More useless SOB speculation [news]

This one won't be posted to the news section because the URL will expire next Thursday. But The Other Paper here in Columbus did a feature story on Son of Beast this week. Read all about it here:

http://www.theotherpaper.com/substory2.html

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

That's a very interesting story. I still find it hard to believe that they would tear it down as well. At Beastbuzz, the only thing I did with SOB was to take pictures of it on the walkback tour, but my friend rode it later in the day and said it was smoother than in 2002. He's got a lot more padding than I do--so to speak--so for him what was smoother would've probably still beaten the crap out of me.

All I know is that when we were looking for the SOB walkback tour, we went up to the exit and a teenage girl was being helped off the ride by her boyfriend and the medics from the park. She was holding her head, so I can only assume that she got shaken up pretty badly.

the problem with the fix it possition is theyve done nothing but fix it since it was built.

A reprofile Removal of the rose bowl might save the ride in theory but who knows if the parks willing to take that gamble. Shooting Star wasn't exactly a hit in its original helixy form. The clipper.

Chuck

I might be in the minority here, but I don't want to see Son of Beast torn down. I like the design and I can tolerate its' roughness. I just wish that they would replace the trains, maybe with an Intamin wood coaster custom train. Or, could it be retro fitted with the Intamin plug and play track?

Throughout coaster history, many coasters have been modified to make them better. Like the defunct Idora Wildcat. If Cedar Fair want to keep the ride, all they have to do is remodel it. The SOB has great potential, CF only has to figure out how harness the ride's potential to be a great coaster.

Steel Phantom is a great example of how to take a rough coaster and make it smooth.

Perhaps Cedar Fair will hire The Gravity Group to do something with the ride to make it rideable. Then, once they've done that to SOB and they see how good it is, maybe they'll hire TGG to head up north and fix another large woodie.....

(I Hope)

Although it's not like they actually kept much of the Steel Phantom...

Anyway, Kings Island could go either way. They took down The Bat; they fixed Flight of Fear. A lot depends on exactly what is wrong (which, let's be honest now, nobody here *really* knows...or if anybody here really does know, that person isn't telling). This latest incident is a structural problem, and there are things that can be done to stiffen the track bed and improve the support of the ride. It has problems with the trains, it has problems with the structure, and neither problem is entirely unsolvable. But that doesn't mean the solution is easy, either.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

You're assuming Gravity Group would agree to take on such a project. My guess would be no.

^

Yeah, by basically rebuilding the rough parts from the ground up.

They kept the "best" parts of Steel Phantom (The lift to the bottom of the second ("over the bluff") drop) and removed the rough / painful / parts that people complained about (everything after the second drop including all of the inversions).

Could they do this to SOB? Possibly... but basically it would be tearing down everything after the FIRST drop. While you are leaving most of the costly hardware (the lift hill), you still would have a huge bill on your hands because even after the lift hill and first drop you still have a MASSIVE "deconstruction" project.

Besides, even if you would leave the lift and first drop, you still would have a HUGE wooden coaster, and how great have any of them proven to be in the past?

For the cost of that, wouldn't it be better to remove the ENTIRE structure, and build something new in its place. Better to advertise a NEW coaster than a coaster that was patched together out of an old coaster that wasn't too great in the first place.

By the way... that article was probably one of the best written coaster / park related articles I have read in a LONG time.

IMHO there is nothing wrong with SOB's straight drops, First, Loop and Final. The second helix is shaky but not rough and IMHO is taken a bit too slow, I've ridden it non trimmed and the second helix was much better.

Taking the second drop structure and part of the midcourse you basically have half the lumber in adding another two straight hills and a turn around, Hell you could even remove the midcourse totally running only two trains and use the lift and final brake and station as your blocks.

Second hill, drop, turnaround, drop, hill, loop drop, final helix and cloverleaf.

Cost?????

Chuck, who thinks M&V were already involved in strengthening the rosebowl two years ago. I may be mistaken but it was whoever redone the fan curve on Papa.

I just hope i get the chance to ride it.

I have been on it a few times.....that was enough for me. A coaster should be fun, not painful.

I've said it before....custom M'flyers and severe retracking :)

But if they could get Intamin to do the whole thing with Milled wood and their trains problem solved! Except one....we'd all find out how truely crappy and boring the layout is!

You also have to look at cost.

It would be VERY expenceve to do a major overhaul of the ride, and it may not even work. You would have to have studies done on the ride plus total track replacement and new trains. So with all of that, it would not warrent fixing.

I think that they should tear it down and build something that will have a better reputation than the s.o.b. It would be a lot cheaper. *** Edited 7/21/2006 4:51:41 PM UTC by crazy horse***

TAER it down and build a B&M! ;)

Crazy Horse: I agree...just throwing out useless posibilities :)

I wouldn't count on Cedar Fair to do any drastic remodeling. Look at Mean Streak, another problem woody basking in extreme mediocrity (at best).

taer it down and build a long GCI with tunnels and mfyers. 

No more wooden coaster with a loop?

If Intamin, GCI, or Gravity Group decides to take-over, or build a new one altogether... It'd be nice if they decided to bring back the inversion because no other wooden coaster in the world has one now, and although it was a gimmick... it was a gimmick that kinda worked.