Son of Beast needs work BADDD!

[SOB_TOM]

Add two more trains. Add another lift and another 1000 feet for a new record.

PKI wanted the ride to be shorter than The Beast so that The Beast would still hold the longest woodie record.

Also, Im not saying that you shouldnt have freedom of speech, but why sit online and cry about it? PKI doesnt have the time to sit here and say "Oh wow, 20 people from this forum do not like how rough SOB is. Lets work harder on it." If you really want your voice heard (as miniscule as it is) go to GR. More will be accomplished that way than any other way.

And what I meant about my last post was that its getting annoying to hear the same thing on multiple boards about one coaster. SOB is rough. Get over it. If you dont like it, get out of line and stay out of line. If it beats you up, boo hoo. You will live. Im just personally sick and tired of hearing people b*tch and moan whenever somethings not perfect up at PKI. Like the coaster thing. So we might not get one next year. Whoop-de-s*it. Wait another year. If you are going to not buy a pass due to no coaster, you are not a true PKI fan. Just quit b*tch*n whenever you dont get your way.

[BoObKiNoS]

Dude, where did you hear that the designer didnt want his name on it, thats absurd...if he didnt, then why would he claim it as one of the rides he designed on his very own website:

http://members.aol.com/rcstengel/

Go there. It's listed. And if even one person claims that he must be a crappy designer becuase the ride is rough i'll smack ya, becuase he designed Top Thrill Dragster too. Dont beleive me?? Go there. It's also listed: http://members.aol.com/rcstengel/st-latest.html - thats the link for all the recent rides he's been involved with.

SOO basically, if he didnt want his name on it, why would his little homepage have it listed??? Riddle me that batman

AND for you captain pico, i dont know what you are talking about, but i ride it at least twice a day...6 days a week. If anything more than that. And i rode it that much last year too, so i think i would know. smart@$$

D. Piddy

SOB/GUN Crew 2003

Express/Ship Crew & SOB/GUN Crew 2002

Express/Ship Crew 2001

[Stitch]

I don't understand where people come up with some of the crap I read on this site, Werner Stengle has never claimed publicly that he doesn't want to be affiliated with Son of Beast. As far as Son of Beast's Roughness, I have only had one rough ride on it and I have ridden it about 100 to 120 times so I would say I am preatty used to the feel of it ( I do know that SOB can be rougher in the front and back seats ). If you want to feel the true meaning of a rough wooden coaster ride Forwards Racer or Thunder Run @ SFKK those rides kill. If you ask me Son of Beast is one of the smoothest wooden coasters out there and its smooth coming off of 218 FT pulling 78 M.P.H. I guess I am easily upset with people complaining about this ride since it's my favorite ride of all time and the fact that I have only had one bad ride.

[Captain Picard]

Why did they add padding to restraints?

[Stitch]

Why did they add padding to restraints?

I am not sure if this question was a reply to me but if it was I will answer it, the old ones were to small and made it difficult for people to ride and if you weren't the appropriate size for the ride the bars would pinch you legs. I like the new restraints for the increased leg room but I dislike how much further and tighter they come down.

[Captain Picard]

They looked like the same ones with padding added.

[BoObKiNoS]

The new restraints only offer 1/8 inch difference in leg room. Just so you know.

[nightrider19]

I don't know about anyone else but when u hit the bottom of the helix and start back up i would say thats your roughest point, and it puts a smile on my face every time, and the comradary of discussing with those around you how tightly your balls are pinched is an instant classic

[pki_guy]

I have ridden SOB around 100 times over the last two years, and the ride is always different. I was at PKI a few weeks ago and took advantage of the Action Zone early ride deal. I decided to conduct my own little experiment on SOB. I was looking for how the ride is different in different seats. I rode SOB around 16 times in one hour. My favorite seat is the last seat in the last car. I rode in that seat 4 times in a row without any major pain. The bottom of the first drop was smooth as glass. As I started to move up in the train, I noticed the ride got progressively rougher. About the time I got to the second car, first seat, it was the worst ride I had experienced. So I moved back to the back seat and it was great. I never got past the second car. This fluxuates every time I visit. Weather, train weight, and track condition all are factors in predicting how the ride will be. Sometimes its rough, sometimes its smooth. It changes all the time. But one of the most important things about riding SOB is HOW you ride it. You have to anticipate turns, drops, and all sorts of g forces. If you ride it enough, you will learn how to ride it.

[NewD4y20]

On 8/19/2003 at 4:07 PM, 7D Rules said:

I had heard somewhere that there was another company that was originally supposed to build SOB. That's when PKI took over. Isn't it possible that they (PKI) were really not prepared or skilled enough to build this one? Maybe the other company could have done a better job. I've also heard rumors that they had to replace quite a bit of the wood initially because it was inferior. Anyone know? All I know is that if you use inferior materials, you will have an inferior ride with many problems. Just my .02.

 

If they had just used good wood, it would have been the perfect candidate for an RMC coaster at Kings Island.

What could have been.

[BlondyRidesOn]

I've often wondered what could've been myself. I never rode Son of Beast, but my father found it to be a very rough and uncomfortable ride. He's an engineer and he said, while Sonny was still SBNO, that the park should've invested money in rebuilding the coaster with stronger, more durable wood.

One of his favorite roller coasters was Mean Streak at Cedar Point, the giant Dinn Corporation woodie built in 1991 (He had gone up with my mother that season to ride it; we still have photos of the new southern yellow pine structure in a photo album). Shortly before the coaster closed in 2016 to make way for what would become Steel Vengeance, we went up and rode it one last time (first and last times for me). Despite its roughness and bumpy ride experience, I actually enjoyed Mean Streak and could see why he liked it.

The major downside to Son of Beast was that Paramount cut costs while building the coaster, explaining why they didn't use the best wood. Mean Streak, on the other hand, had a great structure with track that quickly got rougher over time. When the rumors of Son of Beast returning began stirring, which I knew there was no water to those theories, I began wondering to myself if had Son of Beast been similar to Mean Streak, with a much more sound structure, would it still be around to this day. Still, to this day, my father and I both look back at the possibilities and the potential the ride had.