LEGENDARY BEAST ROLLER COASTER CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF TERROR IN 2009

In 2009, the awesome Beast roller coaster at Kings Island celebrates its 30th anniversary of thrills. Paul Rueben, Editor of "In Park Magazine," calls The Beast "a legend in its own time."

When The Beast opened April 14, 1979, it was acclaimed America's ultimate roller coaster. It broke all existing records as the longest and fastest ride in the world. It is still listed in the prestigious "Guinness Book of World Records" as the world's longest wooden roller coaster.

The Beast is also unique in that it was completely designed and constructed by Kings Island personnel. The designers studied nearly every major wooden roller coaster in the country and incorporated the best features of each into The Beast. They even included some of the most exciting thrills of the old Shooting Star that was so popular at Cincinnati's Coney Island.

They also designed the ride to fit the rugged terrain of 35 densely wooded acres in the Rivertown area of the park. The Beast is unlike any other coaster, since many of its thrills are hidden from view by towering trees.

It was constructed in less than a year, after two years of research and design. The project was headed by Charles Dinn, former Director of Construction, Maintenance and Engineering at Kings Island. The renowned late John Allen of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company was a consultant. His company built the trains.

The record-breaking features of The Beast included:

· A 7,400-foot long track and ride time of three minutes, 40 seconds.

· Vertical drops of 135 feet (at a 45-degree angle) and 141 feet (18-degree angle).

· A 125-foot long underground tunnel at the bottom of the 135-foot drop.

· Eight banked turns, some to 45 degrees.

· A massive 540-degree helix tunnel near the end.

· Speeds up to 64.77 miles per hour.

By the time workmen had completed the massive Beast construction in March, 1979, they had used 650,000 board feet of southern pine lumber; 37,500 pounds of nails; 82,480 bolts; 5,180 washers and 2,432 square yards of concrete.

The ride was officially, and quite appropriately, "unchained" in a steady downpour Friday, April 13, 1979 for hundreds of media representatives from around the U.S. and Great Britain.

Since that time, countless celebrities have challenged The Beast, including "The Incredible Hulk" Lou Ferrigno, former Reds catcher Johnny Bench, former Reds outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr., The Oak Ridge Boys, entertainer Carmen Electra, daredevil Robbie Knievel, TV talk show host Montelle Williams and author George Plimpton.

A Cincinnati man who rode The Beast almost daily from 1979 to 1983, Carl Eichelman, became a celebrity for his feat. He accumulated more than 4,400 rides before "retiring" to pursue other interests. At that time, he held the world's record for the most rides on the same coaster.

http://www.visitkingsisland.com/news/detail.cfm?item_id=830

Good find. I'm surprised by how much I didn't know about this amazing coaster.

Thanks for posting.

this is awesome...i cant wait to ride it again

Thanks for the post. I love information about that. What I really liked about it is the amount of bolts, wood and other materials used. Wow 30 years old. I was there for its 25th. I think it's paw prints should come back for it's birthday!

ride time of three minutes, 40 seconds

I was thinking the ride time was 4 minutes and 50 seconds. I know the ride ops at The Beast said many times that the ride time was 4 minutes and 50 seconds. Who is right?

Location Kings Island

Park section Rivertown

Type Wood

Status Operating

Opened April 13, 1979

Manufacturer Charles Dinn

Designer Al Collins

Track layout Terrain

Lift/launch system Chain lift hill

Height 110 ft (34 m)

Drop 141 ft (43 m)

Length 7,359 ft (2,243 m)

Max speed 64.77 mph (104.24 km/h)

Inversions 0

Duration 4:50

Max vertical angle 45°

Capacity 1000 riders per hour

Cost $4,000,000 USD (estimated)

Max g-force 3.1

Height restriction 4 ft 0 in (120 cm)

this is from wiki! hope it helps

To add to this confusion, RCDB says 4:10.

So who do you think is right? I think the ride ops are right because they do work the ride everyday.

I must say I had 3 fantastic summers working on Beast...

Riding those 'special' rides after the park closed were just awesome... and fast...

but those days are long gone...

Well then I guess the Dippin Dots guy is right since he does work there everyday....

Yes, I agree Beast08. It may differ a bit between cycles though due to the speed at which the train climbs the first lift, which seems to depend on whether or not the block ahead of it is clear.

Yes, I agree Beast08. It may differ a bit between cycles though due to the speed at which the train climbs the first lift, which seems to depend on whether or not the block ahead of it is clear.

Which depends on the strength of the...oh here we go again!

TS #102

ride time of three minutes, 40 seconds

I was thinking the ride time was 4 minutes and 50 seconds. I know the ride ops at The Beast said many times that the ride time was 4 minutes and 50 seconds. Who is right?

i think that they are both right, i think i read somewhere that the 3 minutes and 40 seconds is the time of the ride if you don't add in the time it takes to go up the lift hills, and the 4 minutes and 50 seconds is the time of the ride if you do add in the time it takes to go up the lift hills.

i just always said "eh...its about four minutes long give or take" cuz i always heard between 3:40 up to once i heard like 5:10 so i just did a general average

Jonathon Davis, lead singer of Korn also rode Beast. He said it was his favorite ride in the park.

I was just on the website I can't believe it's been 30 years since the The Beast opened WOW ! I just love the coaster the first

I rode it I wasn't use to at first the after a few rides I fell in love with the the coaster I know tihis is one of the best wooden

coasters in the world. I hope everyone will get to go to the park this summer and ride this history making coaster I know I will.

Take care God Bless

Marcia

In my heart, the most famous person to ever ride The Beast was Ruth Voss. She always said it was good for her arthritis!

anyone have any idea what "The Beast" is...or is it just a "beast"

It's just a Beast. To my knowledge, only the claws have been seen, but you can hear its roar on the ride!

And here I just thought that was the voice of Jeff Seibert.

Silly me.

In honor of Beast I'm going to ride it 30 times in one day continuously I think my best bet in doing that would be on a Wednesday how do Wednesday's look anymore ? If that fails I know I will at least ride it 30 time's during the season and most likely more then 30 throughout the whole season. The Beast is my fav. roller coaster of All-Time I know I have ridden it over 100 times in my life.

It's just a Beast. To my knowledge, only the claws have been seen, but you can hear its roar on the ride!

Do not forget, at night you can see The Beast's eyes glaring out of the cave and onto the passing trains!

^ And if you listen to some people, out of the woods too!

And here I just thought that was the voice of Jeff Seibert.

Silly me.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the man with 15,000+ posts.

Jeff Seibert has more than 15,000 posts? Who knew?

(Please don't say Barbara...it's Friday! )

A few famous people such as Lima, Ohio's own and former WWE wrestler Al snow and talk show host Montel Williams have rode The Beast. I to will also be 30 in August of this year. I love riding The Beast. Its flipping sweet. Lol.

It all happened due to coincidence but I still take pride in the fact thtat The Beast was my first coaster. No wonder I became an addict!

And here I just thought that was the voice of Jeff Seibert.

Silly me.

I would never imply that Jeff's a Beast. I always thought he was a rather nice guy and we always got along great (and I love that the park has used his lift hill spiel for so long)!

Gator, suddenly reminiscing of the good old days of Grillin' with Gary and Sizzlin' with Seibert... Sorry, you'd only understand that reference if you worked Admissions, Guest Relations or in the Admin Building in the early part of this decade.

Jeff Seibert has more than 15,000 posts? Who knew?

(Please don't say Barbara...it's Friday! )

15,001+ posts ....

Terpy sometimes I wonder why we keep you, sometimes I wonder why we want you gone.

You do? Someday you will get your wish.

It happens to us all.

Ashes to ashes,

dust to dust,

for steel coasters,

the enemy is rust.