Friday, May 26, 2000
'Son of Beast' cleared to reopen
Roller coaster may be ready on Saturday
By Kevin Aldridge
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON — Paramount's Kings Island promotes its new wooden roller coaster as the tallest, fastest and only looping one in the world. One superlative not being used: most reliable.
After three weeks of inactivity, the wooden giant is expected to reopen Saturday.
Son of Beast was idled just one day after it opened April 28. Park officials closed the coaster after discovering a rough 15-foot section of track during an inspection.
“This particular section at the top of the second hill was moving and jerking riders around a little bit more than we liked,” said park spokesman Jeff Siebert. “We wanted to make sure that this small section was as smooth as the remaining 7,000 feet of track.”
While park officials maintain that Son of Beast's downtime has more to do with comfort than safety, speculation has been swirling that the problem with the ride was more serious than park officials were letting on.
Or as Mr. Siebert put it, “the urban legends about Son of Beast's status are flying everywhere.”
Mr. Siebert said the delay has been so carpenters could make several adjustments to the problem area including the addition, removal and relocation of dozens of wooden boards.
He added that the ride also had to be retested and reinspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which examined and cleared the ride for operation Wednesday. “I think those guests who've ridden it before will see a notable difference in the coaster's smoothness,” Mr. Siebert said.
Mr. Siebert said he's heard complaints from visitors who made special trips to the park just to ride Son of Beast. In those instances,he said, the park has given free passes, refunds and other perks to offset any inconvenience.
Park officials say it's too early to tell what impact Son of Beast's closings are having on attendance.
Kings Island has had poor starts with big-name rides before.
Last year, Kings Island's new attraction, the Drop Zone Stunt Tower, was closed twice.
The first shutdown occurred in late July and lasted for about a week after the 315-foot-tall drop tower was struck by lightning.
About two weeks later, park officials closed the ride again after a child was killed on a similar ride at Paramount's Great America in Santa Clara, Calif.
Though no problems were found with Kings Island's Drop Zone, park officials closed the ride as a precaution through the end of the season.
In 1996, the park postponed the opening of another much-balleyhooed roller coaster, The Outer Limits: Flight of Fear.
The coaster, scheduled to open in May of that year, didn't take on its first riders until late June.
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