Kings Island removing Son of Beast

But that's kind of human nature. "This drink is so terrible. You have to try it!"

I remember thinking it wasn't terrible, early in the first season, but it wasn't particularly interesting either beyond the loop. The trains were insanely uncomfortable.

I remember riding SOB opening year... We luckily snagged 1-2, a non-wheel seat and we thought the ride was amazing. Butter smooth (literally) and the loop and helices were to me, great fun.

Rode it a few hours later and got some axle seat... Was by far the most brutal, rough and damaging ride I ever rode. Was this the same ride we rode just a few hours ago?

Needless to say, my brother and mom ended up at first aid due to migraine like headaches right after. Kings Island did give us meal vouchers and we used them at the rib place they had at the time... Was like an $80 meal on them. We left right after due to the headaches my mom and brother had.

I rode it a few times after that year, with and without the loop. Never rode on a wheel seat ever again (with the G-trains only rode 1-1). Once the loop was taken out, there really was no point to it anymore. It was boring, rough and simply worthless.

Will not miss it one bit... I have a single good memory from my first ride ever back in 2000, that is good enough for me!

I chose this thread to make my first post in like seven years.

I am glad to see it go. I hated SoB in every way, from the extreme pain it caused, to the boring, unimaginative design, to the giant swooping turn at the top of the lift hill that must've required the wood from several rain forests to build. The whole project was doomed from the get-go.

I'm glad to say I got to experience it, because if nothing else, it was an example of just how adventurous coaster design was getting in terms of ride proportions, and it truly was unique. Was it an incredible ride? Certainly not. I was more impressed with the Italian Job, for example, which had just opened on my one visit there. However, I rode something that was totally cool in concept if in no other characteristic.

Now, will I miss it? tAer it down!!11!1! I say.

A friend of mine was lamenting earlier about how he never got to ride SOB. I told him we could re-create the experience by strapping him into some ride's test seat and having several people pummel him with their fists for two minutes. That pretty accurately describes the memories I have of my two rides (one with and one without the loop).

People often say the best part of the ride was the loop. That might be true for repeat rides, but I think the real best part was the drop out of the station the first time you rode it. It was pretty much bad news after that, starting with how loud the lift hill was.

I think that was probably why they took your picture before you got to the lift. :)

Oh man, I completely forgot about the ungodly loud chain dog.

This lift hill is really loud.

What?

This lift hill is really loud!

What?

THIS LIFT HILL--

Huh??

$&#@!! I'll tell you at the top!

....

....

What?

The best part of Son of Beast was finally getting to the brake run at the end of the ride. They should have taken out the photo sales at the bottom of the exit ramp and installed a first aid there instead. It was sweet relief to find that I only had bruises and not broken bones after a self-pat-down at the exit.

Anyone who missed it did not miss anything but torture.

How cool would it have been to give it the Texas Giant treatment with the loop? As is it was the worst.

Jephry said:

I never got the chance to ride this monstrosity. Was it really not worth resurrecting? Just seems like a waste...

It probably was a waste to build it originally. It was more expensive then the rest of the park combined when it was built.

Well, only if unadjusted for inflation.

I rode SoB about a month after it opened and had a blast. I don't remember it being rough, so it couldn't have been too bad. The next time was 2003, and it was very rough, but from what I remember, still enjoyable. By 2004, sense of pain won over sense of joy.

I'm surprised no one has suggested another Skyrush being a good replacement. KI has nothing like it. Assuming they can get the restraint comfort issue fixed.  Else, either another I305, or even another Storm Runner/Xcelerator would be great. They certainly have the space for any of those.

Nothing against Wing Riders, but I think soon they'll be everywhere.

Did anyone else follow the construction updates every day like I did? I remember downloading the POV animation (which took about 3 hours back then) about once a week and checking the website daily to see if there were any updates. I was doing the same thing with Millennium Force, and I wondered all winter which one was going to come out on top because at the time they both looked amazing.

We all know how that turned out.

I can't think offhand of another "megapark" that has no full-circuit invert...and now the park has an amazingly-successful B&M ride.

2 + 2 = 4-across invert.

Clark Griswold said:
I'm surprised no one has suggested another Skyrush being a good replacement. KI has nothing like it. Assuming they can get the restraint comfort issue fixed.  Else, either another I305, or even another Storm Runner/Xcelerator would be great. They certainly have the space for any of those.

They have Diamondback but that didn't stop Cedar Fair from installing Leviathan immediately after Behemoth.

Bakeman31092 said:

Did anyone else follow the construction updates every day like I did? I remember downloading the POV animation (which took about 3 hours back then) about once a week and checking the website daily to see if there were any updates. I was doing the same thing with Millennium Force, and I wondered all winter which one was going to come out on top because at the time they both looked amazing.

We all know how that turned out.

I did the same; both of those coasters were the peak of my anticipation, so much so that I made a trip to both parks in June of 2000.

Even then, Son of Beast was murder. Rode it once and didn't care to relive that experience.

Jeff said:

I remember thinking it wasn't terrible, early in the first season, but it wasn't particularly interesting either beyond the loop. The trains were insanely uncomfortable.

I damn near had to sit in a side saddle style, thought about getting back out. It was too late as they had already checked lapbars. The ride was actually able to cause me to sit straight. Most painful coaster ever. The wife and I had to just sit for an hour or so. I felt like just leaving the park.

I remember having to turn my knees to the side now! Wicked machine.

I know this might sound absolutely absurd to some, but is there any chance that the "removal" of SOB is in fact a cover-up for the Iron Horse treatment?

SOB was the only coaster that I was actually begging to get off of while on it, but ended up riding again and again with unsuspecting friends.