Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Strange choices

Darren B

Darren B

Giga Poster
I haven't seen a recent topic directly cover this so i thought it might merit some light discussion.

Have you ever thought WTF when you see a certain coaster in a park and it makes you think why?
Have you ever wondered why a theme park hasn't capitalised on a gap in the market?

Here are a few that got me wondering....

1. Florida, It suprises me greatly that a theme park in Florida hasn't installed a Hyper of some sort, This is a state that prides itself with some of the finest coasters on the planet and has the visitor numbers to capitalise on making such an investment, yet nobody seems interested.

2. Shockwave, Drayton Manor, WHY would a small family run theme park like DMP choose an Intamin Stand-up, firstly why a stand-up? and secondly why not B&M? given that both Bolliger and Mabillard (the designers of the Intamin stand up) had long since left Intamin and had enjoyed huge success with there own model (yes i am aware of the package deal but still?)

3. Rita, AT. A theme park that in its 3 previous instalments gave us Nemesis/Oblivion and Air, Three 'special/unique' rollercoasters that made the world stand up and take notice, but then they give us Rita. Yes i understand the park needed a launch coaster of some sort but why something as bland as Rita when AT had built themselves such a fantastic reputation in giving the GP something different to the rest.

Anyhow, please discuss.....
 
Surely the big answer HAS to be Leviathan which is essentially Behemoth plus an extra 80ft. What's even weirder is that Behemoth was put it merely 4 years before, not to mention it's Canada's 3rd B&M Hyper/Mega/Giga seeing as La Ronde also has one.

Speaking of La Ronde, didn't it put it in a standard SLC clone when it already has a Batman clone?

It seems that all these daft decisions are coming from Canadian parks. :lol:
 
I could never understand the installation of Rita, the whole thing just seemed a bit random really? mainly to do with the theme of the ride and its location? So you decide to install a new coaster for the 2005 season, ok great, how about an Intamin Accelerator?, ok great, how about themeing it like a 50s drag racer, ok great........lets put it next to corkscrew in UG Land! hmmmmmmmm??

Anyway, i know its not like Oblivion, Air or Nemmy, but its ok ride if the queues not long and they have themed it much better now in the Dark Forest,
 
The famous coaster dump at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. A B&M Floorless, Vekoma Flyer, Intamin Impulse, CCI Wooden, and Kiddie coaster all added over two seasons!? Ridic.
 
^ But it gave us 2 (arguable 3) good rides that got transfered elsewhere! That was also supposed to be a 5 year installment, but Six Flags decided to just dump em all in at one go apparently (aka, so ive been told).

@ first post - Wouldnt the hurricane season be a bit of a hazard to a 200+ foot tall ride? I dont know any of the engineering involved, but to me, 100+ mph winds would be better dealt with at the whatever height their highest is, than one over 200 would be. I am most likely wrong, cause I have the odd feeling Hulk, Sheikra and Kumba are in the 150-200 ft range

To add to the discussion, I wonder at the decision of Mammoth at Holiday World a bit (I know it is due to the water park being more popular and Wildebeests long lines, but still, build a slightly different Voyage or a more compact Legend). The closing of Geauga Lake in general is the largest WTF moment because it was such a popular park! Why did Cedar Fair have to close it when it was showing a higher attendance rating ride side than water side?

Switching between the hideouts'...
 
@Intricks...

Sheikra is the only coaster above 200ft in florida to my knowledge but i dont think hurricanes are particulaly a deterent from building 200ft+ rides, especially as the failed orlando theme park had a few coasters planned for well over that height.
 
Yes. As stated above; Leviathan is one major WTF? for me. It actually seems POINTLESS.

A park that hadn't added a B&M Mega in the past 5 years would make sense to add one like this, but I mean, just completely WHY? The layout's not up to much, at all really. It's simply built for the 300ft mark, and that alone, not for it's hills or layouts. Just for a large hill and drop. YET, that's kind of why Behemoth was built, for that exact reason, it's height and hills. It's just a bit of WHY?

Saying this, I'm sure that people thought the same about Cedar Point. Although, with Cedar Point it was the launch that was the biggest difference. If Leviathan was a launched coaster, it would make so much more sense for it's hieght. But the fact it's just another B&M Coaster is simply a mystery?
 
Intricks said:
^ But it gave us 2 (arguable 3) good rides that got transfered elsewhere! That was also supposed to be a 5 year installment, but Six Flags decided to just dump em all in at one go apparently (aka, so ive been told).
Click to expand...
Absolutely, all of the coasters outside of Villain were good quality. But the point of the topic is "What the hell was the park thinking!?" With SFWoA, they were trying to go up against Cedar Point, and added these 4 coasters. Obviously it didn't work, and left a very small park with very big rides, creating a good mismatch.
 
SFGAm adding to wild mouses right next to each other. I know some parks do this for capacity reasons but that's not the case here. Also having TDK and Skull Mountain next to each other at SFGAv has always been a curious move to me. And of course Leviathan at CW and basically alot of the moves SF is making right now. Why move a crappy standup to another park. I hope SFAm puts new trains on Iron Wolf and gives it a good theme. Why move a GIB to a park that ALREADY HAS A BOOMERANG. And why move Pandemonium to another park (I think this is still a rumor but it's 3 YEARS OLD)
 
I did not know that Geauga Lake had five coasters added in two years. That's pretty daft even for Six Flags.

As for hypercoasters in Florida, as far as I know, all roller coasters built these days are hurricane proof(unless they get flooded like at SFNO) and earthquake proof. Yet if a 10 ton roller coaster train can travel through an element with a few inches of flex in the track, I think it can withstand a day of gale force winds.
 
Yea, it was random but they had to pull in hype away from Cedar Point at that time.

Like I said, I know nothing about engineering, but figured it was due to the threat of hurricanes or something similar. Twas wrong :3

Switching between the hideouts'...
 
DarrenBloomfield said:
2. Shockwave, Drayton Manor, WHY would a small family run theme park like DMP choose an Intamin Stand-up, firstly why a stand-up? and secondly why not B&M? given that both Bolliger and Mabillard (the designers of the Intamin stand up) had long since left Intamin and had enjoyed huge success with there own model (yes i am aware of the package deal but still?)
Click to expand...

I'd guess they went with a stand-up for the marketing aspect. It's still the only one we've seen in Europe, and it was a massive draw to the park. Going from memory, the difference in the number of people in the summer of 1992 to the number at the same time in 1994 was ridiculous. And I'd hardly call the B&M model a huge success to be fair; they've only built 7 even up to the present date. Plus, the early attempts are nothing short of horrendous. Shockwave is a much better coaster.

Basically, I think Shockwave was an excellent decision for Drayton.

I agree with Joey about Mach Tower, and I've already mentioned it in another topic, but whatever I'll repeat myself. That decision was nothing short of stupid. Ok, so BGW have some issue with Intamin, but to be so stubborn to the point of pig-headed that they've been stuck with a really **** ty product is ridiculous.
 
^ I agree with most that you are saying about Shockwave, however this bit is false:
gavin said:
It's still the only one we've seen in Europe
Click to expand...
Skara Sommarland operated one years before Drayton got theirs, but it was sold the same year that Shockwave opened: Stand-up at RCDB
So the Shockwave is the only one still operating.

But if anyone think that Drayton made a strange decision to get one, then the one at Skara Sommarland is an even stranger one. Why would a kid/family water/attraction park put all that money into a ride that isn't aimed to their age group. Yes I know that there were a bit of a coaster war going on at that point, Lisebergbanan and Jet-Line were the main contenders, but still WHY???
 
A really strange choice in my eyes, Freishütz!!

I can see that they wanted to get a new coaster for their 30 year anniversary for when the idea of the park came to be. But it's a really nice family park and then they add a hardcore Launch coaster with a 140 cm limit??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top