Beast of a project this winter at Kings Island
Don Helbig
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The world’s longest wooden roller coaster, The Beast at Kings Island, is receiving 2,000 feet of track refurbishment this winter.
The Gravity Group, which installed 600 feet of its new engineered precut track on the park’s Racer roller coaster last winter, is breathing new life into the ride’s first drop and through the first tunnel and turn towards the second drop and 540-degree helix tunnel, while Kings Island’s carpenters are retracking approximately 1,090 feet of track in other sections along the 7,359-foot long course.
The first drop will see a change from 45 degrees to 53 degrees. This change isn’t being made to add more speed or thrill element to The Beast, but to come in lower in the tunnel to provide the proper parabolic arcs due to reprofiling of the track in that area of the ride. This change, along with The Gravity Group’s vertical track design, will deliver a buttery-smooth transition through the tunnel and onto the second drop.
The Beast helix crossover will see a redesign and installation of new bents. With the redesign, the forces through the structure will be more evenly distributed to the foundation, the rigidity of each bent more consistent and therefore resulting in a smoother ride experience.
The original design of The Beast had the upper and lower track in the helix on top of each other. In order to simplify the geometry of the crossover, the lower bents will be upper bents until the tunnel.
The project began Nov. 1 and is expected to be completed by Mar. 31, 2022.
The opening of The Beast in 1979 shook the roller coaster world to its very foundations, breaking all existing records as the longest and fastest ride in the world. In roller coasters, there had been nothing else like it anywhere. It took riders to a place they’d never been before, delivering the next level of big thrill, adrenaline-pumping excitement. For sheer size, speed and thrills, The Beast stood alone in a class by itself.
A legend in its own time, you will always find The Beast in the top 10 in just about every annual industry and enthusiast poll for wooden roller coasters. In fact, its one of only two roller coasters that have been on every top 10 list Amusement Today has published since the inception of the Golden Ticket Awards in 1998. This winter’s track refurbishment ensures The Beast will maintain its spot as one of the best wooden roller coasters in the world for years to come.