UPDATE 8/8/13 – Kings Island has announced Banshee for 2014. It will debut as the longest inverted roller coaster in the World with seven loops & 4,100+ feet of track. Read and watch a video here: Banshee Roller Coaster Coming to Kings Island in 2014 [divider_line]
Creepy figures are showing up at the construction site for what many believe will be Kings Island’s 2014 roller coaster. No one knows for sure, but rumors are pointing to a large steel roller coaster (possibly from Bolliger & Mabillard). Most think it will either be a wing coaster (like Gatekeeper) or a giga coaster (like Leviathan).
Will Kings Island’s 2014 Roller Coaster be Called Banshee?
For a while now, enthusiasts have been calling the 2014 project, “Banshee” because Cedar Fair filed for a trademark to use the name back in April. Of course we don’t know that they’ll use it for Kings Island, but that’s the prevailing thought.
According to Wikipedia, a banshee is:
is a female spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld. In legend, a banshee is a fairy woman who begins to wail if someone is about to die. – Wikipedia
The mention of “bone-chilling screams” in the teaser signs and the thought that this spirit would appear where Son of Beast “died” all seem to make sense.
Could the figures have nothing to do with the new coaster?
Those new creepy, scarecrow-like figures don’t make me think of a banshee. The banshees I’ve seen in fiction have been female (except for the X-Men character) and those figures look like masculine to me. I wonder if Kings Island may just be using all of the attention that the construction site is receiving as a chance to promote the park’s Halloween attractions.
Remember when Carowinds put in those “Huss GF”survey stakes? We ended up getting WindSeeker instead of a Huss Giant Frisbee like we thought. At the same time Carowinds had a billboard off of a major highway in Charlotte that read “FURY” in big ominous letters. Again, some wondered if that was a hint for a new ride or roller coaster, but it ended up being a tease for a new Halloween attraction.
Visit Coaster101.com for more Kings Island construction photos.
What do you think the new ride will be. So far on the poll, most people think the new ride will be a Giga coaster what do you think it will be?[poll id=”96″]
What do you think these figures mean? And, do you like the rumored “Banshee” name. Chime in below. Image credit – Coaster101
Coaster Critic 
32 responses to “Mysterious Figures at Kings Island’s 2014 Coaster Site”
I voted Giga, but according to screamscape a B&M inverted is also a real possibility
I don’ think it is going to be a large sized giga because seeing current pictures of the site it looks as if there is concrete molds for low to the ground effects that giga coasters don’t usually have
I’d love to see a compact giga, just because it would look awesome. I really don’t even care if those tight turns would have g-forces strong enough to kill, because a 300 foot tall coaster in a tiny area is so awesome it wouldn’t matter at all.
I personaly think those figures were put there to throw our name a ride design ideas off. Im very sure kings island knows we have the name banshee in mind. I personaly think it should be a giga because kings island isnt really up there with canadas wonderland and cedar point when it comes to hight. I think they could also use a B&M Floorless or an Intamin Blitz like maverick .All 3 are very possible. I could not see a B&M Invert going there for they do not excite me as much as airtime hills. This is just my opinion.
We visited Kings Island in June and I asked the staff member in the Eiffel Tower what the new ride was going to be. He said all he could say was it is ‘rumoured to be called Banshee’. I think a Multi Launch Steel Looper would compliment the coasters that are already there. Diamondback, although not a Giga Coaster is still an awesome steel coaster, so something a bit different would be great. As a side note, I loved Invertigo – had not ridden a suspended boomerang where the seats face each other before!
I almost doubt banshee is the name of the coaster. Cedar Fair tried that with what is now Mantis at CP, but quickly changed the name they had publicized when Banshee got bad reviews for connotations of death. However, it will be exciting to see what comes!
It’s a B&M inverted named Banshee.
Skyrush type coaster is my wish.
i just saw on the kings island twitter someone asked about the scarecrow and ki just responded with “the most interesting scarecrow in the world”. I don’t know it just seems like those scarecrows are significant
I was wondering about that too, but maybe the new management doesn’t see a problem with the name like the old leadership did.
That’d be quite a surprise as there hasn’t been a new B&M invert in the States since Patriot in 2006. I’d think that the managers of a large park like Kings Island might feel that they have to do something “trendier” for lack of a better word. Something they could market easier because of some record or innovation. I wouldn’t mind a themed, terrain invert, I just don’t think it’s likely.
I have a feeling it’s B&M’s second Giga but I would much prefer a giant record breaking B&M invert as it’s something I feel KI has lacked in their otherwise pretty diverse lineup. Invertigo just doesn’t count in my book.
I thought the name Banshee offended people, (like Mantis) I guess that was Screaming Banshee or something.
Right now I’m not interested in the name. I’ve done my coaster construction research. This thing is going to be B&M. Probs a giga or invert. Kings Island is one of the major parks of its kind that is lacking a B&M invert.
I really hope its like Mavrick or the longest tallest floorless dive machine
Vote for the bm giga or my top choise a record breaking dive coaster.
My top coice is a B&M invert
A 320ft+ b&m giga would be awesome in that area and would attract people from everywhere cause it tops leviathan and millenium. It has to be big considering the area to fill and how good of a secret they are keeping. I really want a tall long dive coaster, a 330+ giga, or a coaster like maverick. I will not accept an Invert though. To me its a waist of space
I was just at kings island and on my way to flight deck I saw the crows and the old son of beast station. I also saw the line to get on the ride. The station was covered up and it said wolf pack. But I did see a fast lane plus sign. I also saw workers and concrete on the site. Looks like a big one because there was concrete all over the construction site. And the teaser signs it said a phemonom. I think it will be grandson of beast.
That is true.
A lot of the clues are pointing toward a B&M invert. Footers appear in pairs, not singles, and one of the footers near the presumed lift hill is off a little bit. In terms of the name and theming, Kings Island either has something every elaborate planned or they’re trying to throw us off.
I agree, lotrowarrior, but don’t they already have flight deck?
Biggest rumor from other sources is B&M invert.
What about a B&M dive coaster? That would be a very frightening ride. The one in Busch Gardens Tampa, Sheikra, is AWESOME!!
maybe a ride like Hersheypark’s Stormrunner? it is intense and could be altered to make it world record holder…here’s their description…This one-of-a-kind coaster will launch you from 0-72 mph in 2 seconds flat. 18 stories straight up, straight down. And that’s just the beginning. You’ll fly through a 135 foot cobra loop, barrel rolls, and a dramatic flying snake dive. The first hydraulic launch coaster to feature inversions. The ride is fun and intense!
I dunno what they are putting in but it does look like something as a low flowing coaster.. I was hoping it be a awesome ride like SOB but its okay, something new will be nice anyways..Not a windseeker not a droptower, not something lame…..I love my coaster. I buy my season Gold passes every year and its gonna be nice to endure a new ride for the coming season….We just have to wait and see what is coming..
kings island just said that they will be announcing the new ride on august 8, and said it would be a record breaker.
I heard they are going to make the announcement Aug 8???
A new Kings Island attraction promised to break records, and while the official announcement of what it is won’t come for another week, WLWT News 5 has learned it appears the park is building a new roller coaster.
A fenced-off dirt lot now sits where the coaster “Son of Beast” used to roar.
There were signs warning of something evil, and hidden scarecrows meet the eyes of visitors who tried to sneak a peak between the fence boards.
Every Kings Island guest has their own opinion about what could be coming.
Thrill seekers online are wondering, too. Almost half a million people have visited a blog about it, and YouTube is full of fanatics that have dreamed up their own virtual versions of what’s rumored to be called “The Banshee.”
It’s been mostly speculation, until now. WLWT News 5 requested the plans Kings Island filed with the City of Mason. They show a sprawling roller coaster design.
“It’s a roller coaster. It’s a big one,” said Dennis Speigel, former assistant general manager of Kings Island. He helped build Kings Island, and now has a theme park consulting business.
After looking at the drawings, Speigel said, “It will be groundbreaking. And just by the sheer size it covers, the area that it covers, there’s a lot of activity there,” he said.
He spotted at least four loops and a corkscrew on the plans. He said he suspects the cars will have “wings” that leave riders hanging from the sides of the track. It would become one of four like it in the country.
“When this comes out, everybody will be looking at it to see what it is, what kind of impact it’s gonna have on their parks, potentially as competitors, and what it’s gonna do to Kings Island attendance,” Speigel said.
Speigel estimated the coaster will cost about $25 million to build. He said it’ll likely be complete by next spring.
So wing coaster, but massive and longer then hate keeper. I have had a season pass for 10 years, go every weekend, and bored to death except for riding Diamondback 10 times, and drop zone 10 times, kings island needs some new thrill rides and soon. I drive to Louisville for work daily and word is someone bought Kentucky kingdom and will open it on may 2014 and add many new rides and upgrades. So now I have a choice to go both places which kings island will lose a lot of the south region and west region unless it comes up with better rides and fast
same with you jonathan i agree with lotrowarrior but flight isn’t an invert it’s a suspende and that just just isn’t the same thing
well if you go every weekend for 10 years, no wonder your’e bored!!! lol
i can’t go there but i think i voted for a wing coaster i like the name too. roller coasters generate a screams, be they real or be they for fun so Banshee is very appropriate