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Son of Beast or Beast


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I think almost everyone will agree that the apple has fallen far from the tree with SOB.

 

I rode Beast in a thunderstorm my first time and it was intense, fast, long and just plain unique. Unfortunately I only got to ride it once because of said storm, but I preferred it to SOB which while unique, was painful and just not in the same category.

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I really think they dont have much in common besides huge helix's and the name. They are both good at somthing different.

 

Beast gives you that good old feeling of being on a wooden coaster.

 

Son of Beast seems like it could be a steel coaster with all of the turns and drops, so its a more "modern" woodie.

 

I do like the Beast better, I dont get racked when I ride and there is some left in it!

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I thought The Beast was okay. I mean, there's no airtime, and brakes are its primary element, but it's at least interesting and unique.

 

Son of Beast, however, I really can't think of anything good to say about. Not just one of the worst coasters I've been on, but quite probably the stupidest. (The station and transfer track are, like, 80 feet off the ground; the on-ride photo is on the lift; there's a friggin loop in the middle. )

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I rode the Beast in 2000 (I live in the UK) and it was flying round the track, amazing wizzing past the trees and into the tunnels.

The 540 helix at the end is one of the best finshers, I wish there were some "airtime" hill before it hits the brakes.

 

The last ride of the day was at night and it was even better than the day. I'll always remember looking at the moon and the stars while heading for the 2nd lift hill.

 

I love it - shame it's over 4,000 miles away. I hope to be back in 2008.

 

As for SOB it is very fast and I loved the 1st drop, but it was very rough and virbrating so much my hands went numb.

 

Loop was great, but the layout is wrong, needs hills and lots of banked curves. The trains need to be changed as they do no good to the ride, they can't handle the speed.

 

If SOB was reprofiled and had new trains it would be a world class woodie, at the moment it's not in the top 20.

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Two things come to mind really... The Beast is a cool 'retro-ride'... It feels like it was built in the 70s and I like that about it. A bit rough, a bit much on the brakes, but a good time all around.

 

As for the Son of Beast, my sister said after we rode it, "You have to experience the worst to appreciate the best". It was the only coaster we did not ride twice. (Well, we didn't ride Legend twice either but that was because of a storm.) It just hurt and I was too busy thinking of the pain I was in to enjoy it.

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I say neither.

 

Beast used to be awesome, but now they trimmed it to death because they don't maintain the coaster. You get zero air now on the front run.

 

SOB is the biggest piece of junk on the planet and I will be there in a heartbeat if they decide to burn the thing to the ground!

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It feels like it was built in the 70s and I like that about it.

 

It opened in April of 79'. The opening of the Beast and the "Disco Demolition" at Comiskey Park in Chicago brought an end to the Disco era!

 

I prefer the Beast also. It is a classic, but it really needs a little love. I hope Cedar Fair treats it better than I feel Paramount did. When I rode it this year, it felt like it had really degraded from just two years ago. Shame!

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After my last ride on the Beast, I'd say It's my second favorite woodie.

 

My last ride went like this, It was about 15 mins. til closing time. We (me, my dad, and my 3 cousins) got in line. We got to the station, and it broke down. During that 15 min. delay, nearly ALL of the people left the ride. The only people remaining were my group, and 2 other groups. That was about 8 to 10 people overall. They opened it, we rode it. BTW, It just rained, and a pretty dense fog had settled in where the Beast was.

 

So, Beast+night+fog+not many people on the train=BEST BEAST RIDE EVER!!!

 

If that wasn't enough, we got back to the station, got out and headed for the exit when the ride op says, "You guys can ride again if you want to."

So, we rode again, in the same conditions.

 

We were on the Beast a full 15 mins.!

 

Oh yeah, SOB. It's fun, but extremly rough, it has no at all, the only really fun part is the loop. Overall, it sucks.

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THE BEAST - A Long drawn out ride, but fun none the less. Its ups and downs on the Wood makes it a little exciting. Still a classic, and classics NEVER go out of Style.

 

SON OF THE BEAST - Well, Junior was rough, but with all wood coasters, ya expect a little bit of jiggle, it wasnt as hot as I expected, but ok to me. The loop was an interesting add to the coaster... INTERESTING, not best in the whole world.... I tend to be picky with coasters, if they dont leave me staggering, Im not that thrilled.

 

I still am one that prefers to be flipped, ripped, and left lookng for clean underpants...lmao

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Enough said. SoB = Cedar Fair's world record next year for most roasted marshmallows around the world's biggest bonfire

 

-James Dillaman

 

This is the most genius idea I have ever heard of. I would pay money to watch that thing burn to the ground!

 

Anywho, for those of you who might not have figured it out... my vote goes to the Beast. Yes, the brakes suck and totally ruin the ride imo but I suppose that it's one of my favorite rides for nostalgic reasons. I have way to many good memories on the ride.

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SOB COULD be such a great ride... Since CF has such a cozy relationship with Intamin it would be a dream to have them redo the track with the prefab treatment. I know this would be ridiculously expensive but I'd rather have an El Toro-esque smoothness with that potentially awesome layout than another cloned coaster for the next couple years. So not happening...

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  • 1 year later...

I heard a couple people that say "the Beast sucks". It might not be the greatest to you but their is no way that it could "suck". The Beast, for me, is not only about the track, or actual part of the ride. What makes it so special and exciting for me is the environment and the memories I've had on it. Their is no one that can honestly say after riding the Beast in the in the dark, with fog all around, and with barely anyone else on the train (all characteristics of a night ride) say it sucks. Also this was my first "major" coaster so thats why it holds a special place in me. It will always be my favorite woodie even with the new great woodies such as the Voyage. Thats just my other 2 cents.

 

I'm trying to bring back this thread now that the Son of Beast has been modified. Let me know what you think of SoB now.

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I rode both last year for the first time, I thought Son Of Beast was just meh, it wasn't exciting at all the roughness wasn't too bad though I rode it fairly defensively and kept my back off the seat.

 

The Beast wasn't too exciting either, and unfortunately I only rode it on wheel seats so I got absolutely smashed after the second lift hill. I enjoyed the sensory experience of night rides but I didn't think much of the coaster itself.

 

I would rate the Beast higher but not by much, neither really did it for me.

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^^All the reasons you just gave in favor of the Beast are sentimental, personal feelings that not everybody is going to have.

 

On the flip side, I'm going to take my sentimental, personal feelings that not everybody is going to have and explain why it DOES suck.

 

I grew up going to Kings Island, and the Beast was obviously one of the most intimidating rides around at the time. If a 3rd grader rode the Beast, they didn't need to 'show' anything at show-and-tell, they could just 'tell,' because they automatically were the stuff. I remember when I finally got the huevos to try the big, bad Beast at Kings Island, back when I was 11. It was 7,400 feet of terror as the train just sped feet off the ground through the woods, darting in and out of tunnels that looked too small to go through. I'll never forget the fear I experienced as the train raced off the second lift hill down that agonizingly long drop into the famous double helix, which I was sure would cause the train to rip off the track. It was amazing.

 

Fast forward to 2001, I'm now 15 years old visiting my beloved home park with a close buddy, and I experience my first night ride on the Beast. To this day, it might be the most amazing experience I've ever had on a wooden coaster. Even with the trims in the brake shed, it was a lightning fast, unrelenting religious experience.

 

Now, fast forward to the last time I rode it two years ago. I'm excited as my then-girlfriend is about to ride the Beast for the first time. As we start to plummet down the first drop, I'm suddenly flung forward. They had placed brakes on the first drop! They Mean Streaked the Beast! As the train rolled into the brake shed, the train practically came to a crawl, killing all momentum for the runaway train run to the second lift. I thought to myself, "at least the best part should be untouched." As the train began its descent off the lift, I felt the trims slow the train down. "You are kididing." Then it happened again... and again. The train rolled into the helix and I didn't even feel a hint of the terror I had felt in previous years, even as a seasoned coaster rider. The train crawled onto the brake run. I turned to my girlfriend and said, "They've raped it. That's NOT the Beast." My girlfriend, somebody who still gets scared on Raging Bull despite having ridden it countless times, looked at me and said, "Yeah, that wasn't bad at all!"

 

The ride that was once so famously loved in all of the Ohio Valley was neutered. These feelings were echoed by many of my non-enthusiast friends.

 

So while it is not a terrible ride, without the break-neck speed, it's just 7400 ft of boring flat, straight track. In comparison to what it was just ten years ago, yes, it sucks. Sucks like a champ.

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I totally understand where you're coming from. Last time I rode it the didn't have trims on the first drop, but everywhere else you mentioned yeah. I can remember riding it for the first time when I was like 7. I rode at almost night and I had to close my eyes some times, especially the first drop because I was just so scared. Now it's just like a scenic ride through the forest. I really saddens me that they killed the Beast so bad, but I still love that chained down, beaten, torn, and as you put it "neutered" woodie. I will miss that scary roller coaster that I rode when I was seven but I'll just have to make good with what I got.

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