Does Anyone Still Like The Beast?

Despite the changes to magnetic braking, I still love the Beast, which is still my #1 wood coaster.

The magnetic brakes don't bother me except for that shed brake, which slows the ride down a bit before making the turn.

You also have to realize that the Beast will be 25 years old next year and hasn't really seen any sort of major rebuilding over the years. I applaud PKI for retracking the turn after the first tunnel as it's not as brutal as it was the past few years.

X Factor

As posted earlier, I too remember the days when standing in line was almost like a party. And being an adult at that time, I remember them selling beer while in the line, made standing in line alittle easier, LOL. The Beast will always be my favorite, nothing like a night ride on The Beast!!!

(but, being a mom now, I'm glad they stopped the practice of selling beer in the lines!)
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Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today. "James Dean"

Yes! I still love the Beast. I was just there last week and rode some 8 times that day. It's a great coaster with unique features and there's nothing else out there like it! I think it's a wonderful ride.

One of the problems with many coaster enthusiasts is that they display three tendencies :
l. They develop a hypercritical viewpoint. They try to find something to complain about rather than something to praise.
2. They fall for hype.
3. They love whatever is newest. After 10 or 100 repetitions they start taking a ride for granted and lose track of why they loved it to begin with.

These may be human enough habits, and certainly they can be noticed in other activities as well. But they do get in the way of clear thinking sometimes.
Now, The Beast is just a magnificent wooden coaster. It has many features to justify a visit to PKI at least once a year. Among other attractions, it is certainly a long ride, certainly a scenic ride, certainly a memorable night time ride, and certainly offers more than the average share of drops, turns, Gs and laterals.
Like everybody else, I love Raven, Legend, Hurricane, Cornball Express, Mean Streak, Jackrabbit, Racers, TBolt, Thunder Run, etc., etc., etc. But I sure would not want to open up the newspaper tomorrow morning and learn that Beast had burned to the ground. I don't need to ride it every week or so, but I want it there so I can go up once a season and enjoy it.
We need to appreciate these great rides while we can. A tornado, fire, or other disaster could take any one of them away without warning.
I also think this board is heavily populated with people from Ohio, Pennsylvania and adjacent states. You people need to appreciate how lucky you are. There are entire regions of the country that are two days drive from these rides. Ask them how they'd like to have The Beast in their backyard.
As far as the lines, this is the second straight summer of absolutely lousy weather. The parks are losing a fortune. Those of us who can get to the parks need to grab the chance to ride with short or no lines. One of these Junes the sun will return and we'll be sweltering in hour long waits again.

I agree completely. We DO need to support our parks. And everyone, remember, what makes the coasters and parks wonderful is their vast uniqueness. If all of the coasters were the same, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun or nearly as interesting. I love riding the giant coasters as well as the medium and smaller family style coasters. They are built for us all and all of our enjoyment. I myself am one of those people who live in the northeast near so many of the wonderful parks and I am truly grateful for that. I take advantage of it as much as I can all season long. ---on another note, I hope that we as coaster enthusiasts remember to always be professional and appreciative to our parks and their staffs. For example, so many have been complaining about Cedar Point having TTD down due to mechanical problems..that happens...Cedar Point is superb at always providing we, the riding public, with the most fantastic rides and they are very concerned with the utmost safety standards. That way, we don't have to worry when we go and ride. They wouldn't have the ride down if there were not a reason. I hope we as coaster enthusiasts refrain from unprofessional and childish behavior at parks. We don't want to make a negative name for ourselves as a bunch of lunatics and nuts, who are backward thinking and unreasonable. I hope we try to maintain professionalism out there in the parks. We want the parks and their mangements/staffs to look at us with favor and appreciation. I want don't want to be embarrassed that I'm a coaster enthusiast. I love coasters; the rides, their history, their preservation, etc....the technology....we should always try to bring a very postivie image into the public eye about our clubs and organizations that support and love rollercoasters. I'll stop talking for now!

I agree! Great ride! Hats off to King's Island for continuing this fabulous ride experience and making it more comfortable!

The Beast was my 61st coaster when I first rode it in 2000, and it became my instant no.1. The following year I'd ridden twice as many coasters and it was still my favorite.

However, in 2002 I rode it and I could not believe how it had been butchered! Those magnatic trims are just awful, they really interrupt the ride. I'd never noticed the skid brakes before (except in the brake shed), but these were so noticeable, the ride instantly plummeted to my 20th favorite coaster (and that was only holding on out of memory of how great I used to think it was).

I rode it again in 2003 to find yet another trim on it (on the first drop). This actually meant the one of the 2nd hill wasn't so harsh. I thought it was slightly better than the previous year.

For me, the Beast is no longer anything to get excited about, but the helix still kicks a**.

What I'd pay to ride it without any trims.
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We will be glad to take it in Nashville! Paramount feel free to move it here. I love it!

Thrillerman1 Paramount will not move the Beast out of PKI. The Beast is one of the reasons people come to the park or have heard of the park.

Yea I do hate the magnatic trims on the Beast now days. Does anyone know why they put the magnatic trims on in the frist place. I know that before the breaks where added one of the trains crashed into the train sitting in the station. If only that park employee was not goofing off and stop the train I don't think that many changes would have been made.

Vortex,

The ride-ops were running The Beast as they were supposed to when the trains collided. The brakes were wet from rain and therefore didn't apply as much friction. There was no ride-op in fault.

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The magnetic brakes do the same thing the old skid brakes did, only instead of doing it over several hundred feet they do it all at once. That said, they've mostly let the ride do its thing, esepcially in the final helix.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"Pray that your country undergoes recovery!" - KMFDM

Yeah, Vortex, I was only joking about Paramount moving The Beast to Nashville. I know they would never do that. It's such a great ride!