Kings Island’s world-famous roller coaster, The Beast, will break its own World Record in 2022. The coaster, which opened in 1979 as the World’s Longest Wooden Roller Coaster, has held that distinction ever since. When it opens for the season in May it will beat its own record by two feet, from 7,359 ft. to 7,361 ft. due to offseason retracking and reprofiling work, that also includes a steeper first drop. “When you look at roller coaster records, they’re being beat all the time,” said Kings Island Vice President and General Manager Mike Koontz. “But there’s one record that no park in the world has been able to beat for more than 40 years, until now, and that’s the record for the longest wooden roller coaster.”

It’s no wonder that guests from all over the world travel to Kings Island to ride The Beast. Its record-breaking features include a 7,361-foot-long track (1.4 miles) and ride time of four minutes, 10 seconds; vertical drops of 137 feet (now at a 53-degree angle) and 141 feet (at an 18-degree angle); a 125-foot-long underground tunnel at the bottom of the 137-foot drop; eight banked turns, some to 45 degrees; a massive, 540-degree helix tunnel near the end and speeds up to 64.77 miles per hour.

Last November crews began the massive project of refurbishing 2,000 feet of the coaster’s track. In addition, the first drop has been re-profiled from 45 degrees to 53 degrees so that it can come into the tunnel lower and deliver a buttery-smooth transition through the first tunnel and onto the second drop. The project is expected to be completed in May.

Cool info about The Beast!

1. By the time workmen had completed the massive Beast construction in March of 1979, they had used 650,000 board feet of southern pine lumber; 37,500 pounds of nails; 82,480 bolts and washers and 2,432 square yards of concrete.
2. The Beast has given more than 56 million rides since its debut in 1979 – third most in park history behind the Racer and K.I. & Miami Valley Railroad.
3. Each of The Beast trains have traveled more than 1,000,000 miles.
4. Record-breaking features include a 7,361-foot long track (1.4 miles) and ride time of four minutes, 10 seconds; vertical drops of 137 feet (now at a 53-degree angle) and 141 feet (at an 18-degree angle); a 125-foot long underground tunnel at the bottom of the 137-foot drop; eight banked turns, some to 45 degrees; a massive, 540-degree helix tunnel near the end and speeds up to 64.77 miles per hour.
5. Members of the Kings Island maintenance department walk every inch of The Beast track every morning before the park opens. It’s a nearly four-hour trip they start at 5 a.m.
6. The Beast has three tunnels: The first is 125 feet; the second is 269 feet and the third is 628 feet, for a total of 1,022 feet of darkness.
7. It cost $3.5 million to build The Beast from 1977 to 1979. It would cost over $20 million to re-create it today.
8. At 7,361 feet – The Beast is the longest wooden roller coaster in the world
9. The Beast was constructed in less than a year, after two years of research and design – all by Kings Island personnel. Al Collins and Jeff Gramke were the chief designers of the ride.
10. The original design was modified multiple times, so many times in fact that the finished product looked nothing like the one envisioned when the project began in 1976.
11. Coaster enthusiasts consider The Beast a “terrain coaster.” That refers to the way it follows the contours of the land, using the hills and gulleys to add height to the ride.

 

Fantastic update! Can't wait until May!

3 minutes ago, FoolCrzy said:

Fantastic update! Can't wait until May!

We do know for certain now that The Beast will not be open until May.

So…. It’s a new credit now?

1 hour ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

We do know for certain now that The Beast will not be open until May.

the one time I hoped my prediction was wrong 

april 16 won’t be the same, but looking forward to riding it at Coasterstock

1 hour ago, Coasterteam said:

the one time I hoped my prediction was wrong 

april 16 won’t be the same, but looking forward to riding it at Coasterstock

All the more reason to ride!

1 hour ago, BoddaH1994 said:

Will it be ready for Coasterstock? Isn’t CS in mid-May? I’ve heard May 31st is The Beast’s opening. Isn’t that the word on the street?

Oh lord 

that’s even later, I don’t know if that’s true or not. Don’t think the park can give an accurate opening date yet but given when construction should finish, that’s unfortunately possible 

 

 

 

 

43 minutes ago, Coasterteam said:

Oh lord 

that’s even later, I don’t know if that’s true or not. Don’t think the park can give an accurate opening date yet but given when construction should finish, that’s unfortunately possible 

 

 

 

I redact my original post. That was not from a credible source.

Track work was suppose to be done March 31st. I'm guessing it's not going to be by tomorrow, and with all of the retracking I'm guessing more testing will be nessary.

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33 minutes ago, BoddaH1994 said:

I redact my original post. That was not from a credible source.

I respect that; while KI isn't very specific in dates; they give us a range which is common for projects of this size. 

If construction is finished in May, then it won't open until testing/state certification happens which may take a while.
If construction is finished in April and testing is finished by May, then it may be open sometime earlier in May. 

While I like staying somewhat optimistic, I want to believe the latter but I don't entirely know what KI means by project; whether or not it includes testing too.

edit: After thinking about it, we may be able to use the Coasterstock itinerary as a point of consideration. If we see Beast ERT planned, than they, the park, believes they can get it open in time. If we don’t, then we can assume it won’t be open at all. 

Brad's post provides more details than the news article LOL

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2022/03/30/kings-island-the-beast-wooden-roller-coaster/7216400001/

5 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said:

Kings Island’s world-famous roller coaster, The Beast, will break its own World Record in 2022. The coaster, which opened in 1979 as the World’s Longest Wooden Roller Coaster, has held that distinction ever since. When it opens for the season in May it will beat its own record by two feet, from 7,359 ft. to 7,361 ft. due to offseason retracking and reprofiling work, that also includes a steeper first drop. “When you look at roller coaster records, they’re being beat all the time,” said Kings Island Vice President and General Manager Mike Koontz. “But there’s one record that no park in the world has been able to beat for more than 40 years, until now, and that’s the record for the longest wooden roller coaster.”

It’s no wonder that guests from all over the world travel to Kings Island to ride The Beast. Its record-breaking features include a 7,361-foot-long track (1.4 miles) and ride time of four minutes, 10 seconds; vertical drops of 137 feet (now at a 53-degree angle) and 141 feet (at an 18-degree angle); a 125-foot-long underground tunnel at the bottom of the 137-foot drop; eight banked turns, some to 45 degrees; a massive, 540-degree helix tunnel near the end and speeds up to 64.77 miles per hour.

Last November crews began the massive project of refurbishing 2,000 feet of the coaster’s track. In addition, the first drop has been re-profiled from 45 degrees to 53 degrees so that it can come into the tunnel lower and deliver a buttery-smooth transition through the first tunnel and onto the second drop. The project is expected to be completed in May.

Cool info about The Beast!

1. By the time workmen had completed the massive Beast construction in March of 1979, they had used 650,000 board feet of southern pine lumber; 37,500 pounds of nails; 82,480 bolts and washers and 2,432 square yards of concrete.
2. The Beast has given more than 56 million rides since its debut in 1979 – third most in park history behind The Racer and K.I. & Miami Valley Railroad.
3. Each of The Beast trains have traveled more than 1,000,000 miles.
4. Record-breaking features include a 7,361-foot long track (1.4 miles) and ride time of four minutes, 10 seconds; vertical drops of 137 feet (now at a 53-degree angle) and 141 feet (at an 18-degree angle); a 125-foot long underground tunnel at the bottom of the 137-foot drop; eight banked turns, some to 45 degrees; a massive, 540-degree helix tunnel near the end and speeds up to 64.77 miles per hour.
5. Members of the Kings Island maintenance department walk every inch of The Beast track every morning before the park opens. It’s a nearly four-hour trip they start at 5 a.m.
6. The Beast has three tunnels: The first is 125 feet; the second is 269 feet and the third is 628 feet, for a total of 1,022 feet of darkness.
7. It cost $3.5 million to build The Beast from 1977 to 1979. It would cost over $20 million to re-create it today.
8. At 7,361 feet – The Beast is the longest wooden roller coaster in the world
9. The Beast was constructed in less than a year, after two years of research and design – all by Kings Island personnel. Al Collins and Jeff Gramke were the chief designers of the ride.
10. The original design was modified multiple times, so many times in fact that the finished product looked nothing like the one envisioned when the project began in 1976.
11. Coaster enthusiasts consider The Beast a “terrain coaster.” That refers to the way it follows the contours of the land, using the hills and gulleys to add height to the ride.

 

It doesn't matter if its an extra 2 feet, or an extra 200 feet, a record breaker is a record breaker!

Great journalism from CNN here...

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/beast-wooden-roller-coaster-kings-island-ohio-longer/index.html

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9 minutes ago, tuxedoman52 said:

Great journalism from CNN here...

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/beast-wooden-roller-coaster-kings-island-ohio-longer/index.html

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Funny number mix-up! Gotta hand it to all the news stations recently publishing the same exact story about Beast! 

8 minutes ago, tuxedoman52 said:

Great journalism from CNN here...

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/beast-wooden-roller-coaster-kings-island-ohio-longer/index.html

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk
 

Good lord, if they got the same release as KIC, I am not sure how they could mess that up?

Good lord, if they got the same release as KIC, I am not sure how they could mess that up?

Not only that, they even converted the wrong number into metric.

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Hopefully, come opening day, they'll have an estimated date by the entrance. 

1 hour ago, Shawn Meyer said:

Hopefully, come opening day, they'll have an estimated date by the entrance. 

Don't think they'll give us an exact date that early. Hopefully it'll be pre-Coasterstock otherwise it won't be the same. 

https://youtu.be/VbghIgYDS9s

This video has some good behind the scenes looks.

 

28 minutes ago, KIEagle33 said:

https://youtu.be/VbghIgYDS9s

This video has some good behind the scenes looks.

 

And look who's reporting on it...lol

And before anyone asks, NO I had nothing to do with it!

The first drop looks really good, no over-excessive profile change so the peak is still the same.

And, for now, no sign of a trim.

I know we get Beast back in a month or so, but having grown up with Beast and Vortex as the 2 main right of passage coasters, having both gone or closed feels like part of Kings Island's soul is ripped away.

2 hours ago, silver2005 said:

I know we get Beast back in a month or so, but having grown up with Beast and Vortex as the 2 main right of passage coasters, having both gone or closed feels like part of Kings Island's soul is ripped away.

I'm really concerned it won't be open for Coasterstock.

Waiting on the Coasterstock itinerary to drop to see whether or not Beast ERT is on it. Should see that later this month.

Ummm, I hope The Beast didn't change this much.

https://vivaroundtrip.com/article/the-worlds-longest-wooden-roller-coaster-is-about-to-get-even-longer/

I, for one, would be delighted if Beast was turned into a CCI during this renovation.

Just to play it safe, though, I'm probably not gonna hold my breath on that one.

I'm just happy that The Beast is being given some good ole TLC.

A little sad they couldn't even find a good picture of The Beast.

My understanding is The Beast was to re-open yesterday. Can anyone confirm this? 

12 minutes ago, KIBeast said:

My understanding is The Beast was to re-open yesterday. Can anyone confirm this? 

There's an entire thread of reviews on said opening.

9 hours ago, KIBeast said:

My understanding is The Beast was to re-open yesterday. Can anyone confirm this? 

Confirmed, Check out reviews here: https://kicentral.com/forums/index.php?/topic/40619-the-beast-retrack-work-reviews/