R.I.P. Son of Beast

Two summers ago, my friends Rich, Eddie and I went on a roller coaster trip through Pennsylvania and Ohio.  It was a fun trip, 32 coasters at four parks in eight days, and we had a lot of fun.  As a coaster enthusiast, I always aim to ride as many coasters as I can, and this trip was a mini-jackpot.  One of the places we visited, which was much better than I expected, was Kings Island, just outside of Cincinnati.

Kings Island is full of great coasters, too many to recount right here, but I do remember seeing this one giant wooden structure and salivating at the sight of it.  After moving through the park a little, we noticed that it seemed to be closed, and so we asked one of the ride attendants about it.

"Oh, that's Son of Beast.  It's not open anymore," was her reply.

Son of Beast, huh?  I'd heard of it before, but didn't know much about it, except that I remembered it had a loop, which was weird for a wooden coaster.  Apparently the ride was too rough and the park had shut it down just the summer before, in 2009.  I promised myself that when I got home I'd research the coaster and do a piece about it, but I never did...until now.

I just wrote an article this morning on the demolition of the legendary roller coaster at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Son of Beast was one of the baddest wooden coasters ever built, erected in the year 2000 as the sequel to its namesake, The Beast.  Son was the tallest (216 feet high), fastest (74 mph), and second longest wooden roller coaster ever built and yes, it had a straight-up loop.

I was sad that day that I couldn't have tried it, and I'm sad again to know that I never will.  Here are a couple of videos of the legend, one is a POV shot and the other is an animated ride.  Enjoy, and check out the article on Son's demolition right here.

 

 

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