Steveo3631

mm, 84 or 85. Remember seeing this video on tv about that time. That's Entertainment, when Taft Broadcasting ownnd KI and a portion of that show.

Here's an oldtimers remembrances about The Beast entrance. On opening day, April 14, 1979, the queues weren't completed. The crowd that was out front was funneled through two doors, where the Coke machines are now, then up the ramp. If I remember correctly, it was a one train day. When the queues were finished the entrance was over by the current Beast photo building. It went into Upper Queue, the pad of which was still there last time I looked. Middle Queue was next, then the Coke Queue. At Coke Queue, they served soft drinks and fast food..hot dogs and the like....imagine that line slow down! Then up the ramp into the Station Queue. The exit went out the same way it does now, but didn't switchback. It went under the Munchkin waiting area, then took a left and out near the old entrance to the nature trail. The last wraps of the Station Queue were deemed not to be used because of the guests spitting on the crews as they exited the station. (They used to have umbrellas for taking the walk). When I started working at the ride in 94, the entrance was pretty much where it is today, except farther out towards the midway.

Any incident resulting in an injury is the same be it guest, employee or maintenance crew. Safety is number one, and always is, Employees getting injured or even shaken up is just as bad as if it happened in July with guests. Incidents like this always affect ride crews, maintenance staff, managers and supervisors, as everyone works very hard to avoid even the slightest incident.

Sad to say, but KI is a business. We the enthusiasts, guests and employees give it life. We LOVE the place. Every company has to look at the bottom line. When Paramount can get better return on ONE movie (Titanic) than a whole season of a theme park, it's easy to see why they became disenchanted with being a park owner. But to us, KI is more than a collection of buildings and attractions designed to support retail shops, which in fact it is. The example of Six Flags is frightening. They put in too many thrill rides at too many small parks in areas that couldn't support the investments. In doing so we lost the Texas Cyclone and all of Astroworld. Why is it important to have KI in a five park chain, or a 12 park chain? The theme park business is affected by so many factors, gas, recession, weather, war, an new attraction that won't work properly....the synergy of a multipark chain will support a park that may be going though a rough patch. Few companines hold amusements parks for sentimental reasons, Holiday World comes to mind. The family loves that park and it shows. KECO too had sentimental attachments to the parks. This may be beating a dead horse, but KI as a stand alone park would have been like one wagon trying to make a circle against an Indian attack. There is safety in numbers. And as a postscript.....ITJ hurts my very soul. Like the death of a favorite relative, I will never get over that one.

I recall, Wonderland was managed, but not owned by KECO. Lindner was going to dump KECO. KECO owned the lower earning parks. IMHO getting them back together and keeping them together is exciting, even under the Cedar Fair banner. Since this was just an opinion, and has drawn some fire for not being interesting or relevant enough, let this topic die before I post a photo of a bunny with a pancake on it's head. In the mean time, I'm going to go over and read a post about the Coca-Cola Cool Zone, that is if it doesn't keep me awake tonight.

Steveo3631 said: As much as we bash Paramount, remember that Paramount rejoined all the Taft built and owned theme parks. Before that they were owned by at least three different companies. I guess I don't see why this is a important thing. I grew up with the Taft parks, love the Taft parks. Would have hated to see them under different umbrellas. Perhaps it has only been important to me. I saw them broken up in the 80's, rejoined in the 90's and thanks to Cedar Fair, are continuing to be joined under one company!

As much as we bash Paramount, remember that Paramount rejoined all the Taft built and owned theme parks. Before that they were owned by at least three different companies.

Back in the pre Paramount days KI kept to the themes pretty well. Once Paramount decided to place branded attractions throughout the park without thought to keep to a theme KI looks lige a jigsaw puzzle where the pieces don't fit. If Cedar Fair wants to maintain a strict theme in each area, they have a lot of work ahead.

Magnetic propulsion, magnetic braking.....metal attracting, repelling....can you patent something so basic?

From the Orlando Sentinal 3-7-07 Disney, GE, others face patent suit Phil Milford | Bloomberg News Posted March 7, 2007 General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal Inc., Walt Disney Co. and three other U.S. theme-park operators were accused of infringing patents on magnetic brakes used on roller coasters. Safety Braking Corp., based in Newport Beach, Calif., claims the companies infringed patents won in 1994 and 2003. The defendants also include Busch Entertainment Corp., Six Flags Inc. and Cedar Fair LP. Safety Braking holds exclusive licenses to the patents, one from Magnetar Technologies Corp., based in Seal Beach, California, and the other from G&T Conveyor Co., based in Tavares. The three companies asked for a jury trial, an order to stop any infringement and royalties in the complaint, filed March 1 in federal court in Wilmington, Del. Parks mentioned in the complaint include Universal Studios in Hollywood, Calif.; Walt Disney World in Orlando; Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va.; Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pa.; Paramount King's Island in Mason, Ohio; and Six Flags Darien Lake, N.Y. Wendy Goldberg, a Six Flags spokeswoman in New York, said the company won't comment on the lawsuit. NBC Universal spokeswoman Cindy Gardner also declined to comment and Michelle Bergman of Burbank, Calif.-based Disney said company executives weren't available to comment. Spokeswomen for Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Cedar Fair didn't return phone messages.

Thanks for reminding me that they did have original PTC trains. I had forgotten.

SOB has had such bad press KI would do well to purchase the best trains possible giving the most comfortable ride. Anything less will hurt the credibility of the ride. If the new trains are just as rough as before, even if they are lighter, with insufficient padding, the guests will still look on SOB as a bad experience. However, I see the aforementioned memo says that the trains "may be" going to Kings Island and is not written as fact. Perhaps they were bought for spare parts for Villain or Raging Wolf Bobs. That would place the trains being shipped to Ohio. As for the possibility of the new trains being used as a replacement for Beast or Racer, it does not seem likely. as PTC trains are proven for reliability. Even the Riverside Cyclone replaced their Morgan trains with PTC's. To play devil's advocate, if PTC could not refit their trains to the SOB guage, and Gerstlauer could, then maybe that would force such a decision. In any event, I am sure there are reasons behind the scenes none of us are aware of. Hopefully, cost is no object and the comfort and safety of the rider is, pardon the expression, paramount.

I wonder where the Shooting Star traines ended up. They were new in 1961 and taken out of service in 1971. KI claims all the trains for Racer were brand new. I can't imagine Shooting Star trains with ten years service being scrapped.

I would have loved to ride the Shooting Star. The Minebuster at CW is no match.

Lesourdsville has some used, rebuilt, and used again trains.

Not that I'm into Julie's assets, I love SOB, but she bared more of that AND talent in the underrated Duet for One. Now before I get a Bunny with a pankcake on it's head.....I remember asking guests to turn shirts with offensive writing inside out. At first they thought I was kidding....then they really made a fashion statement! As for the two in the picture, be it Mardi Gras or Disney, there would be no turning inside out...maybe face Minnie backward.

I'd hate to see used trains on Sonny, expecially ones encased in fiberglass. Something with padding would be nice. I must say, I have not ridden on Gerstlauer trains before. How do they compare to PTC trains?

Time to realize that Mary Poppins has 'em too.

My favorite spot at KI is anywhere my feet happen to be at the time.

Just didn't want them to get lost, I was so happy to offer these shots up. SOB may be loopless, but Beast is going strong! I thank KI Central for allowing me over the years to keep in touch with what is going on up there, and allowing me space to share the photos!

The big news in the press the winter of 79-80 was the rebanking of the third curve (exit from the first tunnel) and the entire helix. Over the years several curves have been rebanked and some dips reprofiled allowing Beast to run faster and smoother. Any Beast revision they ever did IMHO improved the ride, unlike the Wild One at Six Flags America where they reprofiled the back curve and ruined a unique Herb Schmeck feature.

Right place at right time. My EXTREME love of Beast is well known. I rode it opening day and eventually became Supervisor on it for a few years. The photos were loaned to me by a former Beast employee. I figured why have something like this and not share for others to enjoy. Beast is still one of a kind. It may not be the highest or fastest, but it can't be beat by the originality of it's inhouse design and construction, or the marketing campaign that followed. Beast was an instant classic and in MHO one of the best costers ever built! I was proud to be a part of The Beast crew, if only for a few years! I ask everyone now to give their favorite Beast story!

Been hanging onto these for a while and thought I'd share. If you want to see photos of The Beast during construction, from site preperation, announcement, footers scattered through the woods, topping out the first lift, pouring the tunnels, tracking the helix, and the some of the first runs, click HERE ! Enjoy Steve

I spent a lot of time at the park, heard a lot of ghost stories, and passed a few along for fun. My favorites are the Johnny stories. But in the end they are just that...stories. Most live in the land of urban legends, like pop rock and exploding stomachs, and children being snatched from KI, none of which happened.

Since entry of the loop and the exit do not meet up, there will have to be a major redesign of some kind, be it another helix, which Sonny does not need, or a new run from the block brakes to line up the tracks. IMHO it seems this will be no simple patch. Hopefully KI will perform some smoke and mirrors to take the attention off the now loopless SOB. I still dream of a tunnel enclosing the final two hills and curve to give the ride a big bang finish! The benefit of all this will be a better ride experience with lighter trains. This is the equivalent of a face lift for Sonny, taking off years of premature aging due to heavy trains!