How's SOB?
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I assume it's dull, since no one ever talks about it. Tis a shame if that's the case, to tarnish the Beast's amazing, well-deserved reputation.
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Go Faster! Faster!
*** This post was edited by cdrpointcrazy4 on 11/19/2001. ***
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Yeeee Haaawwww!
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Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.
I didnt lik eit very much,kinda dissapointed.I thought it was kinda cool though.
Dang I love that mean doggy of a ride!
It rough yeah, but it's FAST AND FURIOUS! And Very tall! And looping on a wooden coaster with only a lap bar is great!
A powerful ride - it is not for everyone. The g-forces are very strong and there's plenty of WONDERFUL shaking and twisting and bashing! YeeeeHaaaaaaaaw!
You definitely won't be bored!
RAVENGUY's got good taste.
~Tocci
It doesn't offer much in the airtime department, but does have speed. . I have gotten bad rides on it, and rides that made it feel like it was a steel coaster. I know of quite a few other wooden coasters that I could name that provide a more horrible experiance than SoB......but what's the point?
The main reason I ride SoB is for the loop. I love that loop. It feels so natural. My last ride on Son of Beast wasn't exactly my best, but it was far away from my worse. On a late afternoon in August of this year, I decided to give it a ride. I was so blown away by the way it was running, I went over to guest relations and told them how impressed I was with the ride. Easily one of the best wooden coasters rides I had gotten this year.
As far as ranking it, I don't. While the coaster may not soar to everyones "It must suck if it isn't on MY list" type of lists, it has many fans. Heck, even I was surprised to see it listed as #1 on the Discovery Channel's future show, but you know what, ranks do very, very little for me in the first place.
Just because something is highly ranked IMO, doesn't mean it is a super ride. Case in point.......the Cyclone at Coney Island. I rode it for the first time last year after hearing so many people hype it up. I have to admit, I was expecting a LOT more, and walked away a bit confused, but that was due to me automatically thinking it was going to be a awesome ride due to a rank or hype. After that, I decided not to rank or compare, and I have had a great time on every coaster since.
-Sean (IMO)
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Tocci55 said:
RAVENGUY's got good taste.
~Tocci
As do you, apparently. :)
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Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.
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AkA somewhatchewy
Liz
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"The only real limit to height is what people are willing to get on." - Ron Toomer
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Go Pack Go!
My comment "see where it ranks in Mitch's poll" was not meant to diminish a person's enjoyment of SOB. If I see someone walking around PKI with a huge smile on their face and they says it's because they just enjoyed SOB then I couldn't be more happy for them *and* SOB delivers exactly what it was intended to do: enjoyment.
Good or bad, this thing generates press and discussion.
This ride was indeed one of "the" coasters to watch while being constructed. Why, one little know fact is Sean F. and I spent a Sunday afternoon sitting for 3 hours in the Top Gun exit betting on the off chance that park officials would take the first rides. The wait paid off and I still hear the cheers we all yelled when witnessing it. That is a memory I will never forget. Marveling at that thing going through it's circuit for the first time ever with riders. What a sight to behold. I was so happy for the park and excited at what they accomplished. Good ride or not, PKI had pulled it off.
I have kind of a biased view of the ride since I was pretty much present from the ride's infancy. I first learned of the large wooden coaster project in 1998 when I was on the OL:FOF crew. When I heard, I thought "Yeah Right!" The following season (1999) I was on the Beast crew and a few of us had been told and sworn to secrecy. Our crew obviously knew because of the clearing and preperations they made for the announcement by the Beast's drop. That rattling crate was hidden out there "incognito" for a while before it was announced.
To me, actually riding the coaster for the first time was kind of anti-climatic. But let me explain, I thought the ride itself was fun and it was wonderful to experience it for the first time. It was to be the best/worst ride I have ever had on it. I have to admit to a bit of dissapointment in the fact that the project and excitement was over. I had more fun watching it being built and rooting PKI on than I did actually gettign to ride it.
I had the course memorized by the time I rode. I was a part of the media event that took place prior to the opening to the GP. We had to be there at 4:30am and took our first chilly rides at around 7:00am. My first ride memories are as follows:
- A skunk had sprayed at the entrance and it smelled awful
- I sat behind a guy who had won a radio contest to be there. He rode with a cell phone duct taped to his hand.
- The coaster had maintenance men ALL around it just watching the structure with walkie-talkies in hand.
- The crane used in assembling the lift hill/big drop was still in place. A maintenance worker sat in the crane's operational booth and he waved/saluted us as we climbed the hill for the first time.
- I sat in seat 5th car 2nd row right side.
-The mid-course brake was not used AT ALL.
- There was extreme air in the drop to the loop.
- The chain sped up as the train climbed the lift, rather than slow as it does now.
- There was dirt and mud all around. Way more trees than necessary had been cleared.
- The loop was heaven. Easily worth the wait.
- I yelled "that was sweet" while exiting the loop. My statement was picked up on the cell phone in front of me (the one taped to the guy's hand) He was live with a Cincy radio station that the people I work with were listening to.
- The "jolt" was mortfying. It was an indescribable slam that even GP riders that evening didn't feel. I can still hear the collective "Ugggggh!" all of us exclaimed as we hit that turn. It was rapidly follwed by a succession of "ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch" as each seat felt the "jolt."
- When the train rolled back in the station, every Paramount Parks person and media crew you could imagine was there waiting with baited breath for our reaction.
- Jeff Siebert went down the line and asked every one of us what we each thought.
- The ride was shut down at about noon and the track at the top of the first large turn was ripped up. That came from all of us simply advising the park, do something to the "jolt" before you let GP on it.
That pretty much sums up my first ride. How about now? Well, much like Sean F. I very much like the coaster. It is not my favorite, but it does what it set out to do. It is still a magnificant thing to look at and experience. But, it is a work in progress. The loop is still my favorite inversion anywhere on any coaster. I opt to go to Sonny over the Beast when doing the ACE walkbacks. My favorite seat is next to back, right side.
Sean: Actually Sonny is ranked #2 on the upcoming Discovery Channel show. I will not spill the beans on #1...I was lucky enough to be a part of that shoot for Sonny. I am the "on-ride" play by play enthusiast, a much harder job that it seems. It was a wonderful sense of closure for me on my sharing in the entire SOB project. Look for it memorial Day 2002. It already aired in Japan during October. Yes, you guessed it... I was dubbed in Japanese.
Shaggy
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Shaggy
A.K.A. John K.
I remember that Easter Sunday watching Sonny take it's first riders also. That was the day before I left for a California trip (yea, THAT trip Mamoosh). While sitting there watching it, I got a nasty sunburn, but it was worth it. I actually was nervous watching it take passengers for the first time. Remember that strange guy that came up to us and said that he wouldn't ride Son of Beast because "people are going to fall out of the loop" Shaggy?
Mamoosh, sorry for the confusion, but I wasn't responding to what you said about Sonny. Now that I re-read your post, I could see how you could see that. I was just trying to point out that IMO, ranking does very little for me. You are also correct on the way I feel about other coasters. I just don't care for those people who force their opinon on others as fact. I know you agree with me there also.
For instance, after my first ride on The Boss this year, I had a enthusiasts come up to me and 'tell' me that I didn't like the ride.......when in fact I LOVED it! This person continued to say things like, " You know Legend is MUCH better so just admit it" when all I wanted to do was enjoy another ride on The Boss. I simply don't get these people. Now, I have been guilty of comparing coasters in the past, but I don't do that anymore and enjoy this hobby.........or for some of us......lifestyle to a whole new level.
Another thing I don't understand ( and I am sure Shaggy has had his fair share of this also) is when a few people think we like Son of Beast just to be on PKI's good side. I am not sure why someone would think that, but like I have said before, if I have a problem with a ride or experiance at a favorite park, I won't hesitate to file a complaint if needed.
I like Son of Beast mainly for the reasons I like The Beast. They are very different rides
-Sean
Sean F. said:
Another thing I don't understand ( and I am sure Shaggy has had his fair share of this also) is when a few people think we like Son of Beast just to be on PKI's good side. I am not sure why someone would think that, but like I have said before, if I have a problem with a ride or experiance at a favorite park, I won't hesitate to file a complaint if needed.
Don't worry Sean. I get that all the time, but I think we southern Ohioans can just stand the pain and roughness of wooden coasters a little more than the rest of the world around us. Heck, we grew up with The Beast, what do they expect?
Honestly, I hated SOB the first time. I swore I would never go on again. But the second time, I began to get the flow and meaning of the ride and all the pieces fit together. I had an all out blast and have every time since. The only parts that still slightly disappoint me are the second half helix and bunny hop after that which provide an amazingly small amount of any forces compared to the first part, but the contrasts and dualities between those as well as the two Beasts' make the wooden selection at PKI one I really like to brag about. I think a medium-sized CCI(a "family" coaster like Cornball in Nick Central would really be insane) or GCI(one of the Roar or Wildcat type twisters would be cool as well) would really round out their line-up if they choose to do another woodie in the future since the types of coasters they make are much different that the 5...ugh, 4 already at PKI.
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Danny, who's #3 woodie is SOB :)
Shaggy said:
- A skunk had sprayed at the entrance and it smelled awful- I sat behind a guy who had won a radio contest to be there. He rode with a cell phone duct taped to his hand.
- The coaster had maintenance men ALL around it just watching the structure with walkie-talkies in hand.
- The crane used in assembling the lift hill/big drop was still in place. A maintenance worker sat in the crane's operational booth and he waved/saluted us as we climbed the hill for the first time.
- I sat in seat 5th car 2nd row right side.
-The mid-course brake was not used AT ALL.
- There was extreme air in the drop to the loop.
- The chain sped up as the train climbed the lift, rather than slow as it does now.
- There was dirt and mud all around. Way more trees than necessary had been cleared.
- The loop was heaven. Easily worth the wait.
- I yelled "that was sweet" while exiting the loop. My statement was picked up on the cell phone in front of me (the one taped to the guy's hand) He was live with a Cincy radio station that the people I work with were listening to.
- The "jolt" was mortfying. It was an indescribable slam that even GP riders that evening didn't feel. I can still hear the collective "Ugggggh!" all of us exclaimed as we hit that turn. It was rapidly follwed by a succession of "ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch" as each seat felt the "jolt."
- When the train rolled back in the station, every Paramount Parks person and media crew you could imagine was there waiting with baited breath for our reaction.
- Jeff Siebert went down the line and asked every one of us what we each thought.
- The ride was shut down at about noon and the track at the top of the first large turn was ripped up. That came from all of us simply advising the park, do something to the "jolt" before you let GP on it.
Ah, the memories....
....if those freezing temps on media day didn't get your blood pumping, nothing would've. :)
....the 'jolt' managed to 'jolt' a pair of glasses off of my head on that first ride. I still don't know where they are. Then again, I didn't care at the time, I was too busy watching the FOX19 helicopter to notice. :)
....getting the wooden VIP pin is still one of the neatest trinkets I have, as is the press kit.
....going into work right about noon with a big grin and grapefruit sized bruises. The grin wasn't from the 13 or so rides (ok, maybe it partly was :) ), but instead, wincing from the pain of being jackhammered in the seats.
....wanting to shoot the woman reporter from FOX19 for being so obnoxious. I mean, I understand the tech difficulties with the taping equipment in row two, but damn lady they have decaf for a REASON! Simma down now.
(ending memory sequence)
All in all, I fall into the nether region when I think about Sonny. For me, its a double edge sword. On one end, it still feels rough, and I cringe whenever I ride it (which isn't very often) due to its lingering jackhammer effect and its lapbar design. I feel that it does have some good redeemable qualities such as the loop and its speed, but even while those are great, I still have to say its just an ok ride. I don't think that pain should be a trade off for thrills, and even though each person will get some differentiating results from riding, both good and bad, I'd still rather go for other things in the park.
Do I think Sonny is worth a spin? Yes. Multiple spins? You be the judge. Multiple bruises and contusions? Ummm, I'll be in the TR:TR line.
Chris 'my buffalo nickel's worth' Rettig
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