SOB seats... Are they comfortable?

Hey, I'm heading o CP and PKI this summer, and I have a question. Are the seats on SOB comfortable? Or for anyone who has been to SFoG, how are SOB's seats compared to Georgia Cyclone? Any info would be appreciated.
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Mindbender...Can you hear the Riddler chuckling?

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

The seats are covered with a hard foam stuff that is stiffer than that used on the Gerstlauer cars, and they have a slight bump in the middle between your legs. Very slight, and you wouldn't notice except that the floor in the car has been raised to a very strange angle which basically forces you to sit tipped back a bit in the seat, which puts that slight bump right under you. It's one of the most poorly designed seats I have seen on a coaster.

As opposed to Flight of Fear, where the same company tried to accomplish the same thing using a different method and pretty much got it right. Go figure!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

How big are the seat dividers?

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Mindbender...Can you hear the Riddler chuckling?

Also, when is the best time to visit CP and PKI?

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Mindbender...Can you hear the Riddler chuckling?

I know I'm in the minority here, but I thought these seats were OK. I thought the lack of leg room was an even trade for there not being an uncomfortable seat divider. Once the ride got going, it was too intense for me to even think about the lack of leg room!

So, do you think someone 6'1" will have a problem in these seats?
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Mindbender...Can you hear the Riddler chuckling?

You should be fine. I'm about 6', 240lbs and had no problems at all. *** This post was edited by chris on 6/21/2001. ***

I personally thought the seats were very comfortable, but the lack of leg room was what bothered me. The wood blocks or whatever they are could easily be removed. They serve no purpose I have yet to see. Hopefully Premier and Kings Island will fix this very soon. The ride is spectacular though. Have fun!

Visit either park on a weekday any time during the summer pretty much.

About seat dividers, you should definitely have plenty of butt space.

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Danny

You shouldn't have a problem, but you definately won't be very comfortable.

What'll probabaly happen is you will shoehorn yourself in the train, ride the coaster all the while bashing your knees against the lap bar and the seat in front of you, then limp off the ride.

Sweet coaster, though.

Any rides I should know about? The reason I ask is I'm not exactly a thin person, and I want to know if there will be any exceptionally tight seats I will encounter.

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Mindbender...Can you hear the Riddler chuckling?

I had an interesting ride on SOB back in May. I was already in fear of getting beat up by the coaster's reputed roughness. When I sat down and pulled down the lap bar, I almost asked for it be unlocked and got out. I was SO uncomfortable that I thought there was no way I could survive the ride. However, once the train dispatched, I had a great ride and felt very comfortable in the seat. I'm not sure why that is, I seem to be one of the few who likes SOB...

For the record, I rode in the middle seat of the middle car. Most people who complain about the ride rode in the back seat, for what that's worth.

The raised floor does serve a purpose...the idea is to get your knees above the lap bar to insure that you can't come out from under the bar. They accomplished the same thing on Flight of Fear by dropping the back of the seat cushion and putting the ankle bar across the bottom of the lap bar.
Sonny has no seat dividers, and the best place to sit seems to be the center seat of the last car.

If you're a large person, the rides to be concerned about squeezing in are Racer, The Beast, King Cobra, and Scooby's Ghoster Coaster.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

The big problem is not length in the knees, but the width of your thighs. I am 6`5, 250 lbs/ and I have to squeeze into the cars. I just got back from PKI today and I can safely say my knees kept hitting the horizontal bar that some people hold onto. If they would just scoot either that edge forward, or raise it up then I would be fine.

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http://www.islandguide.8m.com
all about PKI
the Beasts` Den

Just don't lock down the lap bar to low and you'll be fine.

The actual seats are confortable. Like the above post says, the floors are raised to keep you in the car, and eliminate the use of shoulder restraints.

However, if you are tall, your knees will get banged up if you don't hold on to the handle (to keep your hands between your knees and the handle). I'm 6'3" and the handle is placed directly at knee level. That part of the car was very poorly designed.

I found the second seat, first car to be the best ride. We rode back seat our first trip, and it was very rough (almost punishing).

The second seat, first row, however, was almost like a completely different ride. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was smooth (the ride by nature is very rough), but enough of the edge was taken out that it was a very, very fun ride. You get all the intensity and relentlessness of the ride, but don't get beaten up by it.

I'm a pretty tubby guy, not tall, just heavy, and I had no problems, even with my big legs.

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WARNING: THIS POST MAY ACTUALLY INCLUDE SARCASM AND OR HUMOR. PLEASE CONSIDER BEFORE RESPONDING.

I'm 6'4" and about 225lbs. and find that once I wedge my knees into the seat, it's not really that uncomfortable. I just keep my knees together so I don't hit the side bars.
I also keep my arms all the way down against the restraint or all the way up ( I received a nasty bruise on my elbow before I figured this out). For the "smoothest" ride, I think the middle seat in the last car is a great choice.

I just got back from riding SOB on Sunday. I took two rides on Sonny that day, My first ride was in seat 18, my second was in Seat 2.

While the ride in Seat 18 wasn't exactly smooth it was tolerable and fun. The ride in seat 2 however was unbearabley rough and jerky. So much so that by the time I hit the mid course brake run, I turned to Rideman and said "I am not enjoying this" Maybe the third and fourth trains from FoF could be put on Son of Beast. The seats in the FoF seem a lot more comfortable. Or perhaps instead of the FoF trains, Premier chould go back to the drawing board, and design new two bench trains for OL. To keep 36 riders per train, they would need 9 two bench cars. First pahse could be to use the wheel arrangements, and thematic designs from SOB (Calm down Rideman, I said phase ONE), and the restraint design from FoF. Perhaps the shorter wheelbase wiht the sleek two bench cars will help reduce the roughness, and the new restraints would be more comfortable for the rider. If need be Phase Two could be a redesign of the mechanicals on the bogies of the trains.

To the base poster:

Rides to be leary of if you are wider than the average bear, (Hey this park does have Hanna-Barbera Characters)

+ Racer and Beast - Old PTC trains with ratchet bar retrofits, and larger than usual seat dividers that run all the way to the top of the seatback.

+ King Cobra - While it was once possible to ride with the shoulder bars latched very loosely, thanks to the jerk at PKD, they have added a saftybelt to ensure that a)the shoulder bars don't open midride, and b)the shoulder bars have been closed enough for the belt to buckle. The loosest setting causes discomfort and you have to almost sacrifice breathing during the ride, if you are even a little bit wide.

+ Drop Zone, There is a crotch strap that may pose a problem

+ Zephyr (Wave Swinger) - May be a tight fit, may not.

+ Scooby's Ghoster Coaster - can you say vise-like grip?

Ironically Runaway Reptar seems to be very accomodating, as long as your height is between 44 and 76 inches.

BTW: What is the largest waist size/chest size a Skycoaster harness can accomodate, I know I can fit, but I wonder if there are any limits.....

David "Flight of Fear is the best running coaster at PKI at the present time" Bowers

Will a person with a 38" waist have a major problem? I'm just being paranoid. I'm trying to find out if any seats are like the ones on Georgia Cyclone. Very uncomfortable. It was a tight fit, but I made it through two rides, so I guess I can do anything. :)
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Mindbender...Can you hear the Riddler chuckling?