I hav eto admit, sometimes I shy away from teh crypt, for that reason. haha. but I still visit it occasionaly.

^ Or...

Ride not suitable for the well-endowed male.

Large members can become violently smaller.

Welcome to the Crypt. It's a real nut cruncher.

there goes my red vault

Hold on...

The Crypt had victimized us all... but not for long!

Dodges rotten tomatoes...

I'm still surprised at this thread is still going on.

Why not? After all, no decision has been made relating to Son of Beast's future. We know that as the park has said that is the case.

From what I've seen from outside the park (I have not been in AZ, or even close), SoB appears to not have been touched over the offseason. Whether that's evidence for/against its removal, I don't know.

I guess we will find out opening day if the trains are loaded on the track.

The trains were loaded on the track for much of last season during the time that the ride did not operate...

Terp, just sayin'

the "closed for the remainder of the 2009 season" tag has been removed from the website.

That was done some months ago.

...and stated months ago. But, I don't expect you to know and/or remember that since it was a long time ago and things get lost easily in this thread.

If you want to dig into the website a little deeper it is the only ride listed without a height requirement. OHHHH what does that mean? I am sure nothing, so take from that what you will.

The real question is if Son of Beast will be included when we get the Kings Island website overhaul.

^If it isn't, I'm guessing no more Son of Beast.......because remember, last year they had the note at the bottom of the ride description that said *CLOSED FOR REMAINDER OF 2009 SEASON

Do remember, the new website design may not become active for several weeks, or even months. We may know the fate of SOB before then.

Sort of an interesting idea:

Six Flags Over Texas' Texas Giant roller coaster, which was popularly down for an extensive rehab, is now being... steel-itized. At an estimated $10 million (nearly twice the initial cost of the ride), Texas Giant's track (not frame, but track) is being completely replaced by steel bars.

The new track design does not use any wood on the track bed, nor does it use any track bolts. A newly engineered galvanized ledger design, that the Iron Horse Coaster track bolts to, acts as the spine/backbone for the steel railed track.

http://www.amusementtoday.com/

The debate now (going on at Theme Park Review) is whether or not Texas Giant is still a wooden roller coaster. Technically, it appears to be a unique twist on the hybrid idea of Gemini, and sort an opposite of the short-lived The Villain at Geauga Lake.

I don't think that this would be a fix for Son of Beast since most of the problem seems to be the structure and not the track itself, but this is certainly something to look into should the owners of the park seek a major overhaul. It would almost surely reduce the roughness of the ride. Of course, the structure could also be replaced with steel a la The Villain, which would technically leave it a wooden roller coaster (to save its records) and probably also drastically reduce roughness.

Texas Giant's new rails, from the above linked Amusement Today article.

The Villain's wooden track with steel supports.

Sorry if this is old-news.. I don't think it is? But even if it is, I don't believe it's been discussed in relation to Son of Beast.

While it would be an incredibly smooth ride (And dare I say it, probably fun!), look at how heavy those rails are. That would just cause even more strain on the structure. Plus, one of the beauties of Wooden Coasters is the slight jarring, shaking, rattling. Steel Rails just seems to eliminate the purpose. IMO, of course.

Jackson, waiting for Terpy and his Toro....

You say look at how heavy those rails are. But, remember, wooden coasters' trakcs have 8+ layers of wood, and then the flat steel on top. This appears to be the same conept (wood compressed together with steel rails), but it is just constructed differently. I'm sure it would way more, but when you think about how much weight there truly is, I'm sure it is a very small increase in terms of a ratio (it's like going from 50 pounds a quare foot to 60 pounds a quare foot; yes, and increase, but a small one compared to what is already there*)

*not actual weights for the track.

but then again we dont know the weight of a single wood piece of track so its hard to guess. But remember a pound of lead and a pound of feathers are the same thing, its just a matter of density and distribution

Sort of an interesting idea:

Six Flags Over Texas' Texas Giant roller coaster, which was popularly down for an extensive rehab, is now being... steel-itized. At an estimated $10 million (nearly twice the initial cost of the ride), Texas Giant's track (not frame, but track) is being completely replaced by steel bars.

The new track design does not use any wood on the track bed, nor does it use any track bolts. A newly engineered galvanized ledger design, that the Iron Horse Coaster track bolts to, acts as the spine/backbone for the steel railed track.

http://www.amusementtoday.com/

The debate now (going on at Theme Park Review) is whether or not Texas Giant is still a wooden roller coaster. Technically, it appears to be a unique twist on the hybrid idea of Gemini, and sort an opposite of the short-lived The Villain at Geauga Lake.

I don't think that this would be a fix for Son of Beast since most of the problem seems to be the structure and not the track itself, but this is certainly something to look into should the owners of the park seek a major overhaul. It would almost surely reduce the roughness of the ride. Of course, the structure could also be replaced with steel a la The Villain, which would technically leave it a wooden roller coaster (to save its records) and probably also drastically reduce roughness.

Texas Giant's new rails, from the above linked Amusement Today article.

The Villain's wooden track with steel supports.

Sorry if this is old-news.. I don't think it is? But even if it is, I don't believe it's been discussed in relation to Son of Beast.

You got the wrong picture on top. Here you go

http://www.amusementtoday.com/image/March2010/TxGiantQuad.gif

^ I believe the top picture is of an Intamin prefab coaster.

The new track is not Intamin prefab.

I think an iron horse track with steel structure would fare nicely in the rose bowl. If you fix the roughness there you fix a majority of the ride. I think the park would like to fix more than just some 500-700ft of track, but it'd be a cheaper fix to at least get the ride back up and operating with a more desirable ride experience.

Actually, to tell you all the truth, and after seeing the posts about Six Flags above, i can actually see Cedar Fair announcing something a few weeks before opening day that rather than demolishing the coaster, they will just re-track it with new steel rails, like a backwards hybrid. I am not sure, but i think that although steel is very expensive, it would be much cheaper and/or better than:

A: Paying for the complicated demolition/processing/cleanup of the massive structure.

B: Losing one of the park's record breakers and popular? coasters

C: Paying for the outrageous amounts of maintenence that the wood coaster tracks would further require if they opened it back up as-is.

D: While not changing the weight by much, the steel tracks would probably reduce violent vibration/tremors, and thereby reducing stress on the structure.

I know its a little far fetched, but i must say that replacing the wood tracks with steel rails might reincarnate the SoB that should've been.

-KIBOB, just being logical, and thinking for both SoB lovers and haters

Don't forget that, although some (or even most) of the roughness may come from the track, the actual safety problems have happened in the ride's structure, which would be unchanged (or even, under more stress) using steel rails. Plus, it would effectively be record-less since most would consider it a steel coaster. Not saying that's a reason to not do it, just that the "saving a world record coaster" aspect of it isn't really top shelf, I would guess.

well if you remove the wood tracks wouldnt SOB no longer be the tallest wooden roller coaster? Would it have the title of the worlds tallest wood/steel hybrid coaster. Plus if you only replace the track then you would still have to inspect and replace wood on the structure (remember the structure was what broke originally, not the track). Steel actually transmits vibrations better than wood. So if you have a vibrating coaster on steel tracks it would probably transfer the vibrations quicker into the structure.

Whoever has to make this decision will not do so lightly but retracking the coaster in steel may not, in my humble but educated opinion, fix all of the issues with the coaster.

EDIT: Darn you goodyellowkorn....

The new track is not Intamin prefab.

I am perfectly aware of that but the first picture of that post is Intamin prefab track. (Link to TPR forum where it was taken)

Not to be a complete newb here, but is there any chance SOB will be open for Opening Day? Or is that pretty much out of the question?

Not to be a complete newb here, but is there any chance SOB will be open for Opening Day?  Or is that pretty much out of the question?

I highly doubt it but you never know...

I know these questions aren't 100% answerable, but for kicks, do you think we can expect a statement from the park concerning SOB before opening day?