The Beast (roller coaster)

Infobox roller coaster
name= The Beast

---

caption=
location=King's Island
section=Rivertown
type=Wood
type2=
type3=
status=Operating
opened=
manufacturer=Dinn Corporation
designer=Al Collins
model=
track=Terrain
lift=Chain lift hill
height_ft=110
drop_ft=141
length_ft=7359
speed_mph=64.77
inversions=0
duration=4:50
angle=45
capacity=1000
cost=$4,000,000 USD (estimated)
acceleration=
opened=April 13,1979
gforce=3.1

restriction_in=48
rcdb_number=67

"The Beast" is a wooden roller coaster located at King's Island in Mason, Ohio. It is currently the longest wooden roller coaster in the world and sprawls over convert|35|acre. It was also the fastest and tallest wooden roller coaster in the world when it opened in Spring 1979. Paramount sold King's Island to Cedar Fair LP in 2006, and "The Beast" is now under Cedar Fair LP's ownership. (Cedar Fair's main amusement park is Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.)

"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 some coaster enthusiasts. Even after nearly 30 years, it is still the main attraction at King's Island, located at the rear of the park in the Rivertown section. To date, over 40 million riders have ridden "The Beast".

It has been incorrectly reported by some sources that the Philadelphia Toboggan Company was involved in the construction of this coaster. They were responsible only for the train/cars. Construction was handled internally by King's Island's Maintenance & Construction department.Fact|date=December 2007

Charles Dinn, who spearheaded the park's maintenance and construction team, oversaw the vertical construction of "The Beast". Dinn later left Kings Island and formed his own construction firm, which later went bankrupt and re-organized as Custom Coasters, which also went bankrupt in 2002.

While King's 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; Taft was unique in having designed 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, 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 to the lift hill. The train slowly climbs the 110-foot hill and once it crests, drops convert|135|ft into an underground tunnel, passing the on-ride photo camera on the way. The train comes out of the first drop, still underground. Coming out of the tunnel, the train makes a hard left-hand turn, maneuvers the climb and drop of a second hill giving riders "airtime." 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. Half 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 measures 141 feet (from the crest of the lift hill to the lowest point of the helix.) As the train descends, the track slants to the left in preparation for entrance into the final helix.

The highly banked, high speed, counter clockwise helix is the 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 brake run back to the station.

History

Originally, the park wanted to re-build a replica of the "wildcat" roller coaster previously located at the defunct Coney Island. Cincinnati's Coney Island was the predecessor to King's Island and the Wildcat was immensely popular at the park until it was demolished in 1964. The original idea to rebuild the Wildcat was back-burnered in favor of a terrain coaster utilizing the park's natural wooded hills. The Wildcat was indeed rebuilt, but not at King's Island. Replicas were constructed at Canada's Wonderland (as Wild Beast), King's Dominion (as Grizzly) and also at Australia's Wonderland (as "The Bush Beast").

"The Beast" became the world's longest wooden roller coaster when it opened on Friday April 13, 1979 and is credited as the first modern day wooden coaster to generate a marketing blitz. From elaborate animated commercials to countless television spots, the ride became famous world-wide. Because so many people have heard about "The Beast", it is clearly one of the most well-known roller coasters in the world.

When it opened, "The Beast" 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 "Son of Beast", a "sequel". "Son of Beast" was 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. It is also the second longest wooden roller coaster, eclipsed only by "The Beast" itself. After a brake failure caused several minor injuries in 2002, the park replaced "The Beast"'s original skid brakes with a newer fin and magnetic brake system.

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".

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.

External links

* [http://www.thrillride.com/SpecialFeatures/Beast/beast.html The Beast] An informative article about the roller coaster on ThrillRide.com
* [http://www.coastergallery.com/2000/pki03.html The Beast] Pictures and details from CoasterGallery.com
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBd3ug7BlI8&feature=related P.O.V. Video of "The Beast"]
* [http://www.kicentral.com/attractions/beast.php Kings Island Central information] - Alternate source of details and stats.
* [http://www.visitkingsisland.com/attractions/detail.cfm?ai_id=157 Kings Island official site - The Beast]

References