Banchee?

I know this has had to have been talked about before but I couldent find it, and I wasent a Pointbuzz freak back then, so I don't know.

Why didnt they keep the name Banchee? Can you give me the info on that?

Thanks

Greg

Banchee was never a proposed name for any ride.

Banshee was dropped as the first choice for the coaster now known as Mantis because of the connotation of Banshee (a ghost who's wail foretells death). You don't want a coaster who's scream foretells death, not the kind of message you want with a coaster.

So they dropped it.

wasent sinage, pins, and tshirts made for it? I was under the assumption that it was all but installed when the change to Mantis came about.

Thanks,

Greg
*** Edited 7/31/2006 1:20:29 PM UTC by GregTSmith***

It was shortly after the announcement.

Check 1995 on the History Page.

They had promotional gear made for the announcement, so thats where the Banshee memorabilia is from. I don't think any actual signage was built, but there were pins and t-shirts.

*** Edited 7/31/2006 1:22:52 PM UTC by JuggaLotus***

Ahh.. I understand.. Thanks for the info!

Greg

I also think there was some kind of religious protesting involved with that name too.

I don't think so (maybe someone has more info), one of the local papers printed the definition of Banshee, which was similar to this:

Dictionary.com
A female spirit in Gaelic folklore believed to presage, by wailing, a death in a family.

Once CP saw that, they decided it wasn't worth the possible bad press about it and announced the name change.

For some reason I always thought I read somewhere that they dropped that name cause it was a racist term for some race. I can't remember what now though.

There was no protesting. Rumor has it that Judy K didn't like the name. The marketing department also realized that a Banshee is a spirit that fortells death and the official reason of the change is because they didn't think that was a good name to associate with the family image of the park.

We're still waiting for a new name for Demon Drop.

They should have kept it cause my head is often screaming out for mercy while riding, lol.

I found 2 different t-shirts on eBay one time. I wanted one of them real bad. But, if I recall the price went up to about $50 and that was too much for a t-shirt. I do have a pin though. I see them every once in a while.

Banchee would have been better name because of how the coaster howls. You can hear it in every corner of the park! Now, amongst the staff and CP fans, it's known as the "Manhater"

They go for that much online??... hmmm... Well I do have one of those... (See my profile pic)... Anyone interested in buying?

Eh... you know, I don't know if I could part with it. I bought it off a guy's back (who had no idea what it was) for 10 bucks. I'm that much of a CP nerd.

Much of the merchandise had already been ordered and purchased when the name change occurred. A certain amount of it still exists, as was kept by the park or received by park employees and has since made its way to the general public, the rest of it... let's just say it was lost in "a great burning..." :)

*** Edited 7/31/2006 2:34:53 PM UTC by DBCP***

Actually, the sign for Steel Force was going to hang where the Mantis sign is. They just removed the Banshee lettering and sent it to Dorney, where it resides as the sign for Steel Force.

I personally think the track was accoustically designed to give that howling sound. It is different than the sound that Raptor and other B&M's that I've ridden make; much more high pitched.

The sign may have been designed, but I doubt it was already manufactured at the time they made the name change.

From what I understand, it was ready to be put up, or to at least put lettering on it.

What doesn't make sense about that is that the decision to change the name was made within days of the ride announcement. Not saying you're wrong, but it just doesn't make sense for the sign to have been made that far before opening, and even more-so with that much construction (an entire coaster) still needing to be done.

It makes total sense to me that the sign was ready to go. All you have to do is compare the Mantis sign (http://rcdb.com/ig7.htm?picture=11) to the Steel Force sign (http://rcdb.com/ig276.htm?picture=11) and you can tell the structure is almost identical.

Check out Josh M's t-shirt and you'll see that the Banshee logo and the Steel Force logo are basically the same. The word "Banshee" appears to fit better on the Steel Force sign too - between the dude's hands. *** Edited 7/31/2006 3:44:32 PM UTC by halltd***

Wait a minute... That sign is made of Intamin 3-rail track... that must mean that Project 2007 is going to be a super looper, right?