It's 2010; which will be most succesful in the next decade?

[Kebab]

It's finally 2010; we've seen a slew of new coaster types appearing in the noughties, it looks as if we are hitting a new revolution of rollercoasters as we speak.

What are your predictions for the "twenty-ten's" or "teenies", in terms of new rollercoasters that may change the whole experience for good? Which manufacturer do you think will be the most succesful in the new decade, and what do you expect to be a new "rave" coaster-type to come (Think Euro-Fighters in the noughties), and what developments are you predicting certain parks will take on.

Here are some of the most ground-breaking coasters from the Noughties:

Millennium Force
Cedar Point sparked off the new Millennium with a big hit. This 300 foot monster just shows how much coasters can push the limits; could 300 feet be the new 200 through the next decade?
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X2 (Originally just "X")
Opened in 2002; 4th Dimension Coasters are still a brand new type, today, and easily over-looked. X has had it's batch of problems, but being the first of it's kind it's more "prototype" than the full monty. Will we be seeing more of these to come?
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Superman: Ultimate Flight
Flying rollercoasters are a a fast growing breed, there is so much you could do with this type of coaster. There are many manuevres which only Flying Coasters can perform, I can see a trend of Flying Coasters to continue throughout the decade.
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Kingda Ka
By far the most famous type of rollercoaster of the Noughties; Intamin Rocket coasters or "Launches". Since Xcelerator this type has wide-spread across the globe like swine-flu; breaking many boundaries. Will this continue to grow heavily or will we come to a slow-down?
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Speed: No Limits
I admit Euro-Fighters are not the greatest type of rollercoaster there is; but you look beyond that point and focus on the success. It just shows how cheap it can cost to make an intense, GP-attracting rollercoaster, and there are so many of them now! Could this be the turn of this centuries most popular type of rollercoaster? There is a lot you could do with a Euro-Fighter, it will drastically improve over the coming years..
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Colossos
No we haven't travelled back in time and no there isn't a struggle for steel so parks have to resort to wood. It's just great to see some good old traditional wooden coaster fun appearing almost all over the place! It just shows that rollercoasters don't need 150 degree drops, 300 foot loops and a metallic modern look to be outstanding! Will we be seeing an increase in wooden coasters over the years? Maybe B&M might actually join the band wagon and create something "unique" for a change.

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There are obviously other rollercoasters that struck the noughties with success, but I'll leave those for you to discuss on here. So bring on the 2010's!

 

[Ingested Banjo]

400th post!

I think that the medium range companies like Gertslauer and MS will rise up to become as big as B+M and Intamin because of their increasingly popular Eurofighter and X-car coasters, Intamin and B+M will stay in the position of producing the 'center piece' rides for parks, and once we get fully out of the economic recession smaller coaster companies like Pinfari will be able to continue producing small rides for small parks.

However, it's pretty obvious that the scope for new coaster related technology is massive, so any company that can produce an easy to install, and reliable new technology (of which from what I've read, X is neither) if they can produce a good new twist to coasters, then they will become very successful. I guess existing companies can also improve on their technology so as far as that is concerned, it's a guessing game...

 

[Snoo]

lol Speed? Really? Lord.

 

[Screaming Coasters]

Actually, Speed is really quite mad for a tiny coaster.

I like it

 

[andrus]

I belive Vekoma will be more reckoned as a high quality company. They are already today the single company with the most installed coasters in the world, but I guess that's mainly to their poor quality boomerangs and SLCs..

But their new train and track design will hopefully generate a smoother ride and maybe in the near future they will be regarded as a high quality coaster manufacturer in the same league as Intamin and B&M!

Vekoma do have some interesting ideas like the booster bike, stingray etc. And if the new big duelling coaster at Universal Singapore turns out to be a hit I guess that the future of Vekoma looks bright!

Here are also some very interesting concept arts I found, really hope some park is interested in investing money into these coasters!

A further devolpment of the Gravity Max coaster. This concept art model is 66 meters tall and has a lift speed of 4m/sec. Nice stuff!

A mega looper with none less than 10 loops(!), an inverted high banked turn and a launch!

(images from coastersandmore)

 

[ciallkennett]

We have stretched coaster forces as far as possible without causing actual harm to riders...so I wouldn't expect to see many new forceful formats soon.

There has been much talk and hype of simulators, and not indeed coasters soon, but this is to do with coaster types, therefore...

The Eurofighter is a major success as a coaster type, and parks just love them as you can do so much with them. they come big, small, forceful and forceless...it's just such a variable type that we haven't seen the end of these yet.

We've hit a bit of a boundary height wise on coasters, so speed is the record that parks try and seek now. Accelerators will be hear for a long time yet.

I think coasters themselves will be more about the experience, such as scaring people with theming, rather than the actual ride itself.

But who knows...

 

[Martyn B]

I think over the next ten years we'll see a hell of a lot more of Gerstlauer & Maurer-Sohne coasters, they will become 'Vekoma' of previous decades.


What are S&S upto these days? You dont really here too much from them anymore.

 

[Anonymous]

^ S&S are going to install a few air launch coaster in China, and we just have to wait and see if there will be any more El-Locos or Free Fly's..

In my view then Gerstlauer >>>> M&S, Mack could be a strong contender with their new Launch coaster concept.

 

[Brookes]

Well I think there could be more Psychoasters like Thirteen as that is what deisgners are looking into more now, the emotional and psychological side of a ride.

I think S&S and Intamin will continue the fight for fastest coaster.

I hope that the smaller companies such as Gerstlauer and Maurer Söhne get bigger and bring us even more new designs. Plus, I hope Mack and Vekoma can build more in terms of where Blue Fire is concerned for Mack and that with Vekoma's new track, they can become regarded as a better manufacturer.

 

[jayjay]

I can see Vekoma growing this year for some reason. Some of the stuff they've made this decade have actually been quite good. For instance Expedition Everest (although half of that ride's success is admittedly Disney), Velocity. Kumali is good if you ignore the roughness. I think Vekoma is one of those companies that survives well because they do brilliant family designs and off the shelf coasters which are snapped right up by parks. I suppose they might try pushing for bigger this year.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Record breaking is starting to fade away, steel prices are rising, and it's generally more expensive to build a coaster now than ever. However, we've seen a few nice new concepts this decade:

Most notably, "Second comings". The El Locos took the regular Wild Mice and added a new axis to their movements. With the Free Fly concept, S&S has breathed new life into the Suspended Coasters. Dive Machines have lost their floor, and brought to the sky. And in some ways, Eurofighters are the Pinfari Zyklons of this decade (cheap, inversions, small footprint. Forget ride experience for a second).

Then, we have focus on force. Particularly Intamin is pioneering in this field. Look at the Mega-Lites, or Maverick. Their numbers are not impressive compared to, say, Magnum XL-200, or PMBO, but despite their smaller dimensions, they are praised for the quality of the ride they deliver. Such rides aren't as easy to market as their "big" counterparts, and for a park to take advantage of them, the coasters have to either be in an established park (Cedar Point, Happy Valley), or they have to be the biggest coaster in the region (Piraten). We will see more forceful small rides, but exactly due to their size and thus relatively poor marketing value, they won't take off completely.

Breaking traditions seems to be another trend. Earlier, you built a looping coaster, which had nothing to offer but its inversions, or a mega coaster (nothing to offer but height and hills), or a wild mouse (turns), spinner (spinning), but the coasters did not much more than what it said on the tin. They were built to fill a niche, filled it and settled it there.
But what happens when you put inversions in a ground-hugging layout? An airtime hill, where you had plenty of speed to slap on another loop? S-turns, where hills could have been used instead? Some new coasters offer a mixed bag of elements, market none of them particularly, and receives praise for that. Look at Maverick again, if you will. It checks all the boxes, but does not particularly stand out with plenty of inversions or the fastest launch in the park. Neither does it have hill after hill after hill throughout its layout. The drop may be steep, but it's not like the queueline wraps around it, or it has a tunnel at the bottom to make it stand out more. It's just another part of the layout, one of many elements that makes the coaster special. It's not the elements, it's the mix that matters here. And we can look forward to more mixes to come.

With all the new technology that has sprung up this decade, we can make more shiny bells and whistles than ever. On-ride cameras, on-ride music, strobe lights, animatronics and 3D effects (hold on to your glasses!) can transform a decent coaster into a good one. Just don't expect these to pop up everywhere, because these levels of theme are expensive to the max. But where the parks can afford it, be prepared to ride better and better mediocre coasters.

Traditions still play a role, though. It has to be admitted, we all love woodies. Their impressive structure, characteristic sounds, rattling and "out-of-control"-feeling. And thanks to new computer technology, the woodies beat you up less, and give forces in the exact right places. The woodies will never die. If the nostalgia factor isn't enough, the things that make them so special will secure their place in amusement parks for a long time.

 

[Hyde]

How the **** do we know who will be the most successful?

Roll the clock back 10 years.

Did you expect the Intamin Accelerator coaster? GCI's creative layouts? The downfall of Arrow? B&M's new Flying design? On board speaker systems? etc.

All of these predictions are shots in the dark. No one has enough insight to accurately project the next 10 years in the amusement park industry. There is a very unpredictable market trend, with attractions and coasters spanning the entire playing field.

Intamin and B&M MAY have positioned themselves as long term players, but we will see if they are able to span the test of time and changing market settings.

It doesn't matter who is building the coasters or what is being built, just as long as they still give good thrills to those that ride them!

 

[Casio]

I think the new Intamin track system is going to be a big part of the next decade. We saw with the two stratacoasters that the supports were getting pretty ridiculous going that high up, but with the new style fewer supports are needed.

I think Intimidator-305 and the Abu Dhabi F1 Coaster are going to be the lower boundaries for the use of the track, so I reckon we'll see a lot of speed records being broken by Intamin and possibly the height. Having said that I have no clue how fast the accelerators can actually get up to.

The markets will probably be mainly in China and UAE (depending on how the financial problems turn out)

 

[CreditCrazy]

Hyde is right...but based on what we know and what is popular now...I'm going with Vekoma.

They've opened several coasters in the past few years (around 20?) and are basically the most popular company with parks right now.

B&Ms take up too much space and are too expensive. I think the next few years will continue to be pretty slow for them.

 

[Inverse]

I voted for Intamin.

The question asked was who would be the most successful, and that depends on what we're measuring. In terms of cash profit, It may well be one of the cheaper manufacturers, i couldn't possibly predict that with what i know (or don't know). In terms of quantity of coasters, I think vekoma are always one of the most prolific companies, but the Eurofighter looks to challenge for that.

However, I've chosen to view the question as "who will be noticed most", "who will do something special" etc.

I think Intamin will dominate the big, attention grabbing coasters and could be considered the most successful for it. I'm not a tech man, as some here are, but i believe they're new track type allows them to create coasters with less supports, therefore less ground work and less cost too. Look at Intimidator 305, the entire 300ft lift hill is held up by what? 3 supports?

 

[marc]

Probably Intamin they seem to be building quite a few coasters right now and there others maybe one or 2.

I am not away of any new Gerstlauer coasters for 2010.

S&S will probably fail the most though just like 2009 due to their coaster in Germany that does not work.

 

[andrus]

I think an interesting question to add is: what will this 'most successful manufacturer' be famous for? As someone already stated successful could be interpreted in many ways, eg build the tallest/fastest coaster, make the most amount of coasters, make the most money or finish at the top places of Mitch Hawker's poll..

I voted on Vekoma because I think they will grow in popularity among enthusiasts. I belive their new models will have higher quality (smoother etc) and be more thrilling, and maybe even market leading.. And hence thay already are big among family rides I guess they will be the company who makes the most amount of coasters and make the most money too.

I really hope Vekoma build their further devolopment of their 'gravity max' coaster (look at my post at the first page). That concept is just so awesome! You get the same drop as on a dive machine but with a more exciting lift hill AND you don't need the massive track of the original DMs meaning you can afford to build a full circuit coaster after the drop :--D If they do build that model I think it will be a huge hit!

Other than that I don't think there will be a lot of taller coasters. The competition for the fastest coaster probably will continiue for a couple of years before it end too.. The cost is to great for these massive coasters. I think new exciting designs like the above suggested Vekoma will be setting the standards. If it'll be to expensive to build high and fast the manufacturers will come up with other ways of thrilling us!!

One thing in the 'size does matter competition' I do hope for though, is that there will be built hyper loopers A dream, I know, but I actually don't know why it aint being built? Wouldn't it be really easy to market a coaster with the worlds tallest loop?? (I actually don't know which coaster who holds that record today?) The fact that loopers take up less space than hyper/mega coasters too would make for a reasonable argument for building taller loopers instead of incredibly demanding coasters spacewise like hypers are.. I don't know, what do you think?

Hehe, thats a looooong post.. sry

 

[Jake]

GCI seem to be building a lot of successful coasters lately. After riding a few, I can say that new additions such as Terminator at SFMM are fantastic!

They'll start the decade off well at Efteling, hopefully.

 

[Martyn B]

I voted on Vekoma because I think they will grow in popularity among enthusiasts.

To be honest though, its probably only a small minority of entusiats that dont like Vekoma.

 

[Hyde]

Vekomas are fine, it is the maintenance of Vekomas that is the problem.

Too many parks have built Boomerangs and SLCs, not kept them well maintained, and allowed them to get rough. Hardly the manufacturers fault.

Still, Vekoma does not have as show stopping products as the larger companies (Intamin, B&M, etc.), which creates tough love for the company.