Delirium33

Just a quick note: When I arrived at the park today (Friday, July 20) at 9:45, Firehawk was operating along with FoF for the gold pass Coney Mall ERT. It was a pleasant surprise. It was running one side, which was all they needed because there was only maybe 50 people total on the ride and in the station. My friends and I were able to just about walk on the ride at 9:50 or so, but were not able to make it back in line before the mass crowd was able to get in line at 10:00 sharp. It seems like 90% of the guests in the park try to hit Firehawk first. The line stacked up fast. The second station opened with the crowd at 10. I don't know if this was a one-time deal, or if this has already been noticed, but the ability to get a nearly-exclusive ride on Firehawk before the GP was alone worth the money of a gold pass. I also don't know if it just opened when we got there, or if it opened right at 9:30 along with the ERT. The more I ride Firehawk, the more I seem to love the ride. Definitely one of the best 3 rides in the park, IMO.

Oh- my bad, I thought that maybe it used to read: "Lara Croft's Tomb Raider: The Ride." Maybe not. I have no idea lol.

I rode Tomb Raider today at 3, and I noticed that there was no que music, no pre-ride movie, and they were not using the first chamber. On the ride, the water jets were off and the water and ice lighting was terrible, however there WAS the normal ride soundtrack, just without the "your making a big mistake," ect. voice-overs. The front lighting for the most part seemed to be working as well. I haven't been on Tomb Raider for a while, and for some reason the flips seemed much faster, forceful and intense than I remember. It actually got my adrenaline going a little, which is rare for me. I liked the ride, except for the temporary numbness in the crotchal region. Ouch! BTW I didn't catch the sign change. Nice find. EDIT: Nevermind about the sign.

Sorry to post twice like this, but regarding the smoothest part of the train: All four of my rides on the new trains have been spread throughout the front half of the train, and all have been pretty consistent as far a smoothness goes. If I had to choose, the smoothest ride was the one in the back of the 3rd car, and the roughest (by a very little margin) was the second car. But like I said, all the rides have been much smoother than the old trains.

AMEN!!! I rode SoB today (4th time with the new cars) while my ride today was maybe a touch rougher than last time, I still believe it is definitely smoother than The Racer, and depending what seat, smoother than The Beast. If you haven't been on Sonny with the new cars, definitely give the ride another try. The ONLY real rough part is bottom of the double helix. That part of the ride was no smoother than last week. Once again, my friends whom I rode with are with me on this. Also for all the SoB haters: I was at the park today from open to 4, and SoB was the longest wait we had all day, and we rode every major ride. While the capacity might be lower than before, we just under 60 minutes minutes to ride Sonny [however, there was a 20 minute delay due to someone who needed medical attention in the station (due to a bee sting, I think) and then a test cycle]. Each of the three times I saw the line in the morning (10AM to 2), it was PAST the service road underpass (with no gates open). One time it was getting near the entrance to the ride, and that was before the Friday afternoon crowd. Waits for other major rides this morning/early afternoon were between (5-20 minutes) My Point: Sonny was the 2nd most popular ride in the park next to Firehawk today. The public now has a lot of interest in the ride. I think the word is out that the ride is smoother and people want to see for themselves. The question is: will the interest in the ride last for a while? I think it will. Long live Son of Beast!

That would be an awesome and FUN job, scaring people for money. But I would probably blow most of my salary on gas getting to the park! (~27 miles up 71) Hopefully this is a sign that a Fear Fest '07 Announcement is near. I can't wait to see what's in store for FF this year!

I'm really glad that Sonny is open again. I'm going to the park tomorrow with some friends who haven't been on the ride this year. If my experience on it is like it was last time, I'll probably ride it two or three times. Also, the way I see it: with the new cars and modified track, SOB in many ways is like a brand new ride. New rides understandably will need some tweaking and have some down-time. To my understanding, Firehawk had frequent down time it's first month of operation, and it's not 100% new. Even though SoB's downtime was very lengthy, it's a VERY big ride and my guess is that some extensive review was done on the track and cars to see how it has weathered its first week. If in a year the ride still has frequent, lengthy down time, then I'll be concerned. <Long Sigh> I feel like Sonny's defence attorney. (As you can tell I love the ride)

It really seems like the ride is hit or miss. My friend who rode it with me agreed with me, saying it was much improved, however my dad who rode in the same train with us would agree with you. He thought it was only a little smoother than before, and one ride was enough for him. I guess it has to do with different body types or age or something.

Thanks. I just saw that post RIGHT after I made my post, my mistake. Accually I've ridden it three times this month and think it's 2x better than before. It's one of my favorites.

Was SoB operating today? I'm heading to the park tomorrow and am really hoping it'll be operating.

I love Son of Beast, it is one of my favorite rides in the park, and my last-week's (3) experiences on it was 2x better than before it's modifications. To quote my 7/10 report/post on Sonny: While my experience could have been an exception, it was apparent to me (and my friends with me that day) that the GP actually DOES care about Sonny. Also to add to Sonny's defence, my dad did make a special trip that day from his work just to ride the "new" SoB (But then again, he's a passholder and only had to drive 20 minutes). I understand that the ride has been plagued with problems, but I think there is still some hope for Sonny. And I agree that the park should have the ride's status on it's website.

"Vote for me, and all your wildest dreams will come true." -Pedro

I rode Son of Beast as my last ride last night before it rained. I had only rode it one other time at night so I didn't remember what it was like. The main hill is lit up great, but they really need to add lighting in the rose bowl. Sonny is a great ride to ride at night, but there is nothing quite like his father at night.

This sounds like soo much fun! I've never been to a backstage tour! I can't wait to see the details. If I can go that day I'll sign up in a second!

I guess my post got deleted... anyway: In the next two years I would like an intense, unique flat ride in X-base, and a long, fast, Maverick-like terrain coaster that starts where FX theater is, and goes through the woods left (and mainly out of sight) of The Beast. The coaster should have a unique element to it, launch at least once, and have some nice yet low-maintenance theming.

My (detailed) "Reborn" Son of Beast Report I Finally got to ride Sonny today, after months of anticipation. Let me start off by saying that I had relatively high expectations because of the new trains, and because a friend told me that he thought it was much smoother. My expectations were met. By the end of the day, I rode Sonny 3 times. First off, the first hill IMO is much better now with the new trains, because without headrests you can really see how gigantic the drop really is. Regardless of what other reports have said, on ALL THREE of my rides, 90% of the ride was smoother than The Racer, maybe even The Beast. There is still some major jackhammering at both bottoms of the rose bowl. On one of my rides, those few seconds of jackhammering gave me instant (but temporary) chest pains. Besides that, the rest of the ride after the rose bowl IMO, as well as my friend's, is 200% better than before. The ex-loop area and second helix were fast and very enjoyably smooth. Smoother than The Beast's helix (which I rode right after Sonny). IMHO, The second part of the ride is the smoothest stretch of wooden roller coaster in the park. There is a little pop of airtime where the loop used to be, but I think they could of done better with at least a bigger bunny hill, if not a tunnel. The ride does seem to be missing something without that loop. My first ride was the second row of the third car of the Blue train. My second ride was the first row of the second car in the red, and my last ride (I think) was in the last row of the second car of red. All three ride were consistently great, but the last ride did give me those little chest pains that went away in 10 minutes. Our rides were not consecutive, but spread out throughout the day, the last being at night. My friend who I rode with every time agreed about the smoothness, but my dad rode it with us in the blue train and said that his ride was better than the old ride, but still pretty rough- he complained of a slight headache from the rose bowl. I will also add that once a train pulled into a station with many people grinning ear to ear, but then a couple people were holding their head in pain two rows back. So maybe we just got lucky with our seat selection, I don't know. Sonny used to be one of my favorite coasters in the park, except when it gave me occasional painful rides. Now it definitely is one of my top 4 favorite rides in the park. One more thing to add: Son of Beast's line throughout the day was longer than any other ride. It was about a 15-30 minute wait when most of the other rides at the park were about 5-10. (Firehawk was 30-45 when we rode it). When we arrived in the afternoon, Sonny was closed, testing (after a thunderstorm, I guess) and we got in a line that was from the ride's entrance, all the way to nearly to the racetrack entrance. The crew was great, and every time they asked the riders how their ride was, everyone screamed (out of excitement and satisfaction, not pain). Everyone in line was excited, and many people were smiling as they got off. IMO, it had the atmosphere of a new ride, which I thought was great. My point is, from what I could tell, the new, and yes improved Son of Beast seemed to be pretty widely excepted from what I saw today. If you're first experience on the new Sonny was rough, give him another try. If you thought the old Sonny was rough, DEFINATELY give him another try. Overall roughness: 3/5, just because of the rose bowl. Not including the rose bowl would be 4/5. Overall satisfaction: 4.5/5

Everyone hates SOB i dont no why Tunnels would not cost so much and why would that have somuch matenience The Beast tunnel has been standing for all these years know i just think that a double helix tunnel just like The Beast would give it an awesome nastalgic kind of feel Not to mention that tunnels would create great advertising and probably would give the ride a much needed spark of (positive) public interest. IMO, it could be a good business decision, if it attracts more people to the ride and park. But then again, I'm not a theme park manager, and I have no idea how much someting like a tunnel would cost.

I wanted to create this poll to get a general idea of how the "new" Son of Beast is being accepted (at least it's first impressions). Please post any other comments that you might have on the ride. Thanks for your input! Note: I haven't been able to ride SoB since it has re-opened. When I have, I will vote as well.

Yes- I heard those phrases many times throughout the day. They even had us yelling on Delirium, which was a first for me. When I rode Vortex, there was maybe 40 or so of us in the station, and the crew got all 40 of us to do the wave. That was very fun.

We walked up to Firehawk around 6 yesterday, and they were just reopening station 2, and the line was so short that we got on in 15 minutes. Talk about perfect timing.

Yeah the logo is just the words "Son of Beast", in the same design as the sign. I don't remember there being any illustrations on it. Sorry I don't have pics.

That was cool to see The Beast make the list. Also, isn't SoB LONGER than millenium force? On the site it says MF is the second longest coaster in the U.S. So they must have made that list with the idea of Son of Beast being closed.

HAHAHA. Great times at KI...

I wonder if there will be some sort of a soft opening for Son of Beast, to get an idea of the public's opinion on the ride before re-opening it or deciding if it even should reopen, or to see if it needs some more tweaking. Of course, this would have to be after all the inspections and testing is completed.

The show was good, but I liked School of Rock better. However this show is more geared more toward families. The skaters had some impressive moves, and the first scene was very exciting and upbeat. What made the show even better was the fact that the theater was nice and cool, especially with the ice, making it a great place to cool down on a hot day. My overall rating would be 7/10 (3.5/5).