2019 RMC makeover for Robin Hood in Walibi World ( Holland)

Today Walibi World announced that their Vekoma Wooden roller coaster will be rebuild into a combination of steel and wood, it announces over Twitter that people can ride the original in 2018.

parks Twitter feed

Opening date for the RMCversion 1st July 2019

I haven't riden Robin Hood in years, it is said that it got very rough, so perhaps that was one of the reasons for a conversion to hybride? or perhaps they want to make it more thrilling with one or more inversions?

It was fine in 2016, if not terribly interesting.

You could probably make the case for converting a wooden coaster to steel tracks even if it wasn't an uncomfortable ride. The maintenance costs on a wooden coaster are massive after the first couple of years of operation, and probably even more so if you are committed to consistent preventative track maintenance.

But yet the smallest parks with less capital seem to manage just fine with PM. Why can't the large parks get it right?

Because the larger parks are constantly putting money into new attractions where a smaller park might only get a new attraction every so many years, instead putting money into maintaining what they already have?

MillenniumRider, I'd guess it's not so much about size as it is about margins and whether the park is publicly or privately held. Indiana Beach seems like a small park and no one is praising the quality of their wood coaster PM. Knoebels and Holiday World, on the other hand...