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The 'rules' in speculating a parks next coaster.

chainedbanana

chainedbanana

Hyper Poster
When discussing what a parks next coaster might be, there seem to be a number of rules, which mainly take into consideration what the parks current line-up is and what they miss, Along with space, restrictions, budget and other factors, including the target market'

e.g. 'they already have a spinner - so it won't be that'

Would you say these are REAL rules - or just rules enthusiasts place when speculating?
What history has told us is that parks often surprise us!
e.g. - 'but their last coaster was a launch.... odd decision that the next coaster's a launch too' OR
'They haven't got a woodie so their next coaster will/should definitely be a woodie'....... and then it's NOT a woodie!

It also comes down to manufacturer

e.g. 'they already have 3 B&Ms - so It won't be another'
As though a park NEEDS to have a mix of coaster manufacturers to have a decent line up, does this need to be true?

The thing is - why couldn't a park have two spinners? ( I could see a park having a Mack spinner and a Maurer for example), or why can't a park build another woodie even though their last coaster 2/3 years prior was a woodie? Why can't a park get two next-gen Vekoma's one after the other - if they are both different layouts and completely different themes?

Why don't parks just build GOOD coasters as apposed to making sure they have a complete 'set' of coaster types! I'm not saying they should personally - I just think its interesting the conclusions we jump to.
 
Howie

Howie

Donkey in a hat
The B&M hyper/giga double whammy I always thought was a weird one. When Canada's Wonderland announced Leviathan, that was a curveball. People were like 'But... they already have Behemoth?'
Didn't seem quite so far out when Carowinds did the same thing, but the first time? Yeah that was a 'rule breaker'.
 
Lofty

Lofty

CF Legend
Here's two rules to live by:

1) Don't even contemplate the 'Aquatrax' joke that was 10 years ago.
2) Don't listen to the park's cleaners.

For me, an 'educated guess' relies on potential suppliers that could fit the workload in (looks at B&M and RMC that have limited projects per year) and look at the parks' budget investments in the past - if there's been an increase year-on-year, investment-after-investment, the chances are that there's going to be another investment increase that year, too. There's sort of guidelines and gut feelings with projects, too. But, I have to admit, my favourite is when a massive curveball is thrown in *looks at Phantasialand with F.L.Y*
 
Pokemaniac

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
The hardest parks to speculate about are the peripheral parks of large chains, I think. Places like Dorney Park, Movie Park Germany, or one of the smaller Six Flags parks. Where there is enough money in the chain for large investments, but the park has a history of being neglected for the longest time. Does this mean they're overdue for a new big coaster (like MPG, which finally got one), or has the chain given up on the park? And when the park eventually gets something, it might be an "experimental" new ride type, either to gain more attention for less cost, or to "test the waters" with new manufacturers and concepts (Such as MPG getting the first reverse-launch Mack coaster, or SFFT getting the first Joker). So overall, these parks are notoriously unpredictable. Will there be a third-hand Boomerang from elsewhere in the chain, or have they saved up money for years to finally shell out for something unique and spectacular? Or no new addition at all?
 
Sandman

Sandman

Giga Poster
I do think many enthusiasts fall into the same trap with expecting parks to think the same way as themselves. I saw a comment the other day on Facebook in which a guy mentioned that Alton Towers now has a "complete set" due to the fact they've finally invested in a woodie (Invert, Dive, Flyer, Launch etc). But only an enthusiast would see it that way really. I don't think higher levels of management view it like a game of Pokemon ("gotta catch 'em all").

A few of the above comments demonstrate this point well, like parks having multiple B&M hypers, numerous woodies etc
 
Pear

Pear

Strata Poster
In my opinion a park should try to have a thrilling and a more classic/family wooden. KD achieves this well as they have Grizzly, Woodstock Express, and Racer 75. I feel Carowinds could benefit very well from having a GCI as then they could RMC Hurler and still have 2 wooden coasters that can appeal to everyone.
 
Suicide Seats

Suicide Seats

Roller Poster
Pear said:
In my opinion a park should try to have a thrilling and a more classic/family wooden. KD achieves this well as they have Grizzly, Woodstock Express, and Racer 75. I feel Carowinds could benefit very well from having a GCI as then they could RMC Hurler and still have 2 wooden coasters that can appeal to everyone.
Click to expand...
Or they could keep the Hurler that they have and build a ground-up RMC after they get their GCI. Hurler is still a very popular ride at Carowinds, plus what would RMC gain by building an exact replica of the Twisted Timber ride. What would you call the clone? TT2? I fell for the RMC Hurler 2.0 idea at first, but I just don't think its a good idea anymore. It's bad enough that Paramount put two identical rides in their parks relatively close together to begin with. I don't think Carowinds or KD would benefit from RMC'ing both Hurlers.
 
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