I love The Bat that is at the park now. I think it is a pretty awesome suspended coaster. I didn’t realize it was the last one built which gave Kings Island the first and last. Never got to ride the original Bat since all this happened years before I was born. I’ve heard it was an awesome experience though.
I rode the original Bat twice when I was about 10 years old one morning. When we came back that afternoon to ride it again it was shut down. The Bat was a great ride - not as rough as the Vortex but it had intense moments. I'm still bummed they couldn't make it work or they didn't rebuild it. It would have been a classic coaster by now.
Unbanked track, poor braking system, alingment issues, computer issues, this was a failure from the start. But those who got to ride it were lucky :) I truly don't know why Arrow didn't bank the track, since they were experienced in roller coasters at that time. But they learned their lesson building 10 of them, with 5 left in the world.
I rode the original Bat, its always a great memory as it was kick ass, and I remember the Vortex taking its place. Going to Kings Island was a birthday tradition for me and the family.
@@ExpeditionThemePark You should do one on the King Cobra. I found an article about it's history a few days ago and it was alot more interesting than I expected.
Echoing all the replies here about more Kings Island videos! I'm from the general vicinity of the park, and it has such interesting history, but it doesn't get talked about as often as the bigger parks like Disney and Universal do. If you're so inclined, I think it would be interesting to hear your take on the long history of Enchanted Voyage/Phantom Theater/Scooby-Doo/Boo Blasters!
3 hour wait for the bat that’s crazy! you know the ride (the carts and the layout) looks like the Dragon’s tower concept from beastly kingdom. Sam as always Fantastic Video!
The concept art for the planned, but never built, Batman coaster at Islands of Adventure was also envisioned as an Arrow suspended coaster as the B&M Invert had yet to debut when the ride was in development. Crazy how much, and how quickly, B&M changed the coaster world with Batman: the Ride
I grew up in Cincinnati. I did ride the original Bat in '81. I was 15, and it was a 90 min wait. Got my head banged around quite a bit on it. But my favorite was always The Beast. I was there and rode it the day it opened. :) Awesome videos! This had great memories. I remember the commercials!
That was awsome, thank you. I'm so glad i got to ride it the last year it was open. Its the only ride i rode that day and the last ride i ever got to ride with both parents. LONG LIVE THE BAT. I still have a Bat head too..
The Bat opened on my 14th birthday. I joined ACE (American Coaster Enthusiasts) the same year that XLR-8 opened in AstroWorld in 1984. A lot was learned from the Bat. The BBW had "diapers" before AstroWorld got theirs. (Diapers are up near the wheels to keep oil drips from getting on the guests LOL) While the KI one was "under engineered" Houston's was "over engineered" It took much longer to remove it due to varying thickness in the steel in the columns & track. It was also the "only" suspended coaster that was reworked where some of the cars faced backwards. KI is a great park, and the film promoting it in the & 70's was the "tops" Great video!!!
Since I was too young to remember, my family took us on a yearly trip to Kings Island. Despite KI being six hours away, and other parks being much closer, I always considered it to be my home park. My age puts me in the range of being alive when The Bat was built but still too young to recall ever seeing it or knowing it existed until recently. I do remember the Vortex coming in and being a big deal in 87' and I loved Top Gun from 1993 for nearly the next twenty years before I finally had to give it up due to health reasons. Thank you so much for providing this history lesson of my favorite theme park.
I live in Wisconsin, yet I consider KI my home park. I've been going there since I was an infant, and I know it alot better than Six Flags Great America (the park closest to me)
The inclusion of RCT2 Carousel music really made me appreciate how much I love this channel. Your channel and others like it are a bastion of well-researched and cohesive dives into pieces of history amongst a sea of rushed clickbait hyper-garbage. Thank you for your efforts.
I'd love to see a detailed history of King's Island's original Enchanted Voyage. I tried for years to find out if the props (particularly the snail as you entered) were scrapped, sold, or repurposed Regarding The Bat: I lived in Louisville and I remember some of the persistent issues were rooted in the humidity of the Ohio Valley, (I seem to remember they initially used dry ice for smoke for atmosphere) and rain. Every time it rained, The Bat had to always shut down because the water caused the ride to slip. Over time, the humidity was also causing similar problems.
I'd love a video on The Enchanted Voyage! To my knowledge I think some mechanics for The Enchanted Voyage were reused for any replacements it had, including its current version Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. I say this because on The Enchanted Voyage they had a scene of two bears chasing each other in a circle, and to my knowledge any variations afterwards had very a similar scene, either using the same mechanism, or just as a nod to The Enchanted Voyage
I know Gulliver in Enchanted Voyage was recycled into Gargamel in the Smurf update because he was the same size in the same position, but I don’t know if others were used. I seem to recall the original felt stuffed with characters and the Smurfs was almost empty in comparison. I haven’t ridden it since Phantom Manor and by that point the water feature was stripped but I can’t tell you if it was the same rough track or not. I do remember the original had an overwhelming number of characters and I’ve never seen anything up for sale and I’ve looked for about 10 years. I know many of the Smurfs were sold off, but where this ride’s elements wound up has been something I’ve looked into for years... even contacting Jungle Jim’s and checking out old photos of the KI boneyard
I do remember reading somewhere that some props were moved to Jungle Jim's, but I'll have to do a lot more research to get some more info on where a lot of the ride remains have ended up, and if even still remain to begin with.
Several years ago I thought I tracked down the snail to jungle Jim’s. They were very insistent they had it, but it turns out it was small atmospheric cement snails that were cast to line the walkway (I think) of the smurf incarnation. I just thanked her for her time and didn’t say anything since it wasn’t worth it
This is the best video on The Bat I've seen. I still can't believe they thought about putting a corkscrew on it, wtf were they thinking? I've never seen that other(?) prototype before from 7:03, I've never seen Arrow do anything with that track style before.
I remember going to Kings Island in the early 80s, I think it was 1982, and the Bat was not operational then. It was disappointing but the Beast and the Racer made up for it! I have since gone back in the summer of 2011 and rode the Diamondback. Kings Island is still a great amusement park.
So Kings Island was completely dead and almost all the lines were walk-ons so I did do Vortex. Sure it was rough, but I don’t think it was bad enough to completely skip unless lines are bad.
Ah yes, the Big Bad Wolf, my very first non-Disney roller coaster when I was in 2nd grade. Yes, I do remember riding, but I don't remember experience but I do remember because I once had a Big Bad Wolf Tshirt. But now it's replaced by a very unique and interesting ride, Verbolten.
Another great video! I was one of the lucky ones to have ridden "The Bat" multiple times. Although it was a great ride, you couldn't see much due to the ride vehicles. I felt confined and enclosed. This video's history lesson was exceptional! Especially the historic video footage. Great job!!!!!
When I think of my best memories. My happiest memories with my family. The memories that keep me sane....Hanna Barbara land was a huge part of that. It was freaking sweet.
I was about 11 years old and had the good fortune to ride The Bat. At the time, it was absolutely frightening. I am honored to have experienced it during its short lifespan.
I love this coaster so much, yet I wasn't even alive to ride it. Top Gun/Bat is nowhere near as nice as other suspended coasters, Vortex however is my favorite at King's Island.
I remember when The Vortex first opened in Wonderland Ontario. It was so different with the hanging car, it was such a smooth ride, it would skim right past the water and take you up around the mountain. Wonderland's Bat is one of my favourite coasters too.
As Kings Island is my home park, I absolutely loved this video. While the park ended up replacing The Bat with Vortex, part of me is still interested to see what the original Bat would have been like if the major refurbishment actually took place, and if it would still be operating to this day. It is still sad to see this original type of coaster gone. The newer one is amazing however if I do say so myself. **One thing to note about the ride experience. My grandfather who is a Vietnam Veteran rode the original Bat and compared how the ride rode to a chopper flying through 'Nam**
I got to ride the Bat when I was 7. It was fun AF! Got back in line a few times in a row! It's still fun to see the artifacts from the ride still there, like the station, and the footers you mentioned. Thanks for the nostalgia!
Pretty sure 'The Ultimate' at lightwater valley is 83ft longer . It was named the world's longest wooden rollercoaster for a reason. (My apologies.. although it is 83ft longer, it's not a woodie, as correctly corrected below)
@@ExpeditionThemePark hmm, interesting. Well, the 2 lift hills are all wooden. I guess you are right as the two sections that join them were basically tracks straight onto the ground.
@@ExpeditionThemePark yep, you guys are right. I knew it took the longest coaster record, which it now has lost many times.. forgot it wasn't wooden.. In 1991, it took the record of longest roller coaster in the world from The Beast at Kings Island. Thanks for not being super rude and politely correcting me. :)
Excited to see this video! I rode the bat before it closed. The rumor was some kids died on the ride, and that was why they shut it down. I love Kings Island 💜👍🏼😊
I'm in Cincinnati and grew up at King's island. It's actually a very good theme park. A lot of park enthusiasts are always surprised at how great the park is. It delivers in thrills. Although the best ride they had was " tomb raider" and that's not there anymore. It was a dark ride that spun you up and around while being immersed in the theming of the movie.
Yes I remember the old one from the early 80s and you’re right it was always down while I was there it would work and then it was shut down so it’s good memories though and it was wonderful you found all this footage because I remember all those rides from when they moved him from Coney Island! The current bat is still up and running and people love it but it’s not the same as the old one! I really liked some of the rides that you showed that are no longer there like the cuddle up which was sort of their version of the teacup ride at Disney and that came over from Coney! Some of the old rides are still around some of them are gone but we still remember them from our childhood! Thanks again love the channel!!!
The new bat is one of the most pleasurable roller coasters ive road. Not breaking any records but butter smooth high speed corners around the landscape are just thrilling. This combined with it being at the back of the park and kind of hidden next to where the son of beast used to be meant lines of only 5 or so people. So i rode it about 5 times first time almost back to back haha
Thanks for this video! There had always been an urban legend that one of the ride cars disengaged and flew off the track, killing its riders, and that is why The Bat closed for good. It's nice to see a fact-based history on the ride here. I hope you'll do other Kings Island videos in the future!
Thank you! I'm a ride operator at the vortex and I always wanted you to do the bat! It really weird seeing how they changed the station but alot of it still kept and some of the cues for it are still there although we don't use them because of the current lay out of the station
I was lucky to ride the original Bat back in high school. It was a fantastic coaster and I never understood why it was torn down and replaced with the Vortex. Now it all makes sense.
I'm one of the privileged few to ride the original The Bat, and I can say that it was fantastic, and I say that as someone who has ridden the likes of The Beast, Screamin' Demon, Millenium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, and Raptor (Cedar Point's excellent suspended coaster), with what had me most freaked out how the cars would swivel away from the support columns at just the right moment to avoid them, leaving the riders with the sensation that they would full on collide with the columns! Yes, it was down nearly every other time that I visited King's Island back in the early 1980s, which fueled the (unfounded) rumors that a girl had gotten her head ripped off on the ride. What a bit of nostalgia here!
I would love for you to do a video on Kings Islands extinct attraction “The Phantom Theatre” it was similar to the Haunted Mansion and Phantom Manor from Disney parks! It also had Disney Quality theming!
I always wondered about the reason for the Victorian looking section of the vortex line, huh. Thank you for your reasearch and presentation, I really hope to see more kings island videos in the future since it’s one of the only two parks I’ve ever been too! Holiday world is the other, but it’s small time and there doesn’t seem to be much interest in it! Haha
For all coasters that fail soon, this is one case that was handled maturely by the park. The company willing to aid in repairs between each company, the park using media to both apologize and explain that it is a protoype and these errors would be common to come. As frustrated as they were, it was handled well. This behaivours is something I am used to (my local park is Carowinds and dare I say they are more careful than this) but it doesn't seem to be common, especially with older coasters. Small error shutting down the whole ride are something I admire, as even ones that are tiny on a computer can lead to a tragic error. This is a park I generally respect with good reason.
I only rode it once as it was constantly closed. The urban legend with the Bat was that a number of people were injured and a few people died. It was for many years later I learned that none of that was true. A good example of the power of urban legend before the time of the internet.
We went to KI in '81 for a school trip. I was riding The Bat when the shock absorbers on the car in front me failed. Even though the car was still attached to the rail, it was unresponsive and moved sluggishly as it sprayed dark liquid from the broken shocks. You could hear the grinding of metal as the car pulled into the station. One of my buddies was in that car and got doused with hydraulic fluid & oil from the malfunction. KI officials took him to a place to shower off the gunk, gave him new clothes to wear, and threw in a season pass for his trouble. The ride - of course - closed and didn't reopen that day.
Funny little tidbit, my grandma (in Australia) has a key chain from this ride. I remember seeing it so often and never knowing what the ride was. Interesting to see the story of it
First suspended coaster was alpenflug, a travelling coaster made by mbb that only had one appearance on the Oktoberfest in munich in 1975 and was scrapped afterwards due to structural problems caused by not banking the track.
Love the segment on the history of Coney Island and Kings Island. I noticed there was no mention that Mike Brady was involved in designing something at the park.
I went to Kings Island a number of time in the 80's and 90's. When I first went, the Bat was being build. The Nest Time, I visited, It was closed and the time after that. When I came the next time, it was being removed. So I never got to ride it.
3:43 ahhh the music just threw me back to when I played Roller Coaster Tycoon 2...
I was wondering who would comment first.
The TNT Raider and what is the song before that. Jetsons?
I was playing rct2 today and such a double take when I heard it.
I was playing it earlier and thought my laptop had switched itself back on 😂
Expedition Theme Park 0:53 That’s Planet Coaster music right?
I love The Bat that is at the park now. I think it is a pretty awesome suspended coaster. I didn’t realize it was the last one built which gave Kings Island the first and last. Never got to ride the original Bat since all this happened years before I was born. I’ve heard it was an awesome experience though.
I rode the original Bat twice when I was about 10 years old one morning. When we came back that afternoon to ride it again it was shut down. The Bat was a great ride - not as rough as the Vortex but it had intense moments. I'm still bummed they couldn't make it work or they didn't rebuild it. It would have been a classic coaster by now.
@@dougfromsoanierana Testify!
I got to ride it when I was 12, and I loved it.
Except it's a Clone though... It's a clone of Vortex at Canada's Wonderland, same exact layout, just minus the lift hill going over Wonder Mountain
It’s not this Bat. 🙄🙄🙄🙄
Video starts
I wonder why it closed after 3 years.
"Unbanked turns"
Nevermind it all makes sense
But it allowed the cars to swing full 90° ! I want to ride that !!
Unbanked track, poor braking system, alingment issues, computer issues, this was a failure from the start. But those who got to ride it were lucky :) I truly don't know why Arrow didn't bank the track, since they were experienced in roller coasters at that time. But they learned their lesson building 10 of them, with 5 left in the world.
Cars swung so hard they rocked against the connectors. I was too young, but I remember it. You could hear them bump.
I rode the original Bat, its always a great memory as it was kick ass, and I remember the Vortex taking its place. Going to Kings Island was a birthday tradition for me and the family.
I like these Kings Island vids... could ya do more maybe?
I will in the future yes!
Yes I agree!! Can't wait to see how the Beast and the Son of the Beast is covered.
@@ExpeditionThemePark Are you taking suggestions? If so, maybe look at X-Flight/Firehawk & the History of the Vekoma Flying Dutchman?
@@ExpeditionThemePark You should do one on the King Cobra. I found an article about it's history a few days ago and it was alot more interesting than I expected.
Echoing all the replies here about more Kings Island videos! I'm from the general vicinity of the park, and it has such interesting history, but it doesn't get talked about as often as the bigger parks like Disney and Universal do. If you're so inclined, I think it would be interesting to hear your take on the long history of Enchanted Voyage/Phantom Theater/Scooby-Doo/Boo Blasters!
3 hour wait for the bat that’s crazy! you know the ride (the carts and the layout) looks like the Dragon’s tower concept from beastly kingdom. Sam as always Fantastic Video!
The concept art for the planned, but never built, Batman coaster at Islands of Adventure was also envisioned as an Arrow suspended coaster as the B&M Invert had yet to debut when the ride was in development. Crazy how much, and how quickly, B&M changed the coaster world with Batman: the Ride
3 hour wait for dumbo’s flying elephants, that’s crazy!
More of my home park Kings Island please! Son of Beast!!
RIP
Right this is really cool
I grew up in Cincinnati. I did ride the original Bat in '81. I was 15, and it was a 90 min wait. Got my head banged around quite a bit on it. But my favorite was always The Beast. I was there and rode it the day it opened. :) Awesome videos! This had great memories. I remember the commercials!
The rollercoaster tycoon music, oh the nostalgia
That was awsome, thank you. I'm so glad i got to ride it the last year it was open. Its the only ride i rode that day and the last ride i ever got to ride with both parents. LONG LIVE THE BAT. I still have a Bat head too..
Another fantastic vid!! I can't believe how quickly you research, compile, edit and get these videos uploaded..!?
The Bat opened on my 14th birthday. I joined ACE (American Coaster Enthusiasts) the same year that XLR-8 opened in AstroWorld in 1984. A lot was learned from the Bat. The BBW had "diapers" before AstroWorld got theirs. (Diapers are up near the wheels to keep oil drips from getting on the guests LOL) While the KI one was "under engineered" Houston's was "over engineered" It took much longer to remove it due to varying thickness in the steel in the columns & track. It was also the "only" suspended coaster that was reworked where some of the cars faced backwards. KI is a great park, and the film promoting it in the & 70's was the "tops" Great video!!!
Since I was too young to remember, my family took us on a yearly trip to Kings Island. Despite KI being six hours away, and other parks being much closer, I always considered it to be my home park. My age puts me in the range of being alive when The Bat was built but still too young to recall ever seeing it or knowing it existed until recently. I do remember the Vortex coming in and being a big deal in 87' and I loved Top Gun from 1993 for nearly the next twenty years before I finally had to give it up due to health reasons.
Thank you so much for providing this history lesson of my favorite theme park.
I live in Wisconsin, yet I consider KI my home park. I've been going there since I was an infant, and I know it alot better than Six Flags Great America (the park closest to me)
I like how that The Beast is STILL the longest coaster 40 years later. That’s like a ride in 1973 having 13 inversions.
The inclusion of RCT2 Carousel music really made me appreciate how much I love this channel. Your channel and others like it are a bastion of well-researched and cohesive dives into pieces of history amongst a sea of rushed clickbait hyper-garbage. Thank you for your efforts.
There was also Planet Coaster music too
I'd love to see a detailed history of King's Island's original Enchanted Voyage. I tried for years to find out if the props (particularly the snail as you entered) were scrapped, sold, or repurposed
Regarding The Bat: I lived in Louisville and I remember some of the persistent issues were rooted in the humidity of the Ohio Valley, (I seem to remember they initially used dry ice for smoke for atmosphere) and rain. Every time it rained, The Bat had to always shut down because the water caused the ride to slip. Over time, the humidity was also causing similar problems.
I'd love a video on The Enchanted Voyage! To my knowledge I think some mechanics for The Enchanted Voyage were reused for any replacements it had, including its current version Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. I say this because on The Enchanted Voyage they had a scene of two bears chasing each other in a circle, and to my knowledge any variations afterwards had very a similar scene, either using the same mechanism, or just as a nod to The Enchanted Voyage
I know Gulliver in Enchanted Voyage was recycled into Gargamel in the Smurf update because he was the same size in the same position, but I don’t know if others were used. I seem to recall the original felt stuffed with characters and the Smurfs was almost empty in comparison. I haven’t ridden it since Phantom Manor and by that point the water feature was stripped but I can’t tell you if it was the same rough track or not. I do remember the original had an overwhelming number of characters and I’ve never seen anything up for sale and I’ve looked for about 10 years. I know many of the Smurfs were sold off, but where this ride’s elements wound up has been something I’ve looked into for years... even contacting Jungle Jim’s and checking out old photos of the KI boneyard
I do remember reading somewhere that some props were moved to Jungle Jim's, but I'll have to do a lot more research to get some more info on where a lot of the ride remains have ended up, and if even still remain to begin with.
Several years ago I thought I tracked down the snail to jungle Jim’s. They were very insistent they had it, but it turns out it was small atmospheric cement snails that were cast to line the walkway (I think) of the smurf incarnation. I just thanked her for her time and didn’t say anything since it wasn’t worth it
I made a video on Phantom Theater which touched on Enchanted Voyage but not too in depth. I'd also like to see one on Enchanted Voyage!
This is the best video on The Bat I've seen. I still can't believe they thought about putting a corkscrew on it, wtf were they thinking? I've never seen that other(?) prototype before from 7:03, I've never seen Arrow do anything with that track style before.
I remember going to Kings Island in the early 80s, I think it was 1982, and the Bat was not operational then. It was disappointing but the Beast and the Racer made up for it! I have since gone back in the summer of 2011 and rode the Diamondback. Kings Island is still a great amusement park.
Got to love videos on arrow dynamics!
How many kings rule Kings Island
Just one. ME
Me. The other one's my co-god.
I’m going to Kings Island at the beginning of June for the first time. Very excited.
Coaster Obsessed do yourself a favor and skip vortex. AWFUL!!!!!
jamesthemaniac It’s not that bad, it’s still an enjoyable ride
We’ll see what the waits are like. Definitely not at the top of my list but I’d still like to get the credit at least.
So Kings Island was completely dead and almost all the lines were walk-ons so I did do Vortex. Sure it was rough, but I don’t think it was bad enough to completely skip unless lines are bad.
3:43
Roller Coaster Tycoon carousel music!
I wanna gonna say, dude knows his audience
So will the big bad wolf be next?
Also vampire music in background let's get it
If it is, please don't play the commercial! It scared the crap out of me when I was little and living in the Northeast US!
Ah yes, the Big Bad Wolf, my very first non-Disney roller coaster when I was in 2nd grade. Yes, I do remember riding, but I don't remember experience but I do remember because I once had a Big Bad Wolf Tshirt. But now it's replaced by a very unique and interesting ride, Verbolten.
Defunctland already did big bad wolf and it was perfect. No need for elaborating.
@@marks47 are you afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Another great video! I was one of the lucky ones to have ridden "The Bat" multiple times. Although it was a great ride, you couldn't see much due to the ride vehicles. I felt confined and enclosed. This video's history lesson was exceptional! Especially the historic video footage. Great job!!!!!
I worked in rides at Kings Island from 1981-1988 and got to ride the bat several times, it was kick ass when it was running.
When I think of my best memories. My happiest memories with my family. The memories that keep me sane....Hanna Barbara land was a huge part of that. It was freaking sweet.
I've been binging these videos all day!!! I'd love to see a video on the Volcano at Kings Dominion! RIP best roller coaster ever 😭
At the end there is Vampires music from Chessington
The Screamin Demon was relocated to a small park in Huntington, West Virginia called Camden Park.
love the planet coaster music along with the RCT music
TBKarate what about the vampire theme at the end?
I was about 11 years old and had the good fortune to ride The Bat. At the time, it was absolutely frightening. I am honored to have experienced it during its short lifespan.
Yeah, the (original) Bat failed. But at least Arrow learned from this and made better Suspended Coasters :)
Jason Maier they sure did- still lovin’ Ninja at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Arrow now S&S - Sansei Technologies
@@Esdeath_0001 Not really, S&S bought the assets of Arrow so S&S is not Arrow, it's S&S which also owns the assets of Arrow.
I worked at Busch Williamsburg for many years rode Big Bad Wolf countless times. It was truly one of my favorites. Very sad when it left.
I love this coaster so much, yet I wasn't even alive to ride it. Top Gun/Bat is nowhere near as nice as other suspended coasters, Vortex however is my favorite at King's Island.
see my comment, been there, the shocks were added later,
I know someone heard the rct2 music but I also heard the planet coaster music at about 0:55. Very good music and another excellent video.
I remember when The Vortex first opened in Wonderland Ontario. It was so different with the hanging car, it was such a smooth ride, it would skim right past the water and take you up around the mountain.
Wonderland's Bat is one of my favourite coasters too.
As Kings Island is my home park, I absolutely loved this video. While the park ended up replacing The Bat with Vortex, part of me is still interested to see what the original Bat would have been like if the major refurbishment actually took place, and if it would still be operating to this day. It is still sad to see this original type of coaster gone. The newer one is amazing however if I do say so myself.
**One thing to note about the ride experience. My grandfather who is a Vietnam Veteran rode the original Bat and compared how the ride rode to a chopper flying through 'Nam**
Great info!! Never rode the Bat but I sure miss Big Bad Wolf!!! 😪 ~Dawn
This is my home park. Great video. The Vortex needs to be tore down too. It’s super rough.
Negative 13 it’s so rough it’s not rideable and hurts all of your body feeling like you might get a concussion during the vortex
B&m are lot better arrows tend to be rough. Used to like it but prefer the b&m roller coasters now.
You got your wish.
Rode this many times back in the day. Such a fun ride.
I just rode the current bat yesterday. It's such much fun and going through the woods is amazing.
I got to ride the Bat when I was 7. It was fun AF! Got back in line a few times in a row! It's still fun to see the artifacts from the ride still there, like the station, and the footers you mentioned. Thanks for the nostalgia!
I love it when a expedition theme park starts with a park destroyed
I was one of the fortunate ones who got to ride the bat in 1981.
It was a great ride and was exhilarating when it swung from side to side.
40 years later, The Beast is STILL the longest wooden coaster in the world!
Pretty sure 'The Ultimate' at lightwater valley is 83ft longer .
It was named the world's longest wooden rollercoaster for a reason.
(My apologies.. although it is 83ft longer, it's not a woodie, as correctly corrected below)
Ultimate is not wooden
@@ExpeditionThemePark hmm, interesting. Well, the 2 lift hills are all wooden. I guess you are right as the two sections that join them were basically tracks straight onto the ground.
@@ExpeditionThemePark yep, you guys are right. I knew it took the longest coaster record, which it now has lost many times.. forgot it wasn't wooden..
In 1991, it took the record of longest roller coaster in the world from The Beast at Kings Island.
Thanks for not being super rude and politely correcting me. :)
Just one thing, the ride at Astroworld was XLR8 (accelerate), xcelerator is at Knotts
dang i knew this and feel bad for saying it wrong haha
In fact, it was spelled with a hyphen. XLR-8
I remember getting to ride The original Bat, we were in the park one day and wow, it was open, loved it for the time it existed
Excited to see this video! I rode the bat before it closed. The rumor was some kids died on the ride, and that was why they shut it down.
I love Kings Island 💜👍🏼😊
And that was untrue. No one died on the Bat.
You look young, were you a child when you rode it?
Doolin Danger yes, it was just a rumor that was passed around by kids who didn’t know what really happened.
Felice Graziano I was probably 8-9 years old at that time.
@@OurFunHouse not bad for an early coaster! My first coaster aged 9 or 10 was a Zyklon lmao
It’s sad that the ride itself was tearing itself apart but that’s what made it such an amazing ride.
Well I am glad to hear the park doing the responsible thing here instead of letting something go wrong.
I'm in Cincinnati and grew up at King's island. It's actually a very good theme park. A lot of park enthusiasts are always surprised at how great the park is. It delivers in thrills. Although the best ride they had was " tomb raider" and that's not there anymore. It was a dark ride that spun you up and around while being immersed in the theming of the movie.
Yes I remember the old one from the early 80s and you’re right it was always down while I was there it would work and then it was shut down so it’s good memories though and it was wonderful you found all this footage because I remember all those rides from when they moved him from Coney Island! The current bat is still up and running and people love it but it’s not the same as the old one! I really liked some of the rides that you showed that are no longer there like the cuddle up which was sort of their version of the teacup ride at Disney and that came over from Coney! Some of the old rides are still around some of them are gone but we still remember them from our childhood! Thanks again love the channel!!!
The new bat is one of the most pleasurable roller coasters ive road. Not breaking any records but butter smooth high speed corners around the landscape are just thrilling. This combined with it being at the back of the park and kind of hidden next to where the son of beast used to be meant lines of only 5 or so people. So i rode it about 5 times first time almost back to back haha
Thanks for this video! There had always been an urban legend that one of the ride cars disengaged and flew off the track, killing its riders, and that is why The Bat closed for good. It's nice to see a fact-based history on the ride here. I hope you'll do other Kings Island videos in the future!
Thank you! I'm a ride operator at the vortex and I always wanted you to do the bat! It really weird seeing how they changed the station but alot of it still kept and some of the cues for it are still there although we don't use them because of the current lay out of the station
The vampire at chessington world of adventure is still there
True, but I remember that being shut for half a season due to similar issues, and them totally replacing the trains for that too.
Yep but it is still arrow dynamics with vicomer trains
Absolutely fab video! Keep it up, I love watching them :)
Thank you!
I was lucky to ride the original Bat back in high school. It was a fantastic coaster and I never understood why it was torn down and replaced with the Vortex. Now it all makes sense.
I'm one of the privileged few to ride the original The Bat, and I can say that it was fantastic, and I say that as someone who has ridden the likes of The Beast, Screamin' Demon, Millenium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, and Raptor (Cedar Point's excellent suspended coaster), with what had me most freaked out how the cars would swivel away from the support columns at just the right moment to avoid them, leaving the riders with the sensation that they would full on collide with the columns!
Yes, it was down nearly every other time that I visited King's Island back in the early 1980s, which fueled the (unfounded) rumors that a girl had gotten her head ripped off on the ride.
What a bit of nostalgia here!
I would love for you to do a video on Kings Islands extinct attraction “The Phantom Theatre” it was similar to the Haunted Mansion and Phantom Manor from Disney parks! It also had Disney Quality theming!
It was similar because it used the Omnimover ride system developed by Disney.
My favorite attraction! I miss it so much!
I was lucky enough to get to ride the Bat many times. It was an awesome ride!
I remember riding the Bat in its opening season. It was quite a thrilling ride experience. I've never really warmed up to the Vortex though.
I love the plan co music in the background!
Yes finally. Love King's Island!!!
Arrow: “if it doesn’t feel good....” FANTASTIC joke
I Love this themepark history videos and pls make more Darkrides history Videos can not get enough of them 👌
I always wondered about the reason for the Victorian looking section of the vortex line, huh.
Thank you for your reasearch and presentation, I really hope to see more kings island videos in the future since it’s one of the only two parks I’ve ever been too!
Holiday world is the other, but it’s small time and there doesn’t seem to be much interest in it! Haha
The Racer used to have one train going backwards. That was a BLAST! Wish they still did that
That commercial for The Bat at the beginning was like an 80’s Candlemass video.
For all coasters that fail soon, this is one case that was handled maturely by the park. The company willing to aid in repairs between each company, the park using media to both apologize and explain that it is a protoype and these errors would be common to come. As frustrated as they were, it was handled well. This behaivours is something I am used to (my local park is Carowinds and dare I say they are more careful than this) but it doesn't seem to be common, especially with older coasters. Small error shutting down the whole ride are something I admire, as even ones that are tiny on a computer can lead to a tragic error. This is a park I generally respect with good reason.
Kings Island had the best advertising template for those few years.
I love this channel and love how you do videoes on rides and attractions from parks other than Universal and Disney
I went to Kings Island on Saturday when this video was uploaded
I was at Cedar Point that day
Love seeing videos on Kings Island, so sad that the Vortex closed at the end of the 2019 season.
That Fred Flintstone costume is nightmare inducing
14:44 - what the hell is that thing in the background? It looks insane!!
TheRealSweedie I believe that is a double Ferris wheel
Ziodac is the the name of the former double Ferris wheel made by intamin.
I only rode it once as it was constantly closed. The urban legend with the Bat was that a number of people were injured and a few people died. It was for many years later I learned that none of that was true. A good example of the power of urban legend before the time of the internet.
I’m going to visit Kings Island next year. I’ll be sure to pay a visit to the new Bat. Great vid as always.
We went to KI in '81 for a school trip. I was riding The Bat when the shock absorbers on the car in front me failed. Even though the car was still attached to the rail, it was unresponsive and moved sluggishly as it sprayed dark liquid from the broken shocks. You could hear the grinding of metal as the car pulled into the station. One of my buddies was in that car and got doused with hydraulic fluid & oil from the malfunction. KI officials took him to a place to shower off the gunk, gave him new clothes to wear, and threw in a season pass for his trouble. The ride - of course - closed and didn't reopen that day.
God! Great voice actor in the Bat commercial!!! Vincent Price, or Orson Welles do you think?
Funny little tidbit, my grandma (in Australia) has a key chain from this ride. I remember seeing it so often and never knowing what the ride was. Interesting to see the story of it
The vampire soundtrack in the background
First suspended coaster was alpenflug, a travelling coaster made by mbb that only had one appearance on the Oktoberfest in munich in 1975 and was scrapped afterwards due to structural problems caused by not banking the track.
Love the promo’s for the rides at kings island👍
Do a vampire video from Chessington or just a Chessington in general video pleassse
You do a great job on these videos keep it up! Always looking forward to more
Love these kind of videos
You need to do more Kings Island and Cedar Point videos! Theyre so interesting!
I was going to say the Bat is still there!!! Its a pretty good coaster!!!
Dat use of Planet Coaster and RCT music *chefkiss*
Again another great video, so well researched , thank you for uploading
I feel that I owe my wonderful experience on The Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens to The Bat!
Great video. Reminds me a lot of what Arrow tried to do 20 years later with X. But that innovative project killed them
Awwwww how nice they renamed because of that ride also the new bat used to be a top gun ride
So awesome looks this video
Love the segment on the history of Coney Island and Kings Island. I noticed there was no mention that Mike Brady was involved in designing something at the park.
I went to Kings Island a number of time in the 80's and 90's. When I first went, the Bat was being build. The Nest Time, I visited, It was closed and the time after that. When I came the next time, it was being removed. So I never got to ride it.
So much history! Great job. :D
I love how there is just casual vampire music at 11:19
Is that the vampire theme?
Yes arrow suspended coasters !
Let’s go!