7 things you may not know about The Beast roller coaster at Kings Island

The Beast is still growling and prowling after 41 seasons of thrilling visitors to Kings Island and shows no signs of slowing down.

In fact, The Beast has remained Kings Island’s signature attraction since its opening in 1979, despite competition from other world-class roller coasters at the park like Banshee, Diamondback and Mystic Timbers.

Here are seven things you may not know about the world’s longest wooden roller coaster:

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 55 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 trains has traveled more than 950,000 miles. That’s the equivalent of 35 times around the world!

4. 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.

5. The Beast’s debut at Kings Island was followed the next year by its debut in the Guinness Book of World Records. It set the record and still holds it today for the world’s longest wooden roller coaster at 7,359 feet – making it a 4 minute, 10-second trip.

6. 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.

7. Whatever Al Collins and Jeff Gramke did, they did it right!