Carpenters work on re-tracking part of the Beast roller coaster Tuesday at Kings Island. The legendary coaster is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest wooden roller coaster in the world at 7,400 feet and has given more than 42 million rides since it opened 30 years ago in 1979.The Beast was "unchained" April 13, 1979 on Press Day. The first ride consisted of the following individuals at 10:30am.
-- Charles S. Mechem, Jr., Chairman of the Board, Taft Broadcasting
-- Dudley S. Taft, President, Taft Broadcasting
-- Gary S. Wachs, Executive VP, Amusement Park Group, Taft Broadcasting
-- Charles Flatt, VP Construction & Engineering
-- William C. Price, Vice President & General Manager
-- Frank Thompson, Operations Director
-- Walt Davis, Director of Park Services
-- Charles Dinn, Director of Construction, Maintenance & Engineering
-- Bill Reed, Director of Rides
-- David Palmer, Director of Marketing
-- Dick Fussner, Director of Loss Prevention
-- Chris Schaffer, Controller
-- Al Collins, Resident Engineer
-- Jeff Gramke, Assistant Engineer
-- Jimmie Nickell, Assistant Director of Construction, Maintenance & Engineer
-- Charles Swing, Maintenance Manager
-- Charles Wright, Carpenter Foreman
Media members then had the opportunity to ride the Beast from 10:35am until 3:00pm, with the order determined by random drawing.
Lunch was served from 12:00pm until 2:00pm in the Chicken Palace. The menu consisted of chicken or fish, cole slaw, soft drinks and beer.
