Now that the final piece of Son of Beast has been removed, more than ever, Kings Island fans must be wondering what will happen to this now empty plot of land.
Even without Son of Beast, Kings Island is among the largest theme parks in the World in terms of its number of roller coasters. With its arsenal of 13 coasters, they already have a number of the major coaster categories represented in their lineup. They’ve got a flying roller coaster, two launch roller coasters, a hyper coaster, a suspended coaster, an inverted shuttle coaster, a twin racing woodie, and a massive terrain woodie.
Here are the types of roller coasters that fall on the thrill end of the spectrum that Kings Island could add: a wing roller coaster, a giga roller coaster, a looping wooden-steel roller coaster (Rocky Mt or Gravity Group), and a traditional woodie. Could Kings Island throw us a curve ball and add something like a water roller coaster (like Divertical or Journey to Atlantis)?
Out of these options, I’d be most excited for a multi-launch terrain looper like Maverick, blue fire Megacoaster (pictured right) or Projekt Helix. With rumors of Cedar Fair’s Arrow loopers possibly becoming extinct, a next generation looper would be a strong addition.
Then, if the park does remove Vortex they could add a woodie at Vortex’s location. By then looping hybrid woodies may have come along even further in their development. Who knows what will be possible? Launched, looping, woodie anyone?
I admit that this is more of a selfish pick, than a what might be best for the park pick. I haven’t ridden Maverick or Cheetah Hunt, but having something like this within a day’s drive would be awesome. One of those crazy new hybrid woodies would probably be a better choice to differentiate Kings Island from Cedar Point.
Here’s a video of Son of Beast’s demolition:
What’s your take? Can you think of another type of coaster that Kings Island could or should add? Leave a comment below. Image 1 via Kings Island’s Facebook page. Image 2 via CC Flickr user Roller Coaster Philosophy.
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November 24, 2012 at 08:52
I thick an awesomely themed multi-launch looper like blue fire would be perfect (I'd vote for Mack as Ohio does not have one of these anywhere). If vortex came down too, i'd then opt for an intamin prefab woodie as well.
November 24, 2012 at 11:33
Why not put an awsome 4D coaster in?! Only 1 in the US(X2) and it is a big hit. A giant 4D coaster would be sweet at KI. Im sure they have lots of $$ since their last coaster was Diamondback in 09. I would be surprised if they added two!
November 24, 2012 at 14:53
ohhh, interesting thought, how about the S&S free-fly x?
November 24, 2012 at 23:36
I couldn’t agree, more…
November 24, 2012 at 13:13
Of the options presented, I voted for a multi-launch mega looper– preferably by Mack.
But what I really, really want them to do (but will never happen) is have Gravity Group come in and "fix" The Beast. I would like to see them add some traditional wooden coaster hills like The Voyage to make the ride even longer and to manage the excess energy so they could remove all of the brakes. At the same time, I want them to keep the PTC trains and the traditional (pre-1985) feel in the ride.
November 24, 2012 at 14:19
How about a dueling 4D coaster?!?!?
November 24, 2012 at 21:58
^Thats what i thought but S&S said they still have work to do it. A 4D would be perfect!
November 24, 2012 at 23:09
Maverick is one of my favorite coasters. Would be a great addition to KI. However, I would love to see them go with another of my favorites: a coaster similar to Sheikra in Busch Gardens Tampa. Dangling you at the edge of that first hill before dropping you is something that never gets old. They could take a great coaster concept & give it the Cedar Fair treatment.
November 24, 2012 at 23:33
Whatever replacement will be built (if any) for SOB, it's probably already well under design and maybe even initial fabrication, even if it won't be opened until 2014.
If it is a B&M, the track won't have to travel far from the factory … and if it's a Gravity Group ride, the designers won't have a long trip from their office.
My guess is they won't build a wood ride given the debacle of SOB.
November 25, 2012 at 10:21
I truly hope that KI goes all out on this ride. It was very hard for me to decide to choose between a multi-launch looper or a giga. Either would be fine for me. I think the best roller coaster would be a long intamin accelerater coaster with two launches. This way the coaster would include a great drop like a giga and multiple launches like Maverick.
November 27, 2012 at 02:08
Personally, I'd like to see a custom B & M invert
November 28, 2012 at 00:42
That would be cool. CoasterImage said the same on my Facebook page. Maybe I should have added that as another option.
December 1, 2012 at 01:01
A custom invert would work better for the all too inevitable removal of Flight Deck. It's not going to last a whole lot longer and a B&M would be a great fit for that part of the park.
November 27, 2012 at 19:02
Kings Island doesn't really need another roller coaster because as has been pointed out, it already has just about every type of coaster in existence. (It's one of only two parks I've visited that has both a good steel coaster and a good wooden coaster, the other one being Six Flags Great Adventure.) My first thought was also that a hybrid such as Iron Rattler would be a welcome addition. Or maybe a well-designed, tall wooden coaster with no trim brakes but without the punishing roughness of Son of Beast. I think that a giga coaster would be sort of redundant because the park already has a hypercoaster and I don't think that any park needs both, just one or the other. There would be no point in erecting a hypercoaster at Cedar Point or Kings Dominion because everyone would still flock to MF and I305 – and the same goes for Kings Island, which by the way is the only park I visited that I didn't like because the ride lines were so long that after spending all that money to get there, I got in only two rides.
December 1, 2012 at 15:40
Personally, I think that for 2014 they should add a B and M Giga coaster more based on speed over repetitive airtime so that you would have a different experience of from diamondback such as what Leviathan did for Canada’s Wonderland that already had. Behemoth and I could see Cedar Fair doing this with how successful Leviathan turned out to be. Then what my dream would be for King’s Island to do would be in about 2017-2018 is if Cedar Fair is still planning on retiring all arrow loopers, replace that with an Intamin pre-fab woodie. They could have break height, speed, and steepness records to get back at Six Flags Great Adventure for passing Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster with King da Ka. Finally in about 2020 add a custom B and M invert like a Nemesis or Black Mamba with near misses and high intensity. Cedar Fair could turn an already a popular park with somewhat of a mediocre coaster line-up minus Diamondback and The Beast (only at night) into the must visit park in the country and King’s Island has the space and Cedar Fair obviously has the money (30 mill on Gatekeeper) to get it done
December 1, 2012 at 20:12
The US needs another Intamin prefab. That's really the only option that makes a lot of sense for KI. And El Toro like ride would be the ideal compliment to Beast, which one would think Son of Beast was SUPPOSED to be.
December 3, 2012 at 21:27
Mark my words it’ll be a Giga.
December 3, 2012 at 21:56
Beat steel dragon 2000 and build the worlds longest rollercoaster
December 8, 2012 at 11:27
Grandson of Beast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 300 foot giga coaster
December 24, 2012 at 12:19
A dueling eurofighter would be great. I'm sure the beyond vertical drops would be extremely satisfying for most people, and since they are so compact you Kings Island may even have room for a dark/flat ride.
March 15, 2013 at 09:27
I want them to rebuild son of beast that was the best coaster in the world.
May 2, 2013 at 11:54
A hybrid coaster like Iron Rattler makes little sense, since they fitted steel track to the existing Rattler rollercoasters support structure. They could have done the same with Son of Beast and readded the loop as well. Now that it’s gone, a worlds longest Giga Coaster makes most sense “Bionic Beast”
May 8, 2013 at 18:51
How ’bout they go insane and and add some hybrid track to The Beast and make it longer by going through Son of Beast’s formet terrain?