$9 MILLION RIDE UPGRADE FOR TRACK SUBSYSTEMS

[The Interpreter]

^Nope.

30

...not anymore.

Terp, doing what he can for those who asked...

[KIfan1980]

Only 28 replies so far on this post?

Shhhhhh! Don't tell the others that KIC has more than one forum thread - some newbies have almost 100 posts, and every one is in that thread.

Now on to my serious comments about this thread. As an admitted fan of SoB, I think I've finally come to realize that what I remember and loved - the drop, the speed, the forces, the loop, the majesty - is a ride that doesn't exist any more and will never exist again. If this, or any retrofit, ever comes to SoB - it will become a new and different ride that will be so radically changed as to be unrecognizable (New Texas Giant is similar in two words of its name only to Texas Giant). My current hope is that at some point (2012, 2013, 2015 or beyond) Kings Island will put a new coaster in the spot currently occupied by SBNO that will provide me a new opportunity to experience something special. This may be it, or not - I'm willing to wait and see.

[CoastersRZ]

Exactly. It would be, in my opinion, best if the park started with a clean slate for a new ride in the area currently occupied by Son of Beast, than to try and put a band aid, or even transplant a new concept onto the ride. It could work, but would be a huge gamble, and I`d much rather see a ride built from a clean slate without all the baggage that Son of Beast has.

[RingMaster]

Not to add more fuel to the fire, but if this were about SOB...wouldn't the price tag be higher than $9,000,000?

Texas Giant is 4,920 feet long. Son of Beast is 7,032 feet long.

That's an extra 2,112 feet to figure into the equation.

Now, if we were to use the $10,000,000 price tag for TG's refurb, it would average out to around $2,032 per foot of track.

For SOB, using this $9 million tag, it averages out to around $1,279 per foot of track. I don't know about you, but given the layout, length, and height of SOB, I would expect the number to be a lot higher.

Now let's say the average is at $2,500 per foot. Multiplying that by Sonny's length, it comes out to around $17,580,000. At $3,000, that number jumps up to a little over $21,000,000.

Note that this all pure speculation, so don't take anything I said as fact.

[AintNutinElse2Do]

While I agree it would seem like it would cost more than Texas Giant to rehab SOB using a different company it may not. If you take the same car to get repaired at a Dealer and get an estimate them take it to Joe's Auto and get an estimate the dealer will almost always be higher for the same work and might even do equal quality work.

Here's a question I've pondered though. With Texas Giant there's little argument of it now being a steel coaster. Does the same hold with "topper track" or what if they kept the lift and drop as is but gave the "iron horse" treatment to the rest of it? Then technically it would still have the tallest fastest drop of any wooden coaster on the part that is still wood. So at what point does the steel/wood ratio reach before it would be a steel coaster.

By the way names like Altered Beast or Weld-a-Beast seem great for a refurb.

[Browntggrr]

While I agree it would seem like it would cost more than Texas Giant to rehab SOB using a different company it may not. If you take the same car to get repaired at a Dealer and get an estimate them take it to Joe's Auto and get an estimate the dealer will almost always be higher for the same work and might even do equal quality work.

When a request for bid work is released, typically the low bid is not accepted due: type of work the bidder has done, type of material the bidder is planning on using, amount of time the bidder will be using, how experienced the bidder's staff is etc. etc.

Very low bids are a bigger concern than very high bids.

I would be surprised if the original builder of SoB was not the lowest bidder (or even the only bidder).

[bkroz]

Screamscape is reporting that this Empire Industries actually owns Dynamic Structures, who has done much of the steel work for Disney's Test Track, Soarin', and the re-build of Space Mountain at Disneyland. They also, apparently, had something to do with Universal's Harry Potter ride through Kuka. He is projecting (for now) that this may be the revival of the Peoplemover at Disneyland (the sister of Florida's Magic Kingdom's still-operating Tomorrowland Transit Authority / WED-Way Peoplemover).

$9 million sounds much more in line with something like that as opposed to a Son of Beast redo.

[Diamondback FOF]

But $9 million of fixing/redoing/engineering a people mover?!?? That seems awfully high I think...

[Browntggrr]

^^ That makes a ton of sense, especially if Tron is still involved.

EDIT:

The Disneyland Resort president hinted this weekend that the park could bring back a popular attraction: the PeopleMover.But George Kalogridis , Disneyland Resort’s president, revealed no specific plans to do so soon.

Kalogridis was asked Saturday about plans to bring back the ride during a presentation at an official Disney fan club convention, called Destination D. The PeopleMover took visitors in cars on tracks throughout Tomorrowland, taking them through different scenes for 28 years.

“What I do know is we could never bring it back as it was originally,” Kalogridis said.

He explained that new regulations require stairways to be available every so many yards, which would not be “visually interesting.” Also, the tracks must be much wider, Kalogridis said.

“But don’t worry. Everyone understands the passion everyone has for it,” Kalogridis said, to cheers from the audience. “Hang in there.”

http://ocresort.ocre...le-mover/56864/

[Gordon Bombay]

Maybe it's for the "People Mover" in Detroit. It looks like something out of an amusement park and it's about as rough as Son of Beast.

- Gordon, who really loved the way people in the 60's thought transit was going to be like and was extremely disappointed to grow up and find we're still building auto-centric highways.

[coaster_junky]

if it isn't for a coaster i could see it being an extension of the monorail system at walt disney world. on second thought, maybe that's too far fetched for the $9 million price tag, but if this was it, that could extend the monorail to hollywood studios and animal kingdom.

[The Interpreter]

It's an upgrade to an EXISTING track system...not an expansion of one.

Terp, who never tells too much

[coaster_junky]

well, to stick with the disney idea, maybe it will be an upgrade of test track to a "cars" theme. after all "cars 2" comes out this summer, and they did help with the construction of the original.

[Dieseltech20]

after all "cars 2" comes out this summer,

Ugh, don't remind me, the Trailer for this looked DREADFUL.

[CoastersRZ]

I LOVE Pixar films. (Yes I am 26, but I still love all of them. Sure, there are some that are not my favorites, Incredibles comes to mind.) But both of the Toy Story sequels have been very well written and could stand on their own merits. Hopefully, Cars 2 is the same way. Although, I am a little skeptical as well, since I think the story line is somewhat more limited since both the original and sequel to will focus on racing. Cars 2 comes out on June 24th, 2011.

And next year will be the first year that TWO Pixar films are released in the same year. "Brave" will be released on June 15th, 2012. That will be followed by another sequel (although I have heard rumors that it will actually be a prequel) "Monsters Inc. 2" which has a tentative release date of November 2012.

[The Interpreter]

http://www.azobuild.com/news.asp?newsID=13726

[Hank]

Does not Disney do most of their work "in house"? I seem to recall that the WEDway people mover was designed and built by Disney.

Now, as far as a company submitting a bid for $9 million to re-do an existing track system, maybe it is a legit price for SOB - the first re-do (Texas Giant) always has a higher cost. After a method is tried, and is deemed a success, the next attempt shouldn't cost as much as all the needed machines to create parts and such have already been designed and are in use.

It's just my thoughts on the matter.

[Cory Butcher]

Does not Disney do most of their work "in house"? I seem to recall that the WEDway people mover was designed and built by Disney.

Now, as far as a company submitting a bid for $9 million to re-do an existing track system, maybe it is a legit price for SOB - the first re-do (Texas Giant) always has a higher cost. After a method is tried, and is deemed a success, the next attempt shouldn't cost as much as all the needed machines to create parts and such have already been designed and are in use.

It's just my thoughts on the matter.

Hank, Expedition Everest was engineered and built by Vekoma!

[CoastersRZ]

And if I`m not mistaken, Disney typically does not let their ride manufacturers cite them as a reference. Not sure where I read this, but I recall coming across it several years ago.

[Captain Picard]

I know an Engineer that works at Disney that did work on Expedition Everest. The way I understand everything has to get the ok from Disney Engineers before it gets done. If it's not up to Disney standards Disney Engineers fix it.

I was told this is why there is no new Intamin because they don't meet the Disney standard or something like that.

[The Interpreter]

And now it can be told:

E.T. Adventure, Universal, Florida.

Related:

Radiator Springs Racers, California Adventure

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Disneyland.

and various Potters

If you are not familiar with what now is Dynamic Attractions, and you love the big Florida/California/Japan theme parks, you really should be.

And no, that project that started this thread was not Son of Beast.

If this is the first post you've read in this thread, I'd recommend starting at the beginning. There's a lot there!

[LoraX]

Only 28 replies so far on this post?

Shhhhhh! Don't tell the others that KIC has more than one forum thread - some newbies have almost 100 posts, and every one is in that thread.http://www.KICentral.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/biggrin.gif

Now on to my serious comments about this thread. As an admitted fan of SoB, I think I've finally come to realize that what I remember and loved - the drop, the speed, the forces, the loop, the majesty - is a ride that doesn't exist any more and will never exist again. If this, or any retrofit, ever comes to SoB - it will become a new and different ride that will be so radically changed as to be unrecognizable (New Texas Giant is similar in two words of its name only to Texas Giant). My current hope is that at some point (2012, 2013, 2015 or beyond) Kings Island will put a new coaster in the spot currently occupied by SBNO that will provide me a new opportunity to experience something special. This may be it, or not - I'm willing to wait and see.

This post made me laugh. Skipped right over 2014, but is getting his/her wish of a new coaster in its place.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[The Interpreter]

I only wish Keith could ride Banshee.

Sadly, it was not to be.

He is sadly missed.

[LoraX]

Now I feel bad, but it was ironic.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[shark6495]

On a KIC day, we should leave a front seat open for him. So he can ride with us, even if its in spirit only.