same here.

im just so upset about the loop being demolished,

maybe itll go to some other wooden coaster at a different amusement park???

Doubt it.

I hear a new set of ending brakes, because if they E-stop it now, the train will valley when the brakes release. The last two cars will be hanging back over the drop witht he rest of the train stuck in the brakes. Poor design thought there.

Give me a break. There is no difference in how much the breaks squeez together when the ride is e-stoped than when the breaks are closed normally. Those breaks are always closed when the train comes flying in and its never had trouble before.

Yeah I wasn't sure what he was talking about either. Usually the operator has to to push the button for auto brake enable before the train approaches the brakes. If the station is free, the train will slow and not stop.

same here.

im just so upset about the loop being demolished,

maybe itll go to some other wooden coaster at a different amusement park???

It's already been sent to a scrapyard. Besides, the loop was so large that no other woooden coaster would be able to accomodate it. Do you realize it was thirty feet higher than Racer's lift hill? And the track itself would not match any other wooden coaster's trains without substantial modifications that would probably cost more than it would be worth.

TTD & KK are actually operating yes, but even Dick Kinzel himself in one of these more recent interviews admits that Dragster was one of the dumbest decisions he ever made.

- Todd

Yes, Kinzel did say that in a Cleveland Plain Dealer article on Sunday.

I would have to think that the lesser of two evils is to have a ride operating- even though it was a large investment, than to have a large investment- and tear it down.

Even though TTD & KK were two of the largest investments ever, you cannot label them as failures. The Bat & DF are complete failures since there was no way to keep them operating. The jury is still out on SoB.

Mr. Kinzel has been saying that for quite some time; at least since November of 2005:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Thrill_Dragster

On the November 4, 2005 NPR Motley Fool show, Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel called the Top Thrill Dragster one of the "worst business decisions" he ever made, due to the frequent performance issues with the ride.

(near the bottom of the page of trivia)

The actual interview is here:

http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/142330

I like how Mr. Kinzel will tell it like it is. You didn't and wouldn't have heard anyone from Paramount Parks do that.

KI on Mind - It's the truth. The last two cars would be hanging down the hill, when breaks release, it falls back. Wrong place to put brakes. Just like Tatsu at SFMM. If there is an e-stop, it would break the train at the bottom of the pretzel loop, it would be stuck.

I am pretty sure the brake on Tatsu's pretzal loop is a trim brake not an e-brake or safety brake. An E-stop does not stop the train any faster than a normal stop. If an e-stop is engaged when the train hits the brake run and the brakes are normally closed during a normal stop than the train will stop in it's normal position. The only numbers that determines where the coaster train stops during normal operation is the weight of the train, temperature, and speed. The Hurler coaster at Carowinds slides ten feet farer on the brakes when it is a raining with a fully loaded train over an emtpy train in the sun.

E-stop, would not stop trains any faster, or in any other place than where the ride is designed to safely "set-up", for both safety and evacuation purposes. The ride doesnt just immediately stop, unless under a certain speed and approaching or in a set of brakes! Emergency stop is just that, an emergency stop not an immediate stop, if that were the case, it would be an i-stop!

On any coaster, and you can find most of this same info in most Roller Coaster books!

That's true, I never head of any counts of SOB ever valleys in the final brake run. If they would e-stop those final brakes and the block brakes as well as the station brakes would just close. If a train was approaching the brakes the train would stop normally.

Yes, Kinzel did say that in a Cleveland Plain Dealer article on Sunday.

I would have to think that the lesser of two evils is to have a ride operating- even though it was a large investment, than to have a large investment- and tear it down.

Even though TTD & KK were two of the largest investments ever, you cannot label them as failures. The Bat & DF are complete failures since there was no way to keep them operating. The jury is still out on SoB.

I would agree with you. I don't recall saying they were failures though, I would have to double check. I believe I said all 3 were among the worse investments ever made by a Park. With that said, would it surprise anyone if any of these rides are still in operation 10 years from now?

- Todd

It would not surprise me if ALL of them are. It also would not surprise me if none of them are. The one thing that is predictable in the amusement industry is unpredictability. Who would have thunk on that proud day that Son of Beast was announced...as the planet's only wooden looping coaster...that in less than ten years the loop would be gone?

Did you ride the back seat? That's where it's at on that ride. And unless you adore strong, violent forces and ejector air, the Georgia Cyclone is not for you! If you are more into floating air and graceful changes of direction, perhaps the Phoenix at Knoebels Grove or The Comet at The Great Escape (formerly at Crystal Beach in Canada) would be more to your liking!

Actually, I did ride GC on the back seat... Twice. I really wanted to like the ride since there are many who like that one, but I just could not. I just thought that the ride was jackhammering and tracking very badly.

My favorite coaster for the past 17 years until last year was Magnum XL-200 which does have quite violent second half of the ride. My top five wooden coasters are: Voyage, Ghostrider, Beast, Raven and Viper (SFGAm).

Like I said, some people have quite a different taste when it comes to wooden coasters.

Understood completely! Among my favorite woods are The Georgia Cyclone, Avalanche at Timber Falls in Wisconsin, Tremors at Silverwood, Rolling Thunder at Six Flags Great Adventure and Raven. I see we only have one coaster in common on that list, and that's okay, too!

Too bad I didn't get to go to BGE when I was in Orlando, I got had a new wood credit. LOL...But I guess SOB will be sorta a new credit LOL.

I believe that you mean BGA?....

Africa is in Tampa Bay

Don't you mean BGA is in Tampa Bay? Last I checked, Africa is a continent across the Atlantic Ocean!

um, no, I didn't, Its Busch Gardens Africa...so I referred to it as BGA, and then just said shorthandedly that Africa (Busch Gardens Africa) is in Tampa Bay as opposed to Europe (Busch Gardens Europe) which is not!

But I know what you meant...

Yes sorry I did mean BGA, duh. I could have had a new wood credit. It was much simpler when it was BGT and BGW. LOL

Busch likes to refresh those names from time to time, I guess.

I still remember when one was "The Old Country" and the other was "The Dark Continent." I can just imagine why those dropped those subtitles...

I really liked that ride. I don't know if I could trust it anymore after it opens. I know they are fixing it and assuring safety but still

with all of the problems it has been having, AND without a loop, they should tear it down and build something better. w/o a loop on SOB it will be just like The Beast. there will be nothing unique about it.

Sure it will still be unique. It's the tallest wooden coaster in the world, 218 feet, tallest wooden coaster drop 214 feet, and fastest wooden coaster at 78 MPH. It may not have the loop, but it's still beats world records. Now I'll let you all know though once it reopens, if the loop being gone will make or break my new opinion on SOB.

with all of the problems it has been having, AND without a loop, they should tear it down and build something better. w/o a loop on SOB it will be just like The Beast. there will be nothing unique about it.

So I guess there is no point to ride any wood coaster except The Beast?

In my humble opinion, SOB should be demolished. In its place, CF should build a huge steel coaster.

Have a great day!

Italian Chef

Let's give Cedar Fair a crack at fixing it before we start another "TAER IT DOWN" conversation. Seriously, no one has ridden it this season yet. For all we know, it could turn out to be a wonderful ride experience... we just don't know yet.

Cedar Fair did some repair on The Racer and you can ride it now and see what you think of their wood work.

I think The Racer is running really well. They were a few times last season that I came off Racer with my back killing me. It hasn't hurt my back this year.