MASON, Ohio — As Kings Island starts daily operations for this summer season, there's a flurry of activity throughout the park each morning.
Trained employees walk the tracks each day before the gates open to families and coaster fans.
"We typically start our mornings at 6 o'clock," said Devan DiFrancesco, assistant foreman of wooden coaster carpenters. "The first thing that we take a look at before we step on the ride, probably the main priority, is the steel."
DiFrancesco is part of a team of 12 during the season, responsible for inspecting and maintaining more than 18,000 feet of wooden coaster track. The Beast alone has about 7,300 feet of track, which four people inspect daily.
His team also oversees The Racer, Mystic Timbers, Woodstock Express and Adventure Express.
"As far as I'm aware of, we are the world's largest crew of wood coaster maintainers," he said. "So in a way, we kind of write the book."
Kings Island roller coasters are subject to two yearly inspections by two Ohio Department of Agriculture staff, according to Tyler's Law which was passed to promote more safety features, largely for traveling rides.
"We've always been kind of above and beyond on safety and how we go about things," he said. "There's been a couple different administrative changes and small details but it doesn't affect our ability to get the job done."
On any given morning, four of DiFrancesco's team will spend up to three hours walking The Beast track to check bolts and hardware, the wooden structure, and the steel parts including rails. They're outfitted with harnesses and a utility belt with extra bolts and tools that DiFrancesco said can weigh upwards of 30 pounds.
"The track has thousands and thousands and thousands of bolts and they do on occasion need to be replaced for a variety of reasons," he said. "So we bring along everything that would be necessary to change or replace them as we find them."
In some places, the crew has stored extra bolts along the ride to save them from having to make another trip for supplies — places like on the top of The Beast's first lift hill.
"One of my favorite aspects of this entire job is the fantastic view, especially first thing in the morning," DiFrancesco said.
A close second? Watching people on the ride throughout the day.
"We're going to keep The Beast running forever," he said.
Ride safety lurched into the public eye again last summer, when a viral video showed a cracked support on a roller coaster at the Cedar Fair park, Carowinds, which straddles the North and South Carolina state lines. Cedar Fair Entertainment Company also owns Kings Island. The support has since been replaced and no one was hurt.
Kings Island's last major incident was in 2006 when Son of Beast had a structural issue that sent riders to the hospital. The then-tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster closed in 2009 after another rider complaint.
The Army Reservist joined the Kings Island team seven years ago as a track walker after years of serving our country. Though his first roller coaster was a wooden one, it wasn't at Kings Island. His first time in the park was his first day on the job.
He said he believes it takes years to properly train a wooden coaster carpenter because of the breadth of the work they do. And his time in the military helped prepare him for the unique challenges of this job.
"Being able to keep an eye on that little bit of confusion - having different people in different places, all on different processes, and they all require different material to be able to complete their job and sometimes different equipment needs to be used - I believe that aspect did help me before I got here," he said.
The carpentry team expands in the park's off-season, to disassemble and rebuild all critical parts on the rides. It also helps with build-outs for Halloween Haunt, WinterFest, and new projects.
WCPO 9 News has requested the most recent state inspections for Kings Island, as well as any incident reports for the park in recent years. We will update this story as we get the responsive records.
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