Son of Beast (roller coaster)
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| Son of Beast | |
 Son of Beast operating in June, 2005; the ride had a loop at the time. |
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| Location | Kings Island |
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| Park section | Action Zone |
| Type | Wood |
| Status | Standing But Not Operating (under investigation) |
| Opened | May 26, 2000 |
| Manufacturer | Roller Coaster Corporation of America |
| Designer | Werner Stengel |
| Track layout | Terrain |
| Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
| Height | 218 ft (66 m) |
| Drop | 214 ft (65 m) |
| Length | 7,032 ft (2,143 m) |
| Max speed | 78 mph (126 km/h) |
| Inversions | (1, 2000-2006) |
| Duration | 2:20 |
| Max vertical angle | 55° |
| Capacity | 1000 riders per hour |
| Cost | $20,000,000 USD (estimated) |
| Max G force | 4.5 |
| Height restriction | 4 ft 0 in (120 cm) |
| Son of Beast at RCDB Pictures of Son of Beast at RCDB |
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Son of Beast is a wooden roller coaster located at Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Son of Beast is billed as the sequel to The Beast. At the time of its introduction in 2000, Son of Beast was the only wooden roller coaster in the top 10 categories (worldwide) that are dominated by steel-based coasters for track length, height, speed, and drop. It was also the only wooden roller coaster to feature a loop, which was removed in 2006 after an incident in which 27 people were injured.
The sign located at the entrance of the ride features a large wooden box covered with chains, rope, and metal straps. The front of the box is ripped open, suggesting a large creature of some sort tore its way out. The words, "Son of Beast" are located in the center of the hole. As part of a marketing campaign for the ride before its début, the same box was placed next to a footpath in the park. Beastly growling and snarling noises came from inside the box and it shook violently, as if something inside was trying to escape.
Included in its many world records, Son of Beast is the world's tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster, the only wooden roller coaster in the world to successfully incorporate a vertical loop, and the second longest wooden roller coaster on Earth (second only to its predecessor, The Beast, also located at Kings Island). This second place record was planned, as to leave the Beast with its 30+ year world record as the longest wooden coaster.
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[edit] Theme
The Beast is located in the park's Rivertown section, and the storyline for that coaster is that a quaint town is hiding a deadly secret. Directly behind the cute country store façades, back in the woods, there lies an old, run down mill, terrorized by the Beast and falling into disarray, which acts as the station for that coaster. However, for Son of Beast, located in the Action Zone across the park from The Beast, there is an entirely different story. The government has captured the Son of Beast and taken it to a highly classified laboratory, letting it roam free inside a giant enclosure, where it's silently growing. Entering under the same high security sign as guests riding Flight Deck, guests climb to a station filled with bright red and blue flashing lights. They board high security trains to travel up and around the Son of Beasts cage to scout for him. However, in true theme park ideology, something goes horribly wrong and car races down the perimeter and into the enclosure, where the Son of Beast unceremoniously rips the car apart, sending it flying through the air and twisting and turning.
[edit] Layout
Upon loading the trains, the ride leaves the station and makes a left hand drop into a series of short hops before turning onto the 218 foot tall lift hill. Upon cresting the lift hill, the track makes a snaking left hand turn over to the first drop, where it drops 214 feet to the ground, before rising almost 168 feet in a right hand curve into a left hand double helix known as the "Rose Bowl". Coming out of the helix, the ride passes through a midcourse brake run, and then makes a drop into a straight section of track (this was where the vertical loop was prior to 2006), before making another helix, a series of short hills, and finally hitting the ending brakes. As planned, the ride is meant to be the second longest wooden roller coaster in the world, which was planned so that The Beast (roller coaster) would retain its record of longest wooden roller coaster in the world.
[edit] Facts
[edit] Design team
- Designer: Werner Stengel
- Construction: Roller Coaster Corporation of America
- Current Trains: Gerstlauer
- Original Train Design & Manufacturer: Premier Rides
[edit] Statistics
- Official debut: April 27th, 2000
- Height: 218 ft
- 1st drop: 214 ft at a 55.7 degree angle
- 2nd drop: 164 ft (50 m) at a 43.4 degree angle
- 3rd drop: 150 ft (45.7 m) at a 37.3 degree angle
- Top speed: 78 mph (126 km/h)
- Acceleration: 4.5 g (44 m/s²)
- Inversions: 1 x 118 ft (36 m) vertical loop (removed December, 2006)
- Helixes: 2 x 540 degree Helixes (one left, one right; hills/valleys incorporated in both)
- Max banking of helixes: 68.9 degrees
- Track length: 7,032 ft (2143 m)
- Duration: 2 minutes, 40 seconds
- Current Number of trains: 2 (24 passengers each)
- Original Number of trains: 3 (36 passengers each)
- Passenger's restraints (cars): Wide lap bar
- Hourly capacity: 1000 guests
- Land area: 12 acres (49,000 m²)
- Timber used: 1.65 million board feet (3,900 m³)
- Cost: $20,000,000 USD (estimated cost, park officials won't confirm actual cost)
[edit] Materials used
- Main Structure: Southern Yellow Pine
- Track Piles: Douglas Fir
- Loop Structure: Steel
- Loop Track: Wood
[edit] World records set
- Fastest wooden roller coaster
- Only looping wooden roller coaster (The loop was removed after the 2006 season.)
- Tallest wooden roller coaster
- Tallest wooden roller coaster drop (1st and 2nd drops beat the previous record)
- Longest looping roller coaster (Steel or wooden)
- Most wooden coaster track at one park (17,847ft.)
[edit] Incidents
[edit] 2006
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On July 9, 2006 at 4:45 pm, a structural failure that created a bump in the track caused 27 injuries and required rescue units to enter the scene. Most of the injuries were of the chest or neck. 17 people were released from hospitals within five hours of the accident and 2 were admitted. None of the injuries were life-threatening. The ride was shut down until the State of Ohio completed its investigation. After an inspection the following day, the park stated that the accident was caused by a crack or split in the wood.[1] The park completed repairs of the ride but the state asked for extensive testing to be done to ensure it would not happen again. The park indicated that the ride would not reopen until the 2007 season.[2]
Beginning in December 2006, the park removed the loop portion of the ride to enable the use of lighter trains; the park anticipated the ride would be open for the 2007 season. Replacing it is a straight segment of track. [3] The two Gerstlauer trains from the now demolished Hurricane: Category 5 coaster from the former Myrtle Beach Pavilion were long rumored as the lighter replacement trains for the ride.[4][5]
In late June, reports circulated that the ride had once again begun testing. Eyewitnesses reported seeing both a red and a blue train running on the track with test dummies in the seats. On July 4, 2007, Son of Beast re-opened for the first time since the accident[6] with the previously rumored Gerstlauer trains in place. Despite the lack of the vertical loop, the coaster is still the tallest and fastest wooden coaster in the world. The next fastest wooden coaster is Colossos in Heide Park located in [[Germany].[7]
[edit] 2009
On June 16, 2009, a 60-year-old woman claimed that she suffered a head injury from riding the Son of Beast. Her visit to the park was on May 31, 2009, but the first Kings Island officials did not hear of the incident until June 16. She said that she suffered from a burst blood vessel in her brain and was put in intensive care. "The first we heard of this was on June 16. Her visit was on May 31 and there's no record of going to first aid for anything here at the park," said Don Helbig, public relations manager for Kings Island. Helbig also said that there have been no other reports of injury on the ride this year. The Son of Beast will be shut down as a precaution during the investigation. "At this point it would be inappropriate to speculate on an exact date when the ride may reopen. We're going to do a thorough maintenance review. We're going to work with the state of Ohio on that," said Helbig.[8] As of July 14th, the ride remains closed to the public because of it remaining under investigation.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Son of Beast Preview and Construction Photos of the construction on Ultimate Rollercoaster.com
- Son of Beast news and pictures from Coastergallery.com
- Kings Island Central information - Alternate source of details and stats
- Son Of Beast P.O.V. (with loop) - Youtube
- Son Of Beast P.O.V. (without loop) - Youtube
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Coordinates: 39°20′46″N 84°15′53″W / 39.3461008°N 84.2646861°W
