Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

[spaceace12]

^Thanks!

 

I can't wait to go to KI at some point. I've wanted to ride Beast ever since I first heard about it when I was 4 or 5. I know it probably isn't as epic as it was when I was 5 but I still look forward to it!

 

Don't have high expectations for Beast. There is trims all over it. Sometimes it would crawl though straight sections fo track.

[PKI Jizzman]

^Thanks!

 

I can't wait to go to KI at some point. I've wanted to ride Beast ever since I first heard about it when I was 4 or 5. I know it probably isn't as epic as it was when I was 5 but I still look forward to it!

 

Don't have high expectations for Beast. There is trims all over it. Sometimes it would crawl though straight sections fo track.

 

Crawl? Despite all the trimming, I'd say every ride I've had it's still a VERY fast ride and has some strong laterals on a good day. The only time it's crawling is on the lift hill!

[SharkTums]

^Oh come on, it's not like fast or out of control like the woodies he's probably thinking of. And I've ridden it several times where it is crawling!!!

[Thelegendarymatthew]

What a shame, another coaster is going to go away. I can't say anything about the ride itself, because I have never rode it. However, from what the majority say, it seems like a very unpleasant ride. I still see good reviews on this ride though, about 25% of the time I would say. That has to make it worth something at least. At least something more than Mean Streak, right?

 

I was really looking forward to riding this ride next year, but there is more of a chance that Laser Snake Horse on Fire will be built in Great America.

 

-Matt

[downunder]

Has there been a formal announcement?

 

It does seems likely this is it rather than just being closed for the 2010 season but you never know -they might do a Texas Giant style refurb. Though my money is on Cedar Fair cutting their losses.

 

Personally, Die Son Of Beast die!

 

BTW The Beast was horrible in 2007, the drop into the shed after the second lift hill was the most painful experience I have ever had on a coaster.

 

Now let's all pray for an Intamin Prefab Woodie to take it's place, Son of Balder.

[ArizonaGuy]

^^

What a shame. SoB was pants down the best woodie in my book. Ugh!

 

In that case, you really need to get out more. But to each his own.

 

Yeh...I do need to get out more....I'm workin' on it. My book is about 17 years younger than yours so I need time to catch up. At least I didn't say that the Rattler at SFFT was my favorite woodie. LOL

[Josh Linn]

Looks like the writing is definitely on the wall, if it hasn't been already.

[themeparkologist]

This seemed unstoppable from the accident. Are there any plans for new attractions in that huge, gaping stretch of land? A GCI, perhaps? They seemed quite impressed with Prowler.

[spaceace12]

^Thanks!

 

I can't wait to go to KI at some point. I've wanted to ride Beast ever since I first heard about it when I was 4 or 5. I know it probably isn't as epic as it was when I was 5 but I still look forward to it!

 

Don't have high expectations for Beast. There is trims all over it. Sometimes it would crawl though straight sections fo track.

 

Crawl? Despite all the trimming, I'd say every ride I've had it's still a VERY fast ride and has some strong laterals on a good day. The only time it's crawling is on the lift hill!

 

I have only ridden it once and it seemed really slow. Plus the trims kill all the spots where I expected airtime. They even have a trim on the drop and in the rosebowl. I was there on opening day last year, so it might not have been fully awake yet, but it wasn't pleasent and it wasn't very fast.

[SharkTums]

This seemed unstoppable from the accident. Are there any plans for new attractions in that huge, gaping stretch of land? A GCI, perhaps? They seemed quite impressed with Prowler.

 

 

As nice of an idea as that is, it would NOT be a good idea for the park. You have to remember that the General Public is quite stupid, and will think it's the exact same ride if you build a new woodie in place of an old one. Just look at Terminator at SFMM. It doesn't get a terrible line most of the time, and if you listen to people around the ride they talk about how it's the same as Psyclone!

[jedimaster1227]

^Without throwing the concept out there too prematurely, I wouldn't have a problem if they retracked and modified Son of Beast using the same technique as the one being applied to Texas Giant right now... Maybe then we could even get the loop back.

 

I can dream!

[redfoot12]

Crawl? Despite all the trimming, I'd say every ride I've had it's still a VERY fast ride and has some strong laterals on a good day. The only time it's crawling is on the lift hill!

 

I have only ridden it once and it seemed really slow. Plus the trims kill all the spots where I expected airtime. They even have a trim on the drop and in the rosebowl. I was there on opening day last year, so it might not have been fully awake yet, but it wasn't pleasent and it wasn't very fast.

 

Yeah, I've heard that it's been neutered through the years. I hear it can still give a good night ride though.

[DOCTOR DOOM!!!]

^ Beast was neutered from the start! The trims used to be skid brakes. Now their magnetic. The magnetic brakes hit harder for a shorter period of time which is why people complain. They can really be felt compared to the skid brakes especially on the drops. However the overall speed that is obtained is the same except the skid brakes aren't as effective as the magnetic brakes.

 

Beast only tens to crawl when their aren't many people riding IMO. Also i had an absolutely epic ride on the Breast during a thunderstorm during Halloween Haunt 2009! Smooth, fast, out of control, lightning everywhere, EPIC!!!

 

 

This is an early video of the Beast, empty old trains with buzzbars, crawls, and has skid trims!

 

I've also seen a video that i couldn't find from park managers around 1978-1979 explaining how they decided to fire it up one rainy night after it was just built before the trims were installed and rode it! The train moved so fast they thought the train blasted through the wall of the first tunnel and the whole ride scared the pee out of them all!!! Also I believe the Beast would tear itself apart without trims do to the lack of banking or low degree of banking on alot of turns. If the Beast was never trimmed, I doubt it would still be standing today.

[deathbydinn]

While it was always trimmed it kept getting worse and worse. You can see how many more skid trims they added from when that ^ Was shot, and when this was shot.

 

[DOCTOR DOOM!!!]

^ i see what you mean especially on the drops off both the lifts. I do stand corrected but in you're video the train is moving MUCH faster. I wish we could compare the loadout of both the trains cause their are riders in both videos cause you can hear voices. However, their's no one in line so both videos may have minimally loaded trains.

[dmaxsba2408]

^Without throwing the concept out there too prematurely, I wouldn't have a problem if they retracked and modified Son of Beast using the same technique as the one being applied to Texas Giant right now... Maybe then we could even get the loop back.

 

I can dream!

 

As you can see from my avatar, I would totally agree with your dream. I would hope before they go tearing SOB down they wait to see what happens with the Texas Giant. This coaster could be saved if what's going on in Texas works. Just wondering about costs. Would it be cheaper to tear it down and build a new attraction or do the Texas Giant treatment to it?

 

As for The Beast I had some great rides on it last season and some really bad ones. Some days it was smooth and fast and on a few rides I might even call it VERY fast. It rode like the days before the new type of trims were installed. Didn't even notice they were there. However on other days it really was horrible, ruff and slow and lots of jerky air brakes.

 

I really do miss the old trims though, even when it was over trimmed on some rides it never seemed so controlled as it does now. I can remember one night when I was a 18ish, was in line for The Beast. The station smelled like beer and smoke and full of people all yelling and having a great time. YES back then you could afford to get drunk at a theme park and could still smoke in line. What horrible concepts, surprised I don't have lung cancer from all the smoke. (< that was sarcasm and I was around 18 so, no I had not been partaking in the beer) The ride that night was absolutely the best ride I ever had on The Beast. Not once did I notice any trim brakes at all. It was as if the rides trims were turned off, that coaster was flying through the woods hitting turns harder and faster than I could ever remember it hitting before. It was coaster heaven.

 

Now that I think about it, ever since Paramount took over the place and stopped selling beer and now CF having it and beer costing over 7 dollars. I don't think I have ever had the same experience in line for The Beast I had when I was young. There has always been something missing and that something would be all the feel good drunks smoking while hanging out in line at night for The Beast all talking to everyone and cheering when a train came back from it's journey. It is so quiet in there all the time now and what was a pleasant (my opinion) beer/cigarette odor now replaced with the smell of sweat.

[OldJJman]

I rode it several times in 1979, on a drizzle filled day.

 

The skid brakes did little to nothing to slow the trains down. Barely felt them as you exited the shed into that right-hand turn. Painful slamming laterals!! It would fly throughout the course. By the time you hit the second chain, the WHOLE train would be on the lift (all 4 cars) before the chain caught.

 

The only other time I've been on the Beast when it's ran like that was the day after Stark Raven Mad in 1999. A huge thunderstorm came through in the early evening, lasted about 1.5 hours and cleared out the park of 90% of the guests. We headed straight for the beast, and got on the first few trains (we re-rode, as crowds were pretty much non-existent) after the rain. The skid pads were soaked, and it was a great ride!

 

Other than speed, the Beast never had airtime. Now, with the magnetic brakes, it's nothing more than a glorified wooden mine train, with a descent helix.

 

 

JJ

[ginzo]

^Evidence that wisdom can come with age.

[SFOGdude25]

I respect the Beast for what it is.

I remember my very first ride on it back in 2000. I was only 9, and at the time, Beast was the craziest roller coaster I had ever ridden. I also remember the second drop after the first tunnel having some good airtime. However, being only 9, it did not take much uplift force to lift my little body out of the seat, and nearly everything seems really intense when you are that young.

Even now, with all the trims and the recent retracking of the double helix, the Beast is still relatively fun. There is still a real sense of speed along the backstretch before the second lift.

I agree that it is not the ride that it once was, though.

[Skycoastin Steve]

I still think Beast is good enough. I had a night ride in 2007 that was nothing short of spectacular, but my daytime rides have left a lot to be desired. They have to protect the structure, though, and the engineering from 30 years ago just wasn't good enough for this ride to stand on its own without modifying it.

 

As far as SOB's fate, I guess it's pretty clear they don't want it around anymore. I would love to see another woodie take its place, but as Elissa said, would the GP truly get it that it was a different coaster? Even as massive as the structure is, and how much different a GCI or GG would look there, I can't help but think the morons of the park going world wouldn't be able to put two and two together. Plus, what would they call it, Grandson of Beast?

[CoasterGeek101]

The beast can still get a few more years out of it. I rode it 3 time in a row and I wasn't bleeding.

[redfoot12]

^^

The Prodigal Son of Beast?

[robbalvey]

This seemed unstoppable from the accident. Are there any plans for new attractions in that huge, gaping stretch of land? A GCI, perhaps? They seemed quite impressed with Prowler.

 

 

As nice of an idea as that is, it would NOT be a good idea for the park. You have to remember that the General Public is quite stupid, and will think it's the exact same ride if you build a new woodie in place of an old one. Just look at Terminator at SFMM. It doesn't get a terrible line most of the time, and if you listen to people around the ride they talk about how it's the same as Psyclone!

I just had to show someone at my office the other day the pictures of Psyclone being demolished because they WOULD NOT BELIEVE ME when I told them that Terminator was a brand new roller coaster. They were all "No it's not. It's Psyclone with a different name."

 

I pulled up this picture to convince them:

 

Yeah, the GP are stupid when it comes to things like this.

 

The GP at Knott's still think that Riptide and Hammerhead are both the same ride too.

[jamesdillaman]

Burn it down.

[SFOGdude25]

Not only is Son of Beast not on the park map, but it is also not on the website's list of rides!

I wouldn't count on KI tearing down SOB yet. They may have plans to re-open it, heavily modify it, or something of that nature, but the best thing to do is destroy this monster.

Check it out: http://www.visitkingsisland.com/public/park/rides/thrill_rides/index.cfm

Note the website update as well. It looks nice.