Kings Island may reopen this year without trouble coaster

MASON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio amusement park says a popular but troubled wooden roller coaster is likely to remain closed, at least at the start of the upcoming season.

Kings Island vice president and general manager Greg Scheid says he’s not pleased with how the Son of Beast is performing, nine months after it was shut down when a rider reported she burst a blood vessel in her brain.

It was the sixth time in nine seasons the amusement park north of Cincinnati put the brakes on the coaster. The Son of Beast was closed for nearly a year of reconstruction in 2006 and 2007 after a structural failure resulted in injuries to more than two dozen people.

Scheid calls it “highly questionable” that the ride will be ready for Kings Island’s opening day, April 17.