b&m rocket?

Those are all good points. Juggalotus, I am guessing that you are referring to Steel Dragon 2000? My point really was that Intamin has proven that you can go the 300ft plus mark farily safely. The one coaster you mention is not theirs. That is what I was getting at. And, I really don't think SD2000 is a huge issue either. If that coaster was located in the U.S., it would have been up and running within a week of what happened. I think UBRhino mentioned smoothness as a reason for B&M's higher price tag, but Intamin's are smooth as well. Why don't they feel they should charge more for that feature? Also, just so you guys know, I'm not trying to start arguements, but, rather, I am just trying to see both sides and get everyone's opinions. Even if B&M does not decide to use the hydraulic launch system, haven't LIM's been around long enough and certainly have proved themselves to be pretty reliable?

Intamin Fan,

Storm Runner was down for multiple hours on two different days I was at Hersheypark. I have heard from many other folks that didn't even get to ride it as it was closed the days they were there. I think it has less downtime than TTD, but it had a lot of issues last year.

As far as B&M not rushing into new ideas, there is a lot of truth in that. I know of at least one park that wanted a standard sit-down coaster but B&M were not comfortable with the design just yet so the park went with Arrow.

We all know how that turned out.

-Sean

I imagine that 5-10 years down the line, when all of the current launch technologies are "down pat" and needing only MINOR tweaks or refinements, at that point B&M may grow comfortable enough to deal with some of that...

They do VERY well working with what they know...;)

Which park is that Sean? I'll prolly know it when I hear it, but it just isn't coming to me right now.

Probably BGW with Drachen Fire.

Oh yeah! Forgot about that one, I've ridden it, it was pretty decent but would have been awesome if they went with B&M.

Well, the only Intamins that I have been on are located at Cedar Point. To me, they are just as smooth as Raptor and definitely smoother than Mantis. Is CP the only park with smooth Intamin built coasters? I should think not. My opinion is that Intamin is just as smooth as B&M. Flame me all you want, but Intamin coasters are smooth. I guess that I would need to ride Nitro or something similar to make a more fair comparison. But, I truly don't think that B&M has the market cornered on smooth coasters, at least not any more.
Edited for grammar.*** Edited 4/15/2005 7:33:52 PM UTC by Coasterbuzzer*** *** Edited 4/15/2005 7:34:49 PM UTC by Coasterbuzzer***

The feeling on Nitro is orgasmic. . .;) Just kidding, but it was amazingly smooth when I rode it.

The only coaster I have to complain about from CP was Mean Streak. That's the only coaster that "bumped" me to death.

B&M Rocket? Good luck with that. . . Yeah, I'm only a teenager but I just don't think there's any money in it for them.

Parks most likely go to B&M for inverts and such. For good reason too.

Does Nitro have a lot of forces? I find the B&M Mega's to be kind of boring...

I sat in the second to back seat and got some good airtime at parts. My dad sat in the back seat and swore his butt never touched the seat. *Sigh* Some people. . . <_<

Edit:Minor grammar errors. *** Edited 4/15/2005 8:00:22 PM UTC by AdrenalineJunkie***

Well nitro depend son a couple of factors.

IF it is cold out you will get a slower ride.

If it just rained the ride speeds up a little.

Also riding nitro i nthe dark is awesome too.

B&M could do a launched coaster.

I think that if they get it reliable enough and smooth enough they would.

Yeah, b&M's have got so smooth that the rides now are boring.

So what you are saying? If a ride is smooth, its boring?

I don't know, maybe BT's right about B&M's, at least of lately. I have heard that Silver Bullet is lackluster and kind of boring. I think the problem is, they have been stuck doing the same inverts over and over and there's nothing left you can do with them; i.e. elements.

Is the jo-jo roll a new element?

There really is not much more you can do with inversions.

Of all the b-m coasters I have been on, I would not call any of them "boring". As a matter of fact, nitro is one of my fav coasters.

^Not really. It's just the first pre-lift inversion.

There are tons of more elements they can do. We never see any inverts with Dive loops. Immelmans, yes, and personally those are the best inversions on inverts, the one on Montu is breathtaking.

We never see any boomerangs, or how about mixing it up with some Bowties, or even cutbacks? Or a rollover like on Medusa in CA. I wonder how that inversion is?

Creativity is the key! *** Edited 4/15/2005 8:48:08 PM UTC by Geewhzz***

B&M hasn't built a heartline roll like this before - they have generally been avoiding hangtimes and major ejector airtimes.

Coaster's have gotten a lot more impudent about that in recent years - most of the newer Intamin rides eject you at some point or another - some of them caused headaches to me (like Goliath at SFH)

I adore B&M for not following that trend - for building coasters that are really a lot of pleasure to ride - smooth an elegant.

Hydra is like an encyclopedia of inversions... they're all here (apart from the standard vertical loop), in a row, one after the other - however it does mark some kind of limit to how far B&M can re-invent themselves while still staying B&M. (The jojo roll and the twisted bunnyhop out of the cobra roll are both Intamin-ish.)

I wonder what they will come up with next - it's hard to predict what new ride development B&M will use to counter the current rocket-tophat-ejector-boom.

And what is Premier rides doing these days? They used to be the ones building the impossibly twisting coasters.

*** Edited 4/15/2005 10:10:35 PM UTC by superman***

Premier is doing the heavily-themed "movie rides" at PKI, PCW, USH, USF, etc....and doing a fantastic job at it, IMO... :)

gator, thanks for two more great examples as I'd forgotten about the two Mummy coasters that opened in the past year.

But it all goes to prove my point that most of the companies aren't missing out on the launch hysteria that is currently prevalent in the industry. Obviously B&M is sitting out of it for their own reasons and several of the smaller companies are smart to not even attempt it since they don't specialize in the top of the line areas, but the other big players offer their own experiences.

I really don't get what BT wants. Does he really want every coaster company building versions of rocket coasters? The other companies are looking for different niches within the launched coaster concept and offering that as competition to Intamin.

Premier, as gator said, is currently doing well with the heavily themed launched coasters. S&S basically started the whole over the top-hat revolution but are now starting over with Powderkeg, which sounds like it will be a hit. Vekoma has the motorbike concept. It's getting some customers overseas and I'm hopeful that a model or four will eventually make it over here as well.

Is it just me or does anyone else think BT is full of it when he claims he's in his mid 20's.

*** Edited 4/15/2005 10:33:18 PM UTC by Incidentalist***