Kentucky Rumbler

Kentucky Rumbler is a wooden roller coaster at Beech Bend Park in Warren County, Kentucky. It has a drop of 80 feet and a height of 96 feet. Before Kentucky Rumbler, the park did not have a signature ride, and it is the most popular ride in the park.

Kentucky Rumbler
Ride entrance
Beech Bend Park
LocationBeech Bend Park
Coordinates37°01′21″N 86°24′06″W
StatusOperating
Opening dateMay 6, 2006
Cost$4,600,000
General statistics
TypeWood – Twister
ManufacturerGreat Coasters International
DesignerJeff Pike
ModelTwister
Lift/launch systemChain lift hill
Height96 ft (29 m)
Drop80 ft (24 m)
Length2,827 ft (862 m)
Speed47 mph (76 km/h)
Inversions0
Capacity480 riders per hour
Height restriction48 in (122 cm)
TrainsSingle train with 12 cars. Riders are arranged 2 across in a single row for a total of 24 riders per train.
Kentucky Rumbler at RCDB

Voted the 5th best new ride in 2006 by Amusement Today, the Kentucky Rumbler broke records and set others when it opened.

History
Kentucky Rumbler in 2023.

Between 2000 and 2005 many improvements were made and many features were added to the park. By the end of 2005, 40 rides had been added, including the new coaster the Wild Mouse, 500 campground spaces with modern amenities, renovated racing facilities, a water park and picnic pavilions.

The Jones family started talking about adding a wooden roller coaster to their park years before the Kentucky Rumbler was built. After they decided, Dallas Jones contacted Great Coasters International.

Vice President of Sales & Design Jeff Pike started working for GCII after college, under the tutelage of Mike Boodley. The Kentucky Rumbler was Pike's first solo design.

The Rye Aeroplane is a long-defunct coaster in the city of Rye, New York. It served as the inspiration for parts of the ride, including the first drop. The Rumbler's first drop is a mirror Image of the Aeroplane Coasters.

On October 28, 2005 the park officially named their new wooden roller coaster “Kentucky Rumbler”.[1] Derek Sailors from Surfside Beach, South Carolina, was the winner of the contest to name the ride. Beech Bend received thousands of entries for the contest from all over the world.

The Kentucky Rumbler opened in 2006 to great reviews. It was ranked in the Top Five New Rides in the World by Amusement Today magazine, for 2006.

Design

Highlights of the ride include a world record three station fly-bys and an airplane style first drop. It reaches speeds of almost 50 miles per hour and features 30 track crossovers and twelve airtime hills.

The ride cost 4.6 million dollars. It is a wooden twister (bobs) coaster with a capacity of 480 guests per hour.

It has one vintage style 24 passenger Millennium Flyer train, made up of 12 cars, that each seat two riders.

The maximum height is 96 feet with the first drop of 80.2 feet. Ride Time is approximately 90 seconds. The Track Length is 2,827 feet.

The Kentucky Rumbler was constructed with 80,000 bolts and 1.5 million nails.

Awards
Golden Ticket Awards: Top wood Roller Coasters
Year200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017
Ranking 20[2]13[3]13[4]17[5]16[6]16[7]22[8]21[9]20[10]33[11]48[12]49[13]

Note: Kentucky Rumbler has not charted in the Golden Ticket Awards since 2017.

References
  1. "Beech Bend Park's 10-28-2005 Press Conference and Construction Tour". negative-g.com. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  2. "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today: 30–31B. September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  3. "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 11 (6.2): 42–43. September 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  4. "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 12 (6.2): 42–43. September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  5. "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 13 (6.2): 38–39. September 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  6. "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 14 (6.2): 38–39. September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  7. "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 15 (6.2): 46–47. September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  8. "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 16 (6.2): 46–47. September 2012. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  9. "2013 Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 17 (6.2): 40–41. September 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  10. "2014 Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 18 (6.2): 38–39. September 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  11. "2015 Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 19 (6.2): 45–46. September 2015. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  12. "2016 Top 50 Wooden Coasters". Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today. September 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  13. "2017 Top 50 Wooden Coasters". Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today. September 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
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