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 Review of The Beast @ Kings Island
0 Rating Posted by: oldman on 6/15/2001 9:38:00 PM
This was the most ho-hum coaster I ever rode. What is so great about a coaster with a 1/4 mile stretch where it went flat and straight? No pace, no airtime, no fun whatsoever. As big a dud as Hercules in Dorney. Bigger is not better.
 

Review Comments

oldman on 8/5/2001 1:52:43 PM said:
First of all, Im a woodies fan. Rode the Coney Island Cyclone, Atom Smasher (sadly its gone), Phoenix, Thunderbolt and Jack Rabbit at Kennywood, and numerous more real classics, including what will someday be considered a real classic - the Wildcat at Hershey. I have only been to around 25 parks, but I figured I would make a trip to KI on one of my vacations and give the Beast a ride, after reading all kinds of hype about it.
I sat out with my youngest while two of my oldest went on the ride. When they got off, they told me it wasnt worth it and when I insisted on riding it, they actually argued over who would get stuck riding it again - neither thought it was worth any kind of wait and it didnt take long to figure out why - after a "big" hill it did virtually nothing. It literally wasted any energy it had. No fast rabbit hills, no twisting turns with good drops, no double drop (a feature that has to be experienced to be believed), no unexpected surprises. The worst feature was the long straight where all you did was go fast in a straight line - I rode subways that did that while standing up and we would see how many stations we could make it through without holding on. Why would I think its exciting to do that while sitting down and being strapped in? (I know, another question). The second lift hill was a joke - you spend all this time to climb a hill just so you can go through a double helix. Good design wouldnt ruin the pace of a ride to do this. Shivering Timbers has a double helix at its conclusion and the effect is much better. Dont let numbers fool you - there is more to a ride than being the longest, tallest, fastest, costliest, etc. GCI built the Wildcat with an 85 foot lift hill, a top speed of around 50, and not much lumber. But they did their homework and studied the masters well. This ride feels like 70, never lets up and when you get off you know youve been on a ride. If someone compared stats with the Beast, they would consider it no contest. The results are no contest - the Wildcat leaves it in the dust as far as excitement.
If running in the dark is your thing, ride the Thunderbolt at night. After rattling around the bowl, you get thrown around a curve and back down into the pitch black ravine and the second largest drop of the ride. Also,the Phantoms revenge second drop provides an incredible head chopper if youre in the right side seat. This sets you up for a high speed turn and the deepest drop of the ride before the run into the station. Ride this coaster several times in the back seat (no seat belt, no seat dividers) with your arms up and youll know what a classic is. P.S. its "geez".
BeyondGiga on 8/5/2001 6:01:30 PM said:
Oldman...how many times did you ride The Beast? And what car?
oldman on 8/5/2001 8:33:46 PM said:
Rear car, rear seat - wasnt worth the 30 minute wait to ride again. If the line had been 5 minutes I still wouldnt have bothered.
BeyondGiga on 8/5/2001 8:52:17 PM said:
Well, I am sorry to hear that...but as someone who is familiar with woods, you should know that many of them are very inconsistent, and rides vary within each day and from day to day. Ask anyone who has known the Beast well, and they will concur. Usually, the Beast picks up speed during the day, so the time when you rode was probably a factor. In fact, sometimes, they run the beast with little or no brakes. This happened to me before. At night, you should try the Beast in the very front. But having ridden such a ride only once, and not again, it shows that you are not a very informed enthusiast.
oldman on 8/6/2001 9:40:17 PM said:
When you drive close to 500 miles for boredom, you settle for 250 miles and lots more excitement at Kennywood. I cant think of too many people who would be willing to travel that kind of distance to give a roller coaster a second chance, especially when you hear that they actually are braking it more than when I rode it.
BeyondGiga on 8/7/2001 12:22:04 AM said:
My point was that you should have at least given it one more ride during the day, especially if you drove that far. If you would speak to people who know the coaster well, they would tell you that it runs better as the day progessives. And that at night, it is the best. Did you ride it at night? From your post, it seems you rode it in the morning, when it is the slowest. How can anyone review any coaster they have only ridden once? Espceially woods, that can be so fickle and varied? There are thousands of coaster enthusiasts who have had wonderful rides on the Beast...but from your post, you seem rather irratible and grumpy, and have the attitude as if they have somehow decieved you into wasting your time...I am sorry to hear that...oldman.
ioaddict33 on 8/8/2001 12:45:49 PM said:
So, because someone got a bad ride on a coaster, they are an "uninformed" enthusiast. Well, I hated The Beast, am I an uninformed enthusiast? I went to Kings Island on a trip that was 4 days long and included 4 parks. I had one day at Kings Island, and only rode The Beast once. It was around noon, if not a little later. I thought it was awful, possibly the worst wooden coaster Ive ridden (and I have ridden Mean Streak). A huge dissapointment, even though I was not expecting much to begin with. My point, though, is. I had one day at the park, so I needed to get everything done, and the people I went with, had to be home at a certain time (I live in FL, they all live in IL) so night rides werent possible. And I knew I would not be returning to the park in awhile, so I opted to get as many credits in as I could, as opposed to re-riding a coaster I felt was incredibly bad. My point is that oldman might have been in the same position, so dont be so quick to pounce on him. I loved PKI, but The Beast was awful.
BeyondGiga on 8/8/2001 3:20:10 PM said:
ioaddict33...my point is not that someone who has a bad ride is an "uninformed" enthusiast. My point simply is that if no roller coaster should be reviewed after it has been ridden only once. If you didnt have time, that is ok, but then dont rate it. There have been many coaters that I have ridden where the first ride was very bad or just mediorcre, but upon subsequent rides, the coaster turned out to be one of my favorites. There has also been times where I have absolutely loved a coaster on the first ride, but then it turned out to be only mediocre.
ioaddict33 on 8/8/2001 11:44:33 PM said:
If it boils down to not getting more than one ride, I think thats still fine to review it. Its better than not riding a coaster at all and saying its incredible, which people do. If a coaster has been ridden once, without the chance at more rides, I believe you "should" be able to review it, but explain how many rides you got.
BeyondGiga on 8/9/2001 12:50:40 AM said:
Perhaps for some rides, which do not really vary, one ride would be sufficient. But those who have ridden the Beast many times, they know how varied the rides can be. No one should ever say any ride is incredible without riding it no matter what reputation it has. I think you and I agree on that. :-)
ioaddict33 on 8/10/2001 12:31:36 AM said:
In total agreeance.
mmiddleton on 4/21/2002 4:22:06 PM said:
It goes flat and straight at the end because it used to run with 4 trains. It needed the space for safty reasons. It wasnt just so the end would be boring. Hopefully now you are a bit more informed.
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