Fly with The Original Bat - 50th Anniversary Archives

Relive this legendary attraction with a never-before-seen on-ride POV of one of the very first test runs during construction in early 1981.
“On October 29, 1980, Kings Island announced their latest and greatest record-breaking attraction - The Bat, the world's first true suspended roller coaster. Originally located in the Coney Mall section of the park, The Bat would take riders for a flight up to 34 mph, swinging side-to-side at a maximum angle at 90 degrees. The ride opened in 1981 and took its last flights just two years later in 1983 due to it being a prototype ride, unfortunately plagued with mechanical issues. The legacy of The Bat has not been forgotten, however, as many other Arrow suspended roller coasters have been met with tremendous success thanks to learning from the ride. For the 2014 season, Kings Island re-themed and renamed Flight Deck (originally Top Gun) to The Bat, to honor its predecessor and Kings Island's coaster history.” #kingsisland #thebat #rollercoasters

[@amusementvillage]

The only coaster I ever got to ride with both my parents,god rest their souls, it was a great ride and such great memories. I actually have one of the Bat heads on my wall

[@pizzafroth1521]

You have one of the heads off the cars? Thats nuts!!!

[@GrumblingTie]

How did you get the head of the car?

[@tysmith5623]

The bat is great

[@justinhughes415]

This isnt the bat thats at the park now. Two different rides

[@adrienneshirley884]

Idea request. Can you renovate the bat to be just like the old one. The new bat looks outdated.

[@gregblosser5949]

I heard about this ride. My dad told me it's never been confirmed, but, rumor has it that it actually worked a few times in its 3 seasons at the park!

[@lonewolf2513]

😂😂😂😂

[@adamroutt989]

Man, I wish I could've ridden this. Swingin' wildly all over the place...

[@mikekinsella2822]

it was a great ride

[@thebobkap]

wow you can really see how much those reains whip without the banked turns

[@baphijmm]

The Bat was unfortunately before my time, but that loading area, is that what then became such for the Vortex? (I do seem to recall a story along those lines.) My... grandpa? Him or my dad, one of the two, I'd been told helped build the Vortex. The latter was part of Ironworkers Local 44 (grandpa may have been too); story goes, whichever one it was helped build the second hill.

[@mindphaserxy]

Yeah they re-used the station for Vortex.

[@5MadMovieMakers]

So cool to see footage like this!

[@Sabir_DelNorte]

Wish that someone would make a modern take on this version of a suspended coaster. The B&M invert is it’s own thing and done a million ways over the decades but I’d like to see an updated model along the lines of this style of coaster at a cedar fare park

[@jeffsites7351]

I road it opening day and many times after. I sure loved it as a kid

[@TammyConn]

Best ride ever! I remember going to Kings Island with my family and we rode this ride over and over, it was so much fun!

[@m1lk0meda]

Insane to me to think the engineers/designers didn't bank the turns to reduce laterals and structure stress. What on earth were they thinking.

[@joanndowers5080]

So that was where the Vortex was?? I remember the ride but didn't remember where it was in the park.

[@sledgehammer_floatzel]

yeah. re-used the station. I'm upset they tore down the station when they took Vortex down.

[@hellacia8151]

This looks freakin psychotic, I can't believe this ride used to exist. Can also see why it didn't last long.

[@lowlifeangler]

I remember seeing when I was young but it was always broke down.....isn't this coaster made by Arrow Dynamics? Just wondering LoL

[@lukefarley9221]

Yes, it was made by Arrow Dynamics.

[@lowlifeangler]

@@lukefarley9221 yeah I being sarcastic sorry. Not a huge coaster fan but I'll ride Banshee 24/7 if I could

[@nicholasfield6127]

It was a prototype coaster and the prototype was a failure. They obviously fixed the issues and built others.

[@NewCastleIndiana]

I won tickets from WZPL to ride the bat before the public opening of Kings Island. I was 16 didn’t have my drivers license and I could not find anyone to drive me from Newcastle to Kings Island. I still feel so dejected.

[@Mr.BucketHatMan]

The original was a dumpster fire. Glad they replaced it with Tom Cruise!

[@travisscottmeal5509]

First lmao

[@jamesh.7342]

It was

[@Chessingtondragonfury]

I’m glad you removed this ride thank god arrow realized their mistake how hard is it to maintain the bat we have today?

[@hellacia8151]

Unfortunately pretty hard, it's unclear if S&S owns the blueprints to the original suspended coaster from Arrow

[@Skyla286]

Man i wonder how they filmed videos like that back then where there cameras small enough to mount on a coaster?

[@danielmace3030]

duct tape camcorders to the frame of the coaster train

[@Skyla286]

@danielmace3030 oh is that really how they did it?