Son of Beast Roughness

Ive been hearing about Son of Beast being rough as hell but ive also heard somewhere it can be smooth as glass on some days. Next year I want to to go PKI and I don't want to leave the park at the end of the day with a neckbrace or anything like that (how some people have described it) after riding SoB so can someone whos been on it alot help me out?

Does anyone know what makes it so rough? *** Edited 4/27/2006 7:53:02 PM UTC by jonrev***

I remember it being quite painful when I rode almost 3 years ago. Imaging being pinned into a not-so-padded seat with a not-so-padded lapbar, and then being shaken a lot. Not pleasant.

My advice to you would be to ride in one of the middle rows of any of the cars so that you're not over an axle. Probably middle of the train would be good, too. Try to not let the lap bar be too tight against you, and try to keep it from falling lower while riding.

FWIW, the loop is one of the smoothest parts of the ride, probably mainly because of the steel frame. A lot of the rest of the ride is very rough. SoB is, to me, more of a ride to be endured than enjoyed, unfortunately.

Just don't ride it. Problem solved. It sucks.

I rode it back about 4-5 years ago, and I didn't think it was as bad as people claim. Sure, it's a 200 foot woodie, so it will be rough, but as long as you sit in the middle row of the car, I think you should be fine. Granted, a lot could have changed over 4-5 years...

I personally thought Villain at Geauga Lake (rode it last year) was a whole lot worse than SOB was.

*** Edited 4/27/2006 8:15:55 PM UTC by nstod***

It personally on my behalf, i have rode it three times over the past two years is pretty bad. The first time was not too bad if i remember correctly. The last few were bad, i dont remember seat location, but it slams you something fierce, from side to side. My head was moving alot and thats not good when its violent, cause it gave me a headache as i walked outta the park.

Suggestions, take that middle area and not sit on the wheel area, like mentioned above, and also just be prepared as best you can, unfortunately you have little to stabilize your body with in the restraints they have. Its just plain bad, take some aspirin, and maybe find something to pad your body a bit, like some extra clothing or something.

As far as being as bad as the villain, i can see that as an accurate description the villain was bad last year if you were there, but at least it mercifully ends at bit quicker.

Was it always this bad or was it smoother when it opened?

Ive ridden the coaster 20 times straight and 35 times in on day before. The only thing it bothered on me was my thighs, The bars are padded now.

The coaster has been rough at times, So rough that even I wouldn't ride it. But usually it's not as bad as people say.

IMHO ride the second seat of any car and never ride the front row of any car for any reason.

The've done mass work on it over this winter, We'll see if its changed.

Chuck, who thinks for a coaster that is as bad as enthusiast make it sound. Has a ton of riders considering it cycles more per day that Papa with three trains.

jonrev,

If MagnunBarrel is right about it being comparable to the Villain now, then yes, I would say the ride has COMPLETELY deteriorated.

That's what we were told I believe the 2nd year it operated. If you get the second row you're away from the wheels, and IMO that vastly improves the ride.

I'm guilty of having complained in the past about SOB, but really, some have overblown the roughness of daddy. It is rough, but as I've said before, how many woodies do you know that travel between 75-80mph. That can make for a rough ride anyway.

Siebert said a couple of years ago that they would be working on SOB over the next few seasons to work out some of the problems, and I noticed a difference last season, not huge, but a difference nonetheless. To be honest, anymore I fear Face/Off more than daddy. *** Edited 4/27/2006 8:33:52 PM UTC by Floorless Fan***

I rode it one day late 2000 and it was tolerable. In fact, the guy behidn us (for the ACE walkback) said it was running the best it had all year, so I think we got lucky.

2 subsequent rides in 2003 and 2005 were enough to make me never want to ride it ever again! Nuff said :)

Does anyone wonder about the life of this ride? Think it could even make it to a 10th anniversary, or is it going to be kindling? If it could be retrofited with Intamin milled track and their special trains (darn similar to the MF trains, just 3 bench) I wonder if it would run fine...just might be a snoozer at that point!

Q_why do they take your on-ride photo before the lifthill??
A_thats the smoothest bit....

I rode Villain last year and, while it was rough, it was NOT as bad as SoB was back in 2003. SoB is one of the roughest and most uncomfortable wooden coasters I've ever ridden, and my track record also includes such other rough ones as:

--Cyclone (Williams Grove)--easily one of the worst
--Rattler
--Hercules
--Raging Wolf Bobs (pre-retracking)
--Wild One (pre-retracking)
--Mean Streak

Son of Beast, to me, is right up here with these pieces of work.

In my opinion, SOB is one of the best wooden coaster out there IF you get a good ride on it. Unfortunately, I've only gotten about 2 or 3 great rides on it. Most of my rides have been fair at best. A bit rougher than I like but not horrible. Only once have I gotten a complete horrible ride. The ride litterally left my legs black and blue. After that ride, I will only ride SOB in row 2. As people have said above, the next to the last row is also supposed to be good but I've never tried it. I have tended to get better rides early in the season and they go down hill as the season continues.

rablat5,

I rode on the Villain and Mean Streak in consecutive days last year, and I felt that Villain was exponentially worse than MS was. However, I could have just been "off" that day, or maybe it was a bad day for the ride. But, even though MS can be rough, it was night and day to me.

nstod,

MS and Villian are, IMO, not as bad as SoB in terms of roughness. Actually, I don't find MS awful, but I do find that it doesn't do much for me. Villian, however, I do like, at least riding near the front.

Part of it could be those darn Gerslaugher (sp?) trains which, on some coasters, might work better, but just aren't the most padded. Perhaps PTCs would have been more comfortable on Villian.

The solution for the smoothest-possible SOB experience is easy: pick a car and ride in the middle row.

OUCH! My hurts just even looking at this topic -- never again!

*** Edited 4/27/2006 9:57:16 PM UTC by Swoosh***

That does help considerably, but in my limited experience, it just turned an unbearble savage beating into a slightly intolerable savage beating. Still a marked improvement!

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Peabody said:

Does anyone wonder about the life of this ride? Think it could even make it to a 10th anniversary, or is it going to be kindling?

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No one wants to bite at this yet? I'd like to hear some realistic discussion on it. (Please no "TAER IT DOWN!!!")

*** Edited 4/27/2006 9:57:13 PM UTC by Peabody***

TAER IT DOWN!!!11

:)

C'mon, you saw it coming. *** Edited 4/27/2006 9:59:37 PM UTC by matt.***