What's new

Kings Island | Mystic Timbers | GCI Wooden Coaster

In all honesty a lot of my GP coworkers who talked to me about this knowing I like coasters have said it seems like an odd choice too. The two biggest things I heard were, "it looks just like Beast" and "why are they building that when they have Beast and Racer?" I'm sure it'll kick tail when numbers roll in and I'm sure it'll still be a fun ride but it isn't going to have people looking at it going "OMFG HOW DOES THAT EXIST???" and my GP Favebook friends won't be gawking at news articles like they did for the free spins.

I will probably be at the park Monday to take pictures. Let me know if there are any photos anybody wants to see or if anybody wants to meet up.
 
I'm sorry i still disagree.

I feel we are going to have to agree to disagree though :p

Maybe Jarrets right and some of the GP think its a weird decision. I'm willing to bet most of them will still go and ride it next year and thats all KI want. (assuming they are in the area of KI. I don't know where Jarrett is from :p )

The Facebook comments do have some negatives but i put as much stock into FB comments as youtube comments. I mean quite a few people on there seem under the impression this is replacing The Beast. There are in fact just as many good comments (if not more) as negative comments anyway.

The fact is KI know what they are doing, they aren't new to this game and they are building a good solid ride and will see guaranteed increase in customers and revenue. It's a solid business decision and will more than likely be an excellent coaster. The proof of the pudding will be if it increases KI's numbers. Which it almost certainly will.

We can't always have RMC's We just seem to have got ourselves into the situation where every coaster that isn't an RMC is called a disappointment despite they only have capacity for a few a year. I can't believe people are disappointed by what will more than likely be one of the best wooden coasters in the country next year just because it doesn't have some meaningless record.

On a side note these 2 made me laugh.

I don't like the that it's wood!
How many trees will be cut down for this? How about make it the first ever coaster with recycled everything.

if they wanted to do a wooden Roller coaster should of brought back SON OF BEAST!!

On another side note the one RMC i rode, Rattler was IMO one of the most overhyped and disappointing coasters I've ridden.
 
^^For the record, I am probably the closest CFer to KI. I live in Dayton, about an hour north of the park. If you want construction updates on this, I'm your guy!
 
Looks good. I really enjoyed Prowler, and this looks just about as good. I agree that this just didn't really need to go Kings Island. Considering it probably has Cedar Fair's best wooden coaster next door, why? It would be better for nearly every other Cedar Fair park without a GCI already (KD, CW, Carowinds, Dorney, and Michigan's Adventure for **** sake). I'm still happy it's here (another GCI is a good thing); it just should have been put somewhere else. I also think it would be fantastic if it was near Banshee and Bat. Complimenting the horror themes of that area as well as getting people down the mile trek to Bat would be nice. I haven't looked at if it could work near Bat (with the terrain), but it's just a thought.
 
This will be a quality wooden coaster no matter what time you ride it. It won't beat you up, you won't have to hear the bitching of a wheel seat, and at night it will still be ruined by the human forms of cancer who use their cell phones as a light through the woods.

I despise the name more so now than initially. And whatever that **** gimmick in the shed is as well. Gimmicks need to die and be replaced by actual quality. This will be quality. The trains look **** as well though.

Am I "disappointed" it isn't an RMC after getting my hopes up after murmurs from the grapevine? Yeah, but at the same time, this will be a very well received woodie...just like Snoo and Hixee.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 
Jarrett said:
^^For the record, I am probably the closest CFer to KI. I live in Dayton, about an hour north of the park. If you want construction updates on this, I'm your guy!

I know a few CFers closer. ;)
 
Am I "disappointed" it isn't an RMC after getting my hopes up after murmurs from the grapevine? Yeah, but at the same time, this will be a very well received woodie...just like Snoo and Hixee.

Ohmygosh how many times do you guys have to post with sexual **** about each other, it got old about eight years ago -.-

Yah like Ben said, this is sooo 2006 but will be a good ride regardless. I'm not super eager to get back to the park and ride it, though.
 
The problem with quality, so to speak, is that you have to recognise it. Those who've ridden dozens of rattly PTC or Dinn&Summers or whatever old woodies, have experience to build on when promised a new GCI. They know it will be smooth, fun, with delightful little pops of airtime, compared to the vast majority of woodies out there.

But when planning a holiday, would you go to the park with a 30 metres tall coaster, or the one with a 45-metres coaster? The latter could be built in 1992 by a now-bankrupt company, with severe banking issues and trains with square wheels, but unless you know those facts, it would still appear more appealing than the former, 2016-built coaster.

Ben hit the nail on the head with his example: Without prior experience, you'd think a Mega-Lite would be a vastly inferior version of PMBO. The Big One has the numbers, the Mega-Lites have the better riding experience. But which of those statistics are easier to use in marketing, and therefore more likely to be found by holiday planners?

Records and numbers do attract people. It's a metric that is very easy to look up and spread around. Coaster A is 50 % taller and faster than coaster B. Coaster B is 80 % less spine-shaky than coaster A. Without an easily marketable selling point, coaster B will feel inferior.



On the other hand, I think Kings Island has it easy. Mystic Timbers isn't a crowd-puller, it's more of a crowd-things-to-do-giver. "Sweet, the park with Diamondback and Beast just got one more coaster to ride!" So in that sense, I understand the people who are annoyed by the apparent need for a gimmick with this coaster. Mystic Timbers isn't going to be the ride that pulls people to the park. The sum of 15 coasters and Pete knows how many other attractions is. The shed - or lack thereof - is not going to make any significant difference to the gate numbers of Kings Island.
 
LiveForTheLaunch said:
Am I "disappointed" it isn't an RMC after getting my hopes up after murmurs from the grapevine? Yeah, but at the same time, this will be a very well received woodie...just like Snoo and Hixee.

Ohmygosh how many times do you guys have to post with sexual **** about each other, it got old about eight years ago -.-

Yah like Ben said, this is sooo 2006 but will be a good ride regardless. I'm not super eager to get back to the park and ride it, though.

Sorry Mom. I forgot we have to stick to your levels of maturity. Ill adjust my life around yours. ;)
 
Snoo said:
LiveForTheLaunch said:
Am I "disappointed" it isn't an RMC after getting my hopes up after murmurs from the grapevine? Yeah, but at the same time, this will be a very well received woodie...just like Snoo and Hixee.

Ohmygosh how many times do you guys have to post with sexual **** about each other, it got old about eight years ago -.-

Yah like Ben said, this is sooo 2006 but will be a good ride regardless. I'm not super eager to get back to the park and ride it, though.

Sorry Mom. I forgot we have to stick to your levels of maturity. Ill adjust my life around yours. ;)
Plus, I met them in person 6ish years ago. As the philosopher James Franco said in the philosophical classic Pineapple Express. "They hate us cuz they anus."

Also, to contribute, I hate hashtag activism **** like pound sign what's it's in the shed. Just annoying.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk
 
LiveForTheLaunch said:
Am I "disappointed" it isn't an RMC after getting my hopes up after murmurs from the grapevine? Yeah, but at the same time, this will be a very well received woodie...just like Snoo and Hixee.

Ohmygosh how many times do you guys have to post with sexual **** about each other, it got old about eight years ago -.-

I had sex with both of them. The comment is warranted. ;)
 
Man... Kings Island fans are really going to feel jipped if Cedar Point builds a bigger wooden coaster now. :razz:
 
Why would they? They still have Beast, only the greatest wooden coaster evar to ride over and over again.

Its not like it will be going away anytime soon.
 
The biggest feedback I have received from Cincinnati friends is:

"Why did they build a wooden coaster right next to Beast?"

"Why is this shorter and slower than Beast?"

"Why is this lesser than Valravn at Cedar Point?"

If there is something important to understand about Cincinnatians - it is that they sincerely believe the world revolves around Cincinnati.

... And don't even get them started on how Kings Island was so much better under Paramount leadership. Clearly Invertigo is so much lesser without the Face/Off movie franchise. :razz:
 
You can see some of the clearing work from the overhead webcam. This really will cut straight across White Water Canyon.

diamondback.jpg
 
Thought I'd just break down and add a whole album on Facebook for this coaster's construction since I'm sure I'll do a lot of coverage for it.

13925804_1345380428824314_4000708067796229344_o.jpg

What's in the woods today?

13938033_1345380562157634_2131929856787233385_o.jpg

A lot actually changed at the front of the fence, they're now advertising the coaster with three placards.

13958077_1345380482157642_6347590909957897611_o.jpg

This was the one that was getting the most attention from the GP. Yeah, I almost want to take back my "enthusiast coaster" comment from the start of the season, they're not as stupid as I thought. Most of them said it reminded them of Beast or that they didn't get why it was near Beast. A lot of them reacted in a way that suggested they were either underwhelmed or confused by the choice. However, they all said it did look like it would be a fun ride.

13669450_1345383245490699_8775900336519158448_o.jpg

I had to wait until I was leaving the park after my Beast night ride (which was hauling through a foggy valley after rain!) to photograph this one because people like to congregate and smoke in front of it but it is what it is. What's in the shed, it's a drop track.

13920258_1345380592157631_4293040266884726307_o.jpg

While KI built a wall between the park and the construction site and made GCI pay for that wall over by Race for your Life, over here by the new White Water Canyon entrance it was completely unguarded. And the train goes right into the belly of the beast.

13680155_1345380622157628_4835540239185197418_o.jpg

New WWC entrance.

13914082_1345380762157614_2460965736048124528_o.jpg

We have rebar on site!

13765882_1345380795490944_6104397796629600829_o.jpg

Some kind of blurry rebar action.

13680057_1345380828824274_3578385286730540628_o.jpg

I have no idea why these pallets are here. I googled the company and they're a produce company, so unless the box was repurposed their pallet has no business on a coaster construction site. Unless they have big, burly vegan construction workers that eat three pallets of kale a day.

13937859_1345380915490932_5932653536504689829_o.jpg

These trees don't seem that unstoppable now...

13668750_1345381045490919_6918233111915853764_o.jpg

I'm really hoping they keep some of the trees in the area and don't just bulldoze three times as much space as they need back there. But what I've seen has made me hopeful, they haven't given the forest a Brazilian for the Olympics just yet!

13925496_1345381048824252_1609769047098918166_o.jpg

Our ride hostess on the train saw me taking pictures up front and specifically told me that this had nothing to do with Mystic Timbers directly. This is (very obviously) for a retaining wall and new maintenance road. I spent most of the ride back when we couldn't see anything catching Pokemon (the train maintenance building is a Pokestop only accessible from the train by the way!) and then got off to check out the new Canyon path.

13662097_1345381122157578_6707751000765744995_o.jpg

I consider myself to know a fair amount about how rides work but I actually wish I knew more about construction. Anybody know what this means on the stake?

13937818_1345381375490886_2140193224255404817_o.jpg

The new Canyon entrance actually provides some gorgeous views of Diamondback.

13873070_1345381315490892_4060949020257517510_n.jpg

I spotted these plants at regular intervals along the wire mesh tunnel, though. My guess is that they want to go the Carowinds route and put in one of those vine awnings. Doesn't really fit with the White Water Canyon theme and seems kind of random and plonked in, maybe I'll like it more when it grows in. Because I will admit, a few of these around a ride with the Mystic Timbers theme would be extremely appropriate.

13669440_1345381492157541_210130640905987589_o.jpg

We have farm fresh bulk produce on site!

13937953_1345381682157522_9170387969468416424_o.jpg

I noticed that these had a sticker on them indicating that it was from a Columbus company.

13882185_1345381712157519_4094765952515011326_n.jpg

Closer look at rebar!

13680057_1345381692157521_7132235041969979791_o.jpg

It's so weird seeing Diamondback out in the open like that...

13661785_1345381935490830_4091866160548164431_o.jpg

Saw a few of these "CLEAR LIMITS" markers around, saw one from the train too. Decipher?

13923578_1345382018824155_8723063839503841358_o.jpg

Mildly interesting tags on the rebar

13923705_1345382112157479_504305791413184337_o.jpg

The Canyon queue clearly cuts this gravel construction road in half.

13920303_1345382145490809_1436458991530616774_o.jpg

The other side

13680691_1345382182157472_3814422723298487645_n.jpg

Some more stakes

13880150_1345382472157443_9193725021409573087_n.jpg

These three (this, the one before, and the one after) were all in a row.

13906942_1345382485490775_34331503374799986_n.jpg

Notice how they all say the same thing except with a changing number?

13680200_1345382505490773_330470827496708065_o.jpg

Family photo!

13923777_1345382605490763_3112814488557510618_o.jpg

The area was spray painted and rather moist.

13925314_1345382785490745_5896447956959444089_n.jpg

Better shot of the spray paint. I bet it would have made sense if viewed from above but on the ground I didn't understand what exactly I was looking at, though I think this is probably an overlay to the footprint of the ride.

13667758_1345382678824089_1355326079627492047_o.jpg

I wonder what that orange ribbon around this tree means. Probably has something to do with what they keep and don't keep, I bet this tree has a horrible fate awaiting...

13923483_1345382818824075_137200171652307110_o.jpg

More construction off in the woods!

13902713_1345383062157384_3703112412761393801_n.jpg

I went to go get a shirt so Emily would think I'm sexy and stop telling me to lose weight but all they had left were XXL and XXXL. Of course the fatties who can't even fit on the thing don't want a shirt for it! Luckily they said to check back in a few weeks when they get some more in. Which I will be doing because this design is fab.

13880399_1343159552379735_6265217962761085981_n.jpg

Ending this with the obligatory selfie! Fun fact: when I posted this to Facebook I actually created the Mystic Timbers checkpoint on Facebook!
 
Top