Coaster of the Day "Son of Beast"

Today's coaster "Son of Beast" is located at King's Island in Mason, OH. Son of beast set 7 world records when it opened in 2000.  These were;fastest wooden roller coaster, only looping wooden roller coaster (2000-2006), tallest wooden roller coaster, Tallest wooden roller coaster drop (2nd drop record now held by Colossos at Heide-Park Soltau in Germany), longest looping roller coaster (until 2006; the record is now held by California Screamin' at Disney's California Adventure in California), most wooden track in one park (all of the wooden roller coasters combined at King's Island), and World's first and only wooden hypercoaster (a coaster over 200 feet high.)

Son of Beast was the first and only wooden roller coaster with a vertical loop from its opining in 2000 until the loop's removal in 2006. The reason for the loop's removal was because of an incident On July 9, 2006 at 4:45 pm. A structural failure created a bump on the track. When the train rolled over the bump 27 people were injured. Most of the injuries were to the chest and neck. None of the injuries were life-threatening. After the state of Ohio inspected the coaster, the following day the park announced that the problem was caused by a crack in the wood. The ride did not open again until the 2007 season so that the park could make repairs and alterations to ensure that the incident would not reoccur. The main alterations that were made were lighter trains and the removal of the loop. The park replaced the bulky trains with sleeker, lighter trains so that the track did not suffer as much wear and tear. The lighter trains weren't heavy enough to complete the vertical loop resulting of the removal.Son of Beast is 218 feet high with a 214 foot drop. The top speed is 78 mph. The length of the track is 7,032 feet with a ride duration of 3:00. Sadly, the Son of Beast is not currently open. It is still standing in the park, but it is not open for the public to ride. On June 16, 2009 a woman claimed to have suffered head and neck injury while riding the Son of Beast. Her visit to the park was on May 31 but the park officials didn't here about the injury until June 16. Her claim was that she suffered from a burst blood vessel in her brain, and as a result was put into intensive care. The Son of Beast was shut down for investigation. The investigation showed no problems, but the ride did not re-open as a precautionary measure. The ride was closed for the remainder of the 2009 season, as well as the 2010 season. The park also announced that the Son of Beast will remain closed for the 2011 season as well.