Scott And Carol Present - A Mystic Timbers Update

The work continues on Mystic Timbers, coming in Spring 2017!

Great Coaster International is making quick progress while the weather is good. Here the coaster will cross over the train track. 

 Here is a closer shot of the coaster "overpass." 

 Much care has been taken to save as many of the trees as possible, similar to the  way the Beast was routed around some particularly appealing small hardwood groves. 

  

Here is a field of footers and you can see where the structure stopped on on 9/23/2016. 

Some pre-assembled pieces that will be joined together for the risers. Check out the angle on the turn below:

This nice swooping turn, a common characteristic of GCI rides, drops riders right next to the new path to Whitewater Landing. The raft ride is closed for the season due to the construction. 

 

This is a wider shot from the path to  Madame Fatale's Cavern of Terror, located in the old Tomb Raider building.  Mystic Timbers is coming together nicely and we can hardly wait until Spring!

Scott And Carol Present - A Look At Mystic Timbers Construction

While we do not know what's in the shed, we can show you what's behind the wall, thanks to the Eiffel  Tower and a 750 mm lens. 

Zooming out a bit, we can see a couple of rows of footers. If you look closely at the closest pair, you can see how they are connected below ground level. That will be backfilled soon, probably with dirt generated from drilling out the next footers.

So here is the first vertical construction for Mystic Timbers.

Hard at work on Labor Day, we appreciate the construction efforts while we get a day off to play.

If you look closely, you can see how the last vertical is tied off to the rest of the structure, because it doesn't have anything on the other side to give it support. Once it is all assembled it will be rigid.



You can see Diamondback's track next to the former Huss Giant Topspin ride building, which is used for a Haunt maze now. Just past the curve is the new path to Whitewater Canyon.

There is still a little clearing to be done, but they are taking their time because they want to save as many trees as possible.

If you look at the footers in the background, nothing is mounted on them yet. They are  attached to each other underground, which allows Great Coasters to provide one of the longest wood coaster guarantees in the industry, as well as a very smooth ride.

That's because this guy has to mark the correct location for the attachment brackets to be mounted. It's all done with laser triangulation, so these guys actually use the geometry they studied in high school. It sure didn't seem important at the time.

The long square rebar is used in the connecting concrete pieces that are placed below the frost line that tie the footers together.

You just need to keep bolting the wood together per the plan, to make the verticals. And then add the cross pieces to hold the verticals together, When you add the ledger, it is ready to set it up next to the last one you installed. Repeat until you have on on every set of footers and you can start tracking.

It looks like they already have enough wood, but it takes an amazing amount of lumber to build a wood roller coaster. They are using wood that is both insect repellent and fire retardant.

Not your average post hole digger, this is what they use for the vertical portion of the footers. It chews through everything, that is everything but a large rock or sewer line. They have to know what is supposed to be below ground because it works so fast.

Here you can see how Diamondback and Mystic Timbers will interact with each other, although Diamondback is way above its wooden counterpart. They have a long way to go, but it is a long time until spring. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather.

Scott And Carol Present - Kings Island Announces Mystic Timbers!

Finally, time to get the scoop on Project2017! The addition of Mystic Timbers gives Kings Island 16 roller coasters, and the addition of 3,265 more feet of wooden roller coaster track gives Kings Island the most of that type of any park worldwide. Coaster enthusiasts, especially ones partial to wooden coasters, will definitely be walking to Rivertown in 2017.

There has been lots of speculation concerning the changes Kings Island has started for Project2017. This view from the Eiffel Tower shows the timber being clearcut, with some tantalizing clues posted on the fence.

 

Reinforcing the railbed next to the overflow pond required some heavy equipment, which excited many youngsters riding the train.  Based on their appearance, sadly they will be too short to ride Mystic Timbers next summer since it will have a projected 48-inch height requirement at this time.

You can see the clearing crew providing the landscaping department with  lots of mulch for future use. I wonder where they are going to store all of it?

Kings Island made the announcement event as inclusive as possible, here an interpreter translates the conversation to sign language for the deaf and hard of hearing.  Kudos to the park for this extra effort.

Here is the ride layout, without the trees and pond. It sure looks like it can go 53 miles per hour! Look at all those airtime hills, some of them have to mix directional changes in with the feeling of weightlessness. The lift hill will rise 109 above the ground in the trees.

Kings Island invited all their guests to the announcement, and you could taste the enthusiasm in the air. When the fireworks ran long, the crowd booed; who really boos fireworks anyways?

 

Don Helbig, of Kings Island, emceed the festivities from the elevated stage that gave everyone a clear view and they also projected some renderings along with the Mystic Timbers POV on the side of the building that used to house Tomb Raider. It is now used for an outstanding haunted attraction during the haunt. 

The snacks were appropriately themed for the scary woods overwhelming civilization. Note the 57 pickup truck that is spotlighted.

On our trip to Disneyland last summer we encountered Greg doing "Product Research," here with the  Director of Ride Operations from California's Great America.

Greg Scheid, Vice President, and General Manager shares his thoughts.

This is the new pathway to Whitewater Canyon, because even when you are putting in a new ride, you have to make sure you can still get to the  existing rides. It offers some new views of Diamondback and also parallels part of the construction area.

These are what that excavator  was putting in next to the pond. It appears that have plenty more to go before the next phase.

And we think it will be for these bridges for Mystic Timbers. The water probably won't have that beautiful shade of blue, since it is mainly standing.

  

Adam grew up close to Kings Island, so in the summer of 2017 get will attend his high school reunion and tell his classmates that he helped design the newest roller coaster at Kings Island. That will have to make him "THE" dude at the gathering. How cool is that?



Nobody would answer that question, as Don Helbig and the Public Relations department intend to have lots of fun doling out clues to the mystery.

If you can't wait to see more,  Here is the link  to what Kings Island has released last night. Night rides on Mystic Timbers should be epic, and it will be fun to experience the changing of the seasons on this wild romp in the woods.