Every theme park has that one thing they’re amazing at. At the Disney and Universal parks it’s immersive dark rides, at the Legoland parks it’s creating attractions that really look like they have been made from giant building blocks… and at Kings Island, the specialty is wooden coasters. Since the success of the Beast in 1979, this Ohio amusement park has been opening woodies on a relatively regular basis, some thrilling and some tame, some more successful than others but each building on the strengths on the last.
Choose your seat and pull down your lap bar as we drop into the history of the newest Kings Island woodie Mystic Timbers, and remember, whatever happens, do NOT go in the shed!
A New Adventure in Rivertown
When Kings Island opened in April 1972, it offered five themed lands. International Street greeted guests with a stunning fountain and a replica of the Eiffel Tower, while in Oktoberfest you could experience the traditional German festival all year round, and explore what once was in Coney Island. On the other side of the park, guests could step into the Happy Land of Hanna Barbera, and, like at many theme parks, take a break in an Old West town. Originally planned to be named Frontier Land, this last land opened as Rivertown, featuring the kind of architecture you’d expect to see in a Wild West movie, and the Miami Valley Railroad at its centre.
As the park grew in popularity and size, so did Rivertown, and it wasn’t long before the land received its first coaster. But this wasn’t just any coaster. The Beast opened at the beginning of the 1979 season, built in-house and quickly gaining a reputation for being the greatest wooden rollercoaster ever created. With a height of 110ft and a drop that is impressive even by today’s standards, the Beast paved the way for Kings Island to grow a legacy for some pretty awesome wooden coasters, so much that the park even tried to make it bigger and better with the opening of Son of Beast more than thirty years later.
Fast forward to the mid-2010s, and this legacy is still going strong. Son of Beast ended up not being as successful as hoped and closed just nine years after it opened, but it didn’t really matter, because something new was in the works. White Water Canyon, the park’s Intamin river rapids ride, had its queueline and entrance relocated to the other side of Rivertown, and the original became overcome with construction walls. Signs began popping up around the area warning guests to “watch out for falling trees”, which without context may have simply sounded like a rather concerning precaution, but it was soon revealed that this was the actual theme for the ride. Well, kind of.
If you’re a fan of wooden coasters, you’ll know that a lot of them have at least one shed at some point during the layout. Kings Island’s parent company Cedar Fair sure did, and for this shed, they decided to take it to the next level. As supports and tracks began to rise up above the construction walls, Kings Island announced Rivertown would be receiving a new coaster built by Pennsylvania-based Great Coasters International, set to open the following year. The new ride would drop, twist and rush guests through a layout surrounded by a vengeful forest where danger lies around every corner, ending with a mysterious shed that could contain everything and anything. Opening day grew closer and closer, and before long everyone was wondering one thing- what’s in the shed?
The Perfectly Safe ‘Not Safe’ Ride
‘Hey, hey, I see you up there! What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ Well, if you were a coaster enthusiast in Mason, Ohio on the 15th of April 2017, you were most likely in the queueline for Kings Island’s newest rollercoaster, announced as Mystic Timbers the year before. Mystic Timbers opened as planned and brought the park’s total wooden coaster length up to 18,804 feet, smashing what may well be one of the most oddly specific world records ever.
Outside the entrance, a logo for the fictional Miami River Lumber Company could be seen beside the ride’s logo overrun by branches- branches from the trees that caused the company to abandon it and flee for their lives. And if this alongside an ominous announcement warning ‘do not enter’ wasn’t enough to terrify you as you prepared to ride, perhaps the voice advising guests to “get that truck and go home to your video games” would do it. Except by the time you’re climbing the lift hill, there’s no going back.
As your train reaches the top and the terrified voice fades out, the haunted trees take over, and the ride experience begins. Screaming riders twist and turn through winding tracks built around the forest, over airtime hills, drops, tunnels and everything else that make wooden coasters so awesome. It won’t be long until you arrive at the final breakrun, and you may be slowing down, but you’re still heading towards the one place you’ve warned time and time again not to go. That’s right, you’re going in the shed.
The Dreaded Shed
Warning: if you haven’t had the chance to ride Mystic Timbers and don’t want spoilers for the shed, make sure to click off now!
Mystic Timbers is considered to be one of the best GCIs out there, but while people may have been thinking about that while waiting on the breakrun, what was at the forefront of people’s minds on opening day, and maybe even now, was of course what awaited just ahead. Speculation had been building since construction began and many people had their own theories on what Kings Island might be hiding in the outwardly humble-looking shed, but whether the truth was better or worse than you thought, it was certainly unexpected.
A glitchy announcement once again warns guests that they are in a restricted area, and that they should not go in the shed, but after a few loops it distorts so much that it actually tells us we should in fact go in the shed. So of course that’s the part of the announcement we listen to, and into the dimly-lit, most ominous portion of the ride we go.
Riders are greeted by 80s music, saws and even a vending machine that’s still on, all things you probably wouldn’t expect to see in an abandoned shed, but considering the theme of the ride, it doesn’t feel that weird. As your train goes further and further into this mysterious shed, some kind of creature appears on the surrounding screens. Whether you end up encountering the colony of bats, the giant snake or a sentient tree swarmed with insects, you’re sure to come back into the station either really impressed or really confused, or maybe both. (And yes, I did just have to google what a group of bats is called!)
The Past and Future Coasters of Kings Island
When Kings Island opened back in 1972, no one could have anticipated the legacies it would create. Throughout its history, the park has opened some pretty notable rides, from Screamin’ Demon, to Vortex, to more recently, Orion, and whether you believe Orion is a giga or not, its safe to say this Ohio theme park has contributed a lot to the industry. Having opened two new rollercoasters in the last five years, Kings Island doesn’t seem to have anything in the works at the moment, but hopefully we’ll see something huge announced for this park or another Cedar Fair park some time soon!
Have you ridden Mystic Timbers? What are your thoughts on the shed? Let me know in the comments below!
Photo credits:
@heightened_imagery – Check them out on Instagram and YouTube! https://www.instagram.com/heightened_imagery/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMTqNBOrNiU8wZTjwkND2Og
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out some of my other posts from theme parks and attractions around the world, and find us on Instagram and Facebook for exclusive CoasterDreamers content!
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