We all love Mack Rides and their exciting new creations. Helix, Copperhead Strike, Flash, that rumoured coaster for Universal Studios... they're pretty awesome nowadays, and news of a new big Mack coaster is met with much rejoicing. But do you remember their image before Blue Fire? They were mostly known for SuperSplash rides, family coasters and the occasional spinning coaster. Mack was decidedly okay for filler coasters, but not something you'd celebrate. But then they decided to take a step into the market for bigger coasters, did so in a spectacular fashion, and now whenever a park announces a new coaster, many people think "I hope it's a Mack!".
Likewise, Gerstlauer was considered pretty meh until they surprised everyone with Kärnan. Fair enough, they made Eurofighters that were decent rides for medium-small parks before then, and some neat little launch coasters, but there wasn't anything in their catalogue that would fit into the backbone lineup of a large park. But then they started to shake things up wiith Fluch von Novgorod, scaled the Eurofighter concept to its logical conclusion with Takabisha, and now I'd say their new layouts are pretty inspired and exciting. Adventureland Iowa's Monster in 2016 was pretty far removed from Oakwood's Speed, built only ten years earlier.
Both Mack and Gerstlauer improved greatly (at least in the eyes of enthusiasts) by daring to scale up and offer bigger coasters. They've joined the big league, so to say. And that makes me wonder... who's next? Because there are still a lot of manufacturers out there who mainly deal in the medium-small segment, but who may be willing to scale up in the future. Which name will be the next one to be whispered in a hopeful voice when rumours of a new coaster surfaces?
To define the threshold for what's considered "big", let's go with round numbers: A coaster faster than 100 km/h, and/or taller than 50 m. Below is a list of relatively well-known manufacturers whose biggest creation is below that limit, but above 80 % of it (that is, above 80 km/h and/or 40 meters in height)
Chance Rides built Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom, which reaches 88.5 km/h and 30.5 meters. They haven't been particularly active as a manufacturer, with barely a dozen coasters constructed since 1990, but three of them (the three biggest, at that) have been built since 2014.
Gravitycraft is known for their woodies and hybrids, of which Cú Chulainn is the biggest reaching 90 km/h and 32 meters in height. With a healthy pace of installation of smallish Hybrids like Kentucky Flyer and Mine Blower, maybe they'll take the step up to something the size of Voyage one day? Not quite sure what the relation between these and Gravity Group is, but if the parent company can go that big, maybe the daughter company will too?
To my great surprice, Great Coasters International hasn't broken the 100 km/h barrier yet, at least not as far as RCDB knows. Then again, they are pretty close, with Wodan reaching 100 km/h and 40 meters, and Python in Bamboo Forest having a total height difference of 48.7 meters (and a quoted speed of 99.9 km/h). Could one of their Chinese creations one day break the barrier? Or maybe Wodan does on a rainy day? Will we see GCI build something that breaks it decisively?
All but three of Martin & Vleminckx's 14 coasters are faster than 85 km/h, but none go faster than 95. They might not reach the epic height limit soon (their tallest coaster is 34 meters), but they're just so close to enter the triple digits when it comes to speed.
Zamperla is dabbing into mid-range coasters with their Thunderbolt model, with mixed reactions from enthusiasts (ranging from "meh" to "why, God, why?"). But if they can build coasters standing 35 meters tall and going 90 km/h, reaching 50/100 isn't entirely unthinkable. I just hope they learn to build smooth coasters first.
Zierer has a few creations in the high 80s when it comes to speed, and the mid 30s when it comes to height. With a coaster like Verbolten to their name, I'd expect them to not shy away from building even bigger things, should they get the job.
And for the sake of completion, let's also mention the companies that barely put a toe over the limit, but who may still have bigger tricks up their sleeve:
Beijing Shibaolai have built coasters that are, umm... heavily inspired by Maurer's Sky Loops, which reach 105 km/h and a height of 46 m. But they don't do as much with that height or speed. Their second biggest creations are various shuttle loops and SLCs, which reach a max speed of 80 km/h and height of 45 m.
Likewise, Golden Horse built their Dive Machine last year, which barely reaches 102 km/h from a drop of 49 meters. Just barely over the criteria. But they have another dozen-odd ones faster than 80 km/h, so they may one day decide to scale up just a nudge and join the lucrative market for big coasters in China if not elsewhere.
Mentioned above, Maurer's biggest creation is not the Sky Loops, but Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit, at 51 meters and a speed of 105 km/h. But below it and the Sky Loops, it's not that far down to Shock at Rainbow Magicland. Will Maurer follow it up with more coasters further into the big league?
Strangely, Vekoma hasn't quite broken this barrier yet if you disregard their shuttle coasters. Black Hole Express, of all things, is the tallest full-circuit coaster they've built at 52 meters, and Odyssey is the fastest at 99 km/h. But they have some launch coasters under construction that will reach 50 m and 115 km/h, so they're just about to cement their position as a manufacturer of large-scale coasters.
So yeah, which of the candidates seem the most promising? Are there others I have missed? Or will the next ones be an entirely new company coming in from the sidelines, à la RMC?
Likewise, Gerstlauer was considered pretty meh until they surprised everyone with Kärnan. Fair enough, they made Eurofighters that were decent rides for medium-small parks before then, and some neat little launch coasters, but there wasn't anything in their catalogue that would fit into the backbone lineup of a large park. But then they started to shake things up wiith Fluch von Novgorod, scaled the Eurofighter concept to its logical conclusion with Takabisha, and now I'd say their new layouts are pretty inspired and exciting. Adventureland Iowa's Monster in 2016 was pretty far removed from Oakwood's Speed, built only ten years earlier.
Both Mack and Gerstlauer improved greatly (at least in the eyes of enthusiasts) by daring to scale up and offer bigger coasters. They've joined the big league, so to say. And that makes me wonder... who's next? Because there are still a lot of manufacturers out there who mainly deal in the medium-small segment, but who may be willing to scale up in the future. Which name will be the next one to be whispered in a hopeful voice when rumours of a new coaster surfaces?
To define the threshold for what's considered "big", let's go with round numbers: A coaster faster than 100 km/h, and/or taller than 50 m. Below is a list of relatively well-known manufacturers whose biggest creation is below that limit, but above 80 % of it (that is, above 80 km/h and/or 40 meters in height)
Chance Rides built Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom, which reaches 88.5 km/h and 30.5 meters. They haven't been particularly active as a manufacturer, with barely a dozen coasters constructed since 1990, but three of them (the three biggest, at that) have been built since 2014.
Gravitycraft is known for their woodies and hybrids, of which Cú Chulainn is the biggest reaching 90 km/h and 32 meters in height. With a healthy pace of installation of smallish Hybrids like Kentucky Flyer and Mine Blower, maybe they'll take the step up to something the size of Voyage one day? Not quite sure what the relation between these and Gravity Group is, but if the parent company can go that big, maybe the daughter company will too?
To my great surprice, Great Coasters International hasn't broken the 100 km/h barrier yet, at least not as far as RCDB knows. Then again, they are pretty close, with Wodan reaching 100 km/h and 40 meters, and Python in Bamboo Forest having a total height difference of 48.7 meters (and a quoted speed of 99.9 km/h). Could one of their Chinese creations one day break the barrier? Or maybe Wodan does on a rainy day? Will we see GCI build something that breaks it decisively?
All but three of Martin & Vleminckx's 14 coasters are faster than 85 km/h, but none go faster than 95. They might not reach the epic height limit soon (their tallest coaster is 34 meters), but they're just so close to enter the triple digits when it comes to speed.
Zamperla is dabbing into mid-range coasters with their Thunderbolt model, with mixed reactions from enthusiasts (ranging from "meh" to "why, God, why?"). But if they can build coasters standing 35 meters tall and going 90 km/h, reaching 50/100 isn't entirely unthinkable. I just hope they learn to build smooth coasters first.
Zierer has a few creations in the high 80s when it comes to speed, and the mid 30s when it comes to height. With a coaster like Verbolten to their name, I'd expect them to not shy away from building even bigger things, should they get the job.
And for the sake of completion, let's also mention the companies that barely put a toe over the limit, but who may still have bigger tricks up their sleeve:
Beijing Shibaolai have built coasters that are, umm... heavily inspired by Maurer's Sky Loops, which reach 105 km/h and a height of 46 m. But they don't do as much with that height or speed. Their second biggest creations are various shuttle loops and SLCs, which reach a max speed of 80 km/h and height of 45 m.
Likewise, Golden Horse built their Dive Machine last year, which barely reaches 102 km/h from a drop of 49 meters. Just barely over the criteria. But they have another dozen-odd ones faster than 80 km/h, so they may one day decide to scale up just a nudge and join the lucrative market for big coasters in China if not elsewhere.
Mentioned above, Maurer's biggest creation is not the Sky Loops, but Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit, at 51 meters and a speed of 105 km/h. But below it and the Sky Loops, it's not that far down to Shock at Rainbow Magicland. Will Maurer follow it up with more coasters further into the big league?
Strangely, Vekoma hasn't quite broken this barrier yet if you disregard their shuttle coasters. Black Hole Express, of all things, is the tallest full-circuit coaster they've built at 52 meters, and Odyssey is the fastest at 99 km/h. But they have some launch coasters under construction that will reach 50 m and 115 km/h, so they're just about to cement their position as a manufacturer of large-scale coasters.
So yeah, which of the candidates seem the most promising? Are there others I have missed? Or will the next ones be an entirely new company coming in from the sidelines, à la RMC?
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