Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

Kings Island (KI) Discussion Thread

p. 832: Camp Snoopy announced for 2024!

Recommended Posts

http://www.wcpo.com/content/news/fresh/story.aspx?content_id=289E4496-E569-4C16-AD7A-925F313ABF8D&gsa=true

 

9 News has learned that Kings Island will be unexpectedly re-opening the Son of Beast today.

The ride was closed over a year ago after numerous people were injured after the ride severely jolted them.

 

Special engineering investigators hired by the Ohio Agriculture Department said a design flaw in the wooden support beams caused the incident and the injuries.

 

Most riders suffered bruises, but at least one was hospitalized for four days with broken bones.

 

King's Island took out the upside-down loop that made the ride distinctive among wooden roller coasters.

 

 

Some riders claim the first two drops are pure airtime! I need to ride this to believe it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am glad that it is back open. It wasnt open when i went 5 yrs ago and that was the reason for going. At least I have a chance now. I definitly will be going next yr. That is the most beautiful coaster I have ever seen in my life. That thing is unbelievable. I hope that people here give it a chance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am glad that it is back open. It wasnt open when i went 5 yrs ago and that was the reason for going. At least I have a chance now. I definitly will be going next yr. That is the most beautiful coaster I have ever seen in my life. That thing is unbelievable. I hope that people here give it a chance.

 

You'll notice however that nearly everyone who has ridden it is saying "burn it down!!" instead of "give it a chance".

 

There's just no saving this waste of wood.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was lucky enough to ride Son of Beast tonight.

Surprisingly, it was a great ride. The best of my 20 or so rides since opening year.

 

1. I rode in the very back, left, red train, at dusk, on one of the last trains of the day

2. This was my first non-kiddie coaster since Holiwood nights 2006 (best rides of my life)

3. I am 5'6", 155 lbs

 

Since everybody is wondering about the roughness: I felt very little. Just a hint of washboarding in the rose bowl (big helix), but not enough to worry about. Not enough to take away form the fun. Speaking of the rose bowl, that was the highlight of the ride. It felt so fast and vertical. Awesome.

 

There was a sniff of airtime over the first two big drops.

The mid-course brakes were on quite hard, but the subsequent drop was still fun. I did miss the loop, and wish it had been replaced with a double down, tunnel, trick-track, or something more interesting. The finale was merely decent.

 

i had no problem with the trains, and strongly prefer them to the originals. It was funny to see them because they look so much smaller and shorter than what I'm used to. It's also ironic that like "The Father", the gate corrals no longer match up properly.

 

All in all, I'm delighted that Son of Beast is re-opened. I don't think it will break anybody's top 10 (or 20), and for me it is still not the epic monster I've hoped for since it was announced. But if it continues to deliver rides like mine tonight, I'll look forward to riding it.

 

Summary: A nice improvement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The "Son" has awoken again to give it's riders lots of punishment.

 

I am glad the ride has re-opened after the accident, giving KI a massive headache in costs etc, I hope it can change the views of coaster lovers that it is not a bad ride anymore. Shame the "loop" was removed. How much of the support wood has been replaced..?

 

Most "steel" inversions can be used on wood coasters.

 

Congratulations to KI on keeping the ride (not listening to all the negative views) and having the titles for "highest, fastest, most wood in 1 park and longest wooden coasters on the planet.

 

Anyone brave enough to do a new "pov".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to ki today and it was open at 2:00, we went to the very front and I have to say that compared to times before it was alot smoother, to me the main roughness is right at the bottom of the 2nd drop into the helix. Also I got off for the first time without a headache. Although we rode it 2 more times and the last time I rode 2nd to the front and it was alot rougher, its like the back part of the car is lose because you feel the car go up and down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i had no problem with the trains, and strongly prefer them to the originals. It was funny to see them because they look so much smaller and shorter than what I'm used to. It's also ironic that like "The Father", the gate corrals no longer match up properly.

 

 

Considering that they had all that time it was closed, they should have been able to make the necessary adjustments to the station with these trains being 6 car 4 passenger trains instead of 6 car 6 passenger trains.

 

Or maybe it was a tribute to "The Father" so to speak?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Two Kings Island Rides Remain Grounded

 

ChannelCincinnati.com

5:09 p.m. EDT July 18, 2007

MASON, Ohio - Kings Island has some disappointing news for thrill seekers: Two of the amusement park's most popular rides are shut down. The Drop Zone has been shut down for about a month for an upgrade.

 

The ride is manufactured by the same company that built the Superman ride in Louisville, which malfunctioned and led to a girl's feet being severed.

 

The incident caused amusement parks across the country to shut down similar rides as a precaution.

 

"I'm glad they're doing something safe," said park visitor Danielle Abney.

 

Kings Island released a statement assuring the public that the Drop Zone has always been licensed to operate, but the ride's manufacturer recommended an upgrade as a precaution.

 

Park officials noted that a part would be replaced on the ride to "enhance ride performance."

 

Meanwhile, the Son of Beast closed again last week, after it had already been closed for a year following an accident that injured 27 people.

 

Workers removed a loop from the ride and installed lighter trains, and park officials said that the reason for this latest shutdown is general maintenance.

 

"I didn't know anything was going on with the Son of Beast, but I guess we can't ride it," said park visitor Daniel Keeling. "Any preventative maintenance they can do is definitely better for the people who come here."

 

Kings Island officials said both rides should open in a matter of days.

 

 

Eh, it's only one park goer's thoughts on it, but they say "Officials" say they should open the ride in a few days! When they said "Enhance Drop Zone's performance, I don't think they mean faster drop or more airtime, for those who might ask.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

The one flat-fronted train design from the Raging Wolf Bobs may very well end up as a third Son of Beast train. However the other three more stylish trains may be put into service on The Beast itself as the maintenance crew is said to be ready to retire the existing PTC trains on the ride.

 

After a side by side comparison season between the PTC trains and the Gerstlauer trains added to Son of Beast in 2007, it seems the maintenance crew may be favoring the G-trains.

 

Photos of the trains from Geauga Lake’s Villain and Raging Wolf Bobs now all on site at Kings Island. Now things are getting interesting it seems, because the park has suddenly become the dumping ground for all these used Gerstlauer wooden coaster trains.

 

Two former trains from Myrtle Beach are currently running on Son of Beast, and now four more G-trains have arrived, three with the more stylish look as seen on The Villain and another with the same classic flat-front look as the Myrtle Beach trains.

 

I could see the later being added as a third train for Son of Beast, but new rumors indicate that The Racer may be involved with the plans for these new trains as well.

 

Makes you wonder if they may take the Racer’s old PTCs and put them on Son of Beast and move all the G-trains over to The Racer. The G-Trains may run quite well on The Racer since they seem to work best on Out & Back style coasters and in my own opinion, they don’t track well on anything with a lot of turns like Son of Beast.

db_2007_1010_GeaugaTrains22.jpg.e2ab597657cf1c3d895e2afabf574468.jpg

db_2007_1010_GeaugaTrains11.jpg.9e9a21bc89680c84936b4201e904a148.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow. If they put those on Beast I think ACE would burn the thing down themselves.

 

What little bit of decent ride there is left would be gone for sure.

 

I just hope they are just going to use them as spare part trains, which seems more likely.

 

If they do put them on Beast, then I probably will never go back to Kings Island as the place might as well close down as far as I'm concerned.

 

Beast used to be my #1 in 99, how far it's fallen. *shudders*

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/