Mystic Timbers

Entrance

***Mystic Timbers*** is a wooden coaster located in the Rivertown section of Kings Island. The ride was announced and constructed during the 2016 season, and opened the following year on April 15, 2017. The coaster's entrance and queue line replaced the former queue line of *White Water Canyon*, which has since been relocated. As the most recent wooden coaster to be constructed for Kings Island, *Mystic Timbers* allowed the park to reclaim the record of the longest total length of wooden coaster track in a single park. Combined with *The Beast*, *The Racer*, and *Woodstock Express*, this totals to 18,804 feet. A major feature of the ride's marketing campaign featured a hashtag campaign of #WhatsInTheShed, teasing a surprise inside a small enclosed area of the ride.

## History

The construction of *Mystic Timbers* began in an early part of the 2016 season when the entrance of *White Water Canyon* was dismantled and relocated near the building that formerly housed *The Crypt*. Back at the old entrance's location, a wooden fence surrounded the area, with posters saying "Watch for falling trees." placed on it. When the ride was announced on July 28 that same year, the posters were replaced with those detailing the ride's statistics, logo, and an image of the ride cars. Later during the Halloween Haunt events of 2016, a display promoting the ride's opening next season was placed in the Coney Mall gardens where Kings Mills Antique Autos is now.

The marketing for *Mystic Timbers* was unique in the sense that much of the advertising featured a hashtag campaign of "#WhatsInTheShed". This referred to a portion of the ride that was kept secret by park officials and not revealed until the ride was opened to the public.

*Mystic Timbers* was opened to the public on April 15, 2017, and allowed Kings Island to reclaim the record of the most wooden coaster track length in a single park, which included *The Beast*, *The Racer*, and *Woodstock Express*. It has been a huge success and is a hit with many fans of the park, winning *Amusement Today*'s Golden Ticket Award for Best New Ride in 2017.

## Story and Ride Experience

### Story and Queue

*Mystic Timbers* features a similar storyline to fellow wooden coaster *The Beast*, in which an abandoned facility now serves as the home to a mysterious, but dangerous force.

The Miami River Lumber Company was originally located near the forests where much of its logging took place. But due to unknown circumstances, the facility was abandoned. At the entrance of the ride, to the left of the billboard with the ride's logo, is a sign above the pathway that says "Miami River Lumber Co." in all-caps. A security check post is seen on the left of the entrance, while a vintage truck that occasionally plays various music clips is seen on the right.

Also at the entrance, ominous music can be heard playing that also plays throughout the queue, adding to the atmosphere of the ride. A pre-recorded message plays every once in a while at the entrance saying "Warning: Do not enter. Mandatory and ongoing lockdown is in effect for the Miami River Lumber Company. Repeat, do not enter." Towards the stairs leading to the loading station, looped videos of security cam footage can be seen on two separate television screens. The first clip shows a male and female exploring the area, with one of the two appearing hesitant to continue. The second clip shows a guard attempting to investigate the strange circumstances of the area after seeing the previous footage, only to be frightened and run away from something off-screen. When not playing these clips, the screens will cut to footage showing multiple cameras as if the security room broadcasting them is looking for something. When riders reach the loading station, the two people seen in one of the aforementioned security videos can be heard warning riders that the area isn't safe, and that they'll have to escape in the cars provided, which notably resemble Cadillacs.

### Ride Experience

As the cars depart from the loading station, they begin to ascend the lift hill. Here, the head of security alerts the riders that the area is not safe, and to leave, while also giving the dire warning of "And whatever you do, don't go in the shed." The cars then travel down a curved hill before twisting and turning through the forest, and through the area of *White Water Canyon* and the *Kings Island and Miami Valley Railroad* before reaching a tunnel and turning around, and eventually stopping at a shed with vines growing on it. Another prerecorded message further warns the riders to not go in the shed and once again glitching out, but the cars proceed anyway. This leads to the reveal of the #WhatsInTheShed campaign. The shed contains several props including more vines, carpenter tools, and dimly lit lights, along with various variations of the phrase "IT'S IN THE SHED" in all caps written on the walls The cars then stop in the middle of the shed. From this point, multiple scenarios can occur that are entirely random.

The nearby cassette player will mysteriously turn on, and play a sample from one of four 1980s songs, including:

* *Maneater* by Daryl Hall and John Oates
* *Total Eclipse of the Heart* by Bonnie Tyler
* *Cars* by Gary Numan
* *Can't Take My Eyes Off You* by Boys Town Gang

After a moment, several pairs of red eyes begin to glow, and the cars begin to slowly move. The two projected screens in front of the car begin to show a random creature accompanied by several smaller creatures crawling through the walls in the projected screen to the left of the cars. The larger creature will then smash through the "doors" on the front projector, and attempt to attack the riders as they escape in the cars.

* One encounter is with a giant snake, which is accompanied by several snakes slithering through the cracks of the wooden wall. The giant snake then begins to snap at the riders as they escape.
* Another encounter features a swarm of bats flying through the door and attempting to squeeze through the cracks of the wooden wall, before a giant bat appears and roars at the riders as they escape.
* The final encounter, most likely the canon one, features the tree seen in the ride's logo smashing through the door and roaring at riders as he attempts to grab the cars. Unlike the other creatures, this one is not accompanied by a swarm of similar creatures on the left projected screen. He also only makes one attempt at attacking the riders, while the other monsters continue to do so. According to frequent riders, this scenario is not as common.

Following this, the ride returns to the loading station and concludes.

## Trivia

* It's very likely that the bat and snake scenarios of the ride are references to other coasters in the park, specifically *The Bat* and *Diamondback*.
* The preshow and projector screen animations in the shed were provided by Holovis. This company also developed the AR features of sister park Cedar Point's mobile app.
* The soundtrack featured in the queue line was provided by IMAscore, a German music production company. According to IMAscore's official site, the soundtrack was inspired by horror films, particularly those of the 80s.
* Durring *Winterfest* the ride is decorated in Christmas lights and decorations.
* During Halloween Haunt at Cedar Point in 2021 near the entrance of Cornstalkers 2.0 which is located in the Thunder Canyon river rapid ride the same script was playing saying "Warning: Do not enter. Mandatory and ongoing lockdown is in effect for the Miami River Lumber Company. Repeat, do not enter."
* The name “Miami River Lumber Company” is used in background art at Cedar Point’s Snake River Expedition, Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island and Frontier Trail/Town sections of the park, Carowinds Copperhead Strike, and at Knotts Berry Farm in the Ghost Town area of the park.