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I will say again. This speculation is fun! Nothing is ever a guarantee here, but man this is a good time seeing all of this activity. I think it bears mentioning again that if the old station were truly not usable, 1) Why would it have been left standing all of these years? It is, after all, a 24ish year old structure that has for all intents and purposes been standing without a real purpose for longer than when it housed the rebellious Son. I realize it was used as Wolf Pack for a few seasons but that has been retired some years back due to any number of reasons ( dip in popularity? building needing brought up to code? both? etc ) 2) Why would they be putting all of this recent work into the station if they didn't have something else planned for it? I am in no way saying they are going to absolutely build a coaster for it ( I sure hope so just like everyone else ) but there is definitely something they plan to do with it besides let it sit abandoned for another 24 years. Seems like a lot of effort just to let it sit when they could have easily just torn it down. This wouldn't be the first time in the park's history to re-use an old station of a problematic ride to house something else ie: the orignal Bat/Vortex While I think the concept of the RMC T-Rex is neat, I'm in the camp of wanting to see a ground-up hybrid as I feel that is far more fitting for a Son of Beast reboot.

I remember the excitement I had when Son of Beast was announced. From the giant crate in the beginning and then seeing it rise over the skyline of KI so massively. I so wanted to love that ride. The turnaround, first drop and loop were great. After that it was a bone jarring and kind of boring layout compared to its namesake as visually stunning as it was. I rode it numerous times cause my oldest son loved the ride and wanted to get on it every trip. But after awhile, I just let him ride it when we went. I'd go ride The Beast instead. I give credit to KI for trying to install a landmark coaster. Growing up with the park, that was something they were good at. But, unfortunately, they missed the mark with SOB in my opinion. Some people love the ride and it's roughness, and I get it, but I just wanted them to start over and RMC the thing.

This was on the KI Season Pass Holders facebook group the other day. I do find it odd that the lid is slightly ajar but that could be nothing.

I prefer The Vortex plot stay Coney Mall. The way the path is set up, something big at the end feels kind of highlighted by the rest of the area kind of leading up to it.

Seeing this photo going around reddit now

;(Reposting the pertinent SOB station changes, recently and originally identified and posted by PKIVortex in the "Kings Island Halloween Haunt 2024 Discussion" over here for consistency of having all the info on the changes / speculation on this in one place. ); ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- on 9/8/2024 at 12:43 AM, PKIVortex said: Seen this today over near the SoB atation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- on 9/8/2024 at 02:32 PM, Coasterteam said: I have photos of them also taking stuff out of the area from August 14th, 2024. Just to show the difference, something cool to see them working in this place again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I made additional connections in my post following this post from Coasterteam, on 9/9/2024 at 4:42 AM i just came to the realization that these are quite literally the "Lost remnants of number 5" that were referenced in the weird 2019 teaser from CP : definitely curious how this all aligns now further with the details of the poster, Stating "items inside crates and trunks must remain closed until the time is right", and now seeing a literal crate open with pieces of the former ride. Wonder if any of the other various crates / barrels marked with the outpost 5 logo throughout the park have been updated in any way following this new crate at the former site. Maybe this was the plan pre covid and was shelved until now? maybe the company is satisfied with steel vengeance and RMC now that its operating consistently and feel confident moving forward with this project? theoretically with tunnels itd likely be possible to reuse the original station going out under Banshee for what id imagine is the most viable route of entry / exit to the open space the former ride occupied, beyond Banshee personally I feel like with the space to available it could honestly be very fitting if a downward helix started the ride just as it does on The Beast ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- update for 09/10/2024 at 3:53pm: User on Instagram identified and posted additional changes to the "station building", seemingly new paint on the semi-temporary walls utilized by the former haunt attraction, curiously this new paint is in the same style of caution crosshatching as the crate and formerly SOB's original theme, as well as featuring a fairly sizeable outpost 5 logo painted near one of the three doorways ( photo attached ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some additional thoughts: The crate states "ATTN. KI Haunt" which could be taken at face value for a teaser of a new Haunt maze potentially, but for me this raises some questions: Why would KI tease a new Haunt maze a full year ahead of said addition? Why does the crate reference RMC (while utilizing a font commonly used by RMC I might add), personally I would like to believe the PR association with utilizing any arrangement that leads to the abbreviation RMC at any theme park is known and wouldn't be placed on this crate lightly knowing the speculation it could. ( and is causing. ) ( lol ) Why does this now align very well with the, what were, seemingly abandoned thread of teasers from 2019? Hasn't the park in recent years (2019 onward?) reserved the haunt season for announcing / beginning the teasing of major removals/ additions ? (I.E.: Firehawk , Vortex , Orion) (obviously Adventure port was not in the plans and had little to no teasing, although it is weird that this could align as well, given that the park was handed a last minute budget for CapEx, and out of all the areas they could have changed, they chose to expand this idea that Adventure Express and the area is a mining / shipping port, which was always connected to the Outpost 5 lore, make additional references and teasers to outpost 5 and SOB within this addition, even reupping the theme references on the ride to the "shipping and cargo transportation route" which was referenced within the teaser from 2019? ( weirdly too coincidental IMO ) Any connection to the SOB / Outpost 5 tweets from RMC? Is this the T-REX??????!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? (Longshot but hey we know RMC was approached about the T-Rex by a park, nothing seemingly came of it, yet RMC has continued making references, tweets, and stringing along that its still a thing, seems curious that this timeline fits into the conundrum of unplanned additions / removals to KI (not to mention covid wrecking CapEx plans / timelines for all the parks) Edit 5:20 PM 09/10/2024: Seeing online as well that the structure may have been deemed unfit for use by the state at some point, could explain the electrical work previously seen being done? maybe power / utilities needed to be disconnected from the structure to comply with this? Maybe what pushed the park to begin making these changes, or look at the options they have with the space / structure? Furthermore, it appears as the "semi-temporary" walls, have internally been removed for the most part, seems like from the photos that the edge walls are basically all that's left up in there from the haunt, which I would imagine is probably for over image it might portray having the station fully empty, and maybe also to deter anyone who might go exploring from going all the way into the station (small case, but its been known to happen with some videos of people doing exactly this, able to be found on YouTube if you search hard enough (lol) Edit 6:30 PM 09/10/2024: Reference for full drawn crate seen in 2019 teaser is likely this: Crate which is found in the Adventure Express station post refurbishment and theming update. Weirdly IMO looking at this it seems to be straight up the exact same crate from the 2019 teaser, except, the hinge locks and straps keeping it closed have been IMO what appears to be themed as if something busted them open? destroying parts of the crate/hinges there? 6:40 PM: yeah 100% the blurry brown bar looking structure on the bottom right of the crate there is the same as the bar structure on the drawing of it. definitely made to look like something broke out. Edit 7:07 PM 09/10/2024: Further theming thought, maybe they really have just been been playing the incredibly long game with this one? I mean this teaser from 2019 references further incoming shipments, and again that they shouldn't be opened until the time is right, and since this there have been numerous occurrences of crates, boxes, barrels, etc. popping up throughout the park since this time. okay now this ones gonna get a little crazy, but In 2020 I capped a nice shot of this crate showing up next to the stairs in FOF, this year, just happening to be on a family visit, I noticed the crate was gone, and saw these weird pole structures beyond where the crate was, not sure if its always been there, I've never noticed it before, but if someone has any idea or if its related that'd be dope!

It’s interesting how certain rides can leave such a lasting impression on enthusiasts, even after they're gone. Son of Beast has a unique place in roller coaster history, and it’s clear that it’s a ride that Kings Island fans will remember vividly. Its intense experience and the controversies surrounding it only add to the nostalgia and mystique. It holds a special place for many, there’s something memorable about being part of something that was so ambitious, even if it had its rough patches. Speculating about SoB, related Easter eggs and little nods can be a fun way to keep that connection alive. Whether or not those hints have any deeper meaning, they’re a testament to how much of an impact the ride made. Plus, it's always great to share those memories with fellow enthusiasts who appreciate the ride's legacy!

I have found no survey markers near or around the old SoB station. My guess is all of the commotion going on at SoB station is because it is used as storage for Halloween props.

How would a Son of Beast themed house be achieved? What would it look like? What would the characters be/look like? What would be the scare? Would be an interesting concept, just not sure I personally would be able to answer my above questions. The one thing I noticed when I visited the park last, was that the bridge heading to The Bat has been completely painted over...no more stars. I didn't go through the main Bat queue, so I didn't see if the flag was still painted on the wall or not.

Reddit user identified changes to this electrical box from what was seen here in 2020. Post if from 11 days ago The what appeared to be temporary? line run along the outside of the existing conduit attached via zip ties, has seemingly gone, Note the wall have been repainted as well?!? Service ran inside the conduit appears to be disconnected as of this photo, which bares the question of why a temporary service connection was made for a period of time and then disconnected and removed again

My personal opinion on the new decoration is that it’s nothing more than that: A decoration that’s basically used as a random troll for fans or a publicity stunt. SOB is one of those attractions KI likes to reference often (Adventure Port and random crates around the parks as an example) and I feel like this is just another one of those. With the addition of stuff like the Phantom Theater car infront of Boo Blasters, I think someone who works in the Haunt Decoration team just like having these on display to guest. Absolutely hope I’m wrong and this is a clue to something though, I’d love to see basically any kind of wooden coaster that just uses the name.

The whole thing went almost as badly as it possibly could have and that somehow only adds to its legendary status. It's the last time KI tried to do something extraordinary and I've noticed that many younger enthusiasts, who never got to ride it, are surprisingly fascinated by it. Anytime I mention somewhere online that I rode it a bunch of times, people ask what it was like.

I was hoping for Gene Staples of Indiana Beach to swoop in and buy the park these last couple years. I was pretty surprised that Coney and the buildings weren't protected in some way by the Historical Society. I do feel if more people fought for Coney to have historic status back in 2019 when the rides were removed, there may have been a different outcome than what we got.

There are likely performance clauses in the contract, but as far as penalties go, it's not likely to be extreme. It does no one any good for a park/chain to bankrupt a supplier over something like this.

Don't think the station will move. It may appear to be shorter if we can go further back into AZ, but still the same distance.