I rode the SOB with and without the loop. The worst part of the ride was the rose bowl helix. It’s unfortunate that KI has had failures like the SOB and the original Bat. But, the so many first of their kind and record breakers makes up for that. Many coaster enthusiasts always mention how the ride OPS and overall staff in the park is top notch. And that comes from the locals in greater Cincinnati love of the park. I’m lucky to have KI as my home park. So many memories growing up, and my unforgettable night ride on The Beast.
The last time at KI was near the end of the 1999 season. We had a two day pass and went Fri & Saturday. When we left employees were giving out free next day passes so we took them and stayed one more day. Attendance was much lower so we got a lot more ride time in. We rode the Racer backward side 12 times in a row with no wait. So glad we did that since Cedar Fair took that feature away. Dastards!
They kinda got one little thing wrong in this. Racer started the second Coaster Renaissance. They are the reason that coasters became the heartbeat of each amusement park and every major park started building them and making unique rides. The Coaster WARS was started by Cedar Point when they opened Magnum XL 200 in 1989. Thats where every park became hellbent on breaking every record they possibly could.
SOB was great on media day. Still have the flyer they handed out to everyone saying it would operate on a limited basis lmao…foreshadowing anyone? That ride, and Dragster to the north, were cursed.
Wow. No mention that the park manager thought he was approving designs for two different coasters to choose from not one big long one. He might not have signed off on the project if he had known that.
Great video. I live 40 min from KI but I think this year was my last year going. 38 years old, 250 lbs with a 34 inch waist but other than 3 of the coasters everything is too tight or beats the heck out of my getting old self
One of the things i always liked about KI was that it use to have a lot of good flat rides, and didn’t ONLY care about coasters. Now the parks care about are coasters
If you want a lot of attention, it has to be a coaster. While there are some great flats, but there's thousands who travel to parks cross country each year for new or unique coasters. That alone won't create a profit, the rest of the park needs to be good, for locals and repeat customers, but you need the attention first.
The beast to me is scary just because of how old it is. A couple years ago I hit a turn on it and the track was shifted or something and it nocked the wind out of me and I couldn’t breath for a good half minute
if it makes you feel more confident in riding it, the beast received a major makeover a couple years ago. it’s a bit smoother now and has more refined transitions.
i’d say cedar point has a more well rounded coaster lineup, but kings island isn’t very far behind. i’m sure if it got an rmc or modern intamin, most would consider it better than cedar point.
The fact that this video only mentions Cedar Point once, and then hardly speaks to the Cedar Fair acquisition was a bit shocking. Especially when you get into the 1990s coaster boom at Cedar Point. What started with The Beast in 1980 led to Mean Streak, Magnum, Raptor and Mantis at CP. Yes, Son of Beast was built to compete with Six Flags' abundance of coasters around the US, but it ultimately was Kings Island's way of trying to compete with their in-state rival. Ultimately, Paramount wanted of the Amusement Park game, and sold of Kings Island, and for a time, Cedar Fair treated it like a bastard step-child. However, I think that Kings Island's room to expand will lead to it bypassing CP in quality of coasters in the coming years. Especially now that Cedar Fair has sold off to Six Flags.
