But how does the ride running or not on April 30th have any impact on the fate of the ride?

Oh, for crying out loud...if the ride runs on April 30, you know as well as I do that that is an indication that a decision has been made.

If, as is far more likely, it does not...that in and of itself sayeth naught.

Terp, ever the pragmatist

Right. I have a feeling it will not be running come April 30th, which means the same thing as the end of last season when it wasn`t operating. Now if parts of the ride are missing (I`m not saying they are), come April 30th, that will also indicate something to. But I doubt we will see any change come opening day.

There would have to be a miracle for Son of Beast to open on April 30th. But I've also heard, from a source that some of the track was missing, but the source isn't 100% reliable.

At this point, I have given up hope of ever riding SoB again. I'm now hoping that the reason nothing has been said about it for 2011 is that KI wants to wait and combine the announcement with something about a new ride.

We may know a little bit about it sooner than April 30th. IE, when the new map is released. If Son of Beast appears on it, that is probably a good indicator that it will run at some point in the season, but FAR from a guarantee. If it is not on the map, as Terp has said, it means nothing has changed. In the event they release a map without it and clear it to run midway through the season, maps are only paper, and they could print off new ones in a matter of days, maybe even hours if maps are printed on-site (which is unlikely). But the release of the park map will likely be the first RELIABLE indicator of any changes of fate.

I think that one thing is certain: No one will ever ride the Son of Beast of 2000 again. No one will ever ride the Son of Beast of 2008 again. The chances of the ride ever operating as it did during those eras seems so incredibly slim that it's not even worth discussing. The people who are in power now have said that they are unhappy with the ride experience, and even if new power should be instated, I simply can't imagine any case in which they'd review the ride's history and decide to open it as-is anyway.

New trains? New track? New structure? New layout? New empty field?

Who knows!

To me, I'd sooner bet on the return of Nickelodeon Universe than on Son of Beast being on the 2011 park map, much less actually operating on April 30th...

I don't see the Red and Blue trains running again they have been on the ground of the side track since mid 2009.

Clearer picture... not to one-up Paul or anything

Well, you kind of did just one up him, lol. Its not like those trains were anything remarkable to begin with. They were modified Gerstlauer trains. No real loss there. But it sure seems like a bad investment to purchase those trains when they only ran on the ride for a couple of seasons.

Yes, they modified them, but I thought they were used trains to begin with...

Pavilion comes to mind....and Roller Coaster Database confirms that...

Yeah. I believe that the trains that ran on Son of Beast came from the now defunct Myrtle Beach Pavilion and ran on Hurricane. (Which was a rather wild ride, and it ran rough back in 2003, and it was only three years old). Granted, I believe that some of the Gerstlauer trains that ran on Villian did make their way to KI (I believe that was reported at some time) at about the same time Son of Beast was reopening.

EDIT: It looks like The Interpreter was editing his post when I was typing up my response. He has since rescinded any comment he made about the trains coming from Geauga Lake. Blue B&M at Cedar Point anyone?

No, the trains from Geauga were also there...but Pavilions' were also purchased. My point was that the trains were used, and nowhere near the cost of new, and required substantial modifications.

Yes indeed. Because those not familiar, Son of Beast actually has a different track gauge compared to typical wooden coasters. Hence, the trains had to be modified to fir the track.

i will say this their were stuff from the ride at the line of The Beast at Halloween Haunt

^Because The Beastie's vulture came from Son of Beast, right?

I like your avatar! "You will pay."

If Son of Beast is planned to operate on April 30th I'm pretty sure we'd hear something before hand. I don't see them just opening the park and the ride and acting like the past 2 seasons never happened. They'd say something about it, or at least give hints about it, on Facebook.

Of course this is assuming that it is going to operate April 30th, which I don't believe it will.

^Son of Beast sit for nearly a year before opening back up to the public unannounced after the accident in 2006.

the park doesn't have to tell the world every little thing they're planning, could you imagine if they did?

So work on Son of Beast is in the category of "every little thing?"

And work of that magnitude would likely be disclosed to investors and potential investors under the public disclosure requirements of the SEC. Even if it were not, word would almost certainly leak out...as it could easily be seen from outside the boundaries of the park, and one or more workers would also likely sing.

Terpy, merely musing

i feel that it is sad after almost 2 years their is still no dission on opening it or to do something with it me think they are toying with us!

Nope. Parks are a business. They do not exist solely, or even primarily, to satisfy, delight or frustrate enthusiasts....

Yep. Bottom line, they are there to make money for the owners of the park. In Cedar Fair`s case, it is the unit holders and the general partner. For parks like Coney, it is for the individual owners of the park, the same goes for places like Holiday World that are family owned. If it doesn`t make good business sense, parks simply won`t do it. Having worked in operations at Coney now for nine seasons, you definitely get a different perspective on how parks are run, and how things are done with regards to how decisions impact guest experience and what makes good business sense.

Sadly, this has been compounded by Cedar Fair being a publicly traded company. Cedar Point has always been my "home park", and while there certainly have been positives, there have been negatives as well. Then again, at KI all of you may have been at least somewhat used to being corporate-owned. Cedar Point lost a lot of "little touches" that made it feel more "homey" and "family-centered"...much like a Holiday World feel...I guess a lot of the charm?

i feel that it is sad after almost 2 years their is still no dission on opening it or to do something with it me think they are toying with us!

KI is not toying with us as less than a year ago, an article was printed stating SoB would be closed in 2010:

http://www.wlwt.com/news/22874809/detail.html

And if you want to read more into the quote, the ride would be closed until KI officials feel it is performing at a higher level.

Given that no work has been done on the ride, I feel safe assuming SoB will be SBNO for 2011.

Sadly, this has been compounded by Cedar Fair being a publicly traded company. Cedar Point has always been my "home park", and while there certainly have been positives, there have been negatives as well. Then again, at KI all of you may have been at least somewhat used to being corporate-owned. Cedar Point lost a lot of "little touches" that made it feel more "homey" and "family-centered"...much like a Holiday World feel...I guess a lot of the charm?

I suppose it depends on what you feel the lesser of two evils are.

While CP (or KI pre-Paramount) has lost some of the charm we remember, those corporate dollars have also introduced some big money & innoventive rides that some of us crave.

Oh I absolutely concur with what you said. Cedar Point would certainly not be what it is today, and the tension that is created by the "two evils", as you said, results in consistent growth in both atmosphere and land-mark rides on a regular basis. I am excited to see what fresh leadership at Cedar Fair will bring.

This Friday is supposed to be park map release which means what SOB will be and Action Theater!

nowhere did the park state that on april 1st the 2011 park map would be released. sure it could happen, but they've never released the seasons park map that far away from opening day, or at least from what i can remember.

okay, but they have said last week in a matter of days and they do mostly everything on Fridays