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Kings Island | Mystic Timbers | GCI Wooden Coaster

Kings Island has announced they will make their second announcement for 2017 this Thursday:

Kings Island said:
We will be making our second major announcement of the summer pertaining to the 2017 season tomorrow (August 18) at 11:00 a.m. Guests visiting the park are invited to attend the announcement which will be held in the Festhaus.

Could be unrelated to Mystic Timbers, such as other additions, etc. I wouldn't think they'd unveil #WhatsInTheShed now, so as to drum up that effect all the way to the ride's opening.
 
^My guess is that it'll be a Christmas event like they teased last month. And I wouldn't complain if it was, especially if my pass and meal plan worked then. Or it's a Larson Loop in the shed.

Either way, I'll be there for the announcement and probably make another construction update for this. Anyone who plans to be there is welcome to join me.
 
Got another update on this bad boy!

First, you can clearly see construction from Diamondback but the park took away my vantage point! When they shut Whitewater Canyon for the season to work on Timbers, they shut the path I was using that wraps around the drop. So that's thrown a wrench in my little snooping habit. But I'll work with it!

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We have footings!

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My little Mystic Timbers photo op might have been taken from me, but this should look sick when the drop wraps around it! Also notice that the vines are starting to take over the arbor!

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The site was very active today and they were clearly working hard on it.

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Got some better pics later on, but these guys are over here building bents! Looks like these are for the bottom of the drop? Couldn't really get a good look at them, even from above on Diamondback.

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#Whatsintheshed? This Rent-A-John is what's in the shed. But the real question is, #whatsintheportapotty?

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Timbers is going to come back this way, though this part of the site didn't see much action from my last escapade here.

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They're storing a lot of wood back here. The wood's seemingly being shipped in these large white shrinkwrapped packs and being stored in this spot for use.

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Some action on the maintenance road/retaining wall, the guardrail wasn't here last time.

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Some dirty close-ups of the guardrail for those of you guardrail perverts among us.

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Kind of hard to see behind the trees, but the spot they cleared for Timbers runs all the way to the water, should look spectacular once it's done both from the train and on the ride itself.

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Most of the work was going on over here. Someone was in that bulldozer doing their thing as I photographed.

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Didn't think much of this when I photographed it but sitting down and looking at it at home, this looks an awful lot like a paved path of sorts, like more maintenance infrastructure. Am I right?

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Rebar!

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Getting the creeper paparazzi shot waiting for another run to Soak City.

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They had quite a few of these done, though it was really hard to tell still.

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Because of their proximity, I feel like those bents are about to be anchored into these footings. Probably the bottom of the drop.

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Couldn't get close enough to this caution tape to see what it was guarding, but notice those grey shrinkwrapped shells inside it? I think those are footer molds, not sure why they're wrapped up.

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I'm guessing they were digging there or something since this was right by it.

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Notice the vines starting to take over the mesh arbor?

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Bents, bents, and more bents!

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Work faster, pieces of **** !

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I do apologize for the blurriness of this set of photos (most were taken from the train) but here's some of those packs of wood they're having shipped, I think they're just keeping these around to build the bents.

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Stagnate Water Canyon, aka Zika: The Ride, is the park's Rio 2016 special.

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Sucks they shut a water ride in the middle of the hottest part of the season (my bottle actually melted in the car today!) but Mystic Timbers should be worth it.

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It almost felt creepy seeing it closed on a day there would usually be people getting splashed and laughing through the woods.

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You can pick out little pricks of orange in this picture, don't think we'll see this worked on for a while.

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Close up of the wood packs they were running around site.

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And more of it waiting to be used. Lots more.

Really hoping we see this thing go vertical really soon. I wasn't excited for it at first but the more I see of it and the cool site they picked the more I think I'll actually like it! I like the theme, I like the location, and if what I've been hearing about newer GCIs like Striker and Lightning is true, this could be one of the best rides at the park. Even got the t-shirt today!
 
Might as well contribute.

This coaster is a big opportunity for GCI, who has not had much popularity in the States as of late. Aside from Gold Striker and White Lightning - both of which were built in '13, their last US coaster was Apocalypse in '09. Granted, a lot of the lack of business has to do with the lack of parks needing a wooden coaster, but we all know that RMC has led to a large portion of their decline in business. White Lightning is a good ride and I've heard good things about Gold Striker, but there's a reason why RMC's are 1-2-3 in my top 10 and GCI's are absent. I'm not going to judge by a POV, but if GCI has managed to design this with the relentlessness seen on Python in Bamboo Forest, they might just get some business back. Surely they're too proud of the classic wooden roller coaster to innovate at all.
 
Hyde said:
Kings Island has announced they will make their second announcement for 2017 this Thursday:

Kings Island said:
We will be making our second major announcement of the summer pertaining to the 2017 season tomorrow (August 18) at 11:00 a.m. Guests visiting the park are invited to attend the announcement which will be held in the Festhaus.

Could be unrelated to Mystic Timbers, such as other additions, etc. I wouldn't think they'd unveil #WhatsInTheShed now, so as to drum up that effect all the way to the ride's opening.
So what was the announcement?
 
^Yes. Didn't post about it here since it didn't pertain to Timbers but I went. I even have pics in the thread I made in News & Rumors if anyone's interested.

Winterfest is going to have focus on live entertainment with crafting demonstrations as well as some rides like the carousel and KIMVRR open. Not part of Winterfest but also announced was widening parts of Soak City to make room for more loungers and adding a smokehouse with stuff for the meal plan.

While I'm posting here, I think I'll throw out the little fan theory I posted on KIC here. What's in the shed? Have we noticed that the angry living tree featured in the logo (possibly the keystone for any ride's branding) hasn't been seen at all? Not in the intro video in which we saw vines (nothing win a face) take over the park, no characterization in the storyline behind the ride, nothing. If this guy is practically the ride's mascot, I'm almost certain he's what's in the shed. What form will he take? I also noticed that the shed isn't just a shed, it's a series of buildings forming a tunnel back to the station. This looks like the perfect place to put a WMG-style projection screen showing this tree a tracking the train.
 
Former Paramount Parks seem to have a knack for actually repairing on-ride effects, versus Cedar Fair original parks that leave them to wither and die. Whatever the special effects, hopefully Kings Island keeps them in good repair for year after year.

I'd guess a special effects and projector system for the #shed, similar to the recent upgrade Kings Island did to their Boo Blasters on Boo Hill dark shooter. And even still; first vertical drop track on a woodie.
 
Grabbed some photos of Mystic Timbers during my visit Saturday night. The first drop will be quite picturesque. Something to point out, the first drop passes pretty close to the new pathway that has been laid heading back to White Water Canyon. We rode the log flume (on which I got absolutely drenched), which gives a great view of the construction progress as well; track heading out of the station is also going into place, along with footers for the #shed.

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Hyde said:
Grabbed some photos of Mystic Timbers during my visit Saturday night. The first drop will be quite picturesque. Something to point out, the first drop passes pretty close to the new pathway that has been laid heading back to White Water Canyon. We rode the log flume (on which I got absolutely drenched), which gives a great view of the construction progress as well; track heading out of the station is also going into place, along with footers for the #shed.

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Those are very good photos.

What do you think is in the shed?

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