Son Of Beast to Re-open 2007

I agree Millrace but Im sure a park would have to purchase them

Guess I'm the only one who thinks this is a bad idea and waste of resources? CF's going to spend millions to "fix" this giant mess that was a flat out bad idea in the first place, where it will no doubt fall victim to CF's woodie syndrome of not knowing how to maintain wood, where in 2 yrs it'll be unrideable again?

Dumping multi-millions into this money pit just seems pointless. Taer it down and instead use those millions to build something else that doesn't cost a fortune on a daily basis just to keep running, and that'll still be fun to ride 2yrs from now

Jomo:

I always thought it was more of the parks own maintenance team and engineering, construction, and operations division that more had to do with how well their wood coasters perform. I would think Cedar Fair would give each park a certain maintenance budget, but the overall care for the rides would be done by probably the same people that always do it.

I think putting money and trying to retrack it and possibly give it new trains is a good idea. Taking it down would be costly measure in itself, I am sure that would cost millions. Now would be the perfect time to make repairs to the ride following the accident. It seems the park has to make some changes to improve the overall image of the ride which is slightly damage. By doing something, even if making it smoother did not have much to do with the accident, it at least gives the appearance that the park took measure to make it safer.

Fully articulated individutal trains like GCII makes would eliminate a ton of the trackwork problems and rolling problems it has in it's tight curvesnear the end.

As far as putting money in it, PKI did four of the five years they had it, This year it was closed from late last season till Mem day and a month after it reopened, it was just as bad as when it closed. And thats reduced from six cars to three.

Chuck

Three? I don't think so. They reduced the trains from 6 cars to 5 cars.

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jomo said:Guess I'm the only one who thinks this is a bad idea and waste of resources? CF's going to spend millions to "fix" this giant mess that was a flat out bad idea in the first place, where it will no doubt fall victim to CF's woodie syndrome of not knowing how to maintain wood, where in 2 yrs it'll be unrideable again?

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I think if Sonny hadn't been "repaired" by Paramount prior to the sale, that is possibly what COULD have happened. In a few years, unless it gets new trains, it will VERY likely be a giant looping Hercules and be removed...what an absolutely *spectacular* failure though, huh? ;)

Well, if the GCI trains are put on the ride, I think it's going to be a totally different ride experience (for the better). If they do replace the trains, do you think they will go with an 18-row train, to match the original capacity of the ride??

I think it's way early to specutlate on them getting GCII trains. IMHO they might significantly modify the existing ones such as making them two bench which would eliminate all the front seat of each cars problems (Roughest seats to ride in since they sit on and in front of the front wheels)

TAER down sonny and donate the wood to Habitat for Humanity -- that will be a nice write off on the taxes. THEN you can build a nice B&M coaster there that is reliable and a people eater.

It has been stated many times before - even with the practically unrideable conditions for enthusiasts, the GP love this ride.

PKI did not take a serious PR hit from the incident and handled it in a spectacularly professional manner.

You don't trash a $25M+ investment - even if it isn't performing as well as it could. As long as it has consistent ridership, which it does, depending on the accounting methods, it could take as long as 10 years before SoB would be fully depreciated and even a candidate for removal.

Actual repair and upkeep numbers are not generally disclosed (why should they) and I would expect that even with a 7 figure repair during this current downtime, the ride and the lines will return for years to come.

Swoosh - nice idea on HfH except I believe you cannot build a house or any occupied building with treated lumber. The chemical used to treat the wood is hazardous.

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Swoosh said:
TAER down sonny and donate the wood to Habitat for Humanity -- that will be a nice write off on the taxes. THEN you can build a nice B&M coaster there that is reliable and a people eater.

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Problem is, You can't use this wood residential as it has a acid wash in the wood.

Chuck

So how about completely reprofile it and call it Grandson of the Beast. Throw in a wooden top hat to boot. ;)

While you can't use pressure treated wood to build homes, you could supply those who are getting new HfH homes with the biggest deck in the neighborhood. :-D

-Josh

^ Just dismantle it and build 2 or 3 medium sized woodies for other CF parks that could use some good wood (**cough**PGA**cough**).

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Swoosh said:
TAER down sonny and donate the wood to Habitat for Humanity.....THEN you can build a nice B&M coaster there that is reliable and a people eater.

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Tired...tired...tired of this particular comment. Oh...and by the way, there are a few B&M's that deserve a "melt down"...if you will.

I agree that I am tired of hearing the comment taer it down, when obviously that is not happening next year. Lets see if the ride is improved after whatever repairs PKI, GCII, etc, make. The park doesn't appear to have alot of capital projects for 2007, so what is wrong with them putting in some money to make adjustments to one of their major attractions. Even if they do get a moved coaster from another park, they still won't be spending a whole lot on next year.

Cedar Fair does seem comitted to doing trackwork and maintaining wooden coasters. Geagua Lake for example has Martin and Vleminckx on their wooden coasters. Raging Wolf Bobs is already retracked and running better, while Villain is getting retracked this year.

Swoosh:

I think PKI next new coaster, new meaning not moved, is likely going to be a people eater. Cedar Fair seems to add coasters that have good capacity at their larger parks, and kings island is I believe 3rd in attendance in the chain, and 3rd in revenues. Knotts is 2nd in revenue, while actually Canada's Wonderland last year was 2nd in attendance. But I do think a B&M or some other quality steel ride could be in the parks future, just not next year.

Maybe PKI will do a Kennywood..take a rough and painfull ride(Steel Phantom),and make it a smoother and more enjoyable ride(Phantoms Revenge).

^ That is the best piece of input so far on this thread. "Seriously"!

That is a very sincere thing to say. They obviously have things to fix for a better SOB ride and their planning and executing. ;) Thumbs up Ex!

^^Thanks for the kind words :)

I hate to see ANY coaster get torn down,even if it isnt one of my favorites to ride.

I think SOB could be a great ride..just needs some major tweeking.

If they have to change half of the ride like the Steel Phantom to make it enjoyable,then I hope they do it.

*** Edited 12/6/2006 1:41:49 AM UTC by Ex_Westview and KW_worker*** *** Edited 12/6/2006 1:43:09 AM UTC by Ex_Westview and KW_worker***

What I was *suggesting*....mmmm, 5 years ago, more or less...

Remove the Rosebowl, put in a section of out-n-back track before the loop...that's where the ride is (was?) SO brutal.

Now, however, I'd prefer to let GCI take a shot at really FIXING the thing....still, if it keeps those trains, any solution to the rosebowl problem (incredible bouncing/shuffling) would seem to be temporary in nature.