It seems strange that S&S has not really incoperated any of Arrow design elements into the companies newest prototypes. Has Alan, the creator of X , working on any of S&S projects?
I think he worked on Timberhawk @ Enchanted Village. Not sure about the '04 wood coasters.
he also worked on the Timber falls coaster.
Since Tsunami looks a lot like Avalanche, I guess he worked on that one too? What about Falken?
As far as I know from the bit of reliable sources I read (ACE News, First Drop, Amusement Today, etc.) he is now one of the main wooden coaster designers at S&S.
Shilke seems to be a GREAT designer from my enthusiast point of view. God love him for the X concept too. I wonder if Japan would ever be interested in building one? ;)
Does S&S even offer any products originally designed by Arrow? (Looper, Wild Mouse, ArrowBATic, 4th Dimension, Hyper, Suspended, Virginia Reel, Mine Train, Log Flume) Right before Arrow went under, their web site was full of information about their new concepts and old revised concepts. Once the merger took place, everything disappeared.
For the right price, I'm sure they do!
Yeah, I'm sure they offer 'em, question is, is anyone buying...
Look carefully at this picture and you'll see his name on the blueprints for Avalanche:
http://www.rcdb.com/installationgallery2588.htm?Picture=1
I'm curious as to what Powder Keg is going to look like, since S&S is rumored to be involved. The pictures of track so far look more like Premier track than Arrow track though...
I agree that it is strange that none of the Arrow product line is featured on S&S's site. The new projects all seem like stan's deal. Stan with his enthusiasm with X and purchasing Arrow seems to have eliminated or not really seems to include or support the expanded product line. Perhaps what we are seeing now was projects that in the works before the Arrow purchase. Who knows? *** Edited 10/1/2004 2:09:32 PM UTC by Cedar "Counter" Point***
I think it would be beneficial for S&S to offer some of Arrow's old products. If indeed S&S/Arrow is involved with Powder Keg, I hope it will show a sign of things to come. Arrow was headed in a wonderful direction right before the S&S purchase with unique layouts such as Tennessee Tornado, and innovative ideas such as X.
I know it's been said before, but just because the Arrow line isn't on S&S's website doesn't mean that something can't be purchased. I highly doubt parks surf the net looking for their next big ride. ;)
From what I understand they bought Arrow primarily for the designs and the parts business. Whether or not we see another "Arrow" ride remains to be seen.
S&S probably makes a lot of money servicing existing Arrow coaster. Spare parts for track and trains, larger maintainence issues, and I'm sure if any Arrow coaster needs to be reprofiled, S&S will be the ones to take care of it.
s-eth
My Trendy Blog - http://www.campusfish.com/members/Oaktree
Goliathkills, then why do manufacturers have websites at all? Certainly none of us are in the financial position to buy the rides. If you'd ever take the time to look at their websites, they most always give the dimensions of the ride, the per hour capacity, electrical needs, number of trailers needed etc. They're not just producing these websites so coaster geeks can rattle off statistics. They want someone [insert park chain here] or [insert carnival company here] to buy them.
Websites are just another form of advertising. The thing about them is that anybody with a computer can access it, not like sending literature directly to prospective buyers or running ads in the trades. In the end, the message gets to the people they want it to.
The old Arrow website had an incredible amount of information about their rides including videos, animations, specs, and PDF files. The only site that can even compare to Arrow's is Vekoma's current site, and even that site pales in comparison.
And if you notice, the websites are still a front. If you want to do some major hardcore shopping on those sites, you have to have a password. Websites make it easier on parks/customers to do business, but they are not the first resource parks hit for new rides.
That would probably be IAAPA.;)
Actually, the ride companies themselves tour the parks while they are open, and feel out the management on what they might be looking at down the road, and 'proposals' start to be sent out. It's as simple as that. IAAPA is there, but you will never see a Dick Kinzel or a Gary Story running to the B&M booth yelling "I gotta have it'. Sorry. They plan those projects 3-5 years out. (see financing 101).
Alan is probably working on putting Denise out of a job. *** Edited 10/3/2004 4:43:08 AM UTC by Agent Johnson***
/\Hence my smiley face;).
