Was Son of Beast built too fast?

[odettekitrigisele]

I was just wondering what anyone's opinion is about how quickly SoB was built. It seems to me that The Beast took many years of planning and building.

I am not certain, but I have the feeling that SoB was rushed when they were building it.

This is just an observation I made back in 1999.

Was it opened too soon? Was it just too BIG of a project? Etc....??????????

What do you think?

Thanks.

[Vortexlover2]

I think they built it too fast due to the carelessness of how it was built.

[Browntggrr]

There are many opinions as to why SoB has been a failure to date. The finger pointing as to who is a fault will go on forever.

Planning may have been one of them.

My personal opinion was that Paramount wanted a world class coaster in 2000 to compete with MF, but not spend enough to get it right.

Kind of like the old saying- you get what you pay for.

[The Interpreter]

The ride has been closed since July 9, 2006. Paramount Parks has left the building.

Perhaps the better question will be has it been fixed too quickly this time? Are they completely sure what caused the problem, and that the fix addresses those issues in a prudent, cautious and conservative manner?

After all, perhaps the LAST thing this company needs right now is a wooden coaster running on the ragged edge....

[Firehawk Freak]

I dont agree w/ any of you. SOB is a good ride and will be great when it reopens have you ever rode the mean streak that is terrible! So terrible and was as rough as SOB and as slow as AE.

[Vortex]

With Raging Wolf Bobs derailment the other day. I do see any rush in openning SOB. Also Raging Wolf Bobs uses two Gerstlauer trains like SOB.

[cincyboy0830]

i dont get why if the structures in the helix were broken, why take out the loop? ur all saying its lighter but how?

They get to use lighter trains without the loop; this makes the ride smoother and more enjoyable without the heavy load depending on the tracks of the structure.

[TOPGUN1993]

There are many opinions as to why SoB has been a failure to date. The finger pointing as to who is a fault will go on forever.

Planning may have been one of them.

My personal opinion was that Paramount wanted a world class coaster in 2000 to compete with MF, but not spend enough to get it right.

Kind of like the old saying- you get what you pay for.

SOB probaly tryed to compete with Legend, Villian, Dominator, Steel Venom, and MF

[coasterfan09]

Austin, having the steel loop required certain trains, trains that were too heavy for the supports putting way too much stress on them and eventually breaking them ending up in closure. The removal of the loop allowed for much lighter trains that did not have to be mad especially for that one element.

[PKIVortex]

Also as to why they removed one car per train last year, as to try to lessen the load on the track. They knew those trains were not a good fit on SOB.

[jondrewfoo]

yeah, id say that they didnt put too much planning for longterm use of this ride... hopefully this will keep it going for years to come... somehow i do see unless it stays steady for some while, that it would be torn down eventually if it becomes a problem again. i love this ride, but its a product of something that just wasnt right... hope they keep it though. cant wait for its reopening. ill def be riding it.....

[DeMoN]

There were many problems with constructing SOB and there are still problems with the ride right now. Yes the SOB was done faster than The Beast, but technology has come a long way since the late 70's. I doubt the blueprints and models for SOB had much hand drawn sketches or models. I would bet most of SOB was done using a CAD program. Which can significantly speed up the process.

[Vortexlover2]

I dont agree w/ any of you. SOB is a good ride and will be great when it reopens have you ever rode the mean streak that is terrible! So terrible and was as rough as SOB and as slow as AE.

what does that have to do with anything?

I didn't say it was a bad ride- it's one of my favorites! I think it was just built carelessly.

[TH13TEEN]

The ride has been closed since July 9, 2006. Paramount Parks has left the building.

Perhaps the better question will be has it been fixed too quickly this time? Are they completely sure what caused the problem, and that the fix addresses those issues in a prudent, cautious and conservative manner?

After all, perhaps the LAST thing this company needs right now is a wooden coaster running on the ragged edge....

It has almost been a year

[Cormaster]

An employee at the park yesturday refferred the removal as the loop the "neturing of The Beast" lol I couldn't agree more. The loop didn't do much for the overall ride, but it kind of was the "grand finale as it seemed to be near the end of the ride. It won't be the same, but if thats what it takes to make the ride more reliable and safer I'm all for it. Much better than Six Flags Great America's answers for shockwave: It developed a fracture and they tore it down and completly scrapped it!

I'd much rather have a loop-less Son of Beast than No Son of Beast

[The Interpreter]

That is not the reason Shockwave was removed.

Look into that. See, particularly, the story of Willard's Whizzer...which was first to be removed so that Superman could be installed. Public outcry saved that ride and doomed Shockwave.

[KIfan73]

If they are going to re-open SOB, I wish they could provide some type of "mystique" around it. I think its one reason so many people are negative towards it. It just doesn't have any personality around it. The queue is just so plain-jane. As a nod to the past (Lion Country Safari), I think some type of jungle/safari theming would be a great addition.

[Cormaster]

That is not the reason Shockwave was removed.

Look into that. See, particularly, the story of Willard's Whizzer...which was first to be removed so that Superman could be installed. Public outcry saved that ride and doomed Shockwave.

Thats ashame too. I was only 13 years old when I went to Great America, but the Shockwave name stuck in my mind forever since It was kind of like a "Vortex on steroids". THe Whizzler I remember as being kind of like, meh, Adventure Express. A cool down ride, boring and unexciting.

Acctually According to Wikipedia, The Shockwave was the sequel to The Vortex basically, as it was the same compay, Arrow Dynamics or something like that, and it was the coaster build directly after it.

[Great America Guy]

Look into that. See, particularly, the story of Willard's Whizzer...which was first to be removed so that Superman could be installed. Public outcry saved that ride and doomed Shockwave.

Well, it depends who you ask around here.

On August 4th, 2002, Shockwave had an incident that was kept pretty hush hush. All I know is that sparks flew, and the ride was e-stopped in the midcourse.

That was the last time Shockwave ever ran.

Some think it was the straw that broke the camel's back, and with all of the press the Whizzer was getting at the time, they opted to remove Shockwave instead.

Others think it was all a publicity stunt... stir up some support for a ride that might be seeing lower ridership(Whizzer), then conveniently decide to save it? Hmmm... after all, you don't just design a ride to go in one place, then up and move it to another place. The process of surveying land, utility planning, ect; takes months. I guess no one will ever really know.

As far as SOB, the series of events that began with ground breaking, right up until the ride opened in 2000 was about as ridiculous as a circus. From the 'misplaced footers', and the partial lift collapse right up to the shoddy construction/design error lawsuits... it seems like nothing has ever gone right with this ride. I'm willing to bet that if the lighter trains/no loop plan doesn't work, it will be the end of SOB.

[katreina]

The ride has been closed since July 9, 2006. Paramount Parks has left the building.

And you're looking to CF to do a better job of getting it up and running? I may not be an Ohio native like a lot of you but there is one thing I have known to be consistent in the 12 years I have lived here: CP's new coasters never run exactly right during the first few years after they are built. Considering that SOB is still basically a new coaster and it's now owned and handled by the same parent company as CP, I'm kind of doubtful that they will get the problems fixed the first time around. One good thing I can say is that I believe they will continue to work out the bugs until they are all gone. I don't see them simply scraping it unless they come across something they absolutely can't fix.

[Scooby_Doo]

I dont see Son of Beast as a failure I love the coaster its a mean and unforgiving just like daddy beast was or is I love the HUGE crate KI had with the mist and growling,shaking that was sweeeet at one time I loved the logo now I find the logo sad and weak it looks so odd without the loop.

[Browntggrr]

CP's new coasters never run exactly right during the first few years after they are built.

While TTD and WT did have numerous issues the first couple of years, the issues were not CP's responsibility, but Intamin's.

Actually, even with the removal of the famous "heart-line roll" on Maverick, it has ran well being a brand new coaster with some unique elements to it.

[The Interpreter]

Actually, Maverick has had many, many short spells of downtime, again apparently attributable to INTAMIN, not to Cedar Fair or Cedar Point...

Also, MANY new coasters have break-in issues, from Kingda Ka at Great Adventure (INTAMIN) to Volcano at [Paramount's] Kings Dominion [iNTAMIN] to the various Superman hypercoasters at Six Flags [iNTAMIN again....]. Even El Toro had similar issues [yep, INTAMIN again].