TombRaiderFTW

I liked the idea of Son of Beast, but I really didn't like much of the ride itself. If you enjoyed it, I'm happy for you. Two of my friends absolutely loved the thing. I don't really get it, but different strokes for different folks! I rode it many times in 2008 and a few times in 2009. I never rode it with the loop. In terms of the ride experience, everything from the station through the big drop after the lift* was alright. Fun, even. I think I'm plagiarizing a post from bkroz from a long time ago when I say that the immense speed of it felt "wrong," but in a really fun way. As you plunged down the HUGE drop, you'd pick up speed in a way that just didn't feel "proper" for a wooden coaster--and that's just because there was nothing like it. It was generally smooth, but the little jostles you'd get at that tremendous speed just made it feel powerful in a way that's kinda hard to describe. It's just my imagination, but there was something unintentionally theatrical and dramatic about that that I really haven't ever found in another ride. There really wasn't airtime on the first drop--at least not with the Gerstlauer trains, anyway--but I don't really fault it for that. Beast doesn't really have any, either, so I didn't mind its "sequel" not having any. The feeling of speed on the first drop wasn't unlike what people appreciate about Millennium Force, except with wood. (* I say "big drop after the lift" because technically the first drop was the one right out of the station. The turnaround after the lift was a small drop, so I can't just say "the drop after the lift" because technically it was the second drop after the lift. Back in the day, people around here used to give people who'd talk about Son of Beast's "first drop" a hard time because of that. I'm sure some wiseguy around here might bring it up, so I'm just being careful! ) Unfortunately, that's about where my enjoyment of SoB ended. When I watch POVs of it online, I can literally remember the way the jostling felt on that subsequent fan turn--the whole train would rock back and forth, and you could feel the guide wheels finding the left rail, then the right rail, then the left rail, and so on with side-to-side jerks. You'd make it over that hill and shimmy your way down into the most rattling series of turns I've ever experienced. The only two rides I've been on that have ever come close to that amount of shaking were Gwazi and Boardwalk Bullet, but those still aren't/weren't quite the same. On Gwazi and BB, the jackhammering was brief because of the briefness of the turns; on Son of Beast, you'd spend multiple seconds shuddering your way through the bottoms of the helices. It literally made my chest ache for a bit after getting off. You'd have a brief moment of peace when you pulled onto the MCBR--before the brakes caught you and brought you down to a near stop, anyway. Then it was down, over the jolting hop where the loop was, up into more shaking in the second double helix and around that last turn. You'd hop back up to the final brakes, where, without fail, I'd always hear: CHK-CHK-CHK-CHK-CHK-chk-chk-OOF! The "OOF," of course, coming from the riders who just went from 40 miles per hour to 0 in 2 seconds. Honestly, I think the sounds of that ride are what I'll remember most--especially the LOUD lift and the chk-chk-chk-oof of the final brakes. All that being said, there are two ways I have to compliment Son of Beast: 1. I did have one memorably good ride on it. It was a pretty damp night during the summer of 2008, and there was a light mist coming down. I want to say I rode in the last car? I can't remember at this point. Regardless, the ride was absolutely flying, and the roughness really wasn't that noticeable. It was sincerely fun from start to finish (chk-chk-chk-oofs notwithstanding.) 2. The idea of Beast having a "sequel" or "son" is just a cool idea, and it's definitely symptomatic of Paramount's way of doing things at the time. The period in which Action Zone, Son of Beast, and Tomb Raider: The Ride came to be, in my opinion, is probably the "golden era" of the Paramount years. (At the very least, those are the years that I remember the most and started forming memories of the park, and I do get nostalgic for them.) It was the time for big budgets, big movie themes, big media days, and big risks that may or may not have worked out. It makes sense that a movie studio would make a sequel out of their star ride. There's something kinda magical about that to me. I'm sure there are people here who cringe at how much the park changed around that time. Like I said, different strokes! It's just a shame that a lot of the rides and experiences from that era mostly didn't work out. TR:TR, SoB, and Italian Job (in its original form) weren't sustainable; Action Zone's plans for guests to get caught in the middle of a movie suffered from very poor timing and were quietly cancelled; and the park changed hands and shifted into "cheap and cheerful" expansions until Cedar Fair finally purchased Paramount Parks. It's fun sometimes to think about what could have been if those things had worked out--what if one of the other manufacturers who placed a bid for Son of Beast (like CCI) had gotten the job; what if Tomb Raider had a big enough impact to it to be kept up with... It's been said around here before that Tomb Raider was a test for Paramount to see if they wanted to drop that kind of money into more rides. (Or something to that effect?) If those had worked out, would we be talking about Cedar Fair's ownership today? Would we have gotten Diamondback, a different B&M invert somewhere else, or Mystic Timbers? Would Kings Island look more like Cedar Point or Universal? I'm sure there are thousands of ways to think about it. It's just fun to wonder sometimes. One last thing: if Kings Island ever decides to use the area currently occupied by Son of Beast's station and queue for something else, I really hope they'll reconsider the flow of that area. It was a little awkward when Son of Beast was open, and it's almost just as awkward now. When Son of Beast was open and when Wolf Pack is open, you've got two "on" ramps towards rides and two "off" ramps converging in the same area. It's really not intuitive, and the extended queue formerly for Son of Beast seems very out-of-the-way and afterthought-y. The signage during Haunt helps, but it's still weird. I know it's complicated because that service road runs overhead and ADA-compliant paths have to fit in somewhere, but wowee. There's gotta be some way of simplifying that area down. It's not quite as awkward as that point at Holiday World where the path to Thunderbird meets the former path to Pilgrim's Plunge and the current path to Hyena Falls, but it's close. EDIT: I forgot to answer one of the questions: if Son of Beast reopened somehow, of course I'd ride it. Who wouldn't? Even if you hated it, you know you'd try it again after this many years to see if you still disliked it.

There at least used to be. It was probably 60% or 70% of the way through. I believe there were plastic spiders on the wall and a giant spider prop overhead. I know you had to be touching the right wall to actually experience it last year. Every time I went through this year, they had us follow the left wall. I never thought to look and see if it was still there.

Thanks for the update. I always enjoy reading your articles!

If there's an angle they can get of the water area from the train shed, I'd guess a second cam would go there. Especially since that might get them much closer to the construction back there for the tunnel and the run back over to Mystic Timbers's shed.

CCI is my favorite coaster company. I really think the way they designed their roller coasters will never be beat (in terms of fun when they're running well, anyway. Maintenance-wise... Not so much.) I love how a lot of their banking is usually done during airtime, and banking is used sparingly. The laterals and airtime hit hard and suddenly. There really isn't anyone else from 1990 to now who comes to mind who uses a formula like that but still manages to keep things fresh. Their rides from the mid-90's tend to be their best at that, in my opinion. The 2000 & 2001 rides are still very good, but a lot of them seem to have drawn-out elements and a little less bite than their earlier rides. Granted, I haven't ridden all of them, either... And even then, one of their coasters from 2000 is my favorite wooden coaster (Boss.)

It is being reported that Wildfire has had permits revoked and is now SBNO. Allegedly, they were revoked on the grounds of the ride having a larger environmental impact than expected, including noise levels. The Swedish court pointed out that no one has submitted a back-up plan for the environmental impact. Coasterhub.com has an article on it that contains a link to a Swedish article. Here's a link to Coasterhub: http://coasterhub.com/archives/18575 The Swedish article indicates that there is no way for the court's decision to be appealed, but it may be able to stay if a plan is prepared and submitted. It will be interesting to see how this develops in the future. The article (after translated by Google) says, in essence, that the court's decision may require Kolmarden to tear the ride down.

Compare to the Kinzel era, in which Kinzel was both president and CEO of the company for 20-something years straight. It's entirely possible that I'm overestimating the impact of this, but I think this reinforces that this era of Cedar Fair continues to be about putting the right people in the right positions. The era of the most qualified person "coincidentally" being the CEO's son is a thing of the past. I'm really curious about what Magenta Lizard pointed out, though. I've never heard of a Regional VP position at Cedar Fair, but that is indeed what Greg Scheid's LinkedIn says. It says he's a Regional VP of Kings Island, though... I don't know. Surely it's not just a title change. What I would assume a "Regional" VP position is for a park would make more sense in the case of multiple parks in the same chain being located close to each other (e.g. Kennywood and Idlewild.) Obviously, that's not the case for Kings Island, so I don't know. This would seem to indicate that KI will have a new park president, though. This is fun stuff to watch!

Congrats, malem! You'll do well.

The drink is (when I went through on Friday, watered down) fruit punch... which I got despite choosing to eat. I think that was probably either a mistake or they ran out of the food for our large group. Either way, that's what it is.

Oh, yeah. TRFTW, reminded again why he's not an economics-y person...

It's actually not unusual that BGW fills to capacity during Howl-O-Scream and Christmas Town. I'm actually a little surprised this didn't happen sooner. On one hand, I get where guests' frustration comes from. On the other hand, I can't help but feel like it almost should be expected at this point? I sincerely can't think of another park that deals with capacity issues as often as BGW does during HOS. This whole rigmarole will probably happen every weekend through the end of Howl-O-Scream--the park will fill to capacity and issue a statement on Facebook that will bring on comments of "I spent $___ on tickets and I can't get in?! I'm never going to Busch Gardens again! Kings Dominion, here I come!" Obviously, it shows that BGW's Halloween event has more demand than it can meet. Beyond continuing to expand the park as normal, I really don't know what they could do to resolve this. I know Islands of Adventure has additional paths that are opened on the busiest days so crowds have somewhere to flow, but BGW's layout and location don't really allow for that kind of thing. This is an interesting problem.

I was actually able to read your original post in my e-mail. It was a great post and very informative. Even if it was "beating a dead horse," I think there would be some who would've liked to have read it anyway. Thanks, but it did involve me making a big deal out of a point that's been contested here before. I didn't want to be a troll, so it went away. Thanks, though!

EDIT: Never mind. In retrospect, I was beating a dead horse.

In my pipiest of pipe dreams, I'd put Tomb Raider: The Ride in the Golden Kingdom area at SFGAdv if SFGAdv was owned by Universal or Disney. I'd also decorate the whole building exterior to look like a crumbling temple like Ta Prohm in Cambodia. If I HAVE to play by the non-pipey rules, then I'd put the TR:TR of 2002 into The Lost Continent in Islands of Adventure, despite its southeastern Asia-y theme not really matching the Middle Eastern-y theme of TLC. I'm also tempted to say that I'd put it in Animal Kingdom, but I've never been there or gotten a good feel for what its theme is.

I mean... If you look in the direction that the new haunts from 2008 to now have taken, you'll notice that they generally have focused on quality, atmosphere, and cohesive environments in permanent locations (e.g. Urgent Scare, Madame Fatale's, the new Slaughterhouse, KillMart, Board to Death, even Blackout.) They've shifted away from the cheaper removable houses they used to do more frequently (basically everything that used to use those brown pallet tower things--Cut Throat Cove, The Worksite, Cemetery Drive, CornStalkers.) Tombstone Terror-tory seems to have gotten the axe (pun totally intended) as part of this shift. In terms of atmosphere, I don't think you'll find many who would argue that Tombstone Terror-tory was a well-planned and well-funded experience. There was just too much path (or else too little budget and/or time) to make it a worthwhile experience. That being said, I do agree that there was something special about using the train for a Haunt experience. It would be very neat if they'd add actors and a show experience to it for Haunt. (And a new sound system, too, if they're going to do it. I don't think I ever properly understood a whole story on the train during the TTT days...)

Fright Feast is an all-you-can-eat buffet experience the park offers for an upcharge on Friday nights in the Picnic Grove. Beerman_IPA was asking if Fright Feast is included with the all-season dining plan.

Off the top of my head, Kennywood. It's probably about 5 hours away from the 275 loop, if I had to guess. Not sure what your ideal timeframe is, though--Kennywood's only open 6pm-midnight on Friday and Saturday and 6pm-11pm on Sunday, all of which is for their Halloween event. I've never been, but I've heard good enough things. The rides themselves there are great, though! There's also Camden Park, which has similar hours but is probably closer.

Not to mention the C-channel pieces lying around, which are used on RMC coasters to attach the track to the supports. See also: Photo source: Google/Drury Hotels.

I agree that the type of vehicle isn't specific to RMC, so it being there has no correlation to RMC doing anything at Kings Island. However: the general feel I'm getting from the replies in this thread is that if an RMC vehicle shows up somewhere, it can only mean something big (like a completely new ride or a Texas Giant-style redo) is in the works. I think you all are forgetting Georgia Cyclone, Tremors, or Rattler, all of which are (or at one point were) partially retracked with Topper Track. If an RMC truck were to show up at KI this season or this off-season**, it's not inconceivable that they would be doing work in preparation for the 2017 season. **This is not a hint. I have no insider knowledge concerning whether or not an RMC truck will be showing up anywhere in the Cincinnati area anytime soon. I'm just playing the devil's advocate.

Not interested. I have liked all three Vekoma Flying Dutchmen I've ridden (Firehawk, Nighthawk, Batwing) well enough. I'd willingly ride any of them any time their lines aren't too severe. The B&M flyers I've ridden are all one extreme or the other--boring and not worth a walk-on wait (two Supermen: Ultimate Flights) or better than the Vekomas (Manta.) Add in the awkward and uncomfortable waiting on the brake run that comes with all the B&M flyers, and I'm out. No thanks! You might lose the loud lift noise, but that's literally the only benefit, in my eyes.

They should probably reschedule...?

BB1 actually summed up my thoughts really well--Field of Screams is essentially CornStalkers 2.0, and, while the actual design of it is what CornStalkers probably always should have been, it kinda just mainly combines the parts of CornStalkers and Tombstone Terror-Tory that used to get complained about a lot around here (repetitive scares and an out-of-the-way location that requires it to be longer than it probably should be.) As someone who enjoyed the middle-of-the-road scares of both of those mazes, Field of Screams was enjoyable, but I can see why others would be disappointed. I do have to say, though: I really liked the entrance area. It's a strong step forward for the outdoor haunts at the park. The scareactors were also doing really well in FoS.

I agree, and I would also ask that same question of Star Wars at Disneyland. I'm sure it will do well enough based on name alone, but it really doesn't have the same iconic merchandise possibilities that HP does. There's lightsabers, sure (which Avatar has no equivalent to) but nothing on the food, shirt, or knickknack side of things. On the subject of Stitch: meh. I thought it was pretty forgettable (or else memorable only for the grossness of the chili dog burp.) Then again, Lilo and Stitch has never really appealed to me. If it gets replaced, I won't lose sleep. As long as The Carousel of Progress and Monsters Inc. stick around, I'm good.

NO. No no no no. No no no no no no no nononononono. I still haven't done it. This is not going away without me having done it. Plans are getting made. This is happening ASAP, so help me. Adventure is not slipping by me. Thank you so much for posting about it here.

As with most front-of-the-line passes, I'd recommend waiting to see what crowds are like before purchasing. The only exceptions to this are: 1.) if you specifically want to do the Skeleton Key rooms, 2.) if you get a really good deal by purchasing online ahead of time, or 3.) if you're going on a Saturday, especially those close to Halloween (when crowds are typically heaviest and both Fast Lane and Fright Lane are more prone to selling out. Even then, I'd still personally rather wait and see what crowds are like.) Also, as I'm sure you know: Skeleton Key is not purchasable by itself. It is sold in conjunction with Fright Lane. Just saying it here in case someone else would read it and be confused by how Skeleton Key is sold.