Can SFMM aford to add a major coaster every year

I was just wondering since rides like goliath can pay for them selfs in a matter of weeks can magic mountain add a new coaster every year. Not to say we dont have enough but the general public in Southern California are used to seeing new coasters every year.

im not really sure that they could keep that up with the new "wave" of coasters coming up like the 4d's and anything else the companies will try to keep going bigger and better with coasters not 3d rides or simulators.
-ryan
-------------
Formaly Inverted of Danimation

can Goliath pay for itself within a couple weeks? probably, but that's only if the park has only that ride, no staff, no malfunctions, and you aren't looking for profit. and that's only if you don't run the ride. now add all the rides that MM has, and its employees, and the cost of another new major installation. it doesn't seem like it would work out. most parks don't have a major installation every year so they can recover from the cost of the previous installation and make money at the same time.
-----------------
Knott's Berry Farm Cuba ~South Park

Well, wouldn't that depend on the kind of year the world has had. If the economy is slumping it will be harder for them to add a "major" coaster. Plus, if what you mean by "major" is a new type of coaster, than they probably can't each year because those are a lot more expenisive. And yes I know our economy is slumping now and they still added X but X was started before 9-11.
-----------------
I eat glue.

Yes because That's the only park Six Flags really cares about.

Let's not start that again.

Actually a park like SFMM or CP *could* conceivably afford to put in a new coaster every year but the question that usually comes to mind is, why would they want to?

If you put in a new coaster every frigging year you run into a couple of problems:

1) Space. This is an overblown issue for the most part but space does start to creep into the equation if you plan on installing every year. While this shouldn't be an issue for a few years some of the mega parks are going to have to look at this eventually as the manic building sprees continue.

2) Heightened Expectations. If they hadn't started installing every year people would have never expected it or complained. Now I think SF has set themselves up for disappointment by doing all the construction. If you space it out people are less likely to be disappointed when you don't install for a couple of years.

3) What is there left to build? I think this is really the principal issue for parks like CP and the Mountain....they have decent versions of almost every coaster type available that fits into their park already...and if they keep on constructing like mad they'll simply run out of new things to install. Granted, some of the new technology like the 4th Dimension and B&M Flyer give both of these parks some new options the central problem will still come back in just a few years when they both have the new offerings up and running.

And as yet another point that I think needs to be said, isn't there a point where enough is enough? By the end of this decade I wouldn't be surprised to see a park or two pushing *20* coasters....and to me that just seems OTT...sure, it's great for the locals but it makes coming in from out of town more than a little overwhelming. I think some of the parks which are getting into the high count need to slow down over the next decade and let their smaller sister parks get a few new rides as well. God knows places like SFDL, SFStL, SFAW, SFFT, WoF, Valleyfair!, and a whole host of others could all use new rides before their larger siblings...
-------------
* The Legend @ HW
* Superman: Ride of Steel @ SFNE
* Mondial Top Scan

*** This post was edited by Colin W. on 1/27/2002. ***

Like previously stated, they probably could, but it wouldn't be the brightest thing in the world to do.

As to whether SFMM could really afford it or not, no one here knows, because no one here knows any hard figures about SFMM's budget.

I think MM's best bet for next year is to not add another coaster, but a few flat rides would be better in my mind. MM really needs a good collection of flat rides like some of the giant huss flats that have just come out a while back ago. I think that would be the best thing MM could invest in as of right now.
-----------------
Six Flags Marine World..... Theme Parks taken to a whole new level.

Yeah, I agree with Marine World Freak, the GP not only loves coasters but flats also, and since the GP is their main source of income, than that is where they need to make improvements. I think SF should pay more attention to adding coasters to other parks that just MM.
-----------------
I eat glue.

I think that SFMM is way to competitive. Every time CP gets sumthing, SFMM has to get 3 or more new rollercoasters the following year. And i think that CP is modest and way more origanil, because they are now tide w/ 15 coaster, unlike MM who would go bankrupt just to beat CP! How selfish are they!

Give me a break. If you think SFMM even considers a park half a world away when making their decisions and visa versa, then *your* the one with the issues, not the parks. SFMM alone doesn't decide what goes into their park it's a company decision based on the competition and profit potential for *that* park and it's surrouding area. Quit trying to make everything about Cedar Point.

Ugh, why am I even bothering to try to explain this YET again, forget it.
-----------------
Have you ever considered that it may not be the park that's the problem, but YOU???

*** This post was edited by DWeaver on 1/27/2002. ***

I agree with one of the things Colin W. said. Space is a major factor when it comes to new coasters. I mean, look at PKI, they still have 2/3 of their land left! In my opinion, I think PKI is doing the right thing in not building at least a LARGE coaster every year. Once you run out of land the only thing you can do in CP's case is demolish part of your park to make way for other coasters... PKI is doing a great job in not using all of there land at once!
-----------------

A) Six Flags the company cares about every park. It is just that whichever park has the most potential gets the best rides first.

B) Cedar Point is not very original with WT. I mean ooo wow a double twisted impulse. I think the holding brake on V2 is better that 2 twists would be.

DWeaver said:
then *your* the one with the issues,

If you want to emphasize a word, at least try to spell it right.

Basshedz, great catch! it should be spelled, "you're" Dweaver just chill out... Maybe everything should be based on your opinions, and no one elses..
"Ugh, why am I even bothering to try to explain this YET again, forget it." ;)

It's conflict that shows who a person really is!

*** This post was edited by The "outsider" on 1/28/2002. ***

brett1019 said:
I think that SFMM is way to competitive. Every time CP gets sumthing, SFMM has to get 3 or more new rollercoasters the following year. And i think that CP is modest and way more origanil, because they are now tide w/ 15 coaster, unlike MM who would go bankrupt just to beat CP! How selfish are they!

Yeah, real selfish. I normally would be the first to bash MM because I am just petty jealous cause I aint been there yet :)
Reality though is that Magic Mountain has tons of competition down there in Southern California that they have to worry about. Everytime CP builds something they infringe on a moniker of "Park with most coasters" that could get more butts through the gates down in California instead of other parks down there like Disney or Knotts. Bottom line is that Magic Mountain can not be compared to other parks in getting new attractions because they are a year round park needing to get year round attendance and having to fight off three other major parks in the area, two of them destination parks to boot.

-----------------
Bob Hansen

"Excuse me while I kick the sky!"
kickthesky@hotmail.com

When you look at the withering price of Six Flags stock and the way they've slashed their cap investment budget for '02, I wouldn't expect annual coaster additions at SFMM or any of the other parks. It's time for Six Flags management to show a profit (not the silly EBITDA mumbo-jumbo) or be shown the door.
-'Playa

*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya on 1/28/2002. ***

Let's not forget that Six Flags is not a franchise like McDonald's. In other words, they're not independently owned and operated. Therefore, it's not SFMM who determines if they get a new ride or not, it's Six Flags Inc. who does.

And before anyone accuses Six Flags of pampering only SFMM, there's also SFGAdv. which has also been taken very good care of.

It takes a lot more than a few weeks for a ride like Goliath to pay for itself. A quick guesstimate shows that it would take an attendance increase of around 300,000 people for Goliath to pay for itself. That's about 10% of the total annual attendance for SFMM, and most of those attending would be coming even without Goliath. I strongly suspect that a ride like Goliath in a market like LA will pay for itself in less than one full season, but not in a couple weeks.