New For 2017: Mystic Timbers!

[BoddaH1994]

MASON, Ohio – Construction is underway on a new wooden roller coaster adventure for visitors to Kings Island.

 

Themed to an area surrounding a lumber company becoming overrun by a mysterious medusa-like overgrowth of vines as nature reclaims its land, Mystic Timbers will be 3,265 feet in length, reach 109 feet in height and weave along steep cliffs, down ravines, cross over water and go through an extreme S-turn, among a forest of trees, at speeds up to 53 mph.

 

The ride will feature a total of 16 airtime hills, a mid-course tunnel and interact with parts of the Kings Island & Miami Valley Railroad and White Water Canyon attractions.

 

“Mystic Timbers is naturally exciting because of its setting in a densely wooded area,” Kings Island’s vice-president and general manager Greg Scheid said. “The natural rugged terrain and tunnel ensures a unique and memorable ride experience.”

 

Mystic Timbers is custom designed and built for the topography of Kings Island by Great Coasters International, Inc. (GCI) of Sunbury, Pennsylvania.  Three trains will accommodate 24 passengers each (four riders per car and six cars per train) with a capacity of 1,200 riders per hour. Guests must be at least 48 inches tall to ride. The ride experience will last more than two minutes.

 

“Everyone who enjoys the fun and thrills of riding a roller coaster will want to experience this attraction,” Scheid said.

 

Mystic Timbers will debut in the spring of 2017 and become Kings Island’s 16th roller coaster and its fourth wooden.

 

With the addition of Mystic Timbers, Kings Island’s wooden roller coasters will combine to measure 18,804 feet of track, which will be the most at any amusement or theme park in the world.

 

Those who cannot wait until spring may take a virtual ride on Mystic Timbers at mystictimbers.visitkingsisland.com.  Visitors of the website may also access exclusive updates and features, including virtual ride renderings, ride statistics, construction photos and a live Web cam.

 

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.”

[bkroz]

 

Exactly the sort of thing I've been waiting for from Kings Island. The thing that makes our park different from Cedar Point. You'd never see Cedar Point attempt this:

 

A mid-sized thrilling coaster that's billed as an "adventure." It sounds as if we'll see a semblance of a storyline here, and it even seems like the park is committed to preserving as much of the forest as possible. I love the tease of the not-so-secret secret element, and sincerely have said elsewhere on this site that this "sort" of ride would be my absolute ideal for Kings Island. A perfect level of theming for a seasonal park, something different, and something worth seeing in person. 

 

Slaloming through the forest, ducking under tree branches, racing over the river, curving through the trees... And all with that "extra touch" of storyline, so perhaps we'll see vines overtaking the queue line, crawling along the coaster, and growing across the shed. Here's hoping that the park sticks with the motif they've established and hangs glowing, pulsing orbs of light in the trees out there, giving off a soft, otherworldly glow at night... indeed, this "dark enchanted forest is taking over" has been done before, and this COULD be the best of the batch, if they follow through with the theming.

 

And I'm just thrilled.

 

As I said in the decoding thread, this is the first time in a long time that Kings Island is debuting the kind of ride Busch Gardens would have – something that's quality over quantity. This ain't no in-your-face 200-foot inverted roller coaster. GOOD. Let the chorus of "I'm underwhelmed" commence. That's fine. I'll suffer through it for the next six months. Come spring, the naysayers will understand what a "little" GCI can do, and what a little story can do, and what a little mystery and intrigue can do.

 

Here we go, folks.

 

[KIfan73]

Best addition to the park since Adventure Express.

[bkroz]

 

 

 

 

 

Hmm...

 

All renderings via http://mystictimbers.visitkingsisland.com/nature-rises/ride-renderings

[cp2013]

personally can't wait to see this ride, it looks great! also can't wait to see #WhatsInTheShed!

[Vortex]

Not really crazy about the name of the ride. The name seems out of place with The Beast right next to it.

[calakapepe]

Hmm.. show rooms at the end of the ride? That first one could end up being a free-fall drop in there.. It would have to relift up if that were the case.. so perhaps not.. but a story could easily be made where you are hoisted up.

(What's the amount of downtime of Wonder Mountain's Guardian like? Does the lift stay operating usually?)

Either way, it looks like there will be a nice immersive theme to this coaster (finally).. Like a nice little stepping stone to getting a sort of immersion that Mystery Mine achieves. 

 

 

BTW the trains remind me of The New Texas Giant

[King Ding Dong]

First thing I thought of when I heard the name was Mystic Pizza. Lol.

[Thrill_Biscuit]

The design engineer from GCI said he didn't even know what's in the shed. The. Design. Engineer. Riiiiight.

[Stitch]

I am glad they are building a coaster with the intent of it being thrilling, good with capacity and reliable.

[rcwizard13]

^^ I think of that as confirmation it's not a drop track or anything with the track. I don't think he was lying.

[Infinity]

I was at the announcement and just got back. There were people in front of me that were TICKED that it wasn't an RMC. It was really funny. It seemed like it was straight from a reality tv show. Maybe they need to make a 'Coaster Fans' reality show on Lifetime to go along with 'Dance Moms'.

[Tanna]

How many of us have piled in the car with friends to check out a haunted and/or reclusive killer road?

(I myself have a hillbilly roadtrip story of a huge owl.)

This is what this ride and the carriages remind me of.

All it needs is the sketchy underage case of Little Kings and we're set.

I'm happy about the look, and the track mimicking the fast ride through Ohio hills back when I had no sense of death. It's themed as a great midwestern Spook Ride.

[calakapepe]

I think there is one safe bet for the theming with this ride.. and that's textured lighting. To some capacity anyways

[Oldiesmann]

Really looking forward to this. The one GCI I've ridden (Kentucky Rumbler) was a lot of fun, and I think this will be a great addition to the park - another good family coaster that's not as wild or intimidating as The Beast. We're also getting our second new coaster in three years.

[KingsIsland1972]

#Whatsintheshed  Well, if you are able to look at the POV and the photo side by side, you can follow along as this fits nicely.  When it comes to the shed...there isn't much room left on the track so it's gonna have to be something either an inversion roll over back to the station or something Spooky.  It's the part that will cross over the train tracks I painted in red and with the bright arrows.  I tried to quickly diagram it with the tiny blue arrows in the direction of the track.  

 

Props to GavPenn for making this interesting and fun run at decoding #MysticTimbers

 

Whatsintheshed by KingsIsland1972, on Flickr

[TheBEASTunchained]

Mystic Timbers is by-far the best addition that the park could've possibly made, and they know it.

 

For many a year, even quite some time before many of you were around, I could be quoted in person or on this site as saying that Kings Island has always had one of the top wooden coaster lineups of any park, but they were still lacking. A prime example of a park with an excellent wooden roller coaster lineup, as I've frequently mentioned, is Six Flags Over Mid America. For a bit now, theirs was second to none.

 

This GCI wooden coaster really fills one of the stray gaps in Kings Island's wooden roller coaster lineup and park lineup in general. A fast paced, modern woodie with twists and dips.

 

All negativity from some so-called "fans" feeling entitled to some SOB type woodie aside, we really have a winner on our hands.

 

Take notice to what this will do for the park, folks, because other parks sure will.

 

Great Coasters International has proven time and time again that they are one of the top, if not the top manufacturer of wooden roller coasters. A combination of their tried and true elements along with Millennium Flyer trains have really hit home for many parks.

 

....And as a note to a select few of you.....

 

Some of the absolute best roller coasters that I've ever ridden were low to the ground, fast, and heavily underestimated at the time of their announcement.

 

Congratulations Kings Island, and thank you for such a very well needed addition to an already wonderful park.

[Wanderer]

I can't wait to see how exactly this interacts with the train and White Water Canyon from all three rides! I also think the head chopper after the tunnel may be a pretty fun element!

[jbeast]

What a great addition to the park! I love GCI coasters and I agree, being low to the ground hauling butt over the terrain is always a winner. Like I've said before, I always wanted to see a coaster go back out there and it's finally happening! It's really a dream come true for me. And a nod by the park to The Little Miami River with the shed. It's beyond cool to see that since my coaster I drew up years ago for that area I named  Little Miami Scenic Screamway. Great minds think alike...ha!

 

I found it disheartening and incredible the negativity on Facebook (and some coaster sites) about the ride...just shows how uniformed the general public and spoiled people are about these rides. They act like KI owes them something and don't realize what a great park it really is. And Cedar Fair likes to make money....go figure.  Do people forget how much of a debacle and PR nightmare Son of Beast was?

 

I figure we'll see that Giga over on the other backside of the park in a couple years, so let's enjoy this! A new, modern twisty, fast airtime popped coaster through the woods...and instead of just rolling into the station, there's a surprise at the end...what's not to love?

[MDMC01]

I was at the announcement last night (my second one ever) and I was/am pleased with our new addition. I like GCI and the layout looks cool. Also, I noticed in some of the fan-made videos prior to last nights reveal that the ride had a double-dip, which I did not like. I'm pleased that that's not in the final ride design. Also, I just noticed the trains are themed to trucks. Cool. 

 

EDIT: Looking at the other posts, I'd like to make some more comments. I'm really glad we finally got a modern wooden coaster. Oh, yeah, and haters gonna hate! Sure we didn't get an RMC or Giga, but this thing looks cool and I, for one, will be enjoying it in 2017.

[calakapepe]

I can't wait to see how exactly this interacts with the train and White Water Canyon from all three rides! I also think the head chopper after the tunnel may be a pretty fun element!

 Yeah, I'm dying to know how the train is getting into the station and how the MT paths are getting over the train, or if it doesn't need to!

[Wanderer]

I can't wait to see how exactly this interacts with the train and White Water Canyon from all three rides! I also think the head chopper after the tunnel may be a pretty fun element!

Yeah, I'm dying to know how the train is getting into the station and how the MT paths are getting over the train, or if it doesn't need to!

It sounded like during the announcement he said it was entirely contained within the train tracks, but I'm sure there will still be some interaction, however brief it may be! They were right, the train will have an entirely different feel next year.

[Infinity]

Man, oh man. I am so excited to ride this back row at night with my best friend who is afraid to ride the giant rides at the park! This will definitely provide some outstanding night rides! Might even be #2 right after The Beast!

[Logan Goddard]

I certainly think this has the potential to knock Diamondback out of top 3 night rides. It will probably be 1 Beast, 2/3 Banshee and Mystic Timbers depending on the lighting/atmosphere of the ride. I also love the fact that we will be getting some ejector airtime to mix well with Diamondback.

[Italian Job 2005]

Can anyone confirm or deny that Millennium Flyer trains have automatic-lowering lap bars?

[Logan Goddard]

I can confirm that Millennium Flyer lap bars automatically lower. 

[BeastlyBanshee]

The more I think about it, the less disappointed and the more excited I become. Especially for the Shed. It's got a Verbolten feel to it as far as theming and that tunnel on Verbolten is amazing. (See YouTube link- obviously better to see in person). Based on the plans I don't foresee it having drop track like Verbolten but the audio visual effects I can see being similar. Without the shed, it's pretty much Prowler/Renegade/golds tricker/Most other GCI out and backs, but with the shed there is so much potential and it is gonna make this ride special. We are lucky to be getting it. There will be a day when we may get the coveted Giga, or RMC hybrid, or a wing coaster. But this is no slouch. And whether you like GCI or not- a lot of people DO. And that will bring people to the park next year (and even this year to track construction progress) and more guests= more revenue. More revenue in turn leads to a bigger piece of the thrill ride pie for KI. And in that healthy slice of pie is where you'll find your Giga/RMC/some grand steel B&M beauty. Hang in there naysayers. This ride could be great. And even if you don't like it- you'll like what comes after it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BeastlyBanshee]

http://youtu.be/k0zN_Hjbmqc

All that and I forgot to paste the link.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[silver2005]

Not so crazy on the name, but I'll suck it up because we're getting a fantastic looking coaster with some cool theming.  It's got great stats for a GCI, love how the layout looks, glad I have a coaster within decent driving distance that has those wonderful Millennium Flyer trains, it uses the terrain quite well, and when those trees grow back in, it'll be a thing of beauty.   It interesting with CF getting on board with these mystical themed/named rides (Banshee, Gatekeeper, Valravn, and now this).  I'm intrigued to see how far they go with it, especially outside of coasters.  

 

I'm also glad to see Kings Island shy away from the big shiny B&M's for a change and build something that will go to show that stats and height aren't always required on a good, enjoyable coaster.  I wonder what they'll do around White Water Canyon now as well. I'm guessing there will be some aesthetic differences in store beyond just the awesome GCI flying above it.  Who knows, maybe this might open up the park to expand more in that direction as well.  There's definitely a lot of potential now with Mystic Timbers in the equation.  

 

Also, kudos for the GCI designer for the Skyline reference. 

[SonODiamondback]

So there will be 2 lumber company's in River Town ? https://youtu.be/QI0FGZ2GDEk

Just me noticing little things

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk