Son Of Beast to Re-open 2007

Hypothesis: Cedar Fair gets rid of SOB's loop, makes feeble attempt to make amends by giving PKI X-Flight.

Just a thought.

If the loop goes away, then perhaps we'll have new trains for 2007 as well.

Does Cedar Fair still have the Hercules trains?

Probably been used for parts, I would guess.

Even if they did they would never come into play with SOB.

Thought one Herc train went to MIA for Wolverine Wildcat.

They couldn't use them trains anyway, the guage is too wide.

Chuck, who hopes it's GCII trains modified for SOB's guage.

I drive by KI ALOT (I live 3 miles from it!), I know what the loop looks like when it's there... and it's not! There's a big hole in the profile! if you REALLY dont believe me I might be able to take some pictures on wednesday, but i PROMISE you it is not up anymore. Perhaps they are redoing it, but it is not currently standing.

On a side note, i'm watching "top 10 megastructures" on Travel channel and Son Of Beast is #9 *** Edited 12/12/2006 2:06:53 AM UTC by DanLinden***

Why would they get rid of the loop? It's the only smooth part of the entire ride. If anything, get rid of the rest and make it the first wooden shuttle loop.

Because possibly they are getting new trains for a better ride experience, which wont have OTSR's, and you absolutely "cannot have inversions without OTSR's" - so the loop got axed.

LMAO, how come it had a inversion with no OTSR for six years?

Ensign Smith: That has to be the most pointless idea I've ever heard. You don't "make amends" with your guests. Considering 99% of the people who go to the park won't even think about the loop on Sonny being gone any more than, "Oh, they took the loop out of SoB..." IF (and it's more than likely true) CF does bring X-Flight to KI, it's as a new attraction -- certainly not as a way to appologize to an apathetic GP for removing a loop on a ride. Especially when the reason the removed it in the first place was to make the ride better...

Don't get me wrong, the loop is one of the best vertical loops on any roller coaster I've ridden. I will miss it greatly, but it really won't have any noticeable affect on the general public at all. If anything, I'd say it might spike ridership just a tad.

If the loop is officially being removed from the ride, which none of us can be sure about, the reason points to new trains. And with GCI opening business to none GCI roller coasters, we can only hope Sonny will get a nice set of Millennium Flyers. As explained by Rideman, these trains should fix the shuffling problem around the turns. However, they may not be able to negotiate the sharp positive change in the y coordinate at the top of the loop (explained by Charles Nungester). That is more than likely the reason it got scrapped...

And even though I'll be dissapointed we lost the loop, Millennium Flyers will more than make up for the loss as far as overall ride performance is concerned.

*** Edited 12/12/2006 4:55:16 AM UTC by Konstantine***

It's actually pretty funny to read of people on that forum trying to get into the parking lot to take photos, analyze past photos comparing them to current ones...silly little people... :)

Hey...if they remove the loop and put a nice big airtime hill in it's place I'm all for it!

I don't think any of us could complain about that...

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Charles Nungester said:
LMAO, how come it had a inversion with no OTSR for six years?

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hmmm, suppose quotes aren't a good way to convey sarcasm online.

Ahh, Konstantine...what a great song.

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Konstantine said:
"Oh, they took the loop out of SoB..."

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Knowing how these things work, it will probably be something like

"Someone fell out of the loop on SOB so they took it out"

or

"Some girl got her face ripped off in the loop so they removed it"

or something along those lines.

A :) is a good way to display sarcasm.

matt. your right, some big ole story will circulate for years. More park foklore.

Chuck

And so what if folklore is created? Just laugh at it when you hear it... It's not gonna make your day any different.

Did I say it would? I still chuckle over all The Bat deaths.

Or the King Cobra got stuck in the loop? Yeah.... I know.

It was mentioned earlier that regardless of enthusiast comments, the GP loves this ride. Why do they love it? Probably the loop. It should also be pointed out that even if the loop is down at this time - as a dynamic element of a not so dynamic ride, it can be removed and put back into place. After all, it is steel.

If they are truly refitting the ride (which we all suspect) it would only make sense to take it out while the work is being done. Maybe it too needs some refitting.

I do not expect that the loop will be gone when the ride reopens in the spring. I will however, reserve the right to avoid eating crow (much tougher than chicken I may add) if it does indeed open without the loop.