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MASON, Ohio – The new Mystic Timbers roller coaster at Kings Island took its first test run Monday.

Park officials, engineers, technicians and construction workers stood by and watched as the 24-passenger train made its way through 3,265 feet of track.

Themed to an abandoned lumber company, Mystic Timbers will traverse 16 airtime hills through wooded terrain and over water at speeds up to 53 mph with a mystery for riders: What’s in the shed?

Mystic Timbers makes its debut when Kings Island opens for its 45th anniversary season April 15.

Kings Island / Courtesy

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MASON, Ohio – Kings Island’s new wooden roller coaster, Mystic Timbers, will make its highly anticipated debut to the general public April 15. But guests can experience a new kind of adventure with unexpected thrills before anyone else at the Mystic Timbers First Riders auction event Thursday, April 13. All proceeds will go directly to the Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing life-changing experiences to seriously ill and physically challenged children and their families in the Cincinnati area.

All participants must raise a minimum of $100 to participate in this event. All participants will receive a first official rider t-shirt, dinner, unlimited rides on Mystic Timbers from 7-9 p.m. and a first official rider commemorative ticket. The top five fundraisers will receive an autographed Andy Dalton memorabilia item.

Registration for the event is now open online.

Themed to an abandoned lumber company, the 109-foot-tall wooden roller coaster will feature 16 airtime moments through wooded terrain along 3,265 feet of track at speeds up to 53 mph with an intriguing mystery: What’s in the shed?

Kings Island is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a publicly traded partnership that is listed for trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FUN.”

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MASON, Ohio – Construction is underway on a new wooden roller coaster adventure for visitors to Kings Island.

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MASON, Ohio – Kings Island opens its 44th season this Saturday, April 18. This season, Kings Island will debut two new family rides in the 14-time, award-winning Planet Snoopy kids’ area – Woodstock Gliders and Snoopy’s Space Buggies – and a handful of additions and upgrades to International Street, including the largest Starbucks in the Tri-State at 3,650 square feet. Woodstock Gliders, a classic flying scooters ride from Larson International, features eight two-person planes that glide 28 feet above the ground. As the planes begin to rotate, they fan out over a large area.

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MASON, Ohio – Workmen on Tuesday apply the finishing touches on two new family rides opening this year at Kings Island in the park’s 14-time, award-winning Planet Snoopy kids’ area, Snoopy’s Space Buggies and Woodstock Gliders. Kings Island opens its 44th season April 18.

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KINGS ISLAND, Ohio – MASON – Two new family rides, the largest Starbucks store in the Tri-State, and other improvements are all part of Kings Island’s plan for next summer.

The first of the new rides is Woodstock Gliders, a classic flying scooters ride from Larson International. The ride features eight two-person planes that glide 28 feet above the ground. As the planes begin to rotate, they will fan out over a large area. Each plane has a stationary rear wing and a moveable front wing which allows the guest to control the flight and alter their ride experience from mild to wild.

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KINGS ISLAND, Ohio – MASON, Ohio – An Ohio man took the 50 millionth ride on a roller coaster that opened 35 years ago at Kings Island. Mark Specht of Berea, Ohio took the ride Friday on The Beast during the park’s Halloween Haunt event. Specht received a Beast t-shirt, cap and ornament, picture frame, a 2015 VIP tour for eight guests and a large sign proclaiming him as the coaster’s 50 millionth rider.

When The Beast opened to the public April 14, 1979, it was acclaimed America’s ultimate roller coaster. It broke all existing records as the longest and fastest ride in the world. The Beast is still listed in the prestigious “Guinness Book of World Records” as the longest wooden roller coaster in the world at 7,359 feet. The Beast sprawls across a densely-wooded, 35-acre site at speeds up to 65 mph, with a ride time exceeding four minutes. The ride was constructed in less than a year, after two years of research and design – all by Kings Island personnel. By the time workmen had completed the massive Beast construction in March of 1979, they had used 650,000 board feet of southern pine lumber; 37,500 pounds of nails; 82,480 bolts and washers and 2,432 square yards of concrete. Each of the three trains on The Beast has traveled a total of 889,850 miles. That’s the equivalent of more than 35 times around the world!

Kings Island will be open for three more days this season after this weekend, October 31 through November 2.

Kings Island / Courtesy

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On April 18th, Kings Island opened for their 42nd season premiering the world's longest inverted roller coaster, Banshee. Sending riders through 4124.1 feet of track and seven mind-bending inversions at speeds up to 68 miles per hour makes Banshee another great coaster designed by B&M. For those who don’t know a Banshee is an Irish legend of a female spirit whose wailing warns of an impending death in a house. Kings Island took that legend and added touches of it to the ride so the thrills start as you soon approach. The first this you are greeted by is the Banshee sign which has a steam element around it to add to the mystery. Once entering the queue line you will see many Celtic inspired grave stones and make sure you don’t miss the great tribute to Son of Beast which once stood where Banshee now stands. The station is well themed sticking with the Celtic feel of a castle. The Trains on Banshee are a great cross between Raptor and GateKeeper; they have the look and feel of Raptor but the harness of GateKeeper. Once load into the trains you are sent out of the station over the midway and up the lift hill. As you approach the top of the lift hill right before the drop you are treated to the scream of the Banshee. Then you are sent into all the great elements of the ride which include Curved Drop, Dive Loop, Looping interacting with the lift, Zero-G-Roll, Batwing, Outside Loop, Spiral, In-Line-Roll, and Carousel. This 2 minutes, 40 seconds ride will have you screaming like a Banshee, so hold on and enjoy!!

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KINGS ISLAND, Ohio – The first 5,000 guests to experience Kings Island’s new record-breaking roller coaster, “Banshee,” when the park opens for the 2014 season Friday, April 18 will receive a free first rider t-shirt. The world’s longest inverted roller coaster at 4,124 feet will send riders screaming through seven inversions in two and one-half minutes of non-stop action. One of the most highly-anticipated new rides in the world this year features the following succession of breath-taking thrills: a 167-foot lift hill followed by a 150-foot curved first drop, a dive loop, a loop encircling the lift hill, a zero-gravity-roll, a pair of batwing inversions, outside loop, in-line roll and carousel, all at speeds up to 68 mph. Banshee is themed to a wailing mythological messenger from the underworld with flowing white hair and gleaming eyes. Textured lighting and other lighting effects will bring the Banshee legend to reality, creating the ultimate night ride experience.

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KINGS ISLAND, Ohio – “It rides like a baby coach.”

That was the opinion of the renowned John Allen of the Philadelphia Toboggan Company, who’s “baby” was the Racer roller coaster at Kings Island.

The Racer – really its twin racers – has been the focal point of the Coney Mall sector since opening with the park in 1972, and with good reason. The Racer is credited for re-igniting the roller coaster building boom in the early 1970’s, thus beginning the second golden age of the roller coaster.

This summer, the Racer will give its 100-millionth ride, far and away the most in park history. Its record year was 1976, when a park record 3,681,338 rides were given.

In addition to being considered an important part of the roller coaster renaissance of the 1970’s, the Racer was the sight of several world-record riding attempts and is notable for its appearance in the “Cincinnati Kids” episode of The Brady Bunch, filmed at Kings Island in 1973. On May 28, 1982, one side of the Racer became the world’s first full-length, backwards traveling roller coaster (both sides now face forward).

Kings Island officials coaxed Allen out of semi-retirement for the task of designing the Racer. He started to design the ride’s blueprints in 1969. Actual construction began in September, 1970. The first test run came in September, 1971. It worked perfectly the first time as Allen had predicted it would.

The Racer was the first roller coaster built structurally on the ground with prefabricated sections lifted into position and bolted. It was one of the largest roller coasters ever built at the time, and the largest that Allen had built. He considered the Racer to be the finest roller coaster he ever built.

There’s more than 600,000 board feet of lumber in the ride. Nobody knows how many nails. The construction crew started with 6,000 tons of nails which lasted only 60 days.

Kings Island opens for the 2014 season Friday, April 18. Daily Operation begins Friday, May 9.

Kings Island is owned and operated by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a publicly traded partnership that is listed for trading on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FUN.” In addition to Kings Island, Cedar Fair owns and operates ten other amusement parks, three outdoor water parks, an indoor water park, and five hotels. Cedar Fair also operates the Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park in Gilroy, Calif. under a management contract.