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Daddy: The Beast
King's Island theme park has a history of outstanding wooden roller coasters that began in 1979 when the Beast opened. This terrain coaster is largely hidden from view but reveals surprising thrills along its 7,359 foot track, including three separate tunnels and a strong 540 degree helix known as the "lair." Reaching speeds up to 65 miles per hour and lasting longer than four minutes, the Beast is regularly recognized as one of the finest and most popular wooden coasters in the world, despite being over 30 years old. Today, the Beast is still the longest wooden roller coaster in the world, and it ranks in the top 10 wooden coasters for top speed and biggest drop.
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Аbout Son of Beast
King's Island hoped to continue the park's reputation of outstanding wooden roller coasters when Son of Beast, the largest single investment in the park's history to that point, opened in 2000 with tremendous fanfare. Building on the heritage of its namesake parent, this new coaster was the tallest and fastest wooden coaster in the world when it debuted, and its 7,032 foot length was second only to the Beast. With a top speed of 79 miles per hour, the coaster pulled up to 4.5 times the force of gravity during a two minute, twenty second ride, extreme forces that would prove too costly for the ride and its riders.
The loop has been removed.
As a more visible coaster than its terrain parent, Son of Beast dominated the King's Island skyline. Built of southern yellow pine and Douglas fir, the coaster's heavy structure across the two first hills was an immense beacon to coaster lovers eager to ride what was hoped to be an even better ride than the Beast, but the legacy would be short-lived.
The Loop
Son of Beast had one unique feature that set it apart from any other wooden roller coaster in the world: a 118 foot tall vertical loop, the only such loop on any wooden coaster. While the coaster's structure was metal, the loop was steel and designed in such a way that the coaster's trains could glide effortlessly into the inversion. This unique element generated tremendous interest in the ride from the roller coaster community and the amusement park industry, and for years that loop - curving so incongruously from a wooden structure - would immediately draw the eye to the coaster King's Island hoped would thrill generations of riders.
Trouble in the Family
Unfortunately, the continuing legacy of the Beast was not to be, and Son of Beast was plagued with difficulties from the time it opened. Even experienced coaster fanatics registered complaints about the ride's painful roughness, and many injury reports were logged even if they were eventually dismissed. Several stronger injury reports haunted the ride, including an incident in July 2006 when one of the coaster's support beams cracked because of the weight of the train, causing a severe jolt that injured 27 riders.
Will the coaster reopen or be demolished?
After that incident, the ride was closed for a year and when it reopened in July 2007, it did so without the vertical loop. Removing the loop allowed lighter trains to be used on the ride and helped lower stress on the structure and unnecessary force on the riders. Still, complaints about the ride persisted, and even though the ride was certified as operating safely and appropriately by inspectors from the Ohio Department of Agriculture, after yet another complaint in June 2009, the coaster was once again closed.
The Coaster's Future
The future is an unclear one for Son of Beast, and as of the end of the 2009 season the coaster remains standing but not operating, a gloomy reminder that taller, faster, and more innovative coasters aren't always successful. Rumors abound that the ride will be demolished, but no judgment has yet been passed on its fate. Instead, it stands in silence, having thrilled more than 7 million riders, but possibly unable to offer those thrills any longer.
The Son of the Beast: The Baby
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