Kings Island’s top 5 rides as chosen by Boone students

Grace Robinson

The Banshee at Kings Island is the world’s longest steel inverted coaster and was tied as the No. 3 favorite among Boone students surveyed.

Grace Robinson

From the high drops and high speeds to the rough tracks and screams galore, the coasters at Kings Island hold world records. The park has land to expand and a history of replacing roller coasters, but what is the best in this latest chapter?

Students in a handful of Boone classes voted on their favorite roller coasters at the park.

Diamondback

The most popular ride is Diamondback, a coaster that opened in 2009 and is one of the highest steel roller coasters in the world. The ride stands 230 feet at its highest point, with a drop of 215 feet at a 75 degree angle.

Riders enjoy 5,282 feet of track and ten drops that speed up to 80 mph towards the end. Students said they enjoy the ride for its smooth track and 2 minutes of ride time with a splashdown finale.

“I enjoy Diamondback because of the smoothness and view from the coaster,” junior Jacob Lanham said.

Orion

The runner up, Orion, is one of only seven giga coasters in the world and the newest coaster, opening in 2020.

Much like Diamondback, the coaster is known for having a smooth track; the ride was originally built by Switzerland based Bolliger and Mabillard which also designed Banshee and Diamondback.

Thrill seekers enjoy a 300-foot drop which makes it a giga coaster. This is Kings Island’s fastest coaster—with speeds up to 91 mph—and longest steel roller coaster—with the track being 5,321 feet long.

Banshee

The world’s longest steel inverted coaster, Banshee, drops in tied as No. 3.

It has seven stomach turning inversions. The coaster contains a 167-foot lift hill, a 150-foot curved first drop, a dive loop, a vertical loop encircling the lift hill, a zero-gravity roll, an outside loop, a spiral in-line roll and carousel, and a pair of batwing inversions, which is a heart shaped element that features two inversions.

“Banshee is my favorite ride at the park, due to it being so diverse and smooth,” senior Logan Paige said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The track being smooth may be a result of the building techniques of Bolliger and Mabillard.

The ride has a top speed of 68 mph, with the track being 4,124 feet, giving riders the experience of traveling through natural terrain for 3 minutes. Due to the terrain of the Banshee, riders experience an elevation change of 208 feet from the highest point of the ride—the 167-foot tall lift hill—and the lowest point with the batwing inversions.

The Beast

Tied with Banshee for third, the Beast is the world’s longest wooden roller coaster and the roughest. The Beast was designed in house by Kings Island engineers and opened in 1979.

The coaster unleashes all of its power over 35 acres of wooded terrain, and the Beast still holds the Guinness Book of World Record title as the longest wooden roller coaster at 7,361 feet.

The Beast has a ride time of 5 minutes with vertical drops of 137 feet with a 53-degree angle and 141 feet at an 18-degree angle. It also features a 125-foot long underground tunnel at the bottom of the 137-foot drop with eight banked turns—some to 45 degrees-–and a 540-degree helix tunnel at speeds up to 65 mph.

Senior Olivia Hoffer has a mixed opinion about the coaster.

“No other coaster is like it, but it’s too rough which makes it unenjoyable,” she said.

Flight of Fear

Flying in fifth, Flight of Fear is an indoor roller coaster where riders dive through loops in a pitch black room.

Some riders who don’t enjoy coasters do like Flight of Fear.

“I love Flight of Fear because I can’t see what’s going on,” senior Charlice Skeen said.

The coaster is in complete darkness besides a couple of lights in the track. Riders immediately go from zero to 54 mph in just four seconds, and the ride has four inversions and multiple different corkscrews.

Riders will experience high speeds, weightlessness and rapid movements from side to side. The coaster opened in 1996 and has a track of 2,705 feet that results in only one minute of ride time.

Kings Island opened April 15 for another season of fun, and park goers can experience all of the coasters and classic rides like the Grand Carousel, Scrambler and the Racer.