The Bat (Kings Island; opened 1981)

The Bat was a suspended roller coaster located at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio. Designed by Arrow Development, the ride was billed as the first and only suspended roller coaster in the world when it opened to the public on April 26, 1981. The model took several years to develop and was considered a prototype by Arrow. Though the ride was very popular, it was plagued with mechanical problems and frequent closures that led to a short lifespan. The ride was permanently closed in 1983 after only three seasons and removed from the park in April 1985.[1]

This article is about the defunct roller coaster, The Bat. For the roller coaster still in operation at Kings Island, see The Bat (Kings Island; opened 1993).

The Bat
Kings Island
Location	Kings Island
Park section	Coney Mall
Coordinates	39.340757°N 84.26459°W / 39.340757; -84.26459
Status	Removed
Opening date	April 26, 1981 (1981-04-26)
Closing date	1983 (1983)
Cost	$3,800,000
Replaced by	Vortex
General statistics
Type	Steel – Suspended
Manufacturer	Arrow Development
Lift/launch system	2 chain lift hills
Height	100 ft (30 m)
Length	2,456 ft (749 m)
Speed	34 mph (55 km/h)
Inversions	0
Capacity	1700 riders per hour
Trains	3 trains with 7 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows for a total of 28 riders per train.
The Bat at RCDB Pictures of The Bat at RCDB

History

In 1978, park executives traveled to Arrow Development's factory in Mountain View, California where they tried a prototype Suspended Coaster. The park subsequently partnered with Arrow and development on The Bat started. The construction of the ride was visible throughout the 1980 season. On October 29, 1980, The Bat was announced during a dracula-inspired announcement.[2] Construction of the ride was completed in November of 1980. The station would be a victorian mansion.[3]

The ride started testing on April 4, 1981. However, the Bat was starting to face issues. The safety monitoring system was sensitive as the ride would shut down even with a single train on the track. Plus, the coaster was going faster than it should, causing aggressive swinging. To address this issue, shock absorbers were installed on the trains to soften the swing. Kings Island stated that the Bat was a prototype model and to expect some issues.

A media preview was held on April 22, 1981. The Bat would open to the public at the start of the season on April 26, 1981 with minor issues during the opening weekend.[4] People waited three hours to ride the coaster, meaning that the lines would start near The Racer's entrance.

On July 24, 1981, the Bat was closed for four days. The chain lift issue was fixed with the ride being repainted. Modified chain dogs were installed on the trains.[3] At that time, Arrow Development was known as Arrow Huss. The problems with the ride continued. Kings Island had to give guests multiple free tickets to ride the coaster. The Bat closed again in August 1981 due to problems with the brake system.[5] Each car had a metal fin on the bottom that slotted into a channel of brakes underneath. The fins would occasionally bend or break off. The ride reopened three weeks later on Labor Day 1981.[6]

By the time Kings Island closed for the 1981 season, Arrow Huss started to address the Bat's issues. The trains were overhauled with each part replaced with new ones. In addition, the over-the-shoulder restraints were changed to flatter collars to allow a more comfortable ride experience. The sensor placement was reviewed and modified. More stress cables were installed in the structure to help defer the strain of the outward pull of the helices placed on the supports.

During the 1982 season, the Bat briefly operated for the first four weekends before closing in May due to a malfunction.[7] Meanwhile, park officials learned that the track and supports were damaged due to the lack of banking on the turns. With no proper banking, too much stress was put on the track. The issue also caused the welding joints to get weaker. On June 3, 1982, Kings Island announced that the Bat would remain closed indefinitely.[8] Following the closure, The Bat did not operate at all for the rest of the season while park officials negotiated with Arrow-HUSS on how to proceed.[3]

Modifications were made to the ride during the 1982-1983 off-season in an attempt to slow the speed of the trains and reduce how much they swing in order to reduce the strain on the track and supports. A car was removed from each train to reduce its weight and additional shock-absorbers were added to the remaining cars. Additional supports were added to the structure and existing welds were strengthened. Finally the lift hill motors were replaced with more powerful units.[3] The Bat reopened on May 21, 1983 with the new modifications. The ride normally operated in June and early July. In mid July, it was again closed for repairs. The coaster would resume operating on July 23. The Bat would continue to operate until early August, when it was closed for the rest of the year. Later on, the Bat was occasionally tested while the park worked on it with Arrow HUSS, but it never reopened to the public.[3]

In March 1984, Kings Island announced that it the Bat would not operate at all that season as they continued to review its mechanical problems, however they emphasized that this was only temporarily, and they hoped to have the Bat running again.[9] In order to fix the Bat, the park would need banked track and brakes above the train. Unfortunately, the modifications necessary to make the ride run reliably would be far too expensive, so Kings Island decided to cut financial and technical losses and remove the ride. On November 6, 1984, the park announced that the Bat would be demolished and would not reopen for the 1985 season.[10] Dismantling of the roller coaster began immediately and took six weeks to complete, at a cost of $70,000. The park has since revealed that The Bat gave 1.8 million rides in total, fewer than a single season on The Beast.[3]

Later site usage

An old footer of The Bat, pictured in 2012. Other footers can still be seen.

Vortex, an Arrow Dynamics looping coaster (first one in the world with six inversions), occupied The Bat's former location and used the same station building before being closed in 2019. Several trace remnants of The Bat were still visible, such as:

• Concrete footings
• The station and queue line
• Clearance holes in Vortex's storage shed doors, originally cut for The Bat's track

References

1. "The Bat comes tumbling down". The Journal Herald. April 6, 1985. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
2. "Kings Island has new ride".
3. "The sporadic erratic flight of The Bat". Kings Island.
4. "World's First Hanging 'Bat' Coaster At Kings Island". The Times Recorder.
5. "Bat is broken".
6. "'Bat' Flying Again At Amusement Park".
7. "Mechanical Woes Ground Kings Island's Bat". The Cincinnati Enquirer.
8. "Kings Island Closes The Bat". The Times Recorder.
9. "Bat Won't Fly Again This Season". The Cincinnati Enquirer.
10. "Kings Island to dismantle The Bat". Chillicothe Gazette.

External links

• The sporadic erratic flight of The Bat - Visit Kings Island Blog, October 30, 2017