MASON, Ohio -- It's days of scraping the sky are over. Crews have completely demolished the Son of Beast roller coaster at Kings Island near Cincinnati.
All that remains is a pile of twisted rubble... and a lot of memories.
The process to remove the long-dormant ride started in late September and wrapped up last week as the final portion of the coaster's structure came crashing down.
When Son of Beast first opened at Kings Island in May 2000, it was the world's tallest (218 feet) and fastest (78 mph) wooden coaster. It was also the first wooden coaster to feature a looping element.
Photos: Disaster Transport's demolition at Cedar Point
Throughout its short life, the Son of Beast was shut down several times due to issues with its performance -- including one instance in which more than two dozen people were hurt.
Photos: Cedar Point tears down Space Spiral
As a result, it sat unused since 2009.
Before it was put to sleep, Son of Beast delivered more than seven million rides.
Pieces of the coaster were put up for sale so fans could keep a memento of the record-setting ride.
The 12 acres left vacant by Son of Beast's removal will be used for future park expansion, according to Kings Island officials.
Kings Island is owned by Cedar Fair, the parent company that also operates Cedar Point in Sandusky.
Cedar Point demolished the Disaster Transport roller coaster and Space Spiral observation tower earlier this year to make room for GateKeeper, their new winged coaster.
Kings Island opens for the 2013 season on Saturday, April 27.
Cedar Point opens for the 2013 season on Saturday, May 11.
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