Heres a mounted camera of the son of beast. I've been looking everywhere for this, and I finally found it. This is a video from Discovery Channel's website, but they took it off about a year ago. However, now the loop is gone... Too bad.
Let me assure you if you go to Kings Island these days wearing a son of beast shirt, random strangers will compliment your shirt I even got a hand shake.
Oh yes! Those of us coaster buffs who had the (mis)fortune of riding SOB are hardened in a way that no coaster buff will ever be again, especially if you rode it when it still had the loop.
Firehawk195 it would be cool if some other company made one similar to sob as in speed and and total bad assness but it will probably never happen. Im going to kings island sometime in august. What is your favorite ride there?
I designed a rollercoaster on Coaster Planet called Son of Yeast. It's configured to look like a slice of bread, and the cars look like pats of butter. I think it's the best thing since sliced bread. But I'm biased.
Kings Island straight up trolled it's visitors with Son of Beast. They put their heads together and came up with a ride that tested the very limits of how much punishment the human body could take without suffering irreparable damage, and then laughed at us all when we got off the ride. Once it got old they tore it down.
It's not entirely the parks fault. RCCA was incompetent and didn't know just how much stress the ride and riders were put through. If gci or gravity group buit it today it'd work much better.
You are mistaken. A woman claimed that she burst a blood vessel in her head. This was 16 DAYS after she was at the park. The Coaster was shut down as a precaution. After a full investigation they found nothing wrong. July 29, 2009 issue of the cincinnati inquirer had a report on it. My guess is that she was simply out for money.
This coaster was amazing! I remember riding it the summer it came out on a weekday with very short lines. I rode it at least 7 times in a row. The next day, I had bruises in places I didn't even know could bruise lol great times
It's a wooden roller coaster bro it's gonna shake. But the thing was made out of crap wood and hella warped. I wish they had just rebuilt it (maybe even improved?) but that's just my unhealthy opinion.
When I rode it, in the front seat, the grown man sitting beside me broke down in tears. The crowd was sparse that day, only part of the park was open at a time. Nobody got off Son of Beast and turned around and rode it twice in a row. Not for the faint of heart.
Lee Hasselbeck I truly don't understand the complaints about how painful this ride was... I only got the chance to ride it once (without the loop) and I didn't find it any more painful than something like The Beast.
I bet Rocky Mountain Construction could build an exact replica of this ride but with their I-box or topper tracks (my vote is for topper) and it would not only be much better than the original (which I never got to ride and was definitely ahead of its time) but it might be the best wooden coaster in the world.
They did consider iron horsing it but after some structural and visual review, they concluded that a sizable portion, (90% if i remember) of the stucture had to be redone before putting that i box track
i worked at kings island as a teenager during the rise and fall of this Monster ride. i can truly tell you that it was the most intense roller coaster i have ever been on. RIP son of beast
I remember riding this 5 times in one day in the summer of 2000. The only way I can describe it was it was a huge Mammoth of a ride. Everything about it seemed huge and grand, when you made the first drop its felt like being picked up by a large bird and just dropped from hundreds of feet in the air. It was slightly intimidating
This was definitely not for the faint of heart...it was fast...it was brutal...it was mean...Heck it was a ride that you will remember for the rest of your life. I rode it in 2003 when I was 16 and that speed and freaking loop were enough to make you scream!!! And I got sick after getting off lol Good memories XD
Miss this one so much, it was truly a great coaster, best time to ride it was at night when it got really foggy. You would turn to the first drop and just see the fog cover the track and it just set the mood. Man if this thing was around today I would consider it one of the best if not the best, but alas that title goes to its father. THE BEAST.
They should rebuild the Son of Beast WITH THE LOOP with the technology they have today (but still make it wooden). Imagine the excitement it would cause if the legend itself was rebuilt.
*Here comes the loop, oh shit, oh shit!* I rode this ride 3 times, before it closed, so the loop wasnt there, it still looks like an awesome ride, and its amazing that they built a wooden roller coaster that was like the diamondback
Rode it for the first time, a week before the accident in 2006. My brain banged against my skull the entire ride, everyone getting off of it was holding their heads! Mean streak was rough but this was horrible! Had it been smoother, it would have been one of my favorites. The Beast, Racer and Shivering Timbers are my all time favorite woodies!
What an extreme ride this was. I was able to ride it before they tore the loop out, which was very exciting but really wasn't the most dangerous part of the ride. This was one of the most violent, uncomfortable rides I ever rode on. I rode this the first year it was open and it already felt like it was falling apart by the end of the season. The trains would jump up and down on the track like it was constructed very poorly. You would be thrown around in your seat, being slammed up and down and side to side in the cars. I got off this ride with an extreme headache and backache and I felt like I was kicked 100 times. I was so happy to get off this ride but it almost ruined my whole day at the park. The ride itself was a great idea, in theory, but a terrible implementation. Just poor planning and poor design and all the injury lawsuits eventually caused its demise. Very Sad.
I believe your ride experience is common with extreme wooden coasters in general. I left the Voyage in Holiday world feeling the same way. You feel every board and turn for sure.
Correct. Every wooden coaster has a rougher ride. The more extreme the wooden coaster, the more rough the ride. That's just one reason why I prefer them. The steel coaster Desperado in Nevada was very rough when I was on it, and not in a good way. I likely never ride it again, but I'd ride Son of Beast in a shot.
Quinton Parchment honestly, and I don’t think banshee sucks, but an RMC recreation of son of Beast would still suck. The layout was awful, airtime-less, just un-RMCable. I wouldn’t want a massive banked turn with a few airtime moments at the very begining and very end and a few in the middle to be an RMC. The layout was awful to begin with.
Zek Teh Kek I remember seeing son of beast at kings island, I liked seeing son of beast better i think banshee layout is more crappy than Son of Beast, banshee is too spread out
+aaaee Actually, the trees weren't perfectly good. The main reason why the ride had problems is because PKI was cheap and used low-grade lumber. I'm glad Paramount sold the park. They were shit at running a park.
This is the best explanation I've heard so far. Being a coaster enthusiast it makes me depressed to know I'll NEVER get to ride this extremely unique masterpiece. Had I known about how harsh the ride really was, as well as the seemingly ridiculous upkeep and other accumulating concerns, I would have made EVERY effort to go to King's Island just to ride SOB while it still had the loop (its first season of operation). R.I.P. to the respectably daring idea of a wooden hyper coaster : (
I didn't even know they shut it down! For as much as I loathe wooden coasters, this one was awesome, and the only one that I ever actually liked. Of course.
KimPossible I rode this when I was 12 or 13 I think. It is the biggest roller coaster I have I ever been on to this point in my life, and it will always be one of my favorites. Too bad it had to be torn down :/
+KimPossible I used to loathe woodies. My first big roller coaster was Wildcat at Hershey, and that was when it had the old trains so it was quite rough. But there are plenty of AMAZING woodies that aren't rough, like Beast at Kings Island, Phoenix at Knoebels, Thunderhead at Dollywood, or El Toro at Great Adventure. If you refuse wood as a whole, you'll be missing out!
+KimPossible it was torn down because it was tearing itself apart the original cars weighed as much as a fully loaded concrete truck with no people on it I was just at the parts barn for it today its still loaded wall to wall with every spare nut bolt washer and nail to be used on the coaster the loop alone has 5 feet of shelving dedicated to just its bolts
Ethan K I disagree. Did you ever ride this coaster. RMC is not the answer to every wooden coaster. There was never anything wrong with the way this was. Easily a top 2 coaster.
no i did not have the chance to ride the coaster when it was operating, and there were many problems with it, if there wasn't any problems with it the coaster would still be operating. and RMC is the answer to most wooden coasters that are aging badly because the RMC topper track is a cheap and very reliable track that has proven to be a comfortable ride experience. Easily a coaster that wasn't safe enough
Ethan K I'm not saying that this coaster didn't have its problems. It had many from the very beginning. I also realize that RMC is the answer to many aging coasters. But you have to understand. When this thing was running it was truly AMAZING. The layout was phenomenal and it was just an Awesome ride. Came out the same year as MILLENNIUM FORCE, and I couldn't decide which one I liked better. Sure if RMC was around at the time, they could have saved it, but that would have ment changing it, changing the layout, and it wouldn't of been the same. I'm sorry you didn't get to ride it. It truly was one of the best coasters ever built, but it was way ahead of its time, and that is what killed it. It was doomed from the start, but it was one hell of a ride.
Minor correction. It was 2006 and they reopened it in 2007 on July 4th. And they had to get rid of the heavy-weight trains because they were destroying the track and caused a support beam to crack in the helix and it hurt 27 people and this resulted in having to remove the loop.
I rode this about seven years ago, when it had the loop. It knocked me around more than a pinball machine, which kept me from really enjoying it. It was kind of cool to go upside down on a woodie though, I'll give it that. Shame it's gone now, the loop I mean.
Heres a fun fact, this ride is so ridiculously tall for a Woodie that its second hill, (the one going into the double helix) is actually the second tallest hill on a wooden roller coaster. Keep your hands up.
THIS IS THE MOST AWESOME ROLLER COASTER KNOWN TO MAN NO COASTER WILL NEVER TOP THE SON OF BEAST & THE ONLY OTHER ROLLER COASTER THAT IS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO THE SON OF BEAST WITHOUT THE LOOP IS THE WHITE CYCLONE IN JAPAN :) HAVE A GREAT DAY :)
T LOU - NO I'M NOT CRAZY I'M AWARE OF THE LAWSUITS !! WHEN THE SON OF BEAST WAS NEW THE ROLLER COASTER HAD 1800 RIDERS PER HOUR !! THE SON OF BEAST SET SEVERAL WORLD RECORDS FOR AWESOME LAYOUT OF THE TRACK !! LIKE OTHER GREAT ROLLER COASTERS THAT ARE OVERWHELMED BY RIDERS & EVENTUALLY WILL NOT PERFORM PERFECTLY & SMOOTHLY THIS IS EXPECTED OF A WOODEN ROLLER COASTER & WHEN THE SON OF BEAST WAS FIRST ON THE SCENE WAS THE MOST AWESOME ROLLER COASTER !! TO CALL ME CRAZY FOR ENJOYING THIS RIDE WHEN THE SON OF BEAST WAS NEW IS IGNORANT & IMMATURE TO CHASTISE SOMEONE OVER A ROLLER COASTER GET A GRIP & GET A LIFE !
Gabby Gustafsen they used cheap lumber. That's the problem and the fact the manufacturer did not fully realize the effect on riders. Not to mention the cars were basically a loaded concrete truck with NO ONE on it rlly. Some people just have to accept that oldie is not always goodie. Or maybe you are a troll.
i was 19 when the SOB was opened. it was the roughest roller coaster i have ever been on. i felt like i had been in a car wreck when i got off it. it beat the shit out of you for all 4 minutes. the loop was huge and probably the smoothest part of the track
Wooden coasters are traditionally rougher, especially if you ride in rows that sit above the wheels. Every time the wheels bounce around and hit bumps in the track, you feel them directly. Since the old SOB cars had three rows, my friends and I would always hop in the middle row and the ride was somewhat bearable. The loop was incredible, it was so big and smooth. It's a shame that it's gone now. It was still closed when I went last year, so I haven't had a chance to ride the new SOB.
That looks so fun! I was watching a show about it with my dad this morning and we both agreed we'd definitely ride it... but now that the loop's gone and it's less steep I don't think it'd be as exciting, I guess. I'm still a coaster fan though.
did they have a regular harness that wooden coasters have that goes over your stomach/lap? or did they have the one that went over your chest? I never knew of a wooden coaster with a loop so i'm kinda surprised, sucks i wont be able to try it out.
I rode this the summer that it opened and it was one of my favorites besides The Beast. I was looking up the past coasters I've been on and just found out today that the loop was removed and the coaster has been offline for 2 years. That really sucks. This was an awesome coaster.
I went on it June 2006, I'm 6'4" I remember those cars having a steel handle bar that hit right on the knee, I can't imagine the pain people were in when that incident happened. My knees would have been DESTROYED
great concept, great design, but basically built out of firewood. If you look at track level pictures you can see a lot of it was warped out of where it probably should have been
From what I heard the cars were stopping or abruptly breaking and continuing before the loop causing broken ribs on some passengers. Kings Island said it would be easier for them to service the ride but the upkeep on the loop is easier than the wood segments on the rest of the ride.
Well, that is a fine line. Those people with issues still tend to go on rides that WARN them that the ride isn't suitable for those that have medical issues. I am sure SOB certainly fits that category. However, the ride was closed for structural failure as well, hence the reason for the loop removal. BTW, if you like wooden coasters that go upside down, did you check out what they did to Hades at Mt. Olympus?
It was also the only wooden roller coaster to feature a vertical loop, which was removed in 2006 after an incident in which 27 people were injured. The loop was not directly related to the incident, but was removed as a precautionary measure.
I'm sorry that I missed this one while the loop was still in. I live really close to Kings Island so I have no excuse, except maybe the prices. I have ridden The Beast hundreds of times and it scares the crap out of me each and every time! The Vortex, The Beast, and Flight of Fear are my all-time favs. The Racer was my first ever roller coaster when I was about 6 years old.
@HaloTrackStudios The tracks on coasters are all essentilly the same today. They just linked the metal part that the wheels were running on in the wood part to the full steel track.
I remember waiting in line for an hour to get on this ride when it broke down shortly before it was my turn to get on. I was so upset. I never got the chance to ride it.
If I am not mistaken they decided to take the loop out of this ride. I heard that it the loop was either on a sink hole or it was not very safe. Very good video! I love the fact that the camera does not shake! 5/5
Just wondering; Do you think they could successfully reattempt the coaster today with improved planning, and design? Has the technology come far enough yet?
@JustinTinaFey An accident happened back in 2006. The loop was not directly involved, but was taken out to replace the trains with lighter ones, so that the track would be safer.
I've ridden the Son of Beast probably 15 times, in positions varying from the very front seat to the very back seat, and I will tell you that while it was definitely one of the roughest rides I have ever ridden, THE LOOP WAS BY FAR THE SMOOTHEST PART!!! The decision to take out the loop must have been made by idiots that have never ridden it.
i think putting in the pre-manufactured composite track would help this alot. i love this ride and it sucks it's closed. i'd love to see it open again. that ride is beautiful.
If I could ride any coaster that's no longer in existence, it would be Son of Beast. I wish it hadn't been so ahead of its time that it no longer exists.
how was dat loop was it wobboly or was it really smooth? by the way I think u r right anyone can probably ride it id love 2 but I doubt that im goin 2 kings island any time soon
I get so sad watching this. I remember how fun this ride was, and I loved being able to boast about living only a half-hour away from the only wooden coaster in the world with a loop. Just a few years after they destroyed it, my brother would've finally been able to ride it, which is similar to how they got rid of King Cobra the year I was finally tall enough for it.
Absolutely BRUTAL ride. It felt like I was getting punched in the stomach for 3 minutes straight... Still...I'm glad I got to ride it before they shut it down!
The unique thing about Hades is that it did the reverse of SOB. The inversion was ADDED later on. From the look of it, it was already an awesome ride without the inversion. They just made it better.
I was lucky enough to ride this twice in 2004 while it still had the loop. I remember it being a VERY rough ride, but I loved it anyway. Too bad it's gone, loop or no loop.
They DID take down the loop? I remember hearing talk about it a while ago but (look at the description) the did it? That sucks soo bad because I wanted to ride it atleast once with the loop.
