Kings Island: General Discussion

Yes, that's right people, the day has finally arrived where we have to bid goodbye to the infamous Son Of Beast at Kings Island in Ohio.



Yes, this colossal 218' wooden Gerstlauer legend, the tallest wooden coaster in the world, is set to be torn down later this summer to make way for a future expansion of the park, after standing dormant for the last 3 years. At 7032' long the coaster is statistically also the 4th longest coaster in the world and the 2nd longest in the USA, after it's 'Father' coaster 'Beast' also at Kings Island.

When it originally opened, on the 26th May 2000, it was the only wooden coaster in the world to contain a vertical loop, however, this, along with several other factors, would later lead to several problems resulting in the coaster gaining its now infamous reputation among the enthusiast community!

The coaster then continued to operate from the start of the 2007 season, minus the loop, however in June 2009 after several more recurring problems, it was closed once again. And unfortunately after 3 years of speculation among enthusiasts as to the future of the ride, this article on Kings Island's own website confirms that the coaster will never operate again.


So, there we have it, the largest wooden coaster in the world, is soon to be no more! This begs questions along with recent projects by Rocky Mountain Construction, such as The New Texas Giant and more notably Silver Dollar City's Outlaw project for 2013... What is the future of huge wooden coasters such as this? Will we ever see a vertical loop on a wooden coaster again? Is it really possible to build so high using wood without serious problems?

I guess only time will tell!

 

Re: Son Of Beast - The End is Nigh

The interesting question here is will there be a Son of the Son of Beast. It is a relatively young coaster, and the press release refers to the ride being dismantled, rather than demolished, which leads to the real possibility that the parts from the ride could well be reused down the road to create an entirely new coaster, whether that be at Kings Island itself, or indeed elsewhere, if the park choose to try and sell the wood on.

It would seem the sensible thing to do in these thrifty time; after all, why go to all the expense to hewing fresh timber to the specification required for a coaster, when you've effectively got a coaster Mechanno set on hand. In fact the size of the coaster probably means the wood could go towards making more then one new coaster, if used correctly. The joys of wood, eh?

Interesting times indeed.

 

Re: Son Of Beast - The End is Nigh

I once rode of the the Third Cousin, Twice Removed of the Beast, but that quite another story all together.

A boy can dream though. Such things are what create great heritage. Most rides these days are just so interminably dull in the tales they can tell, with the current trend of parks to flatten everything and dump a shiny new monolith to banality in the place of whatever inherent beauty a corner of their site might have once held.

Sometimes I think we may as well just start following supermarkets, as their construction and originality is about on a par with the best most parks these days seem to be able to muster. </rant>

 

Re: Son Of Beast - The End is Nigh

The lift hill now standing on its own... picture courtesy of CF.

 

Re: Son Of Beast - R.I.P

And so that is it, the final bents have fallen!



This video shows the moment that the lift hill of the Son Of Beast was pulled down.

Now this is all that we have left of what was once such a hopeful new coaster development.




I must say I'm rather sad actually, I remember seeing it in my early days of being an enthusiast before the likes of El Toro or Outlaw Run came along and I really really wanted to ride it, but it was clearly never meant to be!

R.I.P Son Of Beast... May bigger and better things fill your footprint!

 

Re: Son Of Beast - The End is Nigh

I hope they store all that wood and then use it to make a massive bonfire next year on 4th of July. Would make for an excellent spectacle