What's new

Millennium Force: A Lonely Giant?

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
loefet said:
Not to mention the rumors about an Intamin Giga coaster for Heide Park in the near future.
You realize too that that rumor has been around since 2001?

But yes, bottom line is simply that the biggest argument against giga coasters is space; being willing to sacrifice that precious land to one roller coaster.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
SnooSnoo said:
Also.. loefet.. did you hear of the Strata coming to BPB? Supposed to be hardcore. They have RCT3 videos and everything.. ;)
That I know is bull****, but the information about the Mega-Lites are solid info from Intamin them self.

Hyde244 said:
loefet said:
Not to mention the rumors about an Intamin Giga coaster for Heide Park in the near future.
You realize too that that rumor has been around since 2001?
The old rumor yes, but that project was canceled because of noise complaints from the nearby town, so they built Desert Race in that place.
There is however rumors on that a new one is the works at the opposite end of the park, where they have much less restrictions.
 

theRock-steel

Mega Poster
Hyde244 said:
But yes, bottom line is simply that the biggest argument against giga coasters is space; being willing to sacrifice that precious land to one roller coaster.
I guess that I didn't argue it well, but that was my point also. Other rides cost a lot and other styles break down more often, but no one has the space for these giga giants.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
It is kind of funny because I was thinking about this the other day, but I don't think we will see many more 300+ footers in the mold of the M.F. which to me is extremely sad, because Millennium Force is one of my favorite coasters , and the thought of a 300ft roller coaster like MF would pretty much put that park as a MUST visit for me.
 

Harvey

Hyper Poster
Top ten steel roller coasters according to Mitch Hawkers poll.

1. Superman: Ride of Steel - Six Flags New England - 208 feet.
2. Expedition GeForce - Holiday Park - 173 feet.
3. Eagle's Fortress - Everland - Unknown.
4. Millennium Force - Cedar Point - 310 feet.
5. Katun - Mirabilandia - 164 feet.
6. Nemesis - Alton Towers - Total ride height distance 131 feet IIRC.
7. Goliath - Six Flags Over Georgia - 200 feet
8. Goliath - Walibi World - 154 feet.
9. Nitro - Six Flags Great Adventure - 230 feet.
10. Maverick - Cedar Point - 105 feet.

Now, looking at a quite well respected poll, where would you place your money and park space? Obviously this isn't a de-facto answer to any argument, but it's a pretty simple way of showing that you can actually do more ... with less.
 

CedarPoint6

Hyper Poster
Consider the sample size, however. There have been 2 traditional lift hill coasters over 200. Your point can be true in a lot of cases, yet there are many times when that's not true.
 

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
^Nope. But we've only seen 2 above 300

Another factor to remember is the fact that most parks that can afford a Giga, already has a hyper. And if you don't have many of the other styles (inverted, woodie, Twister, etc), like Cedar Point has, you are most likely to spend your money on a different type of ride.
 

Mike T

Mega Poster
Behemoth has a price tag of 26 million dollars.

Have you people ever considered the ever so rising cost of steel before you compared coasters from 2000, 2003, and 2007?

Also, next year a park in South America is adding a 330 foot drop (not tall) coaster from Morgan Manufacturing by the name of VertiGo Force. So yeah, 300 footers are still possible.
 

gavin

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
^ Have you got a link for that. I'm not saying I don't believe you, but since this has been mentioned by a couple of people now, I'm really curious to find out more.
 

spicy

Giga Poster
loefet said:
Hyde244 said:
Though we have seen the return of traditional style coasters from Intamin, that being their new Mega-Lite models, they have taken a definite back seat to the Accelerator roller coaster.
Not to mention the rumors about an Intamin Giga coaster for Heide Park in the near future.

Just thought I would point out the irony that you are aguing that acclerators haven't taken a back seat with a rumored Intamin Giga coaster for Heide Park that has already been cancelled once in favour of an acclerator.
 

Mike T

Mega Poster
The ride was announced with the park back in December. Mr. Chance of Chance/Morgan also told me of the ride at the IAAPA conference but wouldn't mention the park it was going to. He said his favorite coaster that they've designed is Superman: El Ultimo Escape down in Mexico because its not just hills and bunny hops, and hinted that the one being installed in 2009 could beat it though.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=9xo6uUlnsMo
 

F.A.S.T.

Hyper Poster
As evey one else has been saying: NO.

The coast for MF was $25 million, while the standerd LIM/LSM coasts around $13 million.

Most small parks cant even come close to that...
And even one of the tallest launced coasters (TTD) coast
$ 21 million.

So, no.....

On the other hand, 200 feet triditonal hyper coasters are much more possiable.
 

Mike T

Mega Poster
Its COST. No 'a'.

Top Thrill Dragster was a 25 million dollar investment, get your facts and figures straight. Read the post above yours, a 300 footer was announced back in December so: YES...

Also, what does the "Standard" LIM/LSM coaster look like, and where are you getting your 13 million dollar figure from?
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
Just to prove an even further point with the price of building such large steel coaster, Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel was recently interviewed by the AP and given this question:

Technology is out there to build coasters over 400 feet. Does it make sense to go bigger?

This was his answer:

Financially, no. The price of steel today is unbelievable. We're constantly keeping track of steel prices to see what we can put in because we're ordering these coasters three years ahead of time. We're ordering coasters now for 2010. You can go as high as you want, but from a financial point, it's hard to justify.

You can read the whole interview, a great insight on Kinzel's business sense, here.

http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/st ... thispage=3
 

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
^Please, do not bump old topics. It's even outdated, after Timmy305 was announced, it became glaringly obvious that Millie isn't going to be the only Giga around.
 

Pokemaniac

Mountain monkey
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
^The only Intamin Traditional Giga. SD2K is Morgan, and...

No, wait, screw the argument, I stand corrected.
 

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
Still, SD2000 was a lawn ornament for a couple years. Yes, it is a giga coaster, but it seems forgotten. People think of Millennium Force, and I'm sure that some don't even know SD2000 exists.
 
Top