Leaderboard

Kings Island November 20th 2012

Somehow, as the proud workers and designers and park employees watched as the first Son of Beast train left the station, I doubt any of them believed that just a bit over 12 years later, it would come to this.

Hey, can we get back to talking about the woodie? Terp, resisting talking about the nuts that fit around those bolts...

I prefer steel. Smooth to the touch. No lube necessary.

Now that Son of Beast is gone I can add it to the list of things that I am thankful for this Thansgiving.

Like hell - lube is always needed for those tight spots!

That's what she said?

A well balanced all of the above....

My track / bolt came today. I had to pose them next to a 2000 park map.

I'm glad Boomerang Bay is gone.It was old, crusty & needed refreshing.

Why am I not surprised by this? lol

My uncle works for the city of mason and does inspections. He got a call in the first week of July asking for demolition permits for a roller coaster at Kings Island about 2 weeks before SOB's death was announced so I was waiting for KI to announce it. No one believed me until KI announced it and I was like " HA HA HA HA HA. IN YOUR FACE!! Where's my $20?" Sadly, I never received that $20

I'm glad Boomerang Bay is gone.It was old, crusty & needed refreshing. I think we can say that about many waterparks. No.Just Boomerang Bay.

And Cedar Fair would have sold this particular asset to SeaWorld without regard to its name, had it been Boomerang Bay, Waterworks or even Teddy Bear Land. The name did knott matter. Some say its patrons were old, crusty and needed refreshing, too.

^It's all about the warm-up cycle.

OK, my pick is...the most important thing an amusement park needs to attract McSalsa is...good thrill rides and roller coasters. (DA DA DUM) Now, I'll explain...this is because roller coasters and thrill rides are the main reason me and my friends visit parks like Kings Island. If Kings Island didn't have any of its big thrill rides, but still had everything else, to be 100% honest I would probably NOT go unless it was $15-20 gate admission...or something like that. So, since without this I would not even get in...it's most important. Now, once I get in, what else becomes important? Well, family rides and kids rides too, because those attract a different crowd (and I will ride a good family ride or two during a KI visit, BTW, but I come for the coasters...mainly Beast...) and without them there would be no more to buy the coasters and thrill rides I crave. The staff must also be nice, and reasonably efficent. I would probably go to a park for its thrill rides & roller coasters, but if the staff is very rude to me and they don't do their jobs well, I'm not returning even if you build the #1 wooden and #1 steel coaster in the world at the same time. The park should also be presentable...although I MIGHT be able to give this one a pass if the rest of the park holds up very well. The price must also be reasonable, as we could not afford to visit Kings Island if it was $65 per person on a DISCOUNT (NOT front gate!) ticket...and there were not perks like free drinks or food, etc. The other options (waterpark & water rides, shows, and food) are less important, especially if the park does the stuff above well. That's not saying that if done well, these things would not make a park much better...heck, Holiday World gets a HUGE boost in "draw" towards me because of how huge and epic their waterpark is, even if I'm not a super-duper waterpark person (but I did love some of their slides)...I'm not really a shows person, but some people will find that VERY important...as for food, so long as it's somewhat good, I don't really care- I didn't come to Kings Island to eat...but, with KI's prices, I do want it to be good... Now, the bonus part- how do I think Kings Island fares in these categories? THRILL RIDES Score: 10/10 A LOT of great coasters...Beast, Diamondback, Vortex, Flight of Fear, Flight Deck, and Racer are all excellent rides. Firehawk & Invertigo I also liked, but nowhere near the first 6 I listed. Drop Tower and Delirium are amazing jumbo-sized flats. A great thrill ride collection. FAMILY RIDES Score: 10/10 See the above. 2 fun family coasters, a large flat ride collection, a 300' swing ride (from the POVs and what I have heard, WindSeeker does not seem to be a thrill ride to me anymore, but is probably still fun), and a Eiffel Tower. Not a bad family ride collection... KIDS RIDES Score: N/A Not rating as I am not a kid, have not been on any of these rides recently, and do not have a kid to take on them...but, just from looking, it seems it holds up to the first 2 categories 10/10 scores...bottom line seems to be Kings Island has good rides. FRIENDLY STAFF Score: 10/10 Kings Island also has good staff, and they are very nice. An easy 10/10. Kings Island is looking good so far to me... STAFF EFFICENCY Score: 9/10 OH NOEZ! WHY DOES Kings Island ONLY GET A 9/10 HERE!?!? Well, while the crews and staff for rides like Beast, Diamondback, and Vortex do a great job (as do the vendors, security, etc) in my eyes, the Firehawk loading/unloading process is so bad, and that's probably not the ride-op or crew's fault, but it holds me back from giving this a 10/10 as well. Oh well...9 is still great... GOOD LOOKS Score: 9/10 Uh-Oh! Another 9! What is wrong here!?!? Well, in this category, I can go on photos of other parks for comparison...and while Kings Island is very nice and looks great, and very clean...I have seen pictures of Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Tampa. And, having seen that...also, Racer needs a paint job. SHOWS Score: N/A Here I have nothing- we go for rides, not shows, so I have never seen one. Perhaps I should some day, but it would probably be after we had ridden tons of rides and wanted something different... WATERPARK Score: N/A Soak City has always been closed during my visits to KI. We always go too early or too late in the year...looks nice from pictures though. Just not Splashin' Safari nice. FOOD Score: 7/10 Oh, here is where thy mighty Kings Island falls. I have had some tasty food at Kings Island, and other times it has been below average but still edible. Last year, new food options improved the menu. I say that needs to keep happening until KI's food is great all-around...like the rest of the park! REASONABLE PRICES Score: 8/10 Score is fairly high because I can get KI tickets for only $30.99 at Kroger...score is held back by expensive food and drink options, and $15 parking. Nuff said. OVERALL Score: 9/10 There are some minor flaws, but this is a great park overall. I kind of agree with Terpy's post- the best parks have a good mix of all the above, and it looks like Kings Island does just that...well, the food lags behind a little but... PS: WOW...that post was longer than I thought it would be...

Now that the ride is down it really hit me like a ton of bricks .

Fixed that. HTCO, avoiding one word posts...

I actually have a picture of me "hugging" Vortex (from my 9/03 trip) in case you DO want to see it... <3

I always wear a fanny pack! So if you ever visit KI when I'm there too, I guess I may get counted. If I ever get "sighted." My contribution to the topic: During my 9/30/07 visit, I didn't notice that the Fairly Odd Coaster's air gates moved by themselves until I was next in line. After the people in front of me got on, the gate started to close and I, as a surprised 8 year old, was standing in the way a teeny little bit. I actually pushed against the gate (thinking I could move it ) but I ended up being pushed back into the queue by the gate.

Other= all the above

Dramatic views from first drops are what I enjoy most about coasters, such as The Beast's signature hilltop panorama featuring sloping, wooded terrain, and ...the rest of the coaster!

A great team of people with a heart for the guests' best interests makes this park, among others, so richly desirable a destination.

I always like it when coasters are open, dependable, safe and comfortable. Fun is a huge plus. I love strong laterals, intense negative g's, smoothness and the great pacing of an old time woodie (like the Comet at The Great Escape). I'm not much for restraint pain (see Ninja at Six Flags Over Georgia or The Rollercoaster at New York, New York Casino).

Oh, man, your estimate was spot-on!

Since everyone's been sharing their SOB memories, I though I'd share a few of mine and I'm in a writing mood so pardon this novel. I also thought I'd share a few photographs I came across. I remember the day they announced Son of Beast. I had come home from school and my dad was home from work early. Our family had been going to Kings Island regularly with passes since 1996/1997 and I had just gotten brave enough the year before to start riding the "real" rides. I remember him booting up the old dial up Netscape internet to show me the old Cincinnati.com articles, waiting with anticipation as each small image loaded of the ride's model. I remember vividly the wooden loop and how it looked on the model. I remember all the news outlets misreporting it as the world's FIRST wooden looping roller coaster. There was a book I checked out from the school library frequently that proved otherwise. When the ride finally opened, I was 11. I didn't get to ride it in its early days of one train operation before it closed down for awhile. When it did reopen, both trains were running and my uncle and I waited two hours. I remember the queueing very vividly. We were in a temporary line outside the entrance for awhile, I remember my uncle making fun of my shoes as we watched Top Gun nearby. I remember getting incredibly nervous as we waited on the ramps up to the ride station and saw the water dummies below. Never did I think while waiting for that ride that day that I'd ever work at the park let alone in the maintenance shop that worked on SOB or ever walk its rails, I was just thinking about how intimidating that hill looked. I even remember how the ride smelled and still smelled in its last operating season... all that wood. We boarded the train and the first thing I noticed was the awkward placement of the on-ride photo. Then the loud lift, the speed and view in the dip. The slow down at the first drop crest and then WHAM! You were flying. I immediately picked up on how the double helix rose bowl was a homage to the original Beast and then that loop... I made sure to look left and see the Eifel tower spin like in all the media videos. Then there was more speed and boom you were back. I was psyched. It was by far my favorite coaster. ...granted I was really thin, 11 years old and a little bit over four feet tall. My uncle on the other hand hated it and immediately complained of how rough and unenjoyable the experience was. I begged my dad to ride it again with me since my uncle declined. Another two hour wait and then I got to experience it all over again and loved it just as much. My dad hated it and never rode it again. As the years went by and I got taller and bigger I realized how painful and miserable of an experience the ride was. I stopped riding it at age 13. In 2006 the ride opened a few weeks after the regular park and a few people hinted on KIC that it would be much smoother. My friend and I actually ditched school a few periods early and headed up to the park when we heard from Boddah1994 that it was set to reopen that day. We got there and noticed they had removed the last car and that the ride was now a 5 car operation per train. We anticipated it greatly, there was a short line and we hopped in the back seat. If there was an improvement in the ride experience, we missed it cause it was still rough as hell. I didn't ride it again until after it reopened in 2007. While the first drop was great and the new trains offered more leg room... the Rose Bowl was still punishing and completely ruined any hope of the ride being good. I never much cared for it and by this time I worked at the park a lot, so I hardly ever visited in my off time. The last time I ever rode the ride was in 2008 while at the park to photograph some of the Knievel set up. Still didn't care for the ride. I have lots more experiences and cool stories about how special that ride was to me, but Ill save those for another day. Not that anyone asked, but in my humble opinion - the ride is done. I'm sure you could do something incredible with the Rocky Mountain treatment, but even if you did... EVERY news article and piece of media would include "the ride USED to be Son of Beast which was known for x y z (x y z not being good things). Browntggr brings up the best and most logical point. They haven't torn it down because it's not a threat, not falling down and not hurting anything. When they need to get rid of it... they will or they'll do it when they're ready to put something else there. And as someone who is familiar with that ride from many perspectives... you can't see anything from the midway or Adventure Express to be able to convulsively say you see it falling apart. Just throwing that out there. As for the photographs I mentioned earlier. I remembered seeing these a few years ago, but couldn't find the website. Apparently this website has been down since sometime in 2010 and even before that it reaked of early 2000's web development and hadn't been updated in some time. It is (err was) the website for Roller Coaster Corporation of America. I accessed these photos via the Way Back Machine. All of the following photographs are ©Roller Coaster Corporation of America. - Work on the loop towards the end of construction. - Aerial view towards the end of construction in 2000. Note that you can still see a lot of the landscaping for the former Wild Animal Habitat. - A train being lifted onto the track. - Work on the final brake run.* *A rumor I had always heard, but have no idea if it's true is that the brake run was initially designed to hold two trains in waiting in addition to one in the station for a three train operation. I also heard that the ride's station was supposed to be an exit station and that the area of straight track immediately exiting the station was going to be a loading station to allow for a four train operation. Obviously, the ride opened with one train and only ever ran two so who knows. - Not sure what section of track that is, but check out that extreme banking. Too bad you were too busy praying for the ride to be over to ever notice the cool element. - Construction workers. I bet these guys have a cool story. - No idea who any of these guys are, but I believe that the date reads February 17, 1999. Maybe checking out the area for where a future attraction would go? - Draw your own conclusions. - Land clearing, note Adventure Express on the right. - Construction as the sun sets. - A train on its way to the station. Note the all red color scheme that eventually was changed to Red/Yellow. - View from the block brakes while the ride was still under construction. - Not sure why the flag was raised here since I don't believe this is where they "topped off" and completed construction. - The media day in May 1999. - Mock up of the trains. Note how much more spacious/better they look compared to how they turned out. And last, but not least: - The station. Like, I said these are not my photos. They are ©Roller Coaster Corporation of America. If you want to see their old site, you can access it via the Way Back Machine here: http://web.archive.o...//www.rcca.com/ A man I once worked for, who taught me a lot, once pointed to that ride and said "To me, that thing is iconic of Kings Island." For me, it is as well. Even though I never cared much for the ride, it's symbolic of my favorite years in the park I spent with my family and for a lot of other things, but that's all another story for another day.

With SonofBaconador's "What do you look for in roller coasters poll", I was inspired to post this- let's go beyond what makes a good roller coaster. What is the most important thing a entire amusement or theme park needs, in your opinion, for you to consider visiting it? Granted, I realize there are many factors in choosing an amusement/theme park to visit...and you probably decide based on more than 1 of the above factors. If so, pick which you think is #1 most important, and post "I picked this, but these are also important"...or something along those lines. OK? As a bonus to this poll...looking at the categories I listed above...how good would you say Kings Island, under current ownership (based on your most recent visits), rates on a 1-10 scale in each of my listed categories? This second part is 100% optional, but I'm honsetly a bit interested in what you guys see as KI's strong and weak spots...the park probably is too, so they will know where they need to improve... Enjoy the poll. If you dislike, click back. My pick and stuff will be in the next post, unless someone does this super-quick and beats me...

Brian, I had thought something like that after seeing the Swarm at Thorpe, too. That would so cool. Ohio can be so rainforest, that a theme like that would work. I wish it could be. Action Zone needs a kick in the butt. It would be great if it had the crowd swoop detail like DB, where sections go over the midway. I love to see the riders fly by as I'm on my way to The Beast. Like everyone else, I've been keeping my eye on all the Cedar Faire parks, and besides the WindSeeker, I've noticed they alternate their renovations. This year CP gets Gatekeeper, maybe next year you'll see your vision come to KI.

I'm glad Boomerang Bay is gone.It was old, crusty & needed refreshing. I think we can say that about many waterparks.

Yesterday, I actually stopped by and asked a worker, they said they were upgrading the road for heavier equipment. Hmmm....Couldn't comment on what about. Then I drove by River Downs and they were taking more core samples. Something BIG is going to happen at RD. pilotank

I'd love to see the different concepts, but that's not going to happen. Already the thread of our own concepts are a mile long. At least we know they are replacing SOB with something. A huge, non working coaster with a bad history is nothing to feel bad about when it goes down, and there is a lot of opportunity sitting there, waiting to happen. I expect changes in 2013, maybe not a ride, but changing the menu and pavers added a lot to the park in 2012, so maybe it will be more changes like that. Maybe we'll get roving performers back.

I rode Blue Fire at Europa Park last summer. It was really smooth!

I worked Cut Throat Cove again this year. I was the one at the very end when i worked on saturday nights. Was my 2nd year working Haunt.

A shoe literially fell off my freinds foot on WindSeeker and hit one of the ride Operators head.

I love terrain hugging coasters. I'd love to see one go into sob's spot, but I don't see it happening...it would be surrounded by other terrain huggers.

I like coasters that are visually striking, there are times like to watch rides (The Beast being the exception) as much as ride them. The pressure treated lumber is disappointing to me I miss the painted look on wooden coasters. Beyond that air time, misdirection and head choppers are always good.

Negative g's = airtime.

Quoting from this article today http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20121120/NEWS01/121120026/Final-section-Son-Beast-comes-down?odyssey=nav%7Chead&nclick_check=1 " "Once the ride has been removed, probably in early 2013, we’ll begin the process then of surveying the land and looking at all the ideas and different concepts and all the things we can do,” said Helbig. “There’s plenty of room to work with and we’re excited about that opportunity as we look towards the future.” " So I wonder if there are actually any legitimate plans being considered for the area yet. If not, we shouldn't expect to see anything til well beyond 2014. All we can do is wait!

Probably looks, personality, oh yeah, and a great sense of humor!

You know they probably went with a cheaper Cogswell Cogs product in order to save a few bucks!

Hmm Pterodactyl + B&M Wing coaster= Great themed coaster for DA??????

Oh, that sounds like a good time. In 2011, I was able to visit Holiday World on the last day of the season.

Nice ipod ohiocolts, mind getting me one just like that? Anyways...looks like you guys had fun. Very jealous of you all. I was able to pick out some of the people in the photos from KIC day, but unfortunetly I was only with the group for 20 minutes at the begining of the day. We split up.. then never met up again. I really hope I can attened next years closing day, and that it will be as good as this one. Although, I couldn't be lucky enough to get a free back-stage Beast tour.

If you hadn't kept ducking away from the camera, I would have had better ones with you in it!

With people joining and splitting up so many times, it's hard to keep track of who was there at each specific time. I don't keep detailed notes like ohiocolts does, so I have to base it on memory.

Great TR, Matt. Also, thank you for bringing to my (and others') attention that I am not photogenic! Sorry I couldn't stay with the group the entire day, but I did have fun for the moments I was with you all. Thank you for coordinating this event. I enjoyed it.

http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/tickets-375024-lim-park.html Moral of the story: if it's too good to be true, it usually is.

I had a dream last night that Gatekeeper was built at Cedar Points Soak City and was being advertised inside CP and SC with images of the original art of Son of Beast on the 2000 KI maps. Sorry if this is confusing trying to find a way to word it.

Oh, it was on a Facebook post by them, the most recent one about it. Ah. Thank you. I do not go on Facebook, so that is why I was out of the loop. Thanks.

I have weird dreams sometimes that eventually happen, whether it be a week or a year later. That being said, two years ago I kept having a dream that The Racer had forward trains on both sides, and that the one on the Left side derails and falls off to the side, crashing through the track and the people below. Then, the Right side's chain dog completely fails, sending the train down the lift in reverse. The train slams into the turns and crashes in the station. While all of this is happening, my friend and I are standing in the left side of the station waiting in line. As we are being evacuated from the station, we see my friend's boyfriend laying under one of the cars. The weird part is that on the one day I take that friend (out of the 6 other trips I had taken), we see her boyfriend in line on the Right side of The Racer while we're on the Left side waiting. I had told my friend about this dream, so when we saw him, we panicked and left the line. Call us crazy, but, well... the dream was crazy. After the day was over, we laughed it all off. Is that not weird? I mean, really...