Has anyone been to the park during the off season. I hear they are testing SOB some more.

^Good point. If for no other reason, thats a good reason to open it back up!

And one that's not all too accurate.

Did anyone really notice any increases as a result of SOB closing?

Well, every time I've been at the park since its been open, there's a line. SOMEBODY is riding it. So, those people aren't riding the other rides. Plus, you just hate to see that much of the park's resources going unused.

Well, the figure of 1/5 of the guests are in line for Son of Beast is a bit of an exaggeration. However, if the ride is open, it will pull some people from other lines. Granted, this may only equate to about ten to twenty people on normal days, which makes the difference in wait times neglible. On busier days however, it will have an impact.

But PKI is such a large park, that one ride being down has little impact on overall capacity. On a smaller scale park, like at Coney, if say the Python goes down for mechanical reasons, it will increase the lines of the surrounding attractions such as the Bobs, Slide and Dodgems. (The rides that usually have a line at Coney are the Pythoon and the Dodgems.)

You all should expect a VERY different SOB when the park opens. Sure, everyone can be like; WTF are you talking about, but just wait.

What exactly are you talking about? Did they make some major changes on the double helix or something else with it???

What exactly are you talking about? Did they make some major changes on the double helix or something else with it???

It is going to take a lot to get me on it again...it is just not fun

what would those be? Just curious.

I am not at liberty to say. Just expect "changes". Several of them actually.

Thats good that they are going to fix it. It is such an awesome ride. I can't wait to ride it agian.

Just had to pop in and confirm that we will reopen Son of Beast in 2007. The State has concluded its inspection of the ride and determined the cause to be a single event failure. Basically, that means that one single piece of wood split, causing a chain reaction of several other pieces. This happened at or just before the train went across the tracks. It would not have been detectible by our daily maintenance inspections.

With that said, there WILL be changes to the ride when you board in 2007. We will strengthen the ride in several places, providing a more comfortable experience for the guest. In addition, there will be other changes as several of the previous posters have mentioned. You know that I'll give PKIC the heads up immediately when I receive clearance to do so.

Hang tight!! We're making good progress on the ride and really taking our time to do everything right.

Happy Tuesday!!

PKImaureen

Wow! Thanks for letting us know...now how about some campground info!

(See, no mater how much you give, someone always wants more.)

I think PKIMaureen posts should be breaking news on the PKI Central’s front page. I am so happy for Cedar Fair, Kings Island and everyone involved as to the Son of Beast misfortunes. I’m glad the investigation is over and that the park can move forward with their 2007 plans.

Yes! This is great news! Thanks Maureen!

I wish we were able to see the states inspection report, does anybody know where to find a copy or a link to the report?

Maureen mentioned something about "providing a more comfortable experience for guests". As most of us took it she was refering to the retracking, but could she be refering to a reworking of the trains, or even new trains for SoB. Thats a bit of a long shot, imo, but we can all dream can't we?

You may be on to something. I posted this news over at Coasterbuzz and someone stated that a little birdie told him that GCI was doing work on SOB.

I wish we were able to see the states inspection report, does anybody know where to find a copy or a link to the report?

Might be on here somewhere: http://www.ohioagriculture.gov/rides/

Hmm GCI makes sense, because thats why PKIPunk would know yet cant say anything.

Thank you Maureen for the update. Always good to know the SoB will be back next year. I missed ridding it during FearFest. The cold helps numb you for the beating

Seriously very excited SoB will be open next year.

Changes huh? Ten bucks says they turn the greeter into a waiver signing station.

What is GCI? sorry for not knowing lol

GCI stands for Great Coasters International. They are currently building a wooden coaster, Renegade, for Valleyfair. They also built Thunderhead at Dollywood, and their Millenium Flyer trains harken back to the classic coaster trains from the 20`s.

You Beat me

Great Coasters International, an excelent wood coaster builder

Heres a quick list

ThunderHead

Gwazi

Lightning Racer

The upcoming Renegade just to name a few.

Also they have a great wooden coaster train design in the Millenium Flyer

Heres a link to their site Great Coasters

thanks, Suprising enough SoB was my first looping coaster. I had so much fun n the loop but not so much on the rest of the ride lol.

Hmm GCI makes sense, because thats why PKIPunk would know yet cant say anything.

Thank you Maureen for the update. Always good to know the SoB will be back next year. I missed ridding it during FearFest. The cold helps numb you for the beating

Seriously very excited SoB will be open next year.

Well, not necessarily. If you work in the wood coaster industry, then you find out pretty much everything about the wood coaster industry. Don't expect GCI input on SoB right anow, it could be another wood coaster company.

One that say has roots in the Cincinnati area? And one that has lent its engineering expertise to a little park in Indiana numerous times?

One that say has roots in the Cincinnati area? And one that has lent its engineering expertise to a little park in Indiana numerous times?

Sounds lik you are referring to CCI, Custom Coasters International, but according to RCDB they closed in 2002.

You might want to keep up! Think The Gravity Group, if you are trying to read between CoastersRZ's lines... They built a somewhat popular ride over in Santa Claus, Indiana (to put it mildly) recently.

Changes huh? Ten bucks says they turn the greeter into a waiver signing station.

LOL

The park may need to if they're gonna reopen the ride. <G>

Changes huh? Ten bucks says they turn the greeter into a waiver signing station.

LOL

The park may need to if they're gonna reopen the ride. <G>

Not to be confused with the waver in the stations of Holiday World's coasters...

(For those who don't know, ride ops frequently wave at riders on the lift hills at Holiday World---while simultaneously watching for untoward conduct by those same riders...)

There have been major changes in SOB consistently over the past six years, each of which has been intended to improve the comfort and safety of the guests. I'm not sure what else is going on this year, but let's hope they get everything nailed down so the ride can be as enjoyable as it's supposed to be.