Gimmicks

There is quite a population of people here that believe Floorless and Looping woodies are gimmicks. If Floorless and Looping woodies are gimmicks aren't Inverted and Suspended coasters gimmicks. Then if they are gimmicks aren't looping coasters gimmicks. You can see where I'm going with this. When the first coaster was invented, it was a gimmick. All coasters are gimmicks to attract people to parks and earn money.

I think things like steel loopers, suspended, and inverted coasters were innovations, not gimmicks. Gimmicks are innovations, just not useful ones. (ex. loops on a woodie, a certain shuttle coaster which is always debated, a certain giga-coaster with a crappy layout)

Although my last example of a gimmick will disgust a lot of you people, please, don't tell me it's not. It is my opinion, that is all. I myself would rather go on a certain hyper at that park.


edit for chu chu man: Ok, maybe a certain giga-coaster's layout isn't a gimick. I just think they could have come up with something better, thats all. But then again, that certain coaster was designed for speed and height, not airtime.

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I can be rude. I'm going to try to be nicer on these boards from this date forward, May 21, 2001 *** This post was edited by TrBiggar on 5/22/2001. ***

The loop is useless on SOB? Some consider it one of the best elelemts of the coaster as well as one of the smoothest loops on any coaster. I don't think the floorless started as a gimmick. It actually sounds like a good idea, but the sensation is lost if not in front seat. I thought STE was a really good idea. It's still the tallest "coaster" in the World and you can't get the speed and height anywhere else.

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Everything above was my opinion.If you disagree,please respond in an intelligent fashion.But before you post,I warn you that some people say I'm just too smart to understand. Please take that into consideration.

I disagree with that statement about the sensation being lost on a floorless if not in the front seat. i normally sit from the fifth row back on Medusa at SFMW, and I can tell you that the airtime sensation is alive and very well back there. The camelback inversion and the first drop on Medusa gives good air and g's no matter where you sit. I really think it depends on the elements and the layout of the coaster. I also don't think that floorless or looping woodies are gimmick coasters, just better innovations on the norm. Just my opinion. Peace. :)
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Medusa at Marine World: the best coaster in the west!

I meant the footchopper sensation Coasterman, nothing else. And PKI didn't need the loop as a gimmick for SOB. It's just a plus. Someone would tell their friend, "SOB is the tallest, fastest and second longest coaster in the US." Other person, "Cool!", "And it goes upside down, too."

CoastermanJ: Just look at your own defense of the floorless coaster: (in the fifth row) ...the airtime sensation is alive and very well back there. The camelback inversion and the first drop on Medusa gives good air and g's no matter where you sit.

I ask you: How is any of that affected by it being a floorless coaster? Would it not give exactly the same ride if it had the Wildfire-style train, that is, the exact same train but with a conventional floor? Not to mention a much simpler mechanical arrangement in the station. The floorless train adds nothing to the ride (except possibly for front-seat riders). It makes it stranger-looking from the ground, but more than anything else it's a way to distinguish it from the Arrow multi-looper on the other end of the park.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Innovations = Suspended, inverted, etc
Gimmicks = Looping wooden coasters, backward trains on one side of a racing coaster.

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"Resistance is futile... you will be assimilated." The BORG's (and Six Flags') motto.

Hey, Rideman – doesn’t this conversation seem like deja vu…

I agree that the floorless is a gimmick – I didn’t see much “effect” from the floorless trains except a little more openness, and the majority of that is lost unless you ride in the front seat. If all things were equal, I suppose I would rather have floorless trains than standard, but I don’t think the floorless effect makes up for the additional cost and hassle of the station floor system. (Although, I thought the best part of the floorless was watching the floor retract…)

Loops on a woodie, on the other hand, add something tangible to a ride (I’m assuming, since I haven’t ridden SOB yet) as do suspended trains, steel loopers, etc., so they are not gimmicks.

Let the coaster designers try new things. Otherwise we will never get new and better rides. They need to experiment and try new things. Without this we would still be riding the same old coasters.

Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they don't. If they get it right you consider it an innovation. If they get it wrong, you consider it a gimmick.

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Almond Joy has nuts, Mounds don't

I am still waiting for the first standup inverted woodie looper. ;)

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kip099 said:
"Hey, Rideman – doesn’t this conversation seem like deja vu…

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...All over again, in fact, Kip! :) (I met Kip on Sunday and the topic came up as we were hiking down the Cedar Point midway. See? CoasterBuzzers are real people, too!)

Funny thing is, nobody mentioned Deja Vu as a gimmicky coaster...!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I don't think many people are considering Deja Vu gimmicky because nothing is all that different on it than on other things.

Boomerang layout (nothing much new there)
Inverted Boomerang (see Invertigo)
4 across seating (see B&M)
Elevator Lift (see Intamin)

So far nothing fits the "new gimmick" aspect, its all been done before. The things that make DV stand out are the sheer size and the vertical spikes, which seem to be considered a good thing!

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"X" marks the spot in 2001!

Honestly, my coaster experience is limited, so I'm probably not the best person to be defending something. All I can say though, is that to me floorless coasters offer up better sensations than the traditional sitdown coasters like Viper or Revolution. Even beats Stealth imo. Comparing the new open B&M sitdown trains to floorless coaster trains seems a little like comparing apples to apples. When in contrast to Arrow or Premier trains, then in my opinion floorless coasters offer more. That's what I am referring to. Peace. :)
*** This post was edited by Coasterman J on 5/22/2001. ***

Hey Trbiggar, how can a layout of a rollercoaster be a gimick? That makes no sense.
I do agree with you that MF could've had a much better layout (ie SMROS @ SFNE)
But still that is not a gimmick.

I do think that loops on wooden coasters are gimmicks, because the loop is steel! And if the loop is steel (which it has to be) why not just keep it on steel coasters?

Another gimmick I think is floorless,
because it adds so little to the ride.
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PCW needs something taller than a boomerang

The loop itself is made of wood! And why do you guys care what is a gimmick or not? Just ride the coasters. You know the first time you heard of a floorless coaster or a looping woodie, you wanted to ride it. I know I did. And that's what the parks want you to think. As long as the ride's fun, why care. You know there are better things to do than argue about this subject.

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Everything above was my opinion.If you disagree,please respond in an intelligent fashion.But before you post,I warn you that some people say I'm just too smart to understand. Please take that into consideration.

^^^^
You hit the hammer right on the head!
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Fear is just Weakness Leaving the Body. --coaster_fanatic

I see the floorless as an added bonus, not a gimick. I say why get a standard sitdown looper when you can pay a little bit more and get the floorless. WE see the floorless concept as a gimmick, but lets think about this from the view of the general public. When your average Joe sees a floorless, what do you think hes thinking. I ussually get "dude, thats sweet, it looks like your feet are gohna get cut off!". Now when they see a standard sitdown, I ussually get " so its like the corckscrew?"

So, explain to me, what is so bad about a floorless?

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- Joey Isch

I just rode Batman the other day everybody, and i was blown away

What i dont get is..... Man! that loop on SOB is a gimmik! Why is it a gimmik? If that loop wasnt thier and they had a staight away you would say "man! I wish something would be thier insted of flat track!" A loop is something extra. Will if a loop is a gimmik just because its on a stupid wooden coaster "That they cut trees down for!" Than A Zero G Roll is a gimmik on an Invert too. Wow! Look at that twist!. C'mon. What I want to know is why you think a loop is a gimmik on a woodie? i want to know! It adds thrill to SOB. so tell me!

"Notice the tree cut down thing was an act. I was showng a point. i love woodies! so dont go physo on me!"

And another thing, Floorless coaters a gimmik. WHO CARES!!! It an open effect. Thats what a floorless does. So Your saying if BKF or Medusa had Regular sit-down cars it would be better? NO! It gives a better sensation. Thats ALL it does. I dunno what makes you think the are gimmiks. But I really do think that it adds a cool effect in ANY seat.

There is no such things as gimmiks. If you think they are, Your not a "TRUE" Coaster enthusiast. A "True" enthusiast would love any coaster. Gimmik or not so there!

Steve

*** This post was edited by SuperMan :UE on 5/25/2001. ***

My problem with the loop on a wooden coaster is that it takes the tradition out of the woodie. I like to think that all wooden coasters, even the ones built in recent years at least resemble in some way the ones built during the roaring twenties. Son of Beast is too tall, and it has a loop. That's not nostalgic or traditional. It doesn't belong. It was a useless gimmick so that PKI could say that they have the first hyper-woodie (which I think they can now see was a bad idea) and that they have the first woodie woth a loop.

As for other gimmicks, I don't think that things like inverted coasters, flying coasters, stand-up coasters, and suspended coasters are gimmicks because they were innovative. They added something new that was useful. Their innovations significantly changed the ride experience for the better.