How to spot a coaster enthusiast:

The only one I disagree with making someone re-evaluate their status is Flash Pass. It seems the majority of "enthusiasts" hate the idea of it.

I happen to love it because I hate people. The less I have to be around them in large groups, the better.

I'm going to be super-cool and repost the link on this page so we don't have to click back to page 11 to find it...

Raven-Phile, I agree 100%. I don't like people ether. Especially "tweens".

My thoughts exactly. :) And it's not the tweens that bother me, it's the "adults" who act like tweens, especially when it comes to common courtesy. Plus I get claustrophobic around huge crowds.

-Tina

It's odd - I don't mind huge crowds when it comes to live music. Well, I can't say that I love them, either. Not because I'm claustrophobic, though - I just prefer having room to actually stand in the same place without getting knocked over.

It's weird that I generally don't like crowds, yet I go to Disney World every other year during Christmas. Makes no sense other than me and my wife love to people watch.

I know that the Beast used to have skid brakes which were replaced later by, I think, some kind of magnetic brakes. Were the skid brakes always there? If not, when were they added?

I cannot answer specifically...but I can tell you how I remember it. I was a little (6 or 7) when the Beast opened...barley bigger than the "little miner guy" . My dad rode with me within weeks of opening. From the late seventies until the early nineties I logged thousands of trips (or at least hundreds). Moment to note that in line for the Beast was the first time I ever smelled weed. They were not so strict on that stuff apparently...in the late seventies.

As for the skids...I'm not sure they were there from day #1. However, skids were added and/or lengthened/tightened long before the magnatetic brakes were placed. Practically from day #1 they were trying to tame it. There was a time, with the skids, that everybody could not wait to ride it in the rain...for slippage, etc. Many thought (I still want to believe too) that they would reduce the friction at night...etc.

I'm not certain how much of my memory is inflation via youth...but I STILL opine that night rides on the Beast 1979-1983 or so is the singular greatest coastering (non-coastering too?) experiences of my lifetime. I rode it in rain, snow, sleet, and even a thunderstorm or two. Night was ALWAYS better.

Like I say...much of my memory might be inflated since I was a youngster. However, no other rides at Cedar Point or Kings Island (and the few other places my parents took me in the 80's...plus the few places I've gone as an adult) have aged in my memory like The Beast. I've done a ton of coasters (probably not as much as a lot of you) and other thrill activities in my life. Everything I've ever attempted (Stratsosphere rides, X, Magnum, sky diving, marathons, mountain climbing, eco challenge, scuba diving with sharks etc) has always fell short of my memory of The Beast...in terms of an adrenaline rush...and simple happiness.

It is with this understanding and the knowledge that I'm widley considered an anti-enthusiast by many on this board that I can say with a full and truthful heart...that ride the call The Beast today SUCKS. Went back 5 years or so...hyped it to my friends as the greatest, etc...

It was simply a shocking kick to the testcles of my memory. I prefered Racer, Adventure Express...maybe even SOB to the couple rides we took that day. Besides the helix...I would classify it as a kiddie terrain coaster. It used to tear half way up (more?) the second hill before the chain gripped. The day we were there I thought we might roll back before making it.

I could talk for hours about my memories of this ride. But I guess this is old news to most of you. Needless to say...I hold it in the back of my memory for what it once was.

Alright this obviously shows my Beast-nerdom, but here goes:

I suspect that the trims on The Beast have always been roughly the same throughout the years. In all all of the old videos with the original skid brakes, the ride doesn't seem to run any faster than it does today. On the contrary I'd be willing to say that the magnetic brakes might be a tiny bit lighter than the original skids (and I've watched a lot of Beast Povs).

However, many people claim that night rides/thunderstorms/weak brakes/whatever rides on The Beast back in the day were quite a bit faster than they are under normal conditions today or even back in the 80s. Specifically, I'd say a trimless ride might have hit 70 mph on the back stretch while a normal, trimmed ride only hits 55 mph. (I timed a stretch of straight track in a bunch of Povs and then measured its length in Google Earth. A few simple calculations resulted in a speed.)

Therefore, I conclude that while the switch to magnetic brakes has not changed the speed of the ride under normal circumstances, it has taken away the chance for the crazy rides all of the old timers speak of.

Edit: Brakez

I have never been impressed by the Beast, honestly. I rank it down with Vortex, which I absolutely hate, in that park. I would rather ride Son of Beast than Beast.

I only rode The Beast in 2000 and thought it lived up to the hype. It's still in my top 5. When were the changes made that supposedly killed its greatness?

I rode it in 2004 and loved it. It's not in my top 5, but it was a lot of fun, and great at nite.

Never. People imagine things. It's still a fun ride.

Cool, I figured as much.

The braking, I have no real issues with. The seat dividers that hit me somewhere between ribs and shoulders....exceptionally weird, and uncomfortable too. "Lean forward and enjoy your ride on The Beast". ;)

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of PTCs with seat dividers, so I will definitely agree with that.

My rides on the beast were smooth as I felt the ride allowed, I enjoyed it, it was fun. It was an out of control ride thru the woods. No major airtime, lots of laterals. It wasn't the best ever to me, again, not even in my top five (It ranks 25 out of 56 wooden coasters for me). But I didn't get any bad rides and it was exactly what I expected when I finally got my ride after having missed out in 1995.

Never. People imagine things.

Does this mean that The Beast is the same ride today that it was in 1979?

Look I know I'm out of my league with coaster knowledge...but there have indeed been tons of changes for this ride. My memory is not fresh on the exact dates and such...but from aesthetics on up, there are many changes.

First off, are the current trains even the same trains and/or length as 1979? Seems there is a reason the cues don't line up for the rows. If I recall, they changed trains in the early years. But maybe I am wrong on that?

I KNOW there was no tunnel on the helix the first few times I rode it. The second tunnel was not as long either. I also KNOW the seat dividers were not always there. Neither were the head rests.

Maybe the ride is the same. And I admit that memory inflation is a possibility. However, I can't imagine that there have been NO changes to the ride experience itself.

Just a theory here... But I wonder if those who rode it 1979-1981 or so have a different perspective of the "changes." I think a lot of the MAJOR changes were made right away. The problem is that this was pre-internet...and finding people with knowledge of those changes is hard to come by.

In other words, those who rode it 1982 or later for the first time...would not recognize the changes as much as those who rode it in the beginning years...as the major changes had already been completed? Put it this way, if you did not ride the Screamin Demon...good chance you never rode the "good" Beast.

I simply cannot remember exactly when the ride slowed down. I just know that my perspective, long before there were rollercoaster clubs was that The Beast was "not what it once was." Whether that was in 1982 or 1987...I am not sure. I can tell you by the early 2000's it was average at best.

As I said before, there was a time that this was the single greatest ride (in my mind). It gradually lost its luster. And five years back it was simply boring. As an alleged "non-enthusiast" it seems strange that my recollection is similar to the enthusiast recollection. It also seems strange that my "non-enthusiast" dad and brother hold the same opinion about the ride as I.

I rode the Gemini the first year it was built. I rode The Bat the first day. A lot of people like these rides. I remember both as quite boring. Went to Busch Gardens Virginia the first year Lock Ness was built...liked it. The point...if memory inflation is the culprit, why only for The Beast? shouldn't my youthful imagination have inflated all the rides and experiences?

I know I cannot convince people about something as subjective as a coaster experience. But I hold firm in my opinion that in the early years, the BEAST was in a league all by itself...a league that no other ride or experience has replicated in my lifetime. It was simply out-of-control speed with pain (hurts so good) educing laterals...and that was before the helix. There was an absolute PARTY atmosphere in the line. People went crazy on the trip back to the station.

I fail to believe that all I remember and experienced is nothing but an isolated incidence of memory inflation. I'm guessing it is more likely that the Beast used to kick ass...and now it doesn't. "Good" was not a word ANYBODY used to describe the old Beast. "Good" is an insult to the memory.