Son of Beast closes

As much as I dislike the ride, SOB is still very popular for some ungodly reason.

I may be INSANE, but I ENJOY Mean Streak. It's better than a laxitive for shaking the poo outta me.

^ That is pretty funny! :-) , All though Meanstreak is not the same ride as when it opened in 1990, I still enjoy one or two rides on it each visit. Son Of Beast i would only ride once per trip and i would hold off to ride it on the last day of my trip and at the end of the day. So i would not be in pain for the rest of the day in the park. I really do hope that Cedar Fair decides to replace it with a new woodie. If not a woodie then any coaster will do maybe a suspended B&M like raptor?

I happen to like SOB, and don't expect to see it going anywhere soon.
CF loves record holders. Also people fail to understand that CF has put little money in the coaster.
Paramount did.
All CF has done is replace about 100 ft of track where the timber broke, put new track where the loop was, put 2 used trains on it, and added a few extra cross supports.
And that was all done when it reopened, there has been no work done on it since.

Now with the new trains the only rough spots are the transitions from new to old track, and vice versa.

I happen to know what the inspection found, and why it is not open.
There was nothing wrong with it. nothing out of the norm.
It will not reopen because, KI is over budget, They laid off the crew. that coaster is expensive to inspect each morning, and one of the less popular rides.

It will get re tracked this winter- and then i suggest you give it another try.

Because the only thing wrong with it is that the original trains destroyed the track work, and it has not been re tracked since.

On opening night in 2000 it was El-Toro smooth.

I rode it a week after it opened, and I found it to be so painful that I didn't ride it again until just a few months ago.

Interesting post, nonetheless, Robscoast. If what you say is true, then CF 's fix to the problem is simply re-tracking it, and they feel that SOB is mostly unridable until that is done.

Thinking back on my last ride, it did seem that the trouble spots were were only in a few places. The new track that was installed was at the bottom of the rose bowl, right?

If it was at least as smooth as Beast, I might enjoy it. I really dislike SOB's layout though. Why did the ride's designers build the lift hill to block the view of the rest of the ride? When the ride had a loop, why didn't they put the loop in a prominent place, to be a feature that passers-by could clearly see and get excited about? I just don't feel the same kind of connection to the ride as I do other coasters, mostly because of the seemingly uninspired layout and design.

EDITED TO ADD - I enjoy Mean Streak also, Hopman.

Yes, retracking would greatly improve the ride. Long term, so would Timberliner or MF type trains.

I hope it does re-open next season. I would give it another try.

Robscoast said:

I happen to know what the inspection found, and why it is not open.
There was nothing wrong with it. nothing out of the norm.
It will not reopen because, KI is over budget, They laid off the crew. that coaster is expensive to inspect each morning, and one of the less popular rides.

It will get re tracked this winter- and then i suggest you give it another try.

Because the only thing wrong with it is that the original trains destroyed the track work, and it has not been re tracked since.

On opening night in 2000 it was El-Toro smooth.

Ok... Where did you get your info from? please explain....

I'm new to this site so go easy but I love Son of Beast. It really is my favorite wooden coaster, though I fear after my trip to Holiday World in a few weeks it wont be.

I do wish it would reopen this season, just because I feel like my 6 rides on it before it shut down was not nearly enough for a season.

Thanks for the info robscoast, but I'm also curious as to where you got your info.

I love how new people ask for us to take it easy on them...lol It's kinda' cute. :)

I would also like to know where you got your info, Robscoast. It sounds believable or ligit to me, but it would be nice to know.

I realize that you might not be able to expose your source though, so it's all good either way.

Robscoast said:

I happen to know what the inspection found, and why it is not open.
There was nothing wrong with it. nothing out of the norm.
It will not reopen because, KI is over budget, They laid off the crew. that coaster is expensive to inspect each morning, and one of the less popular rides.

It will get re tracked this winter- and then i suggest you give it another try.

Because the only thing wrong with it is that the original trains destroyed the track work, and it has not been re tracked since.

I'm really gonna pretend you didn't just say its never been retracked... It was as the ACE site says "http://tinyurl.com/mvqtn2

And how do you know what the inspection found, since it hasn't even been completed yet? http://tinyurl.com/kk2yfb where exactly are you find your info saying it will be getting ANOTHER retrack?!?

And as far as your comment on the workers being laid off... you have GOT to be kidding me... please tell me you're really not that ignorant on these matters..... as a previous employee, every ride operator, is trained on at least 2 rides. Plus once you know one, you can learn at least 2 other similar rides.... Therefore the SOB crew is now placed at WWC, Flight Deck, Drop Zone, and Adventure Express... plus probably more, those are just the people i personally know...

I'm still confused as to why they removed the loop. Was it just because they changed the trains ?? And if that is the case, I'm to believe that the ones they're using now can't/couldn't negotiate a loop ?!?! Not buying it.

On opening night in 2000 it was El-Toro smooth.

Well that's just simply and factually incorrect. Reports of the ride's roughness surfaced no sooner than it took enthusiasts to return home from media day and post their trip reports. I rode it just a few weeks after opening during ACE Con...are you saying that in a less than a month the ride went from "El Toro smooth" to the rough, shuffling, jackhammering POS we all know the ride to be?

Superstew said:
I'm still confused as to why they removed the loop. Was it just because they changed the trains ?? And if that is the case, I'm to believe that the ones they're using now can't/couldn't negotiate a loop ?!?! Not buying it.

They removed the loop after the "accident" in 2007. They used heavier trains than they have now to navigate the loop. Those trains were more or less specifically designed for the loop. and therefore jostled the rider around more. The accident is said to have been caused by a splintered beam. which was most likely caused by the weight of the train and stress from said trains. They removed the loop for the sole purpose of being able to use lighter cars that wouldn't beat the structure of the coaster as much, causing more/worse problems down the road. The lighter trains wouldn't have the force to make it through the loop as easily as the heavier ones. It's all about physics really :P hope that helps

Son of Beast 11 said:
I'm new to this site so go easy but I love Son of Beast. It really is my favorite wooden coaster, though I fear after my trip to Holiday World in a few weeks it wont be.

I can GUARANTEE one ride on Raven, Legend and Voyage and you will forget all about SOB!!!

Jo
Lifetime Raptor flights: 2042 :)

And as far as your comment on the workers being laid off... you have GOT to be kidding me... please tell me you're really not that ignorant on these matters..... as a previous employee, every ride operator, is trained on at least 2 rides.

When I worked at CP in '05, I worked with a guy who jokingly called himself a "ride whore." He staarted out working Raptor, but by the end of the season, he worked about 10 other coasters as well.

I love when people come on here and write like they personally inspected the ride them selves.
The ride ops who were running SOB did not get laid off. In fact one of the ride ops named "mike" is currently helping on The Beast.

I also did some digging around with my cozen who "Jake" who is a ride op on Stunt Coaster who is currently going to Ohio state, but that is another subject. Any ways He said that management has told "EVERY ONE" who works at the park not to discuss the SOB matter with anyone. Well guess what he got fired three days ago. So he has spilled the beans. Apparently the inspection was scheduled between September 8th and September 24th.
Witch makes since because (A) that is at the end of the season and (B) the park is closed between those dates.

I personally believe that is when they are going to start tearing it down.

hold on! i made all of that up! but it sounds good don't it?

I'm just going to throw out there that I do NOT believe Rob (Robscoast) was referring to ride op crews, but rather wood-coaster/maintenance employees. Ride ops are, for lack of a better term, "more fungible".

MaVeRiCk 'n MaGnUm XL said:
hold on! i made all of that up! but it sounds good don't it?

With all of the misspellings and incomprehensible nonsense, no, not really.

...and the post was edited.

So was it edited to be incomprehensible?

*sigh* I thought this coaster was a blast, its a love it or hate it coaster for sure but this one came in at one of my top wooden coasters.