Son of Beast to be dismantled for further development.

[STC]

GCI just posted an interview on Facebook with employee Jeff Pike. It contained this interesting little nugget:

Do you still visit Kings Island?
"They’re customers of Great Coasters now, and I still get a little bit of that magic when I go back."

I can't think of any other GCI projects at King's Island, so could this be something to do with SOB?

 

[michaellll]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

I certainly hope so! I was thinking SOB was going to end up dead and gone, but this gives me some hope.

 

[tomahawk]

RE: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

I think they were working on Beast over the offseason doing some retracking...

Sent from your mom's home

 

[Titan]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

Even if they did retrack SOB and the ride was reopened I dont the GP would even ride it anymore. They were so scared by the derailment many GP have stopped going to the park at all. Its probably in their best interest to just remove the ride completely, even if it is perfectly safe now.

 

[marc]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

The accidents Disney have had have not stopped people riding their rides even after people were killed. I am sure if they reopened the coaster after a re track and new trains people would go back on it.

 

[Xpress]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

SOB needs is badly. Either that or retracking by whoever did Texas Giant.

 

[lakeccrunner]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

^ Agreed. I would love to see another Texas Giant treatment.

 

[Titan]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

Disney is different. People pay almost $100 just for a one day, one park ticket at a disney park, in florida anyway. Its unbelievable. People seem to have selective memory, they block out all the bad stuff that happens at the "happiest place on earth".

 

[marc]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

People have got hurt on other coasters around the world though including Knotts Berry and Cedar Point but people still go back and still go on them rides. Maybe people stay away from park as there is not much there?

The park would not spend money on it if they did not think people would ride it?

 

[Titan]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

They werent just injuries on SOB, but fatalities too. The news did seriously over play this particular accident. However, the GP do have the memory of a fish, it is possible the fear has passed. Life might be more like RCT than I previously thought, where you close the accident coaster, put it under construction, delete and rebuild just a single section of track, and the peeps forget it was unsafe and ride it again.

 

[STC]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

They werent just injuries on SOB, but fatalities too.

I'm just gonna go ahead and assume this is completely untrue unless you have any evidence at all.

 

[Snoo]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

GCI does retracking on a lot of wooden rides.. including the off season rehab of Beast (which I'm at a loss for finding pictures) but they are employed by many parks as their track is quite smooth. There has been rumors of a complete retrack but I'm seriously doubting it tbh. The money needed for that large of an undertaking won't be taken on happily by management.

 

[Titan]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

They werent just injuries on SOB, but fatalities too.

I'm just gonna go ahead and assume this is completely untrue unless you have any evidence at all.

Sorry, 2 admitted not 2 fatal, I remembered it wrong.

But I have been watching news reports of that ride where they interview people in the park, I've never seen guests so afraid of ride safety. I know there have been fatalities at places like the disney parks, but a lot of those were a result of stupidity and not ride maintenance.

 

[tomahawk]

RE: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

People were also "terrified" after evac of Texas Giant, which is common procedure. The media always makes it sound worse than it is.

Sent from your mom's home

 

[Intricks]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

The worst thing that happened was a serious case of whiplash. The media over hyped it. The GP are honestly wondering what it is doing anymore. It is an eyesore to the park and a running joke within the community. Something needs to be done and soon.

I hadnt heard anything about GCI possibly being involved with this, but had heard GG may take on the project and give it Timberliners. Think about it, if nothing happens to it during the 2012 season, then they are most likely awaiting results on the Timberliners on Voyage. They could do a LOT with that ride (get rid of the rose bowl as that caused A LOT of the issues) and give it a more twisted layout for a reasonable price. Keep the lift and up to the second hill then just retrack from there til the bit before the station. Give the SoB his balls back and then re-release him on the entire community.

Also, can someone PLEASE go there during their Haunt and go to the Beast and take a pic of the graveyard there? Apparently for previous years, the coffin for the Son of Beast has been closed due to it being shut down, but when I went last year, a hand was out. Thought nothing of it til the rumors started rolling around. Maybe SoB is being given a second chance...

Switching between the hideouts'...

 

[Hyde]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

Kevin and I were talking about this on Facebook earlier.

Quick question for clarification, does GCI provide train parts? (Wheels, bearings, etc.)

If so, Kings Island could simply be a "customer" in the simple sense that they buy wheel assemblies for their wooden coasters from GCI, not new designs.

 

[Intricks]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

Only for their trains to my knowledge.

Switching between the hideouts'...

 

[lakeccrunner]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

The worst thing that happened was a serious case of whiplash. The media over hyped it.

I honestly think in this case, it wasn't an overreaction by the media. A derailment is a serious issue. And just because no one was killed or seriously inured, dosn't make it any less serious.

I'm not saying that I wouldn't ride it, but obviously safety was an issue with this ride.

 

[Intricks]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

Well, I feel stupid for not actually looking up the proper info. Yea, a derailment/structure break IS a serious issue, but when you build an in house design that was meant to topple the original in house design without any seemingly proper support to g-force ratio knowledge you will run into that issue. That alone was probably the largest reason for the eventual downfall of SoB. A wooden coaster can only handle so much with a completely wooden frame. They went well above and beyond what should have been attempted for a pure wooden structure, and it backfired on them due to lack of insight. Well, that and their attitude of "fix this small issue and see how it runs, and then fix whatever else will happen. Don't test to see if that fix alone would cause an issue elsewhere that was never present, or worsen one that was already there". The biggest fix that helped them was the removal of the loop and the addition of the lighter trains. While it didn't keep the poor thing alive, it gave it another season of running before the eventual pull.

To further expand upon a previous post of mine. GCI honestly wouldn't go near this thing with the horrible record SoB has (I know they re-tracked portions of Beast). They are proud on the quality production of rides they do, and they only re-track a wooden coaster so long as it meets their approval and high standards. SoB lost that a WHILE ago. Gravity Group is the only hope this ride has for re-tracking. If they do decide to re-design a portion of the ride, get rid of the Rose Bowl as that caused a majority of the roughness it was known for (honestly just plain sucked (using others opinions as I never had the chance to ride it *cries*), and extend the ride a few extra hills and give it something unique as well. Re-enforce the already existing structure with steel (where it is needed) and just go from there.

If they decide to do the NTG overhaul, again, they would need to re-enforce the existing structure with steel, if not re-structure a LOT of the support system.

I hope they really don't axe the ride. It will leave the place bare, lifeless, and open to build something that will turn out to be complete **** on.

 

[Hyde]

Re: Son of Beast to be retracked by GCI?

^ Yeah, aint gonna happen. Cedar Fair only deals with GCI, and to get rid of the Rose Bowl means getting rid of the "iconic" Beast element.

Son of Beast is doomed.

And...

Only for their trains to my knowledge.

If that is true, then that wouldn't mean any GCI work is due...