Old Beast Vids

[CoasterComet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PaUvZ0j2Fw&feature=related

 

Pretty cool, huh!? Look at those 4-bench, 5 car long PTCs, complete with buttons on the upholstered seats! I'd give anything to ride that back then.

 

My first shot at the Beast was '87, and it was pretty damn good then. Thought the years (and thanks, PTC) and mangling (pun intended) the ride is pretty much inert the way it is now. Last time I rode was '06.

 

Didn't originally run with like 5 trains as well? Would be nice to get some of that Intamin plug-n-play track on that bad boy, fix up them PTCs (or go with something else like Millennium flyers or something) and let-her fly!

[montezooma]

That is a great find. I had never seen that Beast commercial before.

 

I was lucky enough to ride the Beast its first year and the ride was amazing. I am not sure if that just might have been because there wasn't a whole lot of other coasters out there at the time to compare it too...

 

I do remember that if the park closed at 10:00 you had to get in line to get a night ride by 8:00 cause they closed the ride when the park closed. But boy those night rides where worth every second of waiting in line.

 

The Beast is a classic! Here is some pretty good POV footage of the ride.

 

 

[Scaparri]

Great stuff, guys.

 

It's really a shame. This thing used to be awesome back before they completely bastardized it with all those trims on the drops.

 

I'd still love to see a company completely re-do the ride, Phantom's Revenge style, where they get rid of all the straight track and just make it turn and tiny dip after dip. But naturally, they can't touch that second drop and double helix. Yeah, that's my fantasy. Maybe that's sac religious of me to say, but like I said, the poor ride has been bastardized so much. It's really sad.

 

Thanks for the vid finds.

[steel]

Great footage. Such a good ride.

 

Beast gets so much crap these days, and it really is not deserved. What on earth is so bad about it? Obviously, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but it seems like Beast's treatment is sort of unfair. Is it too slow for you? I don't care how fast its actually going, because the surrounds make it seem a lot faster. No airtime? That's not even the point of the ride, and yes, there is some on the second drop. Is it too rough? I guess I can understand this, because it is "rough," per se, but the "roughness" is really more bouncy than jarring, and I LOVE that sensation, especially in the helix. Even so, the "roughness" isn't even all that noticeable in a lot of the seats (which absolutely can NOT be said about Voyage - and that's one of the reasons that it doesn't beat Beast for me).

[MisterP]

^ I think one thing it doesn't get enough credit for it that is pretty much one-of-a-kind. I can't think of a single other woodie in the U.S. quite like it. Yeah, its rough, yeah it has straight parts, but why do all coasters have to live up to the same "airtime" and "laterals" standards. The Beast doesn't seem to even want to be about those things. It's like more of a "runaway mine train" feel to it, IMO. When it was built, it was quite a departure from the typical woodie from the '70s. One of the earliest and best uses of terrain for a wooden coaster .

 

That being said, I agree anyone who rode it pre-trims and believe it got neutered seem justified to have negative thoughts about the ride. That's always a dissapointing thing.

[montezooma]

Here is an old Beast Station picture. With the water falling down the side of the building into the lake below it.

[downunder]

Was the Beast ever good, hard to belive after last uyears rides for me, which were the first time.

 

"Beast love" makes it sound like an inter species erotica thread.

[PURE]

What I like most about this ride is how there are just long sections of the ride where you're just gaining speed on a marginally inclined slope, and how you're winding through the trees.

 

Thanks for the videos, this POV is good too, not sure if the hills are trimmed, but from this video it looks like fun. That first tunnel after the second lift hill is nuts, it's like 1000 feet long or something.

[mr_teisco_delrey]

Was the Beast ever good, hard to belive after last uyears rides for me, which were the first time.

 

"Beast love" makes it sound like an inter species erotica thread.

 

Yes it was good. Night rides are still fun even with all the changes.

[ginzo]

Would be nice to get some of that Intamin plug-n-play track on that bad boy, fix up them PTCs (or go with something else like Millennium flyers or something) and let-her fly!

 

I'd imagine that they'd have to tear it down and rebuild the entire thing and use Intamin trains for that to happen.

 

Beast gets so much crap these days, and it really is not deserved. What on earth is so bad about it? Obviously, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but it seems like Beast's treatment is sort of unfair.

 

The criticism is fair. Kings Island chose to brake rape the thing instead of paying to maintain it properly. It used to give a crazy bat-out-of-hell ride, but is now basically an overrated wooden mine train. I grew up riding the thing and it was my favorite for many years. Now I wouldn't blink if they tore it down entirely.

[PKI Jizzman]

The criticism is fair. Kings Island chose to brake rape the thing instead of paying to maintain it properly. It used to give a crazy bat-out-of-hell ride, but is now basically an overrated wooden mine train. I grew up riding the thing and it was my favorite for many years. Now I wouldn't blink if they tore it down entirely.

 

That's seriously the best way to describe the Beast's condition now. And they are trying to do the same with SoB now, and still continue to pump more and more money into it. Now wouldn't say I wouldn't care if they tore it down, but if I knew Keelboat Canal or a new B&M would be going in, then yeah, I wouldn't mind really.

 

What did it rank on Mitch's poll? 20's or something? I think its rating today is ridiculous.

 

-JZ

 

Edit: It was number 59. Don't know that I was thinking...maybe the Golden Tickets.

[Skramp]

The criticism is fair. Kings Island chose to brake rape the thing instead of paying to maintain it properly. It used to give a crazy bat-out-of-hell ride, but is now basically an overrated wooden mine train. I grew up riding the thing and it was my favorite for many years. Now I wouldn't blink if they tore it down entirely.

 

I would have to agree. Having ridden it for over 20 years, it scarred the crap out of me when I was younger. It was the most wild, crazy ride I'd been on. From the top of the first drop it was raw speed all the way up til the second lift. There really were no brakes between the two lifts and it felt like (especially at the sharp turn before the second lift) that the train was going to fly off the tracks. I agree you can't tear it down, it's an icon and what draws a lot of people to the park. What they should do is tear down everything from the first drop to second lift, expand it about 2000 ft, make flybys, use the tunnels and make it just incredibly long and leave off the brakes, let the terrain be your brakes. Then maybe they'd have "The Beast" back. The trees and surroundings do make it a great ride, but when you're going slow enough to tell what kind of tree you just passed, there's a problem. The one thing that still gets me is going into the double-helix, on the drop down everyone has their arms up, but jams them down right before the tunnel starts. The way they built the tunnel is a great visual effect as it seems so low.

[FeelTheFORCE]

I'm no expert or anything, so I don't know if this would help or not, but perhaps they could reinforce it with modern materials and use modern techniques when doing so. They could then do away with the trims and not worry about it shaking itself apart because it's going too fast. In the process of doing that, they could also give the track and trains a good rehab.

[Scaparri]

Beast gets so much crap these days, and it really is not deserved. What on earth is so bad about it? Obviously, everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, but it seems like Beast's treatment is sort of unfair. Is it too slow for you? I don't care how fast its actually going, because the surrounds make it seem a lot faster. No airtime? That's not even the point of the ride, and yes, there is some on the second drop. Is it too rough? I guess I can understand this, because it is "rough," per se, but the "roughness" is really more bouncy than jarring, and I LOVE that sensation, especially in the helix. Even so, the "roughness" isn't even all that noticeable in a lot of the seats (which absolutely can NOT be said about Voyage - and that's one of the reasons that it doesn't beat Beast for me).

 

There are a ton of things wrong with it. In my opinion, Voyage and Beast shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence. Now if we were dealing with the Beast ten years ago, then we'll talk. But nowadays, it's like a celebrity who goes on the Surreal Life; played out and used up. The Beast's problems boil down to two simple things. The entire layout is overly braked and there are spots that are a bit too rough. They not only put a trim halfway down the first drop (that they use), but they put at least TWO trims down the drop into the double helix (that they use). If they can't take care of the ride enough to leave the double helix and it's drop as is, then they should just take it out because that is what makes that ride. What used to be the greatest moment on any coaster ever, is now a bone-shattering, over-braked experience. Yeah, most of the ride is just bumpy, but then you have the double helix which they obviously don't feel the need to take care of, and is now brutal. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure the train is braked ever harder now through the shed since they added the magnetic brakes.

 

In my opinion, it'll never be a 'really good' ride until they get somebody who takes enough care of it to be able to remove the trims from those drops. There's what's wrong with it in my opinion.

 

Like Ginzo, I wouldn't care if they tore the thing down because, given the history of its current owner, they will never invest the money to restore it to its former glory. It's a flat out shame.

[ginzo]

Like Ginzo, I wouldn't care if they tore the thing down because, given the history of its current owner, they will never invest the money to restore it to its former glory. It's a flat out shame.

 

And even if they did restore the track and remove the trims the ride still wouldn't be as good as it was when it used buzz bars and no center dividers. I remember the year they put in the ratcheting lap bars. That was sad.

[scruffy]

Like Ginzo, I wouldn't care if they tore the thing down because, given the history of its current owner, they will never invest the money to restore it to its former glory. It's a flat out shame.

 

And even if they did restore the track and remove the trims the ride still wouldn't be as good as it was when it used buzz bars and no center dividers. I remember the year they put in the ratcheting lap bars. That was sad.

 

They just replaced the skid breaks with trims. Also their is only one coaster at Kings Island with buzz bars still.

[Groteslurf]

I will ride it for the first time in about 5.5 weeks. It's a pity the train is braked now more than it used to be, but even then, I'm so looking forward to ride this coaster : it looks so cool with all the tunnels and woods around it. I'm very impressed in any case when watching the pov's posted here, even if it might be a bit slower nowadays.

[verticalzero]

When I rode the "Beast" it gave me an awesome ride both during the day and night. So what if it's not as quick as it used to be, the coaster is getting to "middle age" so it needs looking after.

 

We must thank KI for creating such a bold statement in the late 70's with their impressive, massive woodie. The SOB is another wooden coaster landmark in height and speed.

 

Long may the Father and Son reign over KI for years to come.

[PKI Jizzman]

I will ride it for the first time in about 5.5 weeks. It's a pity the train is braked now more than it used to be, but even then, I'm so looking forward to ride this coaster : it looks so cool with all the tunnels and woods around it. I'm very impressed in any case when watching the pov's posted here, even if it might be a bit slower nowadays.

 

Don't get me wrong, it's still a fun ride! Maybe it's just me, but I really like about every coaster I go on. I guess I'm an optimist. It's still fun to speed around through the woods, it's actually really nice scenery out there during the spring and fall. I'm afraid to take a back seat ride due to a ride about a year or two ago that completely beat the crap outa me. I stick to the front car; usually the fron isn't too long of a wait.

 

See ya then, Groteslurf!

-JZ

[steel]

Okay, no offense, but I will not accept "it beat the crap out of me in the back, but Voyage is smooth." Beast is not nearly that rough. Granted, it does get a little out of hand in some seats sometimes, but it certainly does not "beat the crap" out of you.

And I don't care how much people scorn me for this, but Voyage is absolutely not smooth. In any seat. I've ridden Beast in every seat that people might think is rough, and none of it was nearly as bad as my ride in Voyage's third row. THAT was rough. THAT did beat the crap out of me.

Voyage is strange, because the ride actually gets smoother the further back you sit. Even in the back, though, I would never call it smooth.

[CoasterComet]

^ I HOPE it's not that rough, as slow as they are running it.

 

I first rode Beast in '87 and it was still pretty damn wild. I had at least 1 brake less or near-brake less ride around 88 or 89 (rode it in the snow and rain on it's 10th birthday!) That brake less ride scared the crap out of me. It was literally scary. I thought the train was going to RIP right off the track.

 

When I worked at CP 91-93, we would always drive to KI (and Geauga and Kennywood) when we could. The ride was pretty pathetic at that point.

 

Now, with the idiot PTC ratchet bars, frankenstein seatbelts, and pretty 'slow' ride, It's really sad.

 

It could be improved to run fast and wild again, but it would take a lot of money. Some of those curves would not only have to be re-banked (YET again, I think most of them have had inscreased banking like 3 times) but the radii are just too small. Like the curve after drop 1 and the curve before lift 2. So that would be a HUGE project.

 

Even if they put Intamin plug n play track, that would improve it. But with CF at the controls, I don't see any of that happening.

[swampfox]

What is it with wooden coasters from before 2000 being called rough now? I've been around coaster boards for about ten years and some rides that were seen as the best four years ago are now considered rough, even with no changes. Grizzly at KD is supposed to give a rough and tumble ride, but I've heard enthusiasts say they'll never ride it again, and I've never considered it rough. So is this roughness on The Beast like Grizzly at KD rough? It sounds like the type of roughness that is being spoke of. As long as it isn't like the Hurricane at Myrtle Beach Pavilion. That about killed my back.

 

I gotta ride this at night, as I'm a sucker for night rides on anything over daytime rides. Not many will agree, but parks at night to me are more memorable experiences. I'm going to KI for my first time this summer, so maybe one day ride and definitely a night ride on The Beast? I've wanted to ride it since I was like 5 and saw it on America's Greatest Roller Coaster Thrills. Sadly I still have that tape.

[verticalzero]

All "wooden" coasters have some form of roughness, it all depends on when and how much the Park keeps the maintainance up.

 

I love getting slammed into the train sides and bouncing down the track, thats the joy of a woodie.

 

I did not find the "Beast" a worse ride than "Blue Streak" at CP or "Grand National" at BPB.

 

If your after a glass-smooth woodie, go and ride a pre-fabricated coaster.

[PKI Jizzman]

All "wooden" coasters have some form of roughness, it all depends on when and how much the Park keeps the maintainance up.

 

I love getting slammed into the train sides and bouncing down the track, thats the joy of a woodie.

 

I did not find the "Beast" a worse ride than "Blue Streak" at CP or "Grand National" at BPB.

 

If your after a glass-smooth woodie, go and ride a pre-fabricated coaster.

 

And hey, I like a little roughness on my wodden coasters! But holy crap, the Beast's ride can be VERY bad. I've had ride in the middle on a non wheel seat and it just jackhammered up and down the entire ride. In the back, I got a worse ride; slammed back and forth while jack hammering! Ouch is right! From that point on, that's why I stick to the first car. I don't have a bad ride in the first car. I'm too nervous to try any other seat because I've had worse rides on SoB! SoB just shakes you up, Beast beats the crap out of you if you don't know where to sit.