Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

[coasterkyle]

I feel this going to be KI's "Drachen Fire". I just hope it dose not stay SBNO for years to come, and CF just cuts there losses and bring SOB down sooner than later.

[Movieguy]

Well, that's another missed credit for me. Oh well.

 

From the sound of things, SOB was rougher than Predator at DL, so in that case, good riddance. Though I have to wonder, why is it so darned hard to make a woodie smooth these days?

[CardCraze]

Oh thank goodness. Now I don't have to subject myself to grueling pain in a desperate attempt for a credit.

 

I heard so many negative things about the ride, with the fact it was SBNO. I am not the least bit suprised or shocked, nor am I upset to see this one go.

[PKIDelirium]

Has anyone confirmed SOB's removal yet?! all we know is the crate's been removed and the line's been fenced off! They prolly fenced off the line to keep people from mucking about where they aren't supposed to be!

 

Removing that huge sign seems like a lot of trouble to go to if they were planning to bring SoB back--especially when all they had to do was chain off or otherwise block access to the queue. We shall see.

 

Chuck's right. SOB's been chained off for the past few years. Nothing has been said, but actions are louder than words!

 

Yeah, but now they've actually removed the queue fencing for the first 25 feet or so and have it blocked off around the corner, so you can't see it from the midway.

 

KI's Drachen Fire is a good term for it right now.

[derwood]

I have a question for the people who rode SOB in its first year of operation. Was it always a terrible ride? Did you get off the ride the first time and immediately come to that conclusion or was it kind of average and deteriorate over time?

Just curious.

 

Rode it exactly once the year it opened after waiting three hours. In ten years we never did get back on it. It was that bad.

 

Hell, I'll even ride Mean Streak when I go to CP...there is never a wait.

 

-daron

[Six Flags Enthuseast]

Also a missed credit for me, but really, was it that much of a loss? I've been questioning how long this would stay after the loop was removed because it didn't seem like something worth keeping, and I'm actually a little glad that it's been put out of its misery. I hope that Kings Island replaces it with a good GCI or something.

 

Patrick "Granson of Beast??? Let the speculation begin!" Carnahan

[jamesdillaman]

As a season pass holder most of the seasons that SOB was open, I rode the coaster exactly 5 times. Once in the first season (Actually the first week it was open, waited 5 hours just for it one day, because it kept going down for maintenence), and three times were with friends from out of state who just needed the credit, where it became a macho thing of "I can handle SOB, too..." The only truly enjoyable time I've had on that ride was the very first time up the lift hill (Although it was way loud with the double rollbacks) and halfway down the first drop. Then it was just pain once the wheels were on the track, not to mention the lapbar system of the old trains were HORRIBLE, and when they stapled you in was sometimes hard to breathe.

[Erik Johnson]

^ Well you know my feelings about this ride after we rode it last year. It really is a terrible unsafe coaster.

[SFOGdude25]

The land Son of Beast rests on could be used for a decent terrain coaster, which is hard to notice due to the layout. There are a few good hillsides in the area.

I'm ready to watch it be dismantled board by board.

Personally it would be more fun to watch it be demolished via explosives the same way buildings are demolished, but then again this is wood, not steel and concrete, so that's probably not the best idea.

[Pingu1651]

Personally it would be more fun to watch it be demolished via explosives the same way buildings are demolished, but then again this is wood, not steel and concrete, so that's probably not the best idea.

 

*Gets referred to the post about there being arsenic in pressure treated wood*

 

I'm just hoping it'll be a spot for a new Gravity Group woodie. Mmm... 90 degrees makes me happy. For an added bonus, Gravity Group is from Cincy, so you never know.

[Montuman99]

Now Colossos at Heide Park is the tallest and fastest wooden coaster. El Toro now has the highest drop. Everything is changing! AHHHHHHH!!!!

[DOCTOR DOOM!!!]

Has anyone confirmed SOB's removal yet?! all we know is the crate's been removed and the line's been fenced off! They prolly fenced off the line to keep people from mucking about where they aren't supposed to be!

 

Removing that huge sign seems like a lot of trouble to go to if they were planning to bring SoB back--especially when all they had to do was chain off or otherwise block access to the queue. We shall see.

 

Chuck's right. SOB's been chained off for the past few years. Nothing has been said, but actions are louder than words!

 

Yeah, but now they've actually removed the queue fencing for the first 25 feet or so and have it blocked off around the corner, so you can't see it from the midway.

 

KI's Drachen Fire is a good term for it right now.

 

Referring to an older post of mine, I wouldn't compare them because Drachen Fire was at the back of the park and couldn't really be seen. SOB can easily be seen from a long distance. They may as well add a sign that says, "NOTHING UNUSUAL HERE, KEEP MOVING TO ENJOY FLIGHT DECK!" Also I heard on KI central that some lady and a young boy were mucking about the SOB area on opening day which may justify doing more to the entrance than just roping it off!

 

I still say that removing the sign and the entrance means nothing! This will be the second time it's been down for over a year (not that thats a good thing). Removing from websites, map, crates and entrances are just a way too not advertise a coster they *KNOW* won't operate this season. I want to see what happens next. Remove and replace or simply modify would make me happy!

Edited April 26, 2010 by DOCTOR DOOM!!!

[coasterkyle]

I wouldn't compare them because Drachen Fire was at the back of the park and couldn't really be seen. SOB can easily be seen from a long distance.

I was just comparing them in the fact that both were modified to reduce the pain experienced during the ride, but that didn't help anything. Now SOB, like DF just sits dormant. I just hope it doesn't take as long to tear it down as DF did.

[redfoot12]

^The main reason it took so long to dismantle Drachen Fire was that Busch was trying to sell the coaster for a few years before they decided to scrap it. Doubt SoB will be put up for sale.

[cfc]

^A bald eagle built a nest on the lifthill, too--that also set them back on removal. Maybe they could rebrand SoB as an eagle habitat.

[10ryansmith]

On the issue of the lady and the kid, all they have to stop you from going up the exit and passed the onride photo stand, is a waist high gate that even a child could climb over. Good example, on Sunday, several people were seen in the station of SOB, and they got out of there without the staff even knowing that they were there.

 

Question, never really noticed before but were the trains for SOB stored in a shed somewhere or was it like The Beast and stored in a open aired shed? I ask because when I was there on Sunday, I couldn't see any of the trains.

 

I love that SOB is hopefully being taken out, but I hate that The Beast had been TAMED. TAMED I tell you. All the damn trims that they have on that ride is ridiculous. The have one on the FIRST hill, then one in the track that is covered(at the very bottom of that), and then one on the DROP going into the death helix. I agree with the one on the drop into the helix of death, but the other ones seem to stupid. It was a great ride when it started to rain and the only trims that were working well enough were the ones in the cover area, but when it was not raining, and it pains me to say this, but the ride is not worth the effort.

[Xizor_Racer]

^A bald eagle built a nest on the lifthill, too--that also set them back on removal. Maybe they could rebrand SoB as an eagle habitat.

 

Bring Back Lion country Safari!

 

Ryan... last year you could see the trains covered in plastic from the Eifel Tower. Might even be a picture someplace in this thread.

[RCoasterny]

Interestingly enough, Roller-Coaster Corporation of America was the designer, along with Werner Stengel. Gertslauer was the builder and Premier was the supplier of the trains. The trains were later replaced with PTC's from Myrtle Beach Pavilion Hurricane. I wonder if RCCA is still in business today.

[RoCo]

As truly horrible as my last ride on this debacle was (late spring '09), this still makes me kind of sad. SOB came along during that crazy, awesome turn-of-the-century boom period when huge new coasters were opening all over the damned place, and I actually got a few decent rides on it during those early years.

 

Here's hoping the Iron Giant makeover works and can be used to save this puppy, too.

[teebone]

^^I may be wrong, but I believe RCCA was the original builder but then construction was finished by Kings Island after a dispute.The trains that came from the Pavilion were Gerstlauer's not PTC's.I did not like those trains any more than the Premiers,they had more leg room but there was not enough padding.I remember reading somewhere RCCA is out business.

[Mr Clutch]

Per Greg Scheid, Kings Island Vice President & General Manager is reviewing quotes for design changes to fix the the ride. I love to take first timers on SOB and watch their facial expressions while in the "Rose Bowl"!!

 

"Scheid said he has asked three engineering firms to submit proposals for a long-term fix. One firm’s proposal was unsatisfactory, he said, and he is waiting for the others."

 

http://www.oxfordpress.com/news/oxford-news/son-of-beast-wont-open-this-season-607408.html

 

The Son of Beast will remain idle for this season, Kings Island announced Thursday evening, March 18. The world’s tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster has caused trouble for the amusement park since it opened in 2000 and has cost nearly $30 million for construction and subsequent repairs, according to the Kings Island vice president and general manager, Greg Scheid.

 

When the park opens April 17, park goers will find Planet Snoopy – a new kids’ area themed to Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the rest of the PEANUTS gang – and major thrill rides but no Son of Beast.

 

On June 23, 2009, the coaster was abruptly shut down for the year after a 39-year-old Mason woman reported she had a burst blood vessel in her brain as a result of riding the coaster.

 

Scheid said he’s not ready to give up on the major investment just yet. Structurally, he said the ride is sound but he is not pleased with the thrill ride’s performance.

 

Since the roller coaster opened, six incidents involving injury have been reported. After each incident, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which oversees all amusement park rides in the state, has inspected the ride and cleared it for reopening.

 

Scheid said he has asked three engineering firms to submit proposals for a long-term fix. One firm’s proposal was unsatisfactory, he said, and he is waiting for the others.

 

Last fall, a forensic engineer provided video testimony in a civil lawsuit that Kings Island was “negligent” and “put passengers at risk” by using a Band-Aid approach to fixing the ride.

 

Jennifer Wright of Defiance sued park owners Cedar Fair after she and 26 others were injured on the ride July 7, 2006. The jury awarded Wright $76,364 in compensatory damages, and then park officials struck an undisclosed settlement with Wright on punitive damages, before the jury could hear the engineer’s testimony.

 

Scheid said the park hasn’t talked about tearing down the ride. “It’s more of a how do we make it right,” he said.

 

ADMIN EDIT: I have quoted the story you have linked so that readers don't have to hyperlink to see the news. Thanks for sharing this with us!

Edited April 26, 2010 by jedimaster1227

[ConleyKE]

^ I wonder if the first firm's proposal was to just tear the sucker down?

[PKI Jizzman]

Wow I didn't know this was going public!

 

Hmmm what's the name of that amazing wooden coaster company that has home offices 20 minutes away? I think they built this coaster called the Voyage?

[Hockeydad]

...“It’s more of a how do we make it right”.

 

Uhhhhh!...TEAR IT DOWN?

[deathbydinn]

I'm actually pretty happy that SOB could be saved. While the layout isn't amazing it's still a ride I want to get on before I die. If they took the Texas Giant approach and put steel track on the ride, could this possibly make it so they could bring the loop back?