The Bat is a steel suspended coaster by Arrow Dynamics that's located at Kings Island. It opened in 1993 as a more reliable successor to its defunct counterpart that lasted from 1981 to 1983.
After the failure of the original Bat prototype, Arrow Dynamics wanted a chance to redeem themselves by opening Kings Island's Vortex in 1987. Other than that, they wanted to go back to the drawing board to redo their suspended coaster model, with two being installed in 1984: XLR-8 at Six Flags AstroWorld, and Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.
In November 1992, it was announced that Paramount's Kings Island would get a new suspended coaster from Arrow under the name Top Gun, named after the 1986 film from Paramount Pictures.[1] Unlike its predecessor, this coaster was much more reliable. The attraction opened on April 9, 1993. After the park was sold by Paramount Parks to Cedar Fair in 2006, Top Gun-specific theming was removed and the coaster was renamed to Flight Deck for the 2008 season.[2] For the 2014 season, the ride was renamed to "The Bat" in honor of the park's history.[3]
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Flight Deck On-ride Front Seat (HD POV) Kings Island
Boo Blasters on Boo Hill • Character Carousel • Charlie Brown's Wind Up • Joe Cool's Dodgem School • Kite Eating Tree • Linus' Beetle Bugs • Peanuts Off-Road Rally • Peanuts 500 • Sally's Sea Plane • Snoopy's Junction • Snoopy's Space Buggies • Snoopy vs. Red Baron • Surf Dog • The Great Pumpkin Coaster • Woodstock Express • Woodstock Whirlybirds
Bat at the Roller Coaster DataBase
The Bat (1993) (Kings Island) at the Roller Coaster Wiki
The Bat (Kings Island; opened 1993) at Wikipedia
