Kings Island‘s The Beast, the world’s longest wooden roller coaster, is set to break its own record in 2022. The ride’s track will be extended from 7,359 feet to 7,361 feet.
The Beast has been the world’s longest wooden coaster since it opened in 1979. “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,” he added.
The Beast’s record-breaking features include a track of 7,361 feet, and a ride time of four minutes and 10 seconds.
The ride also boasts vertical drops of 137 feet, as well as eight banked turns, a 540-degree helix tunnel and speeds of up to 64.77 miles per hour.
Track extended from 7,359 feet to 7,361 feet
Kings Island started refurbishing more than 2,000 feet of the coaster’s track in November 2021. The project is expected to be completed in May 2022.
Additionally, the first drop has been “reprofiled from 45 degrees to 53 degrees so that it can come into the tunnel lower and deliver a buttery-smooth transition through the first tunnel and onto the second drop”.
Kings Island opened the $27m Camp Cedar camping experience last year. It’s owned by Small Brothers and Terra Firma Associates, and managed by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.
Earlier this year, SeaWorld Entertainment confirmed that Cedar Fair had rejected its “unsolicited non-binding proposal” to purchase the theme park operator for $3.4bn.
Images: Cedar Fair
