SOB-possible to enjoy it?

Agreed. Experience can make a difference sometimes (not always) I've ridden about 125 wooden coasters and it ranks in the bottom 10 or so. Legend is my #1.....guess I don't know how to ride a coaster! ;)

Excuse me if i have a oppinion. Like in music, movies, anything. People jump on the bandwagon because of what is "in" and think you are stupid if you are not in the consensus.

Right, Peabody. And my "experience counts" mantra shouldn't be constured that those who have experience are superior or any way better than those without. Its not that at all.

I remember when I was much younger and thought SFMM was the best park ever. Then in 1992 I made my first visit to Cedar Point and my opinion changed because of the experience, just as making my first trip to Knoebels in 2000 changed that opinion once again.

Anyway if Beast Tamer get enjoyment out of SOB, great! But I highly suspect that as he gets older and is able to travel and have more experiences that his fondness for SOB will evolve.

Exactly. No one says Beast Tamer isn't entitled to his opinion, but so are WE! Just because all of our opinions (most) are different doesn't mean we "don't know how to ride coasters"

---

Janet said:

---

Corkscrewy said:
Wasn't there just a topic on this. I agree Cazy Horse. *sigh*

---

well, I'm so sorry I wasted your time...you obviously felt it was important enough to take time to throw in your 2 cents though.

---

Well I'm sorry I didn't put any smiley faces after it to show you that I was just messing around. ;)

The easiest way to enjoy SOB is to be short. Plain and simple. Like, under 5'6.

Have you ever watched little kids getting off the ride compared to 6 foot males?

I'm well past 50 wooden coasters. SOB isn't anywhere near my top 10, but I don't dislike it. I could certainly give you a list of 10 woodies that I found less comfortable. I do have the advantage that I'm about 5'8", and it does seem that SOB is particularly hard on tall people

---

Coasterbuzzer said:
And, I don't see how you can dis Beast Tamer when he has been on two coasters that the coaster community considers "great" woodies at HW and says he still likes SOB better. ?

---

I understand that everyone is entitled to an opinion, yet when a person tells me that I don't know how to ride a coaster, that particular person is not respecting my opinion.

There are no signs provided by PKI telling a new rider how to ride SoB. Enthusiasts are not the only ones that ride coasters. I find it funny that a park that boasts being the "family park" in America will have a ride that only a small percentage of enthusiasts enjoy because they "know" how to ride it.

Well, I don't agree with that part that he said. SOB is not the only coaster that I have heard enthusiasts say that you have to know how to ride it...aka defensive riding.

OK, so maybe you have been on 50 wooden coasters. How many have you been on in a foreign country? If the answer is zero then you can't state that Legend or Raven are #1 when your experience is limited to US coasters only. My point is, when have you had enough "experience"? Is it 50 coasters or is it when you have been on nearly every single wooden coaster in the world and not just inside our borders? :)

I'm 6'2" and have only ridden SOB twice. The first ride was about 2/3 way to the back and it was fine - I'd say intense, not painful. The second time was in the front seat which was much better than the first time.

I guess this makes me abby-normal?

SoB is nowhere near my top 10 wooden coasters, but I did enjoy it, and I would gladly re-ride if the chance ever presents itself.

Keep in mind the only wood I would not care to re-ride is Psyclone at SFMM, and Grizzly at PGA. Heck, I probably would even re-ride Mean Streak at CP, even though I'm sure using a jackhammer on concrete would provide a smoother sensation.

It's true that there are several coasters where 'defensive riding' definately makes a rough coaster enjoyable. But these tend to be coasters that offer a fun ride but headbanging detracts from the experience.

I don't agree that the same thing can be said of SOB. Like others have said, if it was a smooth coaster it would be boring. The layout is uninspiring and isn't really forceful. IMO defensive riding on SOB can only make a ride less painful and not more thrilling.

That said, I almost always give it one spin while I'm at PKI. That's not a compliment to the coaster as there are very few coasters that I refuse to ride. I don't get the chance to visit parks as much as many on this board and when I do get that chance I ride everything the park offers with the exception of most kiddie coasters. But I will not wait in a line longer than 30 minutes for SOB, it's not worth it. *** Edited 4/9/2005 8:59:24 PM UTC by Incidentalist***

Actually, Robo, Mean Streak was kinda smooth last year, its just boring.

SoB wasn't my favorite wood (Thunderhead...Good), but I don't hate it. If someone wants it as their favorite, fine by me, but I imagine it will change once they ride a few other coasters out there as well.

Regardless of if you've been on coasters in other countries or not, if you consider Legend &/or Raven your number 1, so be it. I'll be in line for Swamp Fox...

---

TeknoScorpion said:
Actually, Robo, Mean Streak was kinda smooth last year, its just boring.

---

Ya know, there's a word for wooden coasters that don't have *HiLlS*....it's called a RAMP. ;) The first half gets going, then after the mid-course it's one LONG slow steady descent...

edit: Back to Sonny, the first helix just EATS up so much trackage at such speeds that making it even *smooth-ish* is a continuing no-win battle. Then the second helix uses up the remaining track leaving almost nothing for *fun* ride time. I kinda like the loop, the pre-lift drop, and the track AFTER the second helix, but the first helix beats you up so badly the rest of the time you're trying to PROTECT yourself...and that ain't fun, IMO...
*** Edited 4/10/2005 5:54:14 AM UTC by rollergator***

Meh, it just HURTS. It always has, and probably always will, but that's just me. They should just rename it "PAIN".

I like the loop, and it makes for some great visuals while on top of the Drop Zone, but you guys can have it.

I know that is ONE coaster I won't be riding later this morning.

-Tina

Well, today I enjoyed SOB..

I enjoyed it from Top Gun, which is missing a train, and I enjoyed it from Adventure Express, which got its third train back. As for Sonny, one train was on the storage track, the other was parked halfway up the lift, all day long...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

---

rollergator said:

For me, Timbers and B-Dash both lacked that "certain something"...doesn't make me wrong that MOST other people rate them VERY highly, I may have just caught them on *subpar* days - in fact, the mechanic from B-Dash (who saved my glasses) said HE thought it was running "about 3 out of 10" that day, and he SHOULD know, LOL. To me, for an O-n-B, I'll take Timber Terror ANY day over those two...

finally, someone who also caught B-Dash on a bad day, lol. everyone tells me im nuts for not being so gung-ho about it...

Tim...who rode Tsunami/J2 the day before B-Dash...and was just still in shock over the former;)

---

All of you SOB moaners should go back to the TeaCups. You can tell it's scary by looking at it, it's whole purpose to beat you up, and you ride it???? "exciting, forceful, intense, roughness..."

The word is hardcore.

SOB is a great ride and length IS a factor-GEE, it's longer than MF-DUH> just one of it's great achievements....

FYI My top 10 also includes New Mexico Rattler-been on it yet?? and Avalanche( HOWEVER, if you come back to the platform that fast, you should circle the lot again ).

The rides got to be at least half as long as SOB to be close to comparison. If you want bunny hills for miles and miles not to exceed 50mph, there's a stretch of Hwy95 100 miles N. or S. of I10 that's open to the public. Take a Hummer! and if you stay on it long enough,it will drop you off at Disneyland.

Typical comeback from the SOB-lovers: don't like it, you must be a wimp.

Get back to us when you have a more convincing argument. In the meantime if you want hardcore go ride Coney Cyclone solo in the back row.

In the SoB-lovers' defense, I truly enjoy coasters that beat me up a little, especially wooden ones. I don't even dislike Vekoma Hang-n-Bangs, and, as I've attested several times over (Gonch can vouch), I love me some Togo. I somehow feel a certain satisfaction when I come off a brutally intense coaster.

That said...SoB was unbearably headsplitting. It was the one and only coaster I could not wait for to end. And even if it wasn't at all painful, it's one of the few coasters that I feel had remarkably lousy pacing. Yup, SoB is ranked 36 of 38 woodies in my list.