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guest’s reaction to the ride has exceeded our expectations. Guests are saying that it is their new favourite ride.” Koontz has ridden Mystic Timbers more than a dozen times, and plans to ride it many more times this season. He was looking forward to riding it soon with his eight-year-old grandson, since it would be the boy’s first ‘big’ coaster. Designed and built by Great Coasters International (GCI), Mystic Timbers is themed to an abandoned lumber company. This twisting out-and-back layout leads passengers over 16 airtime hills through wooded terrain and over water along a 3,265-foot-long (995 m) track at 53 mph (85 kph) with a tantalizing mystery at the end: What’s in the shed? It’s a two-minute-plus ride. One minute up the lift hill, one minute in the thrill zone, and additional time at slow speed inside the shed.


Bragging Rights Three trains with the lead car design based on a 1960s pickup truck each accommodate 24 passengers with a capacity of 1,200 riders per hour. The ride on Mystic Timbers begins with a the climb up the 109 foot (33 m) lift hill, followed by a twisting 98 foot (30 m) curved first drop at 54º. A series of seven twisting airtime-inducing hills with stomach-dropping thrills lead to a quadruple S-turn followed by a mid-course tunnel that turns the train back towards home. Nine more hills and dips follow before the brake run slows the train to enter the darkened shed for the mysterious finale.


Island and Miami Valley Railroad and White Water Canyon. Guests will get a sense of the experience from the time they approach the ride entry area and through the entire queue line. With the addition of any major ride such as Mystic Timbers, we would expect to see an increase in our attendance. We have designed several Mystic Timbers merchandise items that are very popular, our new Fun Pix photo program also includes a new ride video component, and our Sweet Spot specialty candy store has developed a fudge and caramel corn themed Mystic Timbers as well.” Erection of Mystic Timbers went smoothly, construction


benefitted by a relatively mild winter which helps when building a wooden coaster of this scale. Construction of the station, transfer, storage, and shed didn’t begin until early January. The ride experience benefits by the park’s natural wooded terrain, just as the ride experience of the Beast did 38 years ago. Koontz reports that the engineers had fun with the challenge of designing this ride. “Cedar Fair has worked with GCI on several projects


Koontz thinks the best part of the ride is the speed and continuous banking after dropping off the lift hill. He cites the non-stop action that never slows down until you get to the entry to the shed. So what is in the shed? “I am not going to reveal exactly


what’s in the shed,” smiled Koontz. “But, I can say it is a heavily themed and immersive experience that can be different every time you ride.” For those of us who cherish such bragging rights, Kings


Island’s combined total of 18,804 feet (5731 m) of wooden coaster track, the most at any amusement or theme park in the world, is noteworthy. England’s Blackpool Pleasure Beach has more wooden coasters, five, but only 11,260 feet (3,432 m) of track length. Six Flags Great America has 16,558 feet (5,047 m) of wooden coaster track, which is second most.


Wooded Terrain What is the impact of Mystic Timbers? According to Koontz, “Mystic Timbers is a great addition to our Rivertown area. Parts of the ride are visible from the midway and interacts several times with two other rides in the area, the Kings


JUNE 2017


over the past few years,” acknowledges Koontz, “and we knew the quality of wooden coaster they can design and build. In the case of Mystic Timbers, we asked them to design and build a wooden coaster that would be better than any they have done before and we both believe they delivered on that request. The entire GCI team, including their designers, engineers, and construction crew, were great to work with. They definitely take pride in their work and are meticulous in the details and quality of the entire project.” “Taking on a project the scope of Mystic Timbers is not


for everyone,” Koontz concluded. “Building a wooden coaster today is not easy by any means.”


To Build Mystic


Timbers it took… 330,000 board feet (100,584 m) of southern yellow pine lumber 30,000 pounds (13.608 kg) of nails 88,000 bolts & washers 5,500 cubic yards (4,205 cu m) of concrete


Kings Island is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.


Kings Island’s Wooden Coaster Track Coaster


Mystic Timbers Racer 1 Racer 2 Beast


Woodstock Express Total


Track Length 3,265 feet 3,415 feet 3,415 feet 7,359 feet 1,350 feet 18,804 feet


Year Built 2017 1972 1972 1979 1972


(9,912 years, for those of us who care.) 35


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