Coaster fans ponder the future of Son of Beast at PKI

Contact exclusivity is hardly a new concept in any business, but as someone mentioned, I don't buy that it exists when Six Flags built a B&M in 2000 at Geauga Lake.

"Also, HW's 3 major coaster investments were built over a span of 11 years, as opposed to "almost" every 3 or 4 years at CP and PKI.. plus they cost a lot less."

Is it just me or does that not make any sense?

Lol wow that never even caught my eye good point

I would agree with the ACE, but add that it is simply not enough to just drop a coaster in and expect it to carry the entire park over an extended time. Disney showed the way with Space Mountain, popular for decades. The well themed coaster can do more for a park over the long term than a simple construction.

Given SOB's problems, it should be torn down and a well themed coaster should take it's place that is nearly all ages. Later on, they could look at adding another wood giant, but I don't think a park like PKI needs to really go in the extreme thrill direction. Italian Job is a good direction to go in, imo.

Although it is odd that the park is B&M free? Suprised they have resisted adding one of their designs.*** This post was edited by DBJ 7/17/2006 9:03:00 PM ***

Using the above numbers, that would average out to every 5.5 years for coasters at HW. That's really not much different than CP's 3-4 years. Of course isn't CP's average over the past 20 years more like a new coaster every 2 years? Now that is a considerable difference, especially when you consider how many coasters that equates to.

well said escher26,

It is clearly not just rollercoasters that make the parks. We all learned that from six flags over the years. However, whether or not they are the main draw I don't know. I think it is more complex than simply main draw or not main draw. The main draw is different for everybody and could be different for specific park. It is best for the park to cover all aspects. I love the rollercoasters but the park itself still sucks if it does not have a great atmosphere. Obviously everyones opinions are different and everyone has their own reason or reasons to keep coming back.

As far as SOB, I think it will be fine (or as fine as it can be anyway.)

Oye! After re-reading my previous post I can see that my math isn't all that great! Oh well, too late to edit it now.

I guess the point I was making was that HW allowed for more ROI after their larger investments as opposed to the bigger parks in Ohio. But thats fine considering that HW doesn't have as deep of pockets.

Sorry about any confusion

i highly doubt they would take down SOB, well at least not anytime soon i.e. the next ten years

coastertigger....your waiting for Holiday World to build "that good steel coaster", based on a math equation??? meh?? explain, please, lol....dont remember that being covered in Algebra or Trig. also....im assuming you havnt been to HW based on what you said. believe me when i tell you this; no steel coaster would make that park any greater than it already is. the water park is a lot of fun, they have three amazing wooden coasters that, collectively, IMO, define what a wood coaster is supposed to do from beginning to end. trust me....HW really doesnt "need" a steel coaster.

and no, im not a wood coaster fanatic who hates steel; im a die hard Arrow fan (especially the headbanging multiloopers), and perhaps the only TOGO fan left in the enthusiast community. you want good steel, stop at SFKK, ride Chang, its B&M sweetness, then spend a day or two at HW. you wont be dissapointed, trust me:)

Talking about the economics is pretty much senseless, because none of us are privy to the financials or park metrics.

They try to make the best business decision for their parks. As a coaster fan, I hope that means more coasters. Unfortunately, corps like Six Flags are deciding that coasters are NOT where it's at, and now we are on the cusp of a coaster ice age. It's been a nice run though.

As for SOB. It pains me (in more ways than one!) to ride that coaster. It's long, and has a wonderful looking, complex track with a loop and a lovely, huge double helix. It's a shame that the ride is so jarring and painful that it renders the coaster ineffective and basically unrideable.

My solution (based in no way on economics) is to redo the track with prefabbed wood ala El Toro. It is obvious to me that SOB is too fast for standard wood technology. Find a way to put El Toro tracking on that wood structure, and I'll be first in line.

vaco I believe you when you say HW is a great park. I've just never gone to a park to ride their wooden coaster. Evvery park I've been to that has had a wooden coaster I rode it, but I get more thrilling rides on steel coasters.
I've had more airtime and more g's on steel, and that's what I like. So I head to those parks. So I'll say again when HW gets a new steel coaster I'll go visit.

Thomas what if they redo the track on SOB and it turns out just as rough as before. Then they're out even more money.

Well, my assumption is that implementing an El Toro-like track will result in a much smoother ride. Of course if a research team found out that the new track would not reduce the jarring nature of the ride, I wouldn't go any further.

I felt as you do about Woodies. Beast single-handedly changed my mind. Ride The Voyage, if you don't think its as fierce and entertaining as any steel out there, I'll eat my hat. Lightning Racer at Hershey is also a great fun ride.

My heart is still with steel, but I now know that woodies can be among the best out there. I spent my youth riding the pitiful Rolling Thunder at SF Great Adventure. I thought all woodies were like that. I was wrong.

Until someone builds something bigger, I don't see SOB coming down. If anything it's a monumental accomplishment for woodies, even though its, at times, not fun to ride. Besides, Cedar Fair's King's Island doesn't have a space issue.*** This post was edited by rc-madness 7/18/2006 12:59:49 PM ***

They could tear it down and construct an entire town complete with homes for the needy and homeless. A jarring, shaky, spine-busting town.

If I remember correctly, Son of Beast is one of the largest wooden structures in the world. If using the Intamin pre-fabricated track would increase ridership and popularity, without bankrupting the park, then I'm all for it.

They should tear down SOB and put in the worlds fastest launch coaster and make it a wooden floorless standup

^...with 9 inversions, wild mouse-like unbanked curves and a water element.
:)

Best Coaster ever. Call it the Devestator and make sure it has 90 degree turns and finishes off with a full 2 minutes under water.

Ah, so you take a ride that is beating its own *support structure* apart and replace the *track* with something that cannot be maintained?

No, I don't think the answer is the Intamin milled track. Because it still has to be supported, and if there are problems with the underlying support structure, all that does for you is gives you a big stiff piece of track that, when the support fails, will fail itself, leaving you not just with a structure that has to be repaired, but a piece of track that has to be special ordered and installed.

The answer to this particular problem is to figure out what isn't adequately supported and add the adequate support. It's a fairly straightforward engineering issue. One critical point, though, is that it isn't basic civil engineering, as this is a dynamic structure.

I'm curious. We all know by now that Werner Stengel did a lot of the engineering on Sonny. Did he do the structural engineering, or did he just work out the ride dynamics? Has he done any other wood coasters?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

^ Dave...yes. Go here: http://tinyurl.com/zsbeu

Thoughts? Stengel seems to work with Intamin and RCCA in terms of WOODEN coasters...