The Son of Beast roller coaster formerly at Kings Island Amusement Park in Mason, Ohio, holds a unique place in the history of roller coasters. It was a colossal wooden coaster that was not only record-breaking in size and speed but also experienced a turbulent history of setbacks and missteps by those at the helm of bringing this behemoth coaster to life.

Son of Beast wasn’t simply a bad coaster, rather it fell victim to cutbacks and simply being ahead of its time. Let’s look at the tumultuous journey of Son of Beast and how it had all the potential to be one of the best.

The Son is Born

Son of Beast was a follow-up to the original Beast roller coaster, which opened in 1979 and quickly gained a reputation as one of the world's best wooden coasters. At the height of the “coaster wars”, Kings Island decided to build Son of Beast, which was announced in 1999. This coaster was to be bigger and more intense than its predecessor.

The coaster would also reach a height of 218 feet and a top speed of 78.4 miles per hour, making it the tallest and fastest wooden coaster at the time surpassing Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. It was also going to be the first hyper wooden coaster or the first wooden coaster to exceed 200 feet. However, its signature element was the steel vertical loop, which was a feat of engineering innovation. It also featured 2 large helixes including the “rose bowl” element.

A Botched Partnership

Unfortunately, Son of Beast's road to completion was anything but smooth. The coaster faced numerous construction delays and design challenges. Kings Island which was Paramount’s Kings Island at the time hired the now-defunct Roller Coaster Corporation of America or RCCA to build Son of Beast. This seems to be the first in a series of missteps that would ultimately lead to the coaster’s eventual demise. Nowadays, the coasters built by this company are known for being poor quality. From rough rides to wonky layouts, the RCCA does not have a positive reputation among the roller coaster community.

Still, Kings Island decided to go with the RCCA to build Son of Beast. During the construction of the coaster, it is said that the massive support structure was not built up to the standards needed to support the forces the coaster would exert. This would allow the coaster to move much more than would be normal, leading to issues down the road. Partway through the construction process Paramount fired the RCCA and would later go on to file a lawsuit against the company for defects in the coaster’s design (which would later be dismissed). The Roller Coaster Corporation of America would go out of business in 2005.

The Short Life of Son of Beast

After several years of anticipation and setbacks, Son of Beast finally opened to the public in 2000. It was met with mixed reviews. Some riders praised its intensity and the thrill of experiencing a wooden coaster with a loop, while others found the ride to be rough and uncomfortable. The coaster would close after only a day of operation due to defects in a section of the track. The ride was closed for three weeks while repairs were made.

Over the next few years, Kings Island would have to make several modifications to Son of Beast. First, the coaster was moving too much and exhibited signs of wear from very early on. The movement of the coaster structure paired with the extremely heavy trains that were required to complete the loop moving at high speeds throughout the track led to the coaster deteriorating much faster than other wooden coasters. This required the installation of anchoring and additional support modifications throughout the coaster throughout the ride’s operation.

Tragedy struck in 2006 when a wooden support beam cracked, causing a portion of the track to sag. This would lead to 27 riders being sent to the hospital after experiencing a massive jolt which led to head and neck injuries. This incident led to an extended closure and a thorough inspection of the coaster's structure. The inspection found that it was likely the numerous modifications that had been made to the coaster may have led to the crack. In trying to correct the mistakes made during the initial construction, Kings Island may have actually made the coaster more vulnerable to failure...