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Dubious Claims

Matthew Fair

Mega Poster
Hi guys, I have just got back from a holiday in Rhodes. We stayed in a place called Faliraki and just next to us was a waterpark called "Water Park" They claimed to be the largest waterpark in Europe but I am highly septical of that (look at the place on Google Maps, I'm sure you will see why). What are the most questionable claims you have ever seen theme parks make?
 

Peet

Giga Poster
Ha good topic, these immediately spring to mind:
- Signs outside Nemesis saying it is the World's most intense ride experience.
- Every "World's steepest coaster" record for beyond vertical drops - vertical is the steepest you can get, going beyond vertical makes it less steep. This was especially bad with Mumbo Jumbo where the "drop" is controlled with brakes. By this logic screaming squirrels have the steepest drops at 180 degrees.
- The announcement in the Big One station claiming it is the tallest, fastest, steepest coaster in Europe. They finally turned this off a few years ago - well over a decade after it held any of those records.
 

Matt N

CF Legend
Following on from what @Peet said, I'd agree with the Big One. When I was there last year, it claimed to be 235ft tall and to go 85mph! To be fair, 235ft tall is understandable, as I think they're going from sea level, which is the level that most people will see from the top of the ride, but I'm unsure where they got 85mph from... RCDB says that the ride is 213ft tall and goes 74mph. I'm not entirely sure who to believe, as I don't know why BPB would lie...
 

JoshC.

Strata Poster
Ha good topic, these immediately spring to mind:
- Signs outside Nemesis saying it is the World's most intense ride experience.
- Every "World's steepest coaster" record for beyond vertical drops - vertical is the steepest you can get, going beyond vertical makes it less steep. This was especially bad with Mumbo Jumbo where the "drop" is controlled with brakes. By this logic screaming squirrels have the steepest drops at 180 degrees.

You know, I don't have any problems with these claims and don't see them as dubious in any way.

-Intense can have two meanings; intense as in 'high G force' (ie: something measurable) and intense as in 'full on' (ie: something immeasurable). I've always taken it to mean the latter of those two for Nemesis. And I think it's a reasonable thing to say in terms of marketing spiel, as it is 'full on' (it also helps that it has high G force anyways). It's just a marketing slogan that's not actually claiming anything in my eyes!

-Steepest is an interesting one. I get what you're saying, but equally, "the angle between a horizontal line and the position of the track" is a measurable thing. And I'd say the easiest way to describe that is through steepness.
As for the controlled brakes and Screamin Squirrels: Screamin Squirrels are controlled at all points during their drop (I think?). They're effectively a curved MCBR, not a drop. So you can't really say they have the steepest drop when they don't have a drop. Mumbo Jumbos and El Locos basically just have a trim on their drop; they still 'drop'; it's just slowed down to make it more comfortable.


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I can't think of any dubious claims myself at the moment. I can think of nonsense claims, like 'the world's largest vertical loop' and similar (didn't Fuji-Q go with the ridiculous claim that Do-Dodonpa has the "'vertical loop with the greatest diameter' or something stupid?). Or ridiculously specific claims like 'fastest multi launch LSM roller coaster' and stuff like that. But none of that is actually dubious - they're all right, just silly.
 

Tomatron

Giga Poster
1998, Oblivion - world's first vertical drop roller coaster.

2010, Th13teen - world's first vertical drop rol.... wait, what? ?

Even the Oblivion claim is dubious. Togo Ultra Twister coasters had been doing vertical drops for years.
 

Coop

Roller Poster
I’m pretty sure Thorpe Park always used to claim The Swarm had 5 inversions. Nah soz hun that incline loop definitely doesn’t invert.
 

rob666

Hyper Poster
My recent (ish) Bitch was with Blackpool.
Nice poster advertising Wallace And Gromit bouncing a little hump bridge...looks like a fun bit of the ride.
Shame it doesn't exist.
 

Coop

Roller Poster
Icon: Europe's first double launch coaster.

.......Revolution anybody?

It would have been UK’s first multi launch coaster. I don’t have much of an issue with this one. I guess yeah technically Rev is a launch coaster but most people can differentiate between the launches on Icon and what is essentially a shove on Rev.
 

Boodangy

Mega Poster
Six Flags claiming that Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster is the world's first single rail coaster. Besides it not being the worlds first since single rail coasters have existed forever and there are others still running around the world, it's also extremely debatable whether or not raptor track is "single rail", considering that the wheel assemblies wrap around a rail on both sides of the spine. They're just connected to the spine directly.
 

Alex B

Mega Poster
*El toro was the first woodie with a cable lift (maybe elevator style but not the first)
*Rmc s (specifically lightning rod,goliath,outlaw run) no there not the are HYBRIDS they have steel track and what I find bull is if you flip it and steel supports wood it’s a woodie look at the voyage that has steel support but is considered a woodie
 

Hixee

Flojector
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*El toro was the first woodie with a cable lift (maybe elevator style but not the first)
*Rmc s (specifically lightning rod,goliath,outlaw run) no there not the are HYBRIDS they have steel track and what I find bull is if you flip it and steel supports wood it’s a woodie look at the voyage that has steel support but is considered a woodie
No, it's a hybrid. That's what hybrid means...

Voyage is a wooden hybrid - wood track steel structure.
Steel Vengeance is a steel hybrid - steel track wood supports.

The type of hybrid is semantics, but they're hybrids nonetheless.

What's interesting is your examples of Lightning Rod, Goliath and Outlaw Run. They're all just normal wooden coasters (wood track).
 

Expedition Coaster

Roller Poster
I do remember seeing a claim on BPB's website saying that Big One had a top speed of 87mph.

What about the claim that Desperado opened as the World's tallest Coaster (Even though PMBO opened beforehand and is 5 ft taller)?
 

Alex B

Mega Poster
No, it's a hybrid. That's what hybrid means...

Voyage is a wooden hybrid - wood track steel structure.
Steel Vengeance is a steel hybrid - steel track wood supports.

The type of hybrid is semantics, but they're hybrids nonetheless.

What's interesting is your examples of Lightning Rod, Goliath and Outlaw Run. They're all just normal wooden coasters (wood track).

Yeah everyone said those rides specifically are woodies I thought they used I box track
 
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