coasters...and they got a ton of good will from it too. It's just marketing.

Thats easy, inverts are another story.

Link to the story/video/article?

inverts are another story

Pssssht. Like you even know.

See? Easy as pie.

That guys cheating, whats with the handles he's holding on to.

I was lucky enough to ride Banshee 10 times during the Scream for a Kid Again fundraiser at the park. The restraints are, hands-down, the most comfortable restraints ever installed. Unlike Gatekeeper or Wild Eagle, they don't crush you while you sit in the block brakes. There's plenty of room for your arms, and they don't really press down on you unless you hold on very tight.

I found after riding a few times in a row at media day that I still got a bit of shoulder pain, even though the harnesses don't lock. How they sit on me (being tall perhaps), they twist slightly and still want to dig into my shoulder blade. If the harnesses had a bit of "twist" to them, they would lay flat on me and be perfect. But this just may be for me... Hardly an issue. I really dig the new trains.