World’s Longest Wooden Roller Coaster “The Beast” is Getting Even Longer

Kings Island’s world-famous roller coaster, The Beast, will break its own World Record in 2022.

The coaster, which opened in 1979 as the World’s Longest Wooden Roller Coaster, has held that distinction ever since.

When it opens for the season in May it will beat its own record by two feet, from 7,359 ft. to 7,361 ft. due to offseason retracking and reprofiling work, that also includes a steeper first drop. Below is a sneak peek at some of the new track work.

“When you look at roller coaster records, they’re being beat all the time,” said Kings Island Vice President and General Manager Mike Koontz. “But there’s one record that no park in the world has been able to beat for more than 40 years, until now, and that’s the record for the longest wooden roller coaster.”

It’s no wonder that guests from all over the world travel to Kings Island to ride The Beast. Its record-breaking features include a 7,361-foot-long track (1.4 miles) and ride time of four minutes, 10 seconds; vertical drops of 137 feet (now at a 53-degree angle) and 141 feet (at an 18-degree angle); a 125-foot-long underground tunnel at the bottom of the 137- foot drop; eight banked turns, some to 45 degrees; a massive, 540-degree helix tunnel near the end and speeds up to 64.77 miles per hour.

Last November crews began the massive project of refurbishing 2,000 feet of the coaster’s track. In addition, the first drop has been re-profiled from 45 degrees to 53 degrees so that it can come into the tunnel lower and deliver a smooth transition through the first 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.

Kings Island spokesman, Don Helbig, says “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 ride”.

When The Beast opened in 1979, it broke all existing records as the longest and fastest ride in the world. Here’s how the ride looked back then. This was pre-grand opening and pre-tunnel.

While Kings Island opens for the 2022 season April 16, the Beast is not slated to open until sometime in May. A specific day is TBA.

In addition to The Beast, and more than 100 other rides and attractions, Kings Island guests have a lot to look forward to during 2022, including a Passholder Preview Event ahead of opening day to kick off the season!

Not a Gold or Platinum passholder? Purchase one today! For passes and more information, visit the official Kings Island website by clicking here.

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