Banshee (Kings Island)

Ah, the B&M invert. One of the best inventions known to man. When I first heard the announcement of Banshee, I was quite excited, having ridden the inverts Montu, Afterburn, Dragon Challenge, and Batman. The best thing about these rides is that they are consistently good. Not once have I ridden a B&M invert and gotten of thinking negatively of it. I finally got a chance to ride King's Island's new coaster last week, so let me tell you of the experience. Using my Platinum Pass early entry, I rushed to the ride at 9:30 am to avoid lines. Upon arriving to the station, it appeared as though I would be one of the first lucky riders that day. I took my seat in the second row, along with two of my siblings and few people behind me and we were released out of the station. The lift was quicker than most inverts out there, and there was plenty of excitement building up to say the least. Finally, we reached the top of the 167 foot lift, and the Banshee scream sounded, scaring the living daylights out of me. We peeked over the edge of the drop and glanced down at the distant ground, and then I experienced of of the most fun drops I ever have. We dove towards the ground. This drop was not like many inverts, because normally you will experience the "floaty" feeling on them. On Banshee however, it was like I was being dropped from the sky face first. We pulled up into the diving immelman element, which was one of the best parts of the ride. After a spectacular loop and then an amazing zero-g roll, we quickly dove into the bat wing, with the pace never letting up. We then entered another loop, and soon after a decently intense helix. Next was something I had never experienced on an invert before, and that was the barrel roll in which we were hanging upside down for a long second, which was extremely unique in my opinion. After a couple of turns, we entered the brake run, and I couldn't help but clap for such a ride. My only complaint is the tightening restraint that seems to tighten more with every inversion, but that does nothing to take away from the magical experience that Banshee can offer. This easily makes my top five coasters, and CANNOT be missed.

Drop: 9/10
Length: 9/10
Comfort: 8/10
Inversions: 10/10
Speed: 9/10
Smoothness: 10/10
Intensity: 9/10

Overall: 96/100 (World Class)