Comments on: Kings Island to Remove Son of Beast

By: RCTPro

RCTPro — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 16:21:25 +0000

I second that about it being poorly executed Gearhart, they went with the wrong company and paid the price, maybe if they went with CCI (who was in business at the time if I am correct), then maybe it would have been a success. But my ideal replacement would be the first RMC multi-looping wooden coaster with a loop and other inverts, a fitting homage to this failure,

By: christian

christian — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 04:02:24 +0000

I had plans to goto ohio this year to Kings Island and Cedar Point but didn't make it. But i have always wanted to ride SOB and The Beast as I'm told they are sister coasters of the Grizzly at KIngs Dominion. I think the Grizzly is by far one of my favorite wooden coasters and from what i've seen on the net and youtube and word of mouth The Beast and SOB are alot taller and longer coasters it's a shame I never got the chance to experience SOB. But hopin next year to do The beast, and of corse i can't go without my Kings Dominion and Hershey Park fix.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 03:19:33 +0000

Was at KI last Thursday. Where SOB is standing now has very few rides (i.e., Flight Deck). Given that SOB couldn't be safely operated it is best to have it removed so that other things can go there.

By: Par4

Par4 — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 21:26:25 +0000

I rode SOB in 2002 with the loop…it was awesome. So glad I can say I experienced it.

By: @mattmcirvin

@mattmcirvin — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 15:19:15 +0000

I've seen old videos of The Bat, and it looks incredible. As much as I loved The Big Bad Wolf at BGW, the suspended-coaster action on that looks to have been a pale shadow of The Bat. It's too bad that the associated forces were simply too much for the reliability of the ride.

By: Jason Lanning

Jason Lanning — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 01:43:41 +0000

I rode SOB several times between 2000 and 2009 with the loop, without the loop. with the new trains and with the old trains. The ride had major problems from the start. For starters yes it was an incredibly rough ride. The train shook side to side instead of skipping up and down like most rough wodden coasters. At 75mph with this type of roughness, it would cause your vision to blur for a few seconds. Between 2007-2009, I rode the coaster only three times( I have season passes) because of the roughness. Each time when the ride dropped down the 2nd hill into the helix and shook, I’d wish the ride was over because it was bordering on very painful and not fun. The only smooth part of the ride was the loop during the early years. The Mean Streak at Cedar Point is rough but you can catch your breath because it winds within intself up and down hills. The Son of Beast spent large parts of the ride above 65-70 mph, making the shaking or bad parts last more than a second or two. Also, what makes the beast famous is the number and length of tunnels. It always amazed me they never added any tunnels to SOB. This is the 2nd major (record breaking) attraction to fail Kings Island..see 1980′s The Bat! Now that ride I wish I was old enough to have ridden..:)

By: MDC

MDC — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 00:18:23 +0000

You are judging rides off of YouTube.

Really?

By: Robert

Robert — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 01:38:44 +0000

Not to make an argument out of this, but those records are both for the world. At least according to RCDB. Feel free to correct me if I'm missing something though.

By: chewie0905

chewie0905 — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 12:23:14 +0000

Fastest and biggest drop in North America, thatis

By: Surya

Surya — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 11:10:02 +0000

What I heard was that
- The loop was removed so they could install new, lighter trains so they would have less maintenance
- The structure wasn't stable enough any more.

Here's hoping for a new Intamin or Rocky Mountain woody, even though I'd be very happy to see a Gravity Group one to!