The Beast (roller coaster)

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The Beast

Location Kings Island
Park section Rivertown
Type Wood
Status Operating
Opened April 13, 1979
Manufacturer Dinn Corporation
Designer Al Collins
Track layout Terrain
Lift/launch system Chain lift hill
Height 110 ft (34 m)
Drop 141 ft (43 m)
Length 7,359 ft (2,243 m)
Max speed 64.77 mph (104.24 km/h)
Inversions 0
Duration 4:50
Max vertical angle 45°
Capacity 1000 riders per hour
Cost $4,000,000 USD (estimated)
Max g-force 3.1
The Beast at RCDB
Pictures of The Beast at RCDB

The Beast is a wooden roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. It is currently the longest wooden roller coaster in the world and sprawls over 35 acres (14 ha). It was also the fastest and tallest wooden roller coaster in the world when it opened in Spring 1979. Paramount sold King's Island to Cedar Fair LP in 2006, and The Beast is now under Cedar Fair LP's ownership. (Cedar Fair's main amusement park is Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.)

The Beast has been constantly rated as one of the top roller coasters in the world since it first opened, having earned itself a cult-like following among some coaster enthusiasts. Even after nearly 30 years, it is still the main attraction at Kings Island, located at the rear of the park in the Rivertown section. To date, over 33 million riders have ridden The Beast.

Al Collins and Jeff Gramke are credited with the design and engineering of The Beast.

It has been incorrectly reported by some sources that the Philadelphia Toboggan Company was involved in the construction of this coaster. They were responsible only for the train/cars. Design and Construction was handled internally by Kings Island's Maintenance & Construction department.[citation needed]

Charles Dinn, who spearheaded the park's maintenance and construction team, oversaw the vertical construction of The Beast. Dinn later left Kings Island, partnered with engineer Curtis Summers and opened the wooden coaster design and construction firm known as "Summers/Dinn."

Contents

[edit] Ride Layout

The Beast is located at the back of the park, behind Vortex.
The Beast is located at the back of the park, behind Vortex.

The ride begins with a 180-degree turn out of the station, leading though the switch track (used for storing trains on the storage track) and to the lift hill. The train slowly climbs the 110-foot hill and once it crests, drops 135 feet (41 m) into an underground tunnel, passing the on-ride photo camera on the way.

The train comes out of the first drop, still underground. Coming out of the tunnel, the train makes a hard left-hand turn, maneuvers the climb and drop of a second hill giving riders "airtime." The train then climbs upward, makes a right turn and speeds into a covered brake shed. Once through the trim brakes, the track turns to the right continuing through a heavily wooded area. Veering left, the coaster enters the second tunnel. Half of this tunnel is underground, while the exit is above. This is due to the topography of the land. As the train exits the tunnel, the coaster gains speed veering right then taking another hard turn to the right. It is at this point on the coaster that riders may feel remote from the rest of the park. At the end of this run, the train begins to climb the second lift hill. At the top of this lift the train turns left and begins a gradual, 18-degree drop. The drop measures 141 feet (from the crest of the lift hill to the lowest point of the helix.) As the train descends, the track slants to the left in preparation for entrance into the final helix.

The highly banked, high speed, counter clockwise helix is the trademark of the ride and is one of the most memorable and intense finales of any roller coaster in the world. Half of this massive double helix is enclosed, which adds to the intensity and excitement. Once through this element, the train crests another small hill, then rises into the final brake run back to the station.

[edit] History

Originally, the park wanted to re-build a replica of the "wildcat" roller coaster previously located at the defunct Coney Island. Cincinnati's Coney Island was the predecessor to Kings Island and the Wildcat was immensely popular at the park until it was demolished in 1964. The original idea to rebuild the Wildcat was back-burnered in favor of a terrain coaster utilizing the parks natural wooded hills. The Wildcat was indeed re-built, but not at Kings Island. Replicas were constructed at Canada's Wonderland (as Wild Beast), King's Dominion (as Grizzly) and also at Australia's Wonderland (as The Bush Beast).

The Beast became the world's longest wooden roller coaster when it opened on Friday April 13, 1979 and is credited as the first modern day wooden coaster to generate a marketing blitz. From elaborate animated commercials to countless television spots, the ride became famous world-wide. Because so many people have heard about The Beast, it is arguably one of the most well-known roller coasters in the world.

When it opened, The Beast featured three underground tunnels. By its second season the second and third underground tunnels had been enclosed into one long one so that an access road could be built. Also after its first season, an enclosed tunnel structure was built over the final helix.

In 2000, the park opened Son of Beast, a "sequel". Son of Beast was the tallest, fastest, and until 2006 the only looping wooden coaster. The loop was removed after the 2006 season for maintenance reasons. It is also the second longest wooden roller coaster, eclipsed only by The Beast itself.

In 2002, after a brake failure caused several minor injuries, the park replaced The Beast's original skid brakes with a newer fin and magnetic brake system.

[edit] Awards and rankings

In October of 2004, The Beast was given the Coaster Landmark Award by the American Coaster Enthusiasts club. There is a plaque commemorating this outside the ride.

Golden Ticket Awards: Top Wooden Roller Coasters[1][2][3]
Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Ranking
7
6
12
7
8
7
8
8
8
Mitch Hawker's Internet Poll: Best Wooden-Tracked Roller Coaster
Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Ranking
68
68
68
43
51
47
50
66
59
NAPHA Survey: Favorite Wood Roller Coaster[4]
Year 2005 2006 2007
Ranking
2 (tie)
5
4 (tie)

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The Beast was originally going to be named "The Champion", possibly because it was destined to break all prior speed, height and length coaster records.[citation needed]
  • Al Collins, the lead designer and project manager, is known among coaster enthusiasts as "The Man Behind the Beast" or "The Father of The Beast". Ironically, he has never ridden the coaster.
  • Wooden coaster designer John Allen (who designed the park's Racer roller coaster) was initially contacted to design the ride. However at the time of the Beast's concept, he was dedicated to retiring and opted to not become involved. Nonetheless, during a consultation visit to the park, Allen scribbled the dynamics equations necessary to build the coaster on a napkin at the park's International Street Restaurant.[citation needed]
  • Due to its construction (the ride follows the contour of the land as well as dropping into a tunnel below grade), the first drop is larger then the first lift.
  • The Beast uses three 6-car Philadelphia Toboggan Company trains, each holding up to 36 riders.
  • Kings Island's original head of Marketing, Ruth Voss, loved The Beast. She would take daily rides on the coaster each morning. She suffered from chronic arthritis and claimed a ride on the Beast helped loosen her joints. Because of The Beast's immense popularity with coaster enthusiasts, Mrs. Voss become close friends with members of American Coaster Enthusiasts and began inviting them back each morning to ride with her. This became a tradition known as the "ACE Walk Back". Upon her retirement from King's Island, Mrs. Voss was given a re-furbished car from the coaster, so that she would not have to miss her beloved Beast. She passed away shortly thereafter and the park continues the "ACE Walk Back" in her honor.[citation needed]
  • R. L. Stine wrote a novel which featured the roller coaster and was named after it, simply titled The Beast. The book also had a sequel called The Beast 2.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ rec.roller-coaster FAQ - Amusement Today Top Coasters Poll (1999)
  2. ^ Golden Ticket Awards - Top 25 Steel/Wooden Roller Coasters
  3. ^ Amusement Today
  4. ^ Surveys - National Amusement Park Historical Association
v • d • e
Roller coasters at Kings Island


Preceded by
Colossus		 World's Fastest Roller Coaster
April 1979–May 1981		 Succeeded by
American Eagle
Preceded by
Unknown		 World's Longest Roller Coaster
April 1979–July 1991		 Succeeded by
Ultimate

Coordinates: 39°20′24″N 84°15′57″W / 39.34, -84.26583

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