Lowkae

I posted this elsewhere. Let's see what you guys think of it: While The Beast is one of my favorites rides, I can understand why people wouldn't care for it. Its layout is very unorthodox, with an extended section that stays low to the ground and avoids actual hills in favor of turns and a gradual decline into ravines. It does have traditional elements to an extent, mainly being the first few hills until the long brake shed, and of course and final banked drop into the helix. While I've agreed with people for a long time that the ride is fine as it is, I've traveled to many other parks in recent years that have changed my opinions. Here's my fantasy of list of changes (because why not) that I feel would improve the ride while not changing its spirit: Either modify the trains or replace them with something newer. PTC trains haven't been made with headrests since the early 2000s. Ideally I'd like to see them restored back to buzz bars, although keep the seat dividers as the ride does have some laterals. Phoenix's trains come to mind as ideal. However, this is at a chain park, and almost none of the wooden coasters at Cedar Fair parks have buzz parks anymore (High Roller at Valleyfair! received new trains this year). The headrests annoy me the most, however, as they blocks views of the scenery and the track ahead of you. Maybe steepen the drop a little and keep the transitions into and out of it tight so you get a good kick of airtime like first drop on the Raven at Holiday World (which is ironically based off of The Beast). Make the fake stone above the first tunnel flush with the ground (nitpick). Get GCI or whoever to redo the turn after the first tunnel properly. Shorten the long brake shed substantially by adding a third drop to ground level that rises up into the shortened brake shed. Maybe even make the brake shed a true MCBR again, which would allow a train to crest the first lift before the previous train crests the second. Ditch all the trims except for maybe a small one in the brake shed, as I feel without any trims at all the portion leading up to the 2nd lift hill might be too fast. The 2nd drop (The 60 ft one or so into the ravine after the first tunnel) should have excellent airtime now. The low to the ground sections should have much stronger laterals now for those who say it's boring. For the portion before the 2nd lift, narrow the access road and plant trees/shrubbery. Remove the fences here to increase the sensation of speed and the "lost in the woods feeling." Keep the helix the same, besides removing the trim going into it. Have GCI rebuild it Ghostrider style and get rid of the weird bouncing feeling in the back seats. Redo the station brakes so the train stops only once in it's final position. Why do the brakes stop the train halfway in the station? This pointlessly decreases capacity and could be redone with some simple programming. Of course, the ride doesn't really need this. Based on the line length and most people's opinions, it's fine as it is. I just feel the idea behind the ride isn't fully realized, as the trims remove many of the would-be forces on the traditional portions of the ride, and the whole safety-focused philosophy of chains these days has resulted in the trains and the new fences...