Death of the Stand Up coaster?

I didn't really realize how many parks had inverts, untill the people in the know reminded me of it. Wooden coaster tech seems to have come a long ways in just the last ten years, I just hope they don't make them so smooth you can't tell if your riding steel or wood. As far as fads are considered, would the 4th dimension coasters be considered one?

I'd be in favor of all B&M stand-ups getting floorless or twister trains. Never enjoyed the "sensation" the stand-ups inflicted on certain areas of my anatomy. However, Iron Wolf at Great America would suddenly become an interesting ride again with floorless trains.

HeyIsntThatRob? said:
I'd wager the invert would come at Vortex's expense. Not thrilled at the idea, but I would totally understand.

~Rob

That's a trade-up I would take. :)

^Me too, after this past weekend.

Although, to be fair, this past weekend my daughter and I went down to KI and picked up a decent ride on Vortex -- my first moderately good experience on it, ever. (It was only one ride because the park was packed like a Japanese subway.) We followed the advice provided by C'Buzzers and waited for the front seat. It made enough of a difference that I actually somewhat enjoyed the ride; my daughter, no so much.

That being said, a B&M invert in its place would be moving from a Yugo to a Lexus.

Lord Gonchar said:
Inverteds == Yes, please.

Just want to clarify that when I say this I mean B&M specifically.

SFoGswim said:
There are 42 inverts operating in the US alone!

That's all inverteds though. It includes SLCs and other less desireable models.

There's only 18 B&M's in the US. I'd say that leaves room for quite a few more to pop up. :)

Inverteds. Did you make this up or is it in rollercoaster dictionary somewhere? I don't care regardless, I like the word.

Fun said:
Does Face Off not count?

No. Face Off does not count, because I forgot it. ;) But my mistake aside, inverted shuttles are completely different from full circuits. Valleyfair is another park that could really benefit from an adult full circuit invert.

If not Vortex, an inverted coaster could also come at SOB's wooden structure's expense as well.

I was at the park this Saturday, and Vortex STILL didn't impress me. It had a huge line though, so people are still riding it. If it were to be removed within the near future, I'd say it would be due to age and maintenance, and not unpopularity.

I would really like to see the park replace SOB with an inverted and/or a Dive Machine!

Corkscrew Follies said:
Inverteds. Did you make this up or is it in rollercoaster dictionary somewhere? I don't care regardless, I like the word.

Seems like the logical plural of using "inverted" as a noun to me. I think it's been used before.

I hope to get a chance to ride the 2 'local' Togo stand-ups, Shockwave at KD (was last there in 1984!) and Sky Ryder at Canada's Wonderland.

I rode King Kobra alot when it was at Kings Island, and I always loved it. Found it to be better than the B&M's. With the exception of Riddler's Revenge, I find the B&M stand-ups (and B&M's period) to be all pretty much the same. I also prefer the 2-across seating of the Togo design.

I think Chang is going to be very popular because it might be a fad type ride but it's likely the majority of people in the area have never ridden a stand up coaster before. Just like with Superman. I just find the ride ok, and although I'm sure the slow dispatches contribute to it, the line is usually very long because a flying coaster is so unique. It should be interesting to see how popular Chang is in a few years. I also agree at this point it seems unlikely another new standup will be built but I would have thought that there would have been some smaller standups like Scorcher built in the early 2000's.

staticman00 said:
However, Iron Wolf at Great America would suddenly become an interesting ride again with floorless trains.

What would be interesting about a short one-loop seated coaster? Though I guess it's close enough to Camp Cartoon Network that IW could then be considered a "starter" coaster. Seriously, seated Iron Wolf < Demon.

Didn't GAdv. have a stand up many many years ago?

^ Yeah, it came from Magic Mountain and went to Astroworld. I think it's sat in a field at Darien Lake still!

CoasterDemon said:
I hope to get a chance to ride the 2 'local' Togo stand-ups, Shockwave at KD (was last there in 1984!) and Sky Ryder at Canada's Wonderland.

I rode King Kobra alot when it was at Kings Island, and I always loved it. Found it to be better than the B&M's. With the exception of Riddler's Revenge, I find the B&M stand-ups (and B&M's period) to be all pretty much the same. I also prefer the 2-across seating of the Togo design.

Togo stand up coasters, are just pure evil.:)

Agreed. Shockwave at KD was totally lame, as well as a bit painful. Mantis, as far as I'm concerned, is one of the best looping coasters ever built, and without contest the best B&M in the park. I also really liked Chang, Riddler's Revenge, and the Georgia Scorcher.

Personally, I enjoy B&M standups (Iron Wolf the only 1 of the 5 I've ridden I didn't enjoy), and the old Intamin Batman from Six Flags Astroworld was great as well.

I actually prefer King Cobra and Shockwave to all B&M stand-ups, including Scorcher.

King Cobra, I agree. Shockwave, not quite as much, but more than most. Scorcher is my 2nd favorite standup behind Cobra.

Shockwave is like a midevil torture device.