The Beast (roller coaster)

The Beast
The Beast's lift hill and brake run
Location	Kings Island
Park section	Rivertown
Coordinates	39.3401185°N 84.265995°W / 39.3401185; -84.265995
Status	Operating
Opened	April 13, 1979
Cost	$4,000,000 USD (estimated)
Type	Wood
Manufacturer	Kings Island
Designer	Al Collins, Jeff Gramke, John C. Allen
Track layout	Terrain
Lift/launch system	2 Chain lift hills
Height	110 ft (34 m)
Drop	141 ft (43 m)
Length	7,359 ft (2,243 m)
Max speed	64.8 mph (104.3 km/h)
Inversions	0
Duration	4:10
Max vertical angle	45°
Capacity	1,200 riders per hour
Max G force	3.6
Height restriction	4 ft 0 in (122 cm)
Fast Lane available
The Beast at RCDB
Pictures of The Beast at RCDB
Amusement Parks Portal

The Beast is a wooden roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. It is the longest wooden roller coaster in the world, sprawling over 35 acres (14 ha), and was one of the fastest and tallest roller coasters ever built when it opened in the spring of 1979.

The Beast has been constantly rated as one of the top roller coasters in the world since it first opened, having earned itself a cult-like following among coaster enthusiasts. Even after more than 30 years, it is still one of the main attractions at Kings Island, located at the rear of the park in the Rivertown section. Over 40 million riders have ridden The Beast.

It is commonly mistaken that the Philadelphia Toboggan Company was involved in the construction of this coaster. This is thought to be true because the trains are the same as the Racer which the Philadelphia Toboggan Company constructed, but for The Beast they were responsible only for the trains. Construction was handled internally by Kings Island's Maintenance & Construction department.

While Kings Island was owned by Taft Broadcasting, the design and engineering was largely subcontracted to Curtis D. Summers Engineering, which was a structural engineering and architecture firm located in Cincinnati. Summers' team worked with Taft staff designers Al Collins and Jeffrey Gramke to design the Beast with John Allen providing profiling and dynamics specifications; Taft was unique in having constructed most of their wood coasters at Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Carowinds, and Canada's Wonderland during the 1970s and into the 1980s. Following KECO's sale of their theme parks to Paramount in 1992, Summers continued to partner with Charlie Dinn's firm on several coasters at parks around North America. The two firms continued to work together on coasters up until Summer's death in 1992.

Ride Layout

The ride begins with a 180-degree turn out of the station, leading though the switch track (used for storing trains on the storage track) and onto the first lift hill. The train slowly climbs the 110-foot (34 m) hill and once it crests, drops 135 feet (41 m) into an underground tunnel, passing the on-ride camera on the way.

The Beast is located at the back of the park, behind Vortex

The train comes out of the first drop still underground. Out of the tunnel, the train makes a hard left-hand turn, maneuvers the climb and drop of a second hill giving riders momentary weightlessness. The train then climbs upward, makes a right turn, and speeds into a covered brake shed. Once through the trim brakes, the track turns to the right, continuing through a heavily wooded area. Veering left, the coaster enters the second tunnel. A quarter of this tunnel is underground, while the exit is above. This is due to the topography of the land. As the train exits the tunnel, the coaster gains speed veering right then taking another hard turn to the right. It is at this point on the coaster that riders may feel remote from the rest of the park. At the end of this run, the train begins to climb the second lift hill. At the top of this lift, the train turns left and begins a gradual, 18-degree drop. The drop itself measures 141 feet (43 m) from the crest of the lift hill to the lowest point of the helix. As the train descends, the track starts to bank left in preparation for entrance into the final helix. The highly banked, high speed, counter clockwise helix is the signature trademark of the ride and is one of the most memorable and intense finales of any roller coaster in the world. Half of this massive double helix is enclosed, which adds to the intensity and excitement. Once through this element, the train crests another small hill, then rises into the final smooth magnetic brake run back to the station.

History

Originally, the park wanted to re-build a replica of the "Shooting Star" roller coaster previously located at Cincinnati's Coney Island. Cincinnati's Coney Island was the predecessor to Kings Island and the Shooting Star was immensely popular at the park until the ride was demolished in 1971. The original idea to rebuild the Shooting Star was back-burnered in favor of a terrain coaster utilizing the park's natural wooded hills. The Shooting Star was indeed rebuilt, but not at Kings Island. A replica was constructed at Canada's Wonderland called the Mighty Canadian Minebuster.

The Beast opened on April 13, 1979 as the tallest, fastest, and longest wooden roller coaster in the world. It is often credited as the first modern-day wooden coaster to generate a marketing campaign. From elaborate animated commercials to countless television spots, the ride became famous worldwide. Because so many people have heard about The Beast, it is one of the most well-known roller coasters in the world. Charlie Dinn, Kings Island’s Director of Construction, Maintenance, and Engineering at the time, spearheaded the The Beast's construction project. Dinn later formed his own construction firm, Dinn Corporation, in 1982 that went on to build ten more notable coasters across the country. The firm eventually became Custom Coasters International.

The Beast originally featured three underground tunnels. By its second season the second and third underground tunnels had been enclosed into one long one so that an access road could be built. Also after its first season, an enclosed tunnel structure was built over the final helix.

In 2000, the park opened the Son of Beast, a "sequel". Son of Beast is the tallest, fastest, and until 2006 was the only looping wooden coaster in the world. The loop was removed after the 2006 season for maintenance reasons following an accident. It is also the second longest wooden roller coaster, designed so that The Beast retains its longest wooden roller coaster record.

In popular culture, R. L. Stine wrote a novel which featured the roller coaster and was named after it, simply titled The Beast. The book also had a sequel called The Beast 2.

The 2009 season was the coaster's 30th year running since its opening. With Diamondback built, the entrance is back where it used to be in 1979. As an observation, most of the track and supports have been replaced in the double helix creating a smoother ride.

Awards and rankings

In October 2004, The Beast was given the Coaster Landmark Award by the American Coaster Enthusiasts club. There is a plaque commemorating this outside the ride.

Golden Ticket Awards: Top Wooden Roller Coasters
Year	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Ranking	7	6	12	7	8	7	8	8	8	8	7	7	7

NAPHA Survey: Favorite Wood Roller Coaster
Year	2005	2006	2007
Ranking	2 (tie)	5	4 (tie)

External links

• The Beast - ThrillRide.com
• The Beast - CoasterGallery.com
• P.O.V. Video of The Beast
• Kings Island Central information - Alternate source of details and stats.
• Kings Island official site - The Beast

Preceded by Colossus

World's Fastest Roller Coaster April 1979–May 1981

Succeeded by American Eagle

Preceded by Unknown

World's Longest Roller Coaster April 1979–July 1991

Succeeded by Ultimate