Beast not open on opening weekend?

I`ve heard that due to wokr on The Beast`s brakes, the ride won`t open until mid April. I know after the accident last fall involving wet skid brakes that there was talk that PKI would be reworking the brakes. Does anyone know if The Beast will be open opening weekend and if it has gotten new brakes?

-----------------
I`ve ridden Son of Beast 67 times!

pki has the beast listed as one of the coasters open early on april 6th for gold passholders. that sort of leads me to believe that it will be open on opening weekend.

-----------------
seek first to understand
then to be understood

i stand corrected, the beast is not on that list for "7 coaster saturdays" sorry about that.

-----------------
seek first to understand
then to be understood

i'm confused, check this out:

http://www.pki.com/gold_benefits.jsp#7coaster

one section says that adventure express is open from 9-10 am on 7 coaster saturdays and directly below that it states that the beast is open instead. which is it?

-----------------
seek first to understand
then to be understood

I belive orgianlly it was suspose to be Beast, but i think this breaks thing, may have been a last minute desion, so they changed it to Adventure Express for those days, that what it sounds like to me, hey it's very possible.

-----------------
pkidude@aol.com

Maybe they want more time to inspect the beast every morning, just a thought. I sure hope its open for the season pass sneak peak.

NOOOOOOO! The Beast HAS to be open...it is going to be my 100th coaster on the 7th! I will absolutely die if this is true.

-------------
Kara
403 Laps

Johnathan,

I didn`t realize that conflicting statment until now. I do believe that somewhere on that page it says all rides subject to availability so event though it may list The Beast, The Beast may not operate.

-----------------
I`ve ridden Son of Beast 67 times!

If The Beast isn't open during the first couple of weekends, I am sure that the park has a good reason behind it. What ever maintence or improvements they may be doing to it, I am sure it is all to provide us with a safer and enjoyable ride.

-Sean

Confirmed: The Beast is not scheduled to be open for Opening Weekend due to ongoing winter maintenance.

Confirmed: (although this should come as no surprise) The Beast, Racer, and Son of Beast are all receiving extensive trackwork so that they will all be in top form for the park's 30th anniversary season (31st operating season!)

(source: email from Kings Island marketing master Jeff Siebert, presumably in response to the website query I sent in last week)

Wild Guess: The maintenance being done on The Beast will be worth waiting for.

(source: An educated guess.)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

---

RideMan said:

Wild Guess: The maintenance being done on The Beast will be worth waiting for.

(source: An educated guess.)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

---

RideMan,

honestly i'm sort of fearful of the maintenance being done on the beast after the "crash" in the station at the end of last season. i'm afraid that they might alter the skid brakes or possibly remove them. what are your thoughts?

I would'nt count on seeing skid brakes on the Beast anymore.

-------------
Welcome back riders, hope you've enjoyed your ride, push down and then pull up on your lap bars and exit to your right, walk down the exit ramp and enjoy the rest of your day here at Paramount's Kings Island.

Skid brakes are an unreliable mechanism. Did you know that The Beast has to be parked in the station by hand because the skid brakes are not consistent enough for the control system to do it? Have you ever noticed that the train waiting to enter the station stops so far back that it takes almost a minute to change trains in the station? For that particular operation, almost anything would be better from a safety, operations, and efficiency standpoint than the current system of skid brakes. Really, the only redeeming feature of the skid brakes is the smooth braking action on the ride's 1,100 feet of trim brakes.

Going back to an Educated Guess, I think lumpy72 is correct, that the skid brakes are probably gone. And any alternative to skid brakes (with one possible exception) would require extensive modifications to the ride in a couple of high-speed sections where there are now gauging bolts that run through the sides of the rail stacks to hold the track together. Those would have to be replaced with a forged steel track tie, and my guess is that it's this kind of thing that's delaying the ride.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Dave,

I agree with you. I think that 'whatever' they are doing will be for the benefit of riders. Why do I get the funny feeling that The Beast may be surprising guests like Flight of Fear did last year? =:^)

-Sean

Rideman,

Could you maybe explain why you feel the maintenance will be "worth waiting for?" The way I see it (in my uneducated opinion, that is), no matter how PKI alters the brakes, I doubt they will ease up on the braking in any sections of the ride. If they install standard fin brakes, then there will be several sections of the ride that will receive harsh, abrupt decreases of speed (instead of the gradual slowing the skid brakes provided). If they install magnetic trims, the result will be the same as the skid brakes, except these will consistently slow the train down to the same speed, even when the track is wet, leading to the loss of any hope of one of those rare "exceptional" Beast rides where the brakes somehow magically seem not to be working or to be turned off. Or, do you think they are changing other aspects of the ride so they don't HAVE to brake it as much (i.e. new 2-seater trains or stronger means to hold the track together)?

-----------------
I get the feeling there's a conspiracy over at King's Island to remove anything that has "K" or "C" in its initials.

I'm sorry, but the information I have is extremely sketchy. But I make two predictions for this season:

Prediction #1: We will be pleasantly surprised, though I don't think it will be as big of a deal as the FoF situation.

Prediction #2: 1,200 PPH.
(last season 900-990 was typical when I clocked it)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Not open for opening weekend, that really sux. I always love goin on the sneak peak night and riding the beast for the first time since last fall.

The Beast will MOST LIKELY be open for opening weekend. Their working on a break pad. I'm not allowed to say anything else.

-----------------
It's his turn to feast, when you ride the Son of Beast.

Sorry, Rideman,

I didn't mean to ask you to divulge confidential info you've been given. I thought you were making these predictions based on guesses only. Didn't mean to put you on the spot. That said, I'm intrigued and can't wait to hear just exactly what it is that they've been doing.

-----------------
I get the feeling there's a conspiracy over at King's Island to remove anything that has "K" or "C" in its initials.

It's not that it's confidential per-se. It's just that I don't have enough detail to be entirely sure, and I don't want to mislead anybody, intentionally or otherwise.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.