SOB is a real SOB! - CoasterBuzz

After taking a trip to Paramount's Kings Island on August 31st, I can safely say that Son of Beast is no longer my favorite wooden roller coaster. I have ridden this monster about nine or ten times, and all of them were awesome rides. That was until this past Saturday. The ride was painful right from the start, with the train vibrating like crazy, and being thrown back and forth, having my legs bang into the lapbars again and again. I am only 5' 9", but I have grown from the last time I rode Son of Beast, and the trains now seem unbearably small. What made me bring this up is that I had heard rumors that PKI had modified Son of Beast so that it would be smoother, but I'm beginning to wonder if that happened or not. So has work been done on SOB, or was that just a hopeful rumor?

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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

Yeah work happened. It hasn't gotten any worse. My guess is you forgot how bad it is. Although I don't think it's bad at all.

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CoasterKrazy said:
What made me bring this up is that I had heard rumors that PKI had modified Son of Beast so that it would be smoother, but I'm beginning to wonder if that happened or not. So has work been done on SOB, or was that just a hopeful rumor?

Work is always being done on Son of Beast to try and make a better ride. This year, the floors were modified from the last year version. Also, thicker padding has been added to the seats. I believe it is possible that the park is going to be doing a lot of work on it during the off season.

-Sean

I am 6'4" and the cars are snug. I prefer the very front seat on SOB and I have had a very good ride on it every time. The back is brutal and I will never ride there again, but why would you NOT want to sit in the very front. The visuals are awesome. Also when the ride is near walk-on (when I go) why not take advantage of it. The longest I ever waited for the front was 30mins.

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It is possible that I just got on at a bad time, but I didn't forget how bad it was. On previous rides, Son of Beast was extremely smooth, with the normal bumps of a wooden coaster, but this last time, it was painful. I suppose I should ride it a few more times, in different seats to find that sweet spot. What could be done to make it smoother, besides trim brakes?

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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

CoasterKrazy said:
What could be done to make it smoother, besides trim brakes?
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Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.

Get rid of those awfull Premier trains! ;)

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1.Phantom's Revenge 2.Thunderbolt 3.Shivering Timbers 4.Montu 5.Mega Zeph

O BTW the sweet spot is the second to back. Most people think it'd be rough but that's the smoothest place on the train......surprisingly. It also is one of the shortest lines!

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I would sacrafice new attractions for a year if they could change the tracks to intamin wooden track and get intamin trains. I don't see that happening anytime soon but I can dream can't I.

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www.geocities.com/thrillworldonline

VISIT IT!

I was there the same day and didn't think it was rough at all. We sat second from the front seat. To me it was smooth as glass. Last week I went to IB and rode LoCoSuMo talk about rough I needed a spinal adjustment after I got off. The sign that says this is a bone jarring ride is an understatement. They should have a chiropractor outside the ride.

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"Crayons taste like purple"...Tardy

Is there some way they could make the track a little tighter so it doesn't bounce back and forth. It's only rough on wheels. I say they forget a frisbee and get new trains and track, make it just like a normal woodie with a couple bumps and airtime in the spots it would have it. Those double sided lap bars are horrendous and the floor boards make it worse. Maybe they could get seat belts and normal woodie restraints.

Yeah right they would have to loose the loop. I road with some one last thrusday that was scared to death cause he didnt see the loop. Personally I love SOB. Im a 5'9 and bout 300lbs ive never once been brusied or anthing. I did have the lap bar staple itself on me 1 time on thrusday as we went up on the lift but that was my fault for holding a conversation while on a ride.

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Part of a Flight Attendant's arrival announcement: "We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurized metal tube, we hope you'll think of us."

I'm 5'11 and 230, I don't have any bumps or bruises, but it is a little painful on the legs. I don't really think they would have to lose the loop, but if they got rid of that floor board life would be much much easier.

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(Former Signature replaced due to bad joke with accident) The Beast at night-Two peas in a pod? http://www.geocities.com/moviecoaster/safetyeditorial- Next article against Markey!

I workd on son of beast and most likely will be doing so again soon. The floor boards are nessary. If you have AIM I will tell you why.

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Its easy to be objective to my home park(S). Good bad and ugly its all there. Small or big. coporate or privately owned its all the same to me.

Son Of Beast is, bar none, the greatest wooden coaster on the planet IMO. A wooden coaster of this magnitude isn't going to just roll along at an easy pace or be the least bit smooth. Take it for what it is. If it's too rough for anyone then don't ride it. I rode it on it's opening weekend, and if you think it's rough now you should go back in time and try it then.

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Millennium Force - Any other questions?

Yeah it was almost torture at the Media Day. But for some odd reason I liked it best then......

Yup, that's what you get from the tallest, fastest woodie with an inversion.

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You want to know what Millenium Force is on a scale from 1-10? Oh, that's easy. A bajillion out of ten.

From what I hear, it is very tempermental giving ultra smooth rides at times and ultra-painful rides at times.

Everytime I have been on it has been pretty bad, but it only got worse when I tried to ride it more than once in a day. Once is enough...it makes the experience sweeter because you only get one shot and it eases the pain on your body!

CedarPointNut said:
Yup, that's what you get from the tallest, fastest woodie with an inversion.
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You want to know what Millenium Force is on a scale from 1-10? Oh, that's easy. A bajillion out of ten.

OOOh, that's SOOO below the belt (especially coming from a Cedar Point fan!). That's real funny.

This coaster is one of the more frightening coasters I've ridden - as much as I like to indulge in idle speculation as the next guy, though, I doubt they can hardly make the kind of modifications it would take to transform SOB into a smooth coaster. That would almost involve reprofiling it into a 150-footer.

SOB is a real son of a bisnatch. I guess you just have to make the mental preparation before riding that you're going to have an intense experience. Just ride it, then take whatever non-steroidals anyone happens to have with them.

If the thread had been titled "....WAS a real SoB", then I might agree......the coaster was really, IMO, quite rough when I first rode it....OK, more honestly even, on a wheel seat it was one of the roughest woodies I'd experienced...

Then, there was this year's trip (CBCon)....we even put off SoB for fear that the ride would dampen our enjoyment of other PKI gems....bracing ourselves mentally and physically, we saw a short wait and decided we'd have to see how it was going with PKI's *continuous* work on the world's tallest wooden coaster (and ONLY looping wood)....well, let's just say that we got a re-ride ASAP...something Jill opted out of during a previous ERT session....Sonny WAS really painful, this year was butter-smooth by comparison....and the ONLY significant change IMO was that the banked turn into the first helix was almost completely fixed...

To summarize...is SoB still a mega-intense ride? You bet... Do the wheels, trains and track need to be checked constantly? Yup....Would better trains improve the ride a LOT? Right again...Is he still the world's tallest advertisement for Alleve? Not IMHO......

CedarPointNut said:
Yup, that's what you get from the tallest, fastest woodie with an inversion.

After riding Colossos at Heide Park in July, I see no reason at all why anyone should believe wood coasters shouldn't go a certain height. Colossos was BY FAR the smoothest wooden coaster I have ridden. Heck, I would even go as far as saying it was smoother than a lot of steel I have ridden.

I think it is only a matter of time before we see new Intamin wood in the US, and possibly taller than Son of Beast.

-Sean