Thirty-three years to the day it was first introduced in 1980, The Bat will fly again at Kings Island.

The park is changing the name and colors of Flight Deck to The Bat. The change will take effect for the 2014 season.

The new color scheme for The Bat will feature orange track with two shades of charcoal for the columns and supports. Black will be the featured color of the trains.

So much for offseason speculation!

So much for offseason speculation!

You got your answer quick!

Official Press release!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Don Helbig

October 29, 2013

The Bat flies again at Kings Island

Kings Island, Ohio – Thirty-three years to the day it was first introduced in 1980, The Bat will fly again at Kings Island. The 364-acre amusement and waterpark is changing the name and colors of the Flight Deck roller coaster to The Bat. The change will take effect for the 2014 season. “There was a lot of passion and enthusiasm around this name change by our guests,” Kings Island’s vice-president and general manager Greg Scheid said. “They told us this is a name they wanted us to bring back. We listened and we’re excited our guests will again be able to fly The Bat at Kings Island in 2014. “The name also fits the characteristics of the ride. Similar to a bat in flight, riders soar through the air, swooping, circling and diving unexpectedly as they enjoy this ride.” The newly named Bat is similar to its predecessor as a suspended roller coaster with the tracks above the trains. When the coaster train turns a corner, the cars are designed to swing out to the side, sometimes swinging the riders parallel to the ground. The new color scheme for The Bat will feature orange track with two shades of charcoal for the columns and structure. Black will be the featured color of the trains. Designed by the Arrow Dynamics Company, The Bat was custom designed for Kings Island when it debuted as Top Gun in 1993. Riders soar over the tree tops and through a hilly wooden terrain and a series of sharp turns on this seventh generation steel roller coaster. The attraction celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2013, giving its 20-millionth ride in June. The Bat is one of 15 roller coasters at Kings Island, including the new world record-breaking Banshee set to debut in 2014. The original Bat operated for parts of three seasons from 1981 to 1983, giving 1.8 million rides. Kings Island is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a publicly traded partnership that is listed for trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FUN.” In addition to Kings Island, Cedar Fair owns and operates ten other amusement parks, three outdoor water parks, an indoor water park, and five hotels. Cedar Fair also operates the Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park in Gilroy, Calif. under a management contract.

Don, would it be ok to add this to Wikipedia information?

I knew that logo was too cool and had too much effort put into it to only be for a mockup/red herring.

Don, would it be ok to add this to Wikipedia information?

Best to wait until a secondary source (newspaper, etc.) reports it, as the press release would be considered a primary source.

(double post because it's a PITA to edit a quote in)

If there will be any merchandise I intend to get a shirt or something next season

I don't see why you'd need to wait for another source to post it to Wikipedia - it doesn't get any more official than a press release from the park.

Because Wikipedia prefers secondary sources over primary sources, as all encyclopedias should.

EDIT: Here's the Wikipedia policy in question: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:PRIMARY

I don't see why you'd need to wait for another source to post it to Wikipedia - it doesn't get any more official than a press release from the park.

Andy there are two sources. Don posted it to KIC, and I posted the press release he sent to the media.

I am very excited to see Top Gun turned, Flight Deck, and now turning into The Bat!

My mom bought me a Flight Deck shirt on closing day . This is going to look sweet!

Now I will have to get used to calling it "The Bat"!

YES!

Omg! This is so exciting! So it turns out it will be renamed The Bat.

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I wonder how soon we will see changes start to take place? Maybe another webcam?

So much for offseason speculation!

lol yeah that lasted all of a day and a half

I had a feeling this would come around much later in the off season.

Now we can speculate on how the loading area and surrounding area is going to change.

My guess they probably won't start painting till early spring, can they actually paint the coaster now and have the paint turn out good?

Now if only they could rename "Drop Tower" to something like Drop of Doom or something to that effect to tie the area together more.

I figure they have to tell us now, otherwise we would see on the webcam

This is genius move by KI.

1.) First off sprucing up the area and changing the ride's paint scheme will make FD (errr The Bat) a bit better.

2.) It pays homage to the original ride.

3.) Sad to say this but it will be true. Some of the general public will think this is a new ride.

All in all this, plus the addition of Banshee, should make the ride way more popular than it was before.

So..just to get the info out, people should check out the KIC holiday thread, if we do plan a Great Wolf Lodge trip and holiday party your rooms may get a pretty view of some new orange paint

I chose today to announce the name change to coincide with the date the original Bat was announced in 1980.

My guess they probably won't start painting till early spring, can they actually paint the coaster now and have the paint turn out good?

I would guess the press release was made because they are going to start painting soon and will be pretty obvious what is going on!

Oops, should've bought some Flight Deck gear on Closing Day...

But otherwise, oh my gosh this is going to look incredible!

And I must say, with the epic teasing of Banshee that went on this year and now this, I've never seen Kings Island so in touch and interactive with it's everyday visitors before, enthusiast AND General Public.

KI is in very good hands right now...

Now this is fantastic news. Really need to plan a trip next year for sure.

I wish they would've used the original logo instead. I liked it better.

SWEET! Can't wait! This maybe the best name change ever for KI! Well done Don, well done!

I'm just happy FD is now The Bat...that means they wanna keep this ride around a few good more years.

And just to think for the past 5-10 years everyones been wanting it torn down...

It's a great ride, experience, and nostalgic..a coaster is a coaster, ride and enjoy them all