The Beast

The Beast is a wooden roller coaster at Kings Island. Located in the Rivertown section of the park, The Beast opened in the 1979 season, and continues operation to this day. Even years since it first opened, The Beast is widely recognized by coaster fans across the world for not only being the longest wooden roller coaster, but also one of the most thrilling coasters of all time. It is also a popular choice for night rides by fans of the park.

​History
Plans for The Beast began when park officials wished to build a replica of Shooting Star at Coney Island, the previous park in which many rides at the time came from. These plans were shelved and later reused at sister park, Canada's Wonderland where the replica coaster would be given the name of Mighty Canadian Minebuster.

Back at Kings Island, it was decided that the new wooden coaster would be designed to take advantage of the hills in the area. The Beast opened in 1979 as the tallest, fastest, and longest wooden coaster in the world. To this day, it remains the longest wooden coaster, and has been operating in the park for over forty years.

The Beast proved to be so successful that in 2000, a "sequel" coaster was opened under the name of Son of Beast. This ride was themed to the son of the creature being captured for scientific purposes, but had escaped captivity. However, Son of Beast was plagued with multiple issues, and after two notable incidents, the ride was closed in 2009 for a few years before being completely demolished in 2012 and replaced with Banshee. The only parts of Son of Beast that remains to this day are the queue line and loading area.

Story
In the middle of Rivertown lies an old mining facility that has since been abandoned, due to a mysterious creature that lurks in the area. The creature is so dangerous that the locals only refer to it as "The Beast." But the mine carts of the facility have begun to operate again. Can you survive the wrath of The Beast?

Ride Experience
As the cars leave the loading station, they revolve around an American flag before passing by a nearby mineshaft. A left turn leads into the. The first lift hill, which is 110 feet tall. Suspenseful music plays as a pre-recorded announcer gives warning to keep hands and arms in the car at all times. As the cars descend the first lift hill at 135 feet, the on-ride camera snaps a picture of the riders as they travel through the first tunnel of the ride, which is 125 feet long. The ride continues with various twists and turns at high speed through the woods before slowing down at another lift hill, which is 107 feet tall. The pre-recorded announcer once again warns riders to keep hands and legs in the car during the remainder of the ride. At the top of the second lift hill, the cars turn a bit before traveling down a 141-foot drop into another tunnel, which wraps around a second time before returning to the loading station.

Trivia

 * Aside from the logo on the front car, The Beast uses the same set of cars as The Racer. This is because both rides had their cars designed by the Philladelphia Toboggan Company (PTC).
 * The Beast is a very popular choice for riding at night. The dark environment of the ride adds even more thrill to the already magnificent coaster. As a result, lines for the coaster tend to be more crowded in the late afternoon and evening.
 * The park used to have animal footprints on the footpaths that led to the ride. These have since been restored for the 2019 season, although the trail now only begins at the Rivertown Arcade.
 * Despite the ride's theme and its queue line, the ride features no indication of the titular creature's presence at any point in the ride, despite both lift hills featuring speakers playing music that could be used to play sounds made by the creature. The species of the creature has also not been revealed, as all of its appearances on signs and promotional material only feature a pair of paws with orange fur and sharp claws, with chains wrapped around its arms.
 * Interestingly, a souvenir T-shirt sold in the park features the creature, and the rattlesnake mascot of Diamondback, facing off in what appears to be a 2D fighting game similar to Street Fighter II. Despite being in an open environment and not obscured by the ride's logo, the creature is still only represented by its claws.
 * Considering this, it is likely that the creature is supposed to not represent any known animal.
 * In 2019, The Beast celebrated its 40th anniversary, To commemorate the milestone birthday, Kings Island offered special T-shirts for all riders on the first 40 trains for April 20, the official opening day of the 2019 season.
 * R.L. Stine, best known as the author of the children's horror series Goosebumps, wrote a book based on and named after The Beast. In the book, two kids ride the coaster after hours, having heard rumors that the ride is haunted. A copy of the book can be found displayed in the window of the operating area, near where riders are loaded into the ride.
 * In the queue line, the façade for the Slaughterhouse attraction of Halloween Haunt can be seen year-round.