Loop taken off Son of Beast

THE ENQUIRER

The Son of Beast roller coaster is now loopless.

The coaster's 118-foot-high signature loop was removed before the holidays and carted off to a steel recycling plant.

Tarps now are spread over the hole as workers reconstruct that part of the ride. Paramount's Kings Island officials earlier said they hoped to have the coaster up and running when the season opens April 21.

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Monday, a spokeswoman said the park hopes for a "timely opening" of the ride, but no date has been set.

The Ohio Department of Agriculture last month ordered the park to make structural modifications to the ride in response to a July 9 accident that sent 27 people to the hospital. It blamed the accident on a design deficiency.

The loop removal went above and beyond the state recommendations. Now, lighter trains can be used, making the ride more comfortable, the park said.

The Son of Beast was previously touted as the world's only looping wooden roller coaster. It continues to hold records for tallest and fastest wooden coaster.

Enquirer Article

So for anyone wondering what the fate of the loop structure is, there you have it. Also not that the park may not have the ride open by the time opening day rolls around.

You mean that they're not adding it to Renegade at Valleyfair!? D'oh!

Man that was quick work getting it to the recycling plant. I would imagine they got a whole $100 for it

Well, $100 is better than it sitting on property some where rusting away.

^

Yeah, but it would be fun to look at on the train ride as it sat in the pumpkin patch and rusted. Plus there would be speculation on the site during every off seasson that they were going to put it back up if it were still on site.

Just one less thing for the rumor mill now.

#700

Kinda sad to hear that they junked it. I would have thought it deserved better. At least theme it into the ride somehow.

Hmm, well they did mention "lighter trains" in the article. We can only hope...

Now the question is, what will go in its' place?

Maybe they could get the removed loops from Kennywood's Steel Phantom (now Phantom's Revenge) and put them in the enpty space. And, if they could get the same lap bars that Phantom's Revenge has now, as opposed to Steel Phantom's OTSH's, they could kill 2 birds with one stone!

(in other words...have Morgan redo SOB)

Now the question is, what will go in its' place?

Probaly track to connect it to the other side of the ride.

Awww dang i was hopeing they would auction it off on Ebay so i could buy it and put it in my backyard as a landmawrk. Plus i wouldnt have to mow as much I hope the new trains they are gettting have more leg room so it is not as rough on the knees. I did like the lap bars Son of Beast used and who could forget that god awful noise it made when they were getting put down. Not to mention the one it makes when it hits the chain lift and at the top.

I vote for the track to connect the ride. It's gonna be kinda rough (if it reopens at all) if the track does not connect.

Well, the loud lift hill noise is caused by the spacing of the anti rollbacks. Because Son of Beast has such a steep lift, almost a 45 angle, the antirollbacks are spaced closer together. By comparison, the lifts on The Racer and The Beast, as well as the Arrow coasters aren`t as steep as Son of Beasts. Thus their antirollbacks aren`t as loud.

And if you think it was loud in recent seasons, when it first opened there were more of those anti-rollbacks than currently. It used to be much louder.

Yea it was alot louder when the ride first opened. If you want a loud lift hill try riding Millieum Force Jezzz. That is the loudest lift hill ever.

Even Top Gun is not exactly quiet.

I remember reading an article in 2000 just after it opened about how it was supposed to sound like the "growling" of the (Son of) Beast. I took it as a cheap way to make theming seem to be where there really was none.

I remember reading an article in 2000 just after it opened about how it was supposed to sound like the "growling" of the (Son of) Beast. I took it as a cheap way to make theming seem to be where there really was none.

Only idiot would believe.

^I've been lied to!

*Sarcasm was used in the previous statement.

Now, now...tubaman.

I can assure you you HAVE been lied to. At your age, the chance you ain't is essentially nil!

I vote for the track to connect the ride. It's gonna be kinda rough (if it reopens at all) if the track does not connect.

I'd say the loudest lift hill I've ever heard was on the coaster that's supposedly headed our way. It gave me a headache the thing was so darn loud.

Yeah Top Gun is pretty loud. I cant really remember Milly's being loud i thought those cable lifts would be quieter. When ever SOB first came out i heard that it had sound effects that were to supposed to sound like growling but that was obviously not the case.

Now, now...tubaman.

I can assure you you HAVE been lied to. At your age, the chance you ain't is essentially nil!

Either you made a spelling error, or your vocabulary is much more advanced than mine. I think I'll go with the second one. Please, explain.

Put another way, at your age you HAVE been lied...no sarcasm needed, as you have been. And that in no way makes you an idiot. Nil means no chance...zero...goose egg! (It can also be spelled nill or be called naught or ot!) And I ain't lyin!

X at Magic Mountain has to be the loudest lift in the country. By the time the lift ended everything seemed incredibly quiet.

Milly is loud under normal opperations, but you should hear it when the lift sled resets.

Basically if there is a malfunction with the lift and there is a train in the roll backs the lift sled will then disengage travel to the bottom of the lift, reset, pick up a full head of steam and engage the train at the top. Talk about one of the loudest most unerving noises ever heard at 300ft. Not to mention the good jolt the train takes when the lift sled engages again. Folks a rollback on TTD is nothing compared to sitting at the top of Mily waiting for the sled in high winds.

Meanwhile, El Toro's, also with a cable lift (and ten percent faster than MF's) is eerily SILENT.

Go figure. To me, that was the first of many stunning things about that ride!

Meanwhile, El Toro's, also with a cable lift (and ten percent faster than MF's) is eerily SILENT.

Go figure. To me, that was the first of many stunning things about that ride!

Go Figure, that ride is also better than the voyage........5 more months till im there!

Why did they remove the loop? The Department didn't order it to be removed did they? This was the key element in SOB that made it different from all other coasters. I'm disappointed by the removal of the loop. Are they going to change the trains? I hope it's open on opening day in April. I missed it all season last year and it was my favorite wooden coaster.

^Read some of the other topics and read back a little, the loops is being removed because it allows the ride to be able to use lighter trains. These could be lighter trains from a new manufacturer or re-modified versions of the current trains (the current trains were modified with more weight and more restraints in 2002).

No manufacturer wanted to make trains for the ride initially for fear of an accident, I'd doubt theyd be any more willing to now, most likely we will see re-modified versions of the current ones.

The loop removal was reccomended by the state as well as added stell supports was anohter reccomendation. The state even stated the park has gone above and beyond what they reccomend and I'm sure the loop removal is for the best.