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What`s next for Son of Beast?


fighting31irish

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For a second I thought this thread had died. Silly me.

This thread is a never ending story. You have the villains (RCCA), the civilians (us), secret agents who claim to have information on the ride's future, and the occasional SOB fanatic that forgets common English.

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Keep in mind, KI may only fill the souvenir cups with soda, but any cup you may bring from home, you can get filled with Ice water for free. But not an actual water bottle like you'd buy in the store. Apparently there are laws and/or regulations that prevent them from refilling those.

Actually Kings Island will fill up souvenir cups with water for free.

I did it all weekend inside and outside of Spirit Song

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I was at KI this past weekend and while i was waiting to get on the the train I heard someone mention the SOB. Then I saw train car 208 attached to train car 214. The only explanation for this is that the number 2 stands for the 2nd Beast (SOB) and the 08 and 14 could only mean that we will find out about the SOB on August 14th!

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DiamondBuckeye appears to already understand the ridiculousness of many members' posts around here and is being playfully sarcastic. 2 posts in, he already "gets it." Do you? ;)

... And if people got banned for dumb comments, I know I'd be banned! Probably most of us would be...

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And don't leave yourself under the impression that a decision has been made and they're just waiting to "reveal" it.

In fact, over and over and over again - even as recently as last week if emails posted here are to be believed - the people who speak for the park have said that no decision has been made about Son of Beast.

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I expect we'll know because of their actions as much as their words (or lack thereof).

If the decision is one thing, we'll see something happen to the ride.

If the decision is another, we'll see something else happen.

If the decision is what it appears to be right now, we'll see nothing!

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And don't leave yourself under the impression that a decision has been made and they're just waiting to "reveal" it.

In fact, over and over and over again - even as recently as last week if emails posted here are to be believed - the people who speak for the park have said that no decision has been made about Son of Beast.

Because, of course, what the park says is always 100% true....

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I wouldn't say that.

But I wouldn't bother myself over conspiracy-type theories that a decision has been made and that they're just waiting to "reveal" it. If they decided three years ago that they'd tear it down, what difference does it make if they told us then versus if they tell us when deconstruction starts? It's coming down either way, right? They don't owe us an answer, honestly. If a decision has been made contrary to what they say, what difference does it really make?

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But some of us don't WANT it to come down. If it happens, it happened. (I want a left over piece of it).

But GYK is right, CF doesn't OWE us an answer. If they make it public, GREAT.

Other wise we're just going to have to stand here and wait. Who knows? Maybe one day this year or next year, we'll be visiting Kings Island and out of nowhere you here the "eeeeeeeeeeeeegafdsgadfgsgsdfgdfgsdfgdgsd" of the chain and the train going up.

OR you here a big "BOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!" and it all falls down :'(

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But some of us don't WANT it to come down. If it happens, it happened. (I want a left over piece of it).

Hey, if you want a piece of wood that gives you pain, I can use a 2x4 & whack you over the head with it. ;)

Seriously, SoB SBNO is causing zero issues. Once a plan for the area is finalized, it will be dismantled.

Think of it this way: why do the same thing twice? A new project will need equipment for construction. Why not wait, and then bring in the equipment to take the existing structure down and then use the same equpiment for the new project?

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I myself, never even thought of that. That makes more sense rather than tearing it down now and then a few months later developing something new. That would be wasting more money to hire and rent the equipment twice. For a structure like SOB though, how would they take it down? Wrecking Ball?

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^^Controlled demo, perhaps. Wrecking ball is A. Too uncontrollable, and B. could damage other rides and attractions (Flight Deck, Thunder Alley, Xtreme Skyflyer, Action Zone, maybe even The Racer).

And even if you do rent the same equipment for longer use, what good is demo equipment when you need to construct? Hehe

Even after the main structure and track are taken down, you still need to clear the debris, pour new footers, take out footers you can't use, scrap the wood (or reuse it), etc. So different equipment is going to be needed, and that has to be taken care of before the crane can be put to use.

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Just a thought: would it be crazy to keep SOB's station, lift hill, first drop and pre-drop(before lift), tear the rest of the ride down, and build a brand-new ride using the existing lift hill? It would save money on both demolition (not having to tear down as much structure, less risk of damaging other rides as the lift is what is dangerously close to Adventure Express and Flight Deck) and on new ride construction (no need to build a new lift hill for it, just re-tracking)- plus, the lift and that dip before the drop are what most people see of SOB as they walk around the park (the rose bowl really only shows itself from a few spots, such as the Eiffel Tower)...so, for the most part, the park's skyline would remain intact...and the new wooden (or steel hybrid on wood supports) automatically becomes a massive, marketable attraction (if a wooden coaster, it inherits SOB's world records automatically)...and, from what I've heard, everything up to SOB's drop no one had any problems with...it was what came after the first drop people had issues with.

And, before thinking "that will never happen! It would be impossible to build a new coaster but use some stuff from an old one to do it!"...

The Infamous Crystal Beach Cyclone was demolished, but some of its structure was re-used...and became The Crystal Beach Comet...then it was re-located to The Great Escape, and it continues to be considered one of the world's best wooden coasters. Oh, and The Crystal Beach Cyclone was known for breaking ribs and injuring riders, too (The SOB of the 1920s?). UPDATE: Ignore this- it's a debunked rumor. Thanks Terpy!

The Pippin, at Kennywood, was demolished...but some of it survives, as part of the Thunderbolt. Thunderbolt is considered one of Kennywood's star attractions.

Even closer to home...the Coney Island Shooting Star, from Coney Island Ohio, was built from the remains of an older roller coaster- I'm not 100% sure which one, though...and that coaster has become a legend, even though it too is now gone. These are just a few wooden coasters that were born from the ashes of, and used parts from, other wooden coasters.

This was just one of many, many ideas I've had about what could be done with SOB...obviously, there have been others: tear down and build brand-new ride, iron horse refurb (would cost $20M+ though!), Timberliners (probably wouldn't work...), etc etc...but, for some reason, I keep coming back to this one...why not keep the parts of SOB that actually worked, and build anew from that?

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OK, some more thoughts expanding on my previous comment a few post ago...what would I personally do with what I said would stay of SOB? Hmm...well...let's assume Intamin agrees to "build the new coaster on what's left of Son of Beast..."

I would want a massive, out-and-back section similar to SFGadv's El Toro to replace to "Rose Bowl" section of the ride- in fact, very similar to El Toro in this section. The ride would go out, turn around, and come back- just like this:

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Afterwards, the ride would connect quite nicely with the current 2nd helix- which would be rebuilt to provide actual lateral g-forces like helixes are SUPPOSED to do. A tunnel here would also be quite welcome, and a nod to "Original" Beast. The section after the 2nd helix would also get minor modifications, to provide some more airtime and possibly include a few overbanked turns along this section before the ride returns to the station- in the same manner the current SOB does, in fact. If this refurb makes the new woodie longer than The Beast- so be it. I'd rather see KI break its own record than see some park in China do it, and Holiday World broke their own water coaster world record (Mammoth's length>Wildebeest's), so why can't KI break theirs? Plus, this would put an airtime-packed, smooth, Intamin Plug N' Play wooden coaster in the midwest so people would not have to drive all the way to SFGadv to ride one- a ride that would nicely fit in with the rest of KI's lineup. If Intamin does refuse, but Rocky Mountain agrees, this layout is still possible but I'd have to wonder if they would keep it a wooden coaster...

Just an idea.

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Charlie Wood owned The Great Escape and was a close friend. Charlie paid to have The Crystal Beach Comet relocated to The Great Escape. The coaster is wood track on a steel frame. Charlie told us it is not true that any part of the Cyclone was reused in building The Comet at Crystal Beach. Part of the wood was used in the station, but none for the coaster.

He was well aware of sources that claimed otherwise, but flatly stated they were incorrect. Moreover, much like when Zippin Pippen was rebuilt in Wisconsin, the relocated Comet at the Great Escape required a great deal of new material.

Finally, I'd imagine it would be very difficult to find a new builder/designer to share in the joint and several liability for the unrebuilt sections of a ride such as Son of Beast. Anyone modifying that structure in any way will be perceived as sharing in guaranteeing its safety.

There is no intended implied information as to the ultimate fate of Son of Beast contained herein.

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^

I know, it was just an idea...didn't know that the Cyclone/Comet thing was just a rumor, though. Thanks...I'll edit that post...

Also, I was thinking along the lines of how much SOB removal+new ride in its place would cost compared to SOB Overhaul. Remember, some here have stated that removing SOB could cost up to $8,000,000. Yikes. Add the $25,000,000 for a new B&M Giga, Wing Rider, etc etc (based on the prices of CW's Leviathan and CP's rumored 2013 wing rider) to replace it...and you have $33,000,000. Yikes! That is $11,000,000 more than Diamondback!

Granted, KI could always build something cheaper...how much does Intamin charge for large Plug N' Play woodies? I can't seem to find it on the internet...El Toro, how much did SFGadv pay for you...if it's not too much, then perhaps KI should just demo SOB and build another big wooden coaster there...

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I don't see how liability for the pre lift, lift, and drop is too bad. The coaster has never had any problems after construction at those points (nobody mention the lift partial collapse--the structure wasn't as strong and there were high winds), so why would anyone have a problem with it? Also, couldn't these demo and construction phases be seperate, so as to not consume most if not all the yearly capitol of either Kings Island or Cedar Fair itself?

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