Son of Beast does not get the respect it derserves

Wow, all of this Son of Beast talk is making me want to try it out again, for better or worse;) I only rode it once two years ago on my first visit to the park. I had wanted to try it out on our PKI visit last August but the line was over 2 hours long. I guess the ride doesn't suffer from low ridership yet. Anyway, I don't even remember what seat I sat in but it had to have been a wheel seat as I thought the ride was plenty rough. It's the only woodie I've been one where instead of the getting the usual "shuffling" roughness some coasters have, this one felt like it was literally jackhammering you up and down in your seat. I would like to try out one of the middle seats though and see what kind of ride it gives. I will also agree that the ride does have probably one of the coolest logos out there. It seems like those cheesy "I survived such and such ride" shirts would actually apply to this one. I know I felt like I had just survived something.

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Mamoosh said:
Ironically, Dan, Paramount was going to build a Rye Aeroplane Clone first at PKI and if it was a hit clone it at other parks in the chain. That idea was nixed for SOB.

Sad, eh?

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Wow, did NOT know that, and yes, very sad. But, since the other parks are NOT gonna get a clone of Sonny...;)...why not have GCI build some OzCat clones for the PPs that didn't get the Aeroclone?

Besides, if Dan built some nice MFers for those rides, then Paramount wouldn't have to worry so much about *wood coaster maintenance*, which IMO only PCar (in the chain) really does that well anyway...

What is a Rye Areoplane? I've never heard of it before.

http://www.rcdb.com/id1544.htm :)

Actually, Cincy DJ, I'm glad you chimed in and took on the challenge I placed before all members here. Everyone has great ideas of what could have been done with SOB, but I really wanted to hear from an engineer's view. I have no four letter words for ya. ;)

I'll admit, we could probably come together on this and combine some of what is already there and make the last half more like a terrain coaster, say, after the loop. Now, I'll pose this question. Would SOB as a terrain coaster lessen the greateness of the Beast since there would be two terrain coasters?

I'm 5'7'. Been on viper at six flags great america, shivering timbers, the boss, ghost rider, american eagle, and other wooden coasters as well. I did like son of beast. It's in my top 3. 1. shivering timbers, 2. the boss, 3. son of beast. I rode the back, middle and the front. I loved it in the front and middle. Yes it was a rough in the back, but not unbearable. Although I didnt like the lapbars. I like the speed it has on it. Sob wasnt really designed for airtime. It was designed for speed. Btw I wear a size 42 and I still think it isnt rough, and no I wasnt smashed in the seat. *** Edited 3/17/2005 7:15:31 PM UTC by coastermadness***

UBRhino - click here for pics and info on one of the most notorious wooden coasters every built: The Rye Aero-Coaster.

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Paul Drabek said:

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MysteryIncs1#Fan said:
I love SoB it's one of my fav wooden coasters people gripe because it's rough well guess what it's suppose to be it's a wooden coaster..wood ages and that makes one heck of a fun coaster.

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Come over here and ride a coaster just as old as POS, I mean SOB; the Legend and I'll show you what a wood coaster is supposed to feel like. *** Edited 3/17/2005 4:30:03 PM UTC by Paul Drabek***

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Why I have ridden The legend I didnt like it..too smooth for my tastes I like my wooden coasters rough!

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Mamoosh said:
Ironically, Dan, Paramount was going to build a Rye Aeroplane Clone first at PKI and if it was a hit clone it at other parks in the chain. That idea was nixed for SOB.

Sad, eh?

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Another victim of the bigger faster millenium record breaking phenomenon. But it seems the limits in size and speed have been mostly reached or even surpassed by now.
Wooden coasters shouldn't be built that high and fast, I think - wood always ages and the rides will naturally roughen, I think this will even be the case for Colossus at Heideparks "plug and play" wooden "smooth as steel" design technology.
This airplane coaster looks like a really exciting and well designed ride -
I must say that I find it really hard to differentiate between fun menace, bone rattling and roughness from the actual neckbreaking health infringement. (some people obviously even want the crystal beach cyclone back)

*** Edited 3/17/2005 7:44:44 PM UTC by superman***

Beast Tamer do you secretly work PR/Marketing for PKI? Because you are doing a great job getting this topic all fired up and convincing people, including myself, to make a trip to PKI and ride SOB!!

I'm in the boat of a few people in this forum who've never been to PKI, but have had their share of some rough and wild woodies.

I've ridden Mean Streak and I've ridden the Boss. I've seen both of these coasters bashed here and I guess I got lucky and had good experiences on both coasters.

I can't believe all the difference in opionion with SOB. I'm 6'2" and at first I started reading this and saw a trend of tall people revolting the coaster, but a few of you tall buzzers said you had a fine ride.

So now I'm left with trying the coaster and getting my own opinion. Just out of curiosity, has anyone stood at SOB's exit for 30-60min and watched people come off the ride? I bet that would give you a consensus GP opinion. If anybody plans on doing this PLEASE take a camcorder. I think you could produce some of the most hilarious GP reaction footage for coaster enthusiats to enjoy :)

So when is Beastbuzz? ;)

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MysteryIncs1#Fan said:

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Paul Drabek said:

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MysteryIncs1#Fan said:
I love SoB it's one of my fav wooden coasters people gripe because it's rough well guess what it's suppose to be it's a wooden coaster..wood ages and that makes one heck of a fun coaster.

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Come over here and ride a coaster just as old as POS, I mean SOB; the Legend and I'll show you what a wood coaster is supposed to feel like. *** Edited 3/17/2005 4:30:03 PM UTC by Paul Drabek***

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Why I have ridden The legend I didnt like it..too smooth for my tastes I like my wooden coasters rough!

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Ahhh, you're into sub standard wooden coaster maintenance.

"Wooden coasters shouldn't be built that high and fast, I think - wood always ages and the rides will naturally roughen, I think this will even be the case for Colossus at Heideparks "plug and play" wooden "smooth as steel" design technology."

I think the lesson learned by SOB and Rattler has more to do with elements.

Wooden coasters were not meant to go around and around and around. The roughest parts of SOB have to do with lateral forces. Had SOB been an out-and-back but still ratined it's initial height and speed, I doubt we'd hear many "brutal" complaints.

Shaggy *** Edited 3/17/2005 8:15:01 PM UTC by Shaggy***

^^Ha! :)

I think in this case 'rough' and 'intense' are being mistaken for each other.

A ride can be very forceful and intense, but not be rough at all. A ride can be rough, but have little in the way of butt-kicking forces.

I don't know of too many people who like a 'rough' ride, but almost everyone enjoys an 'intense' woodie.

*** Edited 3/17/2005 8:04:17 PM UTC by Lord Gonchar***

Even though Paramount skipped on it, aren't we getting a Rye Aeroplane clone, or something similiar soon?

I agree, SoB could have been much better if it were more like what I hear about Colossus/Collossus/Colosus @ Heide Park. It is tall, it is fast, and it is an out and back. The straight portions (drop, loop, etc) on Sonny aren't bad at all. Those trains just don't track around bends very well.

Still like it, was fun. As for Mean Streak, it wasn't rough, just borin'. But no, SoB (IMO) dosen't deserve any more respect till they get it together correctly and have it running well. But the GP seem to like it okay, I hear all the time about "that tall wooden coaster that loops in Ohio" from people, and how great it is.

Even though Paramount skipped on it, aren't we getting a Rye Aeroplane clone, or something similiar soon?

Beech Bend's 2006 GCI woodie is "inspired by" Rye's Aero-Coaster. So is the first drop of Oz Wildcat.

Well, when I buy Camden, that will be my second addition. Right after King Cobra :).

Wow, I must have hit it on a particularly horrible day - the helicies for me were actually one of the smoother parts of the ride. I practically broke my knee on the chainlift the thing was jumping and bumping so much. The first drop was horrible, I was praying for it to be over about 50 feet into it, the brake run was bumpy and rough for a brake run, and the loop was so bad and boring I honestly don't even remember it. I must have had a particularly bad day, but no amount of praise in a thread is going to make me get back on that ride. I'd probably avoid paper made from the wood of this POS ...

I will not ride this coaster again.

I used to try it out at least once a year, untill last year when I rode it and got off of the ride with a river of blood comming from my knee. My g/f was in tears because of the extremly rough ride as well.

There are a number of problems with this ride that need to be addressed. The biggest problem is the rolling stock. And I would love to have words with the person that decided to put handle bars right where the knees are.

crazy horse, the handlebars are in a reasonable position if you remove the tin cans from the floor so that you can sit in a somewhat normal position. Some of us rode it the first year and got to experience that. The handlebar position would actually be correct if you could actually reach it around the lap bar.

I wish they would re-mount the handlebars so that they would sit at the same height as the base of the headrest. I end up grabbing on to the headrest, then getting my knuckles smashed by the head of the person ahead of me...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

SoB's trains suck. THat's a big problem with it. But the layout is boring too. SOOOOO if it got good trains, it would change from a rough painful ride to a boring ride.