Kings Island

What’s been lurking in the woods at Kings Island this week? Plot twist, it was me. I got a chance to take some awesome pictures of The Beast behind the scenes during my walk in the park this week.  Even though I had never been to Kings Island before this year, I had definitely heard of The Beast. I still have yet to ride the ferocious coaster, but rest assured, I’ll be in one of the cars towards the back. (Check out my interview with Beast designer Jeff Gramke as to why the back of the train is better!)

As I spend more time exploring Kings Island and talking to people, it’s become clear to me that The Beast is more than just a roller coaster. It has its own identity, some would even say its majestic. I think its allure is that you aren’t really sure what is lurking in those woods (besides me when I’m taking pictures) and you don’t know what is connected to those paws, it’s nice to leave it up to the imagination. That being said, what does everyone think of the return of the paw prints? Even though I wasn’t around when The Beast and the paw prints came into being, I can tell by the storm of comments, likes and retweets that people are really excited.

That’s another thing I enjoy about The Beast. It’s been around since 1979 and in those 40 years, so many things have come and gone, but The Beast has stayed. It invokes such nostalgia in people and it is really amazing to read comments and hear stories about someone’s first ride on The Beast back in 1979 and how they have brought their children to Kings Island and ridden the coaster together.

One more quick observation before I sign off for the week. In addition to The Beast being the longest wooden coaster in the world at 7,359 feet, it also seems to have tear-inducing powers. It seems that every person I see get off The Beast has tears in their eyes. Is it because they were so in awe of The Beast and it’s majesty that tears were the only way to express it? Or maybe rational thinkers would say that its because they just got off the longest wooden coaster going almost 65 mph? We may never know.

See you all next week!