Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

[KI Kidd]

^Cedar Fair is self-insured.

[Hilltopper39]

^So your telling me there's a chance.....

[KI Kidd]

Yeah I think that announcement is coming next week lol

[Hilltopper39]

^your right, this demolition announcement is probably some "Elaborate hoax by a local amusement park as a publicity stunt for their latest attraction".....

[Skycoastin Steve]

SOB was a "no good seat anywhere" ride.

Pretty much. My one ride was in the front row and it was still brutal.

 

I'm pretty sure SOB had the loudest lift, too. It was absolutely deafening. Especially at the top. Those who have ridden, I'm sure you can agree haha

I definitely remember covering my ears about halfway up. If the ride wasn't beating your bones to powder, it was shattering your ear drums. It was a lose-lose ride.

[3Mutts]

Not surprising, given it history and sitting 3 years. All I can say now is good bye SOB, you won't be missed!

[skibumpaul]

I rode this coaster in the front seat (pure agony) middle (this hurts quite a bit), and the back (my money's in my shoe, please just make it stop!!!!!). Aside from the very first year of operation, this coaster hurt any and everyone. Plus, the design was pitiful. Aside from the first drop, which never felt that big, and the drop into the loop, it was just a couple helixes. The coaster was great to look at but that was where the enjoyment ended (a little like Mean Streak). I can only hope that they use the 12 acres wisely as that area needs a little more punch. Maybe a giga with a drop like Expedition GeForce (I love the look of the turn into the drop). Shoot, I'd take a Megalite and be perfectly happy. Plenty of terrain to work with.

 

Interesting to me are the additional footers that one could see under the SOB's station. They weren't used and I never knew if they were accidents or not. With my general opinion of the ride, the idea that they were accidents is much more funny than any other explanation.

[Movieguy]

I never rode this coaster, but from all I've heard, it's good to know that this RCCA-made abomination is finally going to be erased from existence.

 

As for the replacement, It better not be something too unorthodox. Somebody here once said that KI seems to focus more on innovation than on rider comfort. To me, anything from Intamin would be good. Maybe an plug-n-play woodie, so that this park would finally have a rideable wood coaster.

[molemaster43]

I never rode this coaster, but from all I've heard, it's good to know that this RCCA-made abomination is finally going to be erased from existence.

 

As for the replacement, It better not be something too unorthodox. Somebody here once said that KI seems to focus more on innovation than on rider comfort. To me, anything from Intamin would be good. Maybe an plug-n-play woodie, so that this park would finally have a rideable wood coaster.

 

What about the Beast, the Racer, and Woodstock Express?

[KI Kidd]

I never rode this coaster, but from all I've heard, it's good to know that this RCCA-made abomination is finally going to be erased from existence.

 

As for the replacement, It better not be something too unorthodox. Somebody here once said that KI seems to focus more on innovation than on rider comfort. To me, anything from Intamin would be good. Maybe an plug-n-play woodie, so that this park would finally have a rideable wood coaster.

 

 

Under Paramount I would agree. Tomb Raider, Flight of Fear, and SOB were all certainly high risk/high reward installations and two of them failed rather miserably. Under Cedar Fair, especially over the next couple of years where we begin to see installations that were planned by current management, I would expect to see the vast majority of rides to be reliable, proven technologies.

[Brian6325]

I rode Son of Beast about 10 or so times in the first three seasons. I will agree it was a really intense ride, but I do think it was better then Mean Streak at Cedar Point. I never had the chance to ride it with out the loop as the last time I was at Kings Island was in 2006 and it was closed after the accident.

[Movieguy]

 

What about the Beast, the Racer, and Woodstock Express?

 

Well, I hear that Beast has been trimmed to hell, and now very rough in its own right. Racer and Woodstock express, I never hear anything about. Forgive my KI ignorance.

[brneff99]

Aahh...SOB Memories...we rode one time....6/14/09...which I believe is 1-2 days before it closed forever...we had to get the credit and see what all the fuss was about...my youngest son was 9...not tall enough to ride Diamond Back which had just opened but he was allowed on this ride of bodily destruction...I remember thinking the entire time that I was going to be pounded to death so what must it be doing to him...he still tells horror stories to all of his buddies that he rode this large mass of hell...and yet, deep down somewhere inside of me, I can see the sadness of a complete miss here...this concept might have worked under difference circumstances, builders, trains, etc...there was a certain thrill on that lift hill...it was hidden behind the deafening chain noise for sure...and a completely disappointing layout...

 

Sadly, on that same trip, I learned that the elder Beast was not the ride I remembered so fondly from my Youth either...although the late night post fireworks ride in the fog was still pretty awesome.

[GayCoasterGuy]

Sadly, on that same trip, I learned that the elder Beast was not the ride I remembered so fondly from my Youth either...although the late night post fireworks ride in the fog was still pretty awesome.

 

Yes. It still bums me out. Rides up until somewhere around 1991 could still be outta effin control. *If* the brakes were light for some reason and/or if you got it during or right after the rain. I remember distinctly thinking "this is going to RIP OFF the track" on those curves after the 350' long brake shed. It could still provide an insane ride. Then came all the PTC *gear* and heavy brakes.. Does anyone remember when they added the pinch/clamp brakes? I thought it had skids into the 90s... I figure the new mag brakes are better than the clamp brakes, but there cannot be adjustment now.

 

Any which way, people still LOVE the ride! So it's a win for most folks. I figure the ride really earned it's reputation in those first 10 years or so.

[Movieguy]

Here's an idea...instead of a new coaster, why not have GCI come in and fix up Beast, like I heard they're doing for the Coney Island Cylcone.

[GigaG]

I never rode this coaster, but from all I've heard, it's good to know that this RCCA-made abomination is finally going to be erased from existence.

 

As for the replacement, It better not be something too unorthodox. Somebody here once said that KI seems to focus more on innovation than on rider comfort. To me, anything from Intamin would be good. Maybe an plug-n-play woodie, so that this park would finally have a rideable wood coaster.

 

 

Under Paramount I would agree. Tomb Raider, Flight of Fear, and SOB were all certainly high risk/high reward installations and two of them failed rather miserably. Under Cedar Fair, especially over the next couple of years where we begin to see installations that were planned by current management, I would expect to see the vast majority of rides to be reliable, proven technologies.

 

 

Don't forget the Bat!

 

I agree with the lift sound, that was pretty loud.

 

In my opinion, SoB was a great concept, but about the poorest way to execute it.

[Airtime&Gravity]

Here's an idea...instead of a new coaster, why not have GCI come in and fix up Beast, like I heard they're doing for the Coney Island Cylcone.

 

I don't even think GCI could fix Beast. Due it being a terrain coaster, a whole new layout would need to be created to make the experience exciting as opposed to fun but with little to remember.

[VandeSte]

So, it seems that SOB was like the Drachen Fire of its age. Both rides were under ten years old.

[3Mutts]

Here's an idea...instead of a new coaster, why not have GCI come in and fix up Beast, like I heard they're doing for the Coney Island Cylcone.

 

I don't even think GCI could fix Beast. Due it being a terrain coaster, a whole new layout would need to be created to make the experience exciting as opposed to fun but with little to remember.

GCI could fix the Beast Considering they did fix a section of Boulder Dash at Lake Compunce. Plus I think the Beast is exciting already but it needs the trims removed and be retracked in a lot of places.

[stashua123]

Here's an idea...instead of a new coaster, why not have GCI come in and fix up Beast, like I heard they're doing for the Coney Island Cylcone.

 

I don't even think GCI could fix Beast. Due it being a terrain coaster, a whole new layout would need to be created to make the experience exciting as opposed to fun but with little to remember.

GCI could fix the Beast Considering they did fix a section of Boulder Dash at Lake Compunce. Plus I think the Beast is exciting already but it needs the trims removed and be retracked in a lot of places.

 

Ya need too especially fix the drop in the ravine near the second lift hill. You hear a noise from the track and wheels and your like what was that noise and the need to make a little smoother transitions if you sit in the very back you get beat up because of those seat dividers and you cant see anything because of those headrests

 

Now when i think about it it needs to be retracked in some spots and they need to get rid of those PTC seat dividers headrests and those uncomfortable lap bars

Edited July 31, 2012 by stashua123

[Emiroo]

Exactly!

[DBru]

Have any of you guys ridden The Beast this season? The park actually retracked many sections of the ride over the off-season and it has been running heavenly since April. I was very impressed!

[SFOGdude25]

^Yeah! I was at the park this past week and the Beast was running amazing!

Here's the thing about the Beast's brakes: the ride has always had brakes. The only difference that set's these magnetic brakes apart from the skid brakes is that the magnetic brakes grab a little harder, but the speed is essentially the same as it always has been (unless you rode on a rainy day). The ride still picks up some amazing speed just before the second lift. I do think that the trims on the second drop and the shed brakes kill the pace a bit, though.

Edited August 1, 2012 by SFOGdude25

[PKI Jizzman]

Rode in the back seat and it was pretty bad. Rode at night in a middle seat and it was fun.

 

Only ride during the night! I really wish they would re-do the ride. Which is more painful...slamming into the restraint from the brakes every 30 seconds or the jackhammering?

[cfc]

I didn't think Beast was particularly rough when I rode it a few years ago (can't speak for how it is now, of course). I like it because it is unique among wooden coasters, thanks to its rather eccentric layout.