Is '02 "Year of the Flat", Al Stewart reference...

Wondering, it certainly does seem as this year has been a big year for improvements to existing rides, and additions of upcharges and esp. flats. Wild Adventures alone picked up 3 flats this year (and 7th Portal), and WW/EV has gone over the edge. Other parks have gone that way as well....do you think it's related to the uncertain economy, is it more of a need to boost overall park capacity, or do you have another answer to this riddle wrapped inside an engima...

BTW, if you don't get the Al Stewart reference, you just might be under 30....;)

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If you can't laugh at yourself, at least stop laughing at ME!
March may be over, but the madness continues.....

I think it was economy-related. With so many parks trying to doll themselves up in 2000, naturally taking a pause in 2001, logic would have dictated a strong 2002.

But with the recession -- then 9/11 -- it's easy to see why parks were hesitant to add a major coaster when there was a good chance that tourism would be weak for the 2002 season.

Well, we already see that Florida parks are picking up nicely. This summer should be a welcome surprise (higher gas prices notwithstanding). But since flats can be put in fairly quickly (and, in just about every case, far more cheaply) it's easy to see why it played out this way.

But 2003? Well, it should be a coaster feast with the pent-up demand methinks.

Any new ride should at least pick up the local populace. There are a lot parks around here that I intend to hit this summer for the first time. I'll arrive before the bus and the tourists get there to experience the rhythm of the newborn day. I'll bring my girlfriend and she'll go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre to see what the park has in the way of flat rides. It will not matter because many of the rides will be new to us. Even if it is a clone, at least the setting will be different. On the morning from a Bogart movie, in a park where they turned back time, if it has incense, patchouli, and any good coaster, i'll find out what's waiting inside...

I wonder what Nostradamus would say...

R-gator - first of all I got the Al Stewart reference. Secondly I think with so many parks getting new coasters in 2000 and 2001 that we were bound to see a year where there are more new flats than coasters. As a park [or ride] enthusiast I'm all for 'em!

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2002 - the year of IB's LoCoSuMo!!

I was blown away by Conneaut Lake Park's Ultimate Trip, which is a scrambler (or scrambled eggs for you RCT fans) enclosed in a building featuring a blinking strobe light and blaring rock music. Innovation such as this is an inexpensive gimmick for patrons and should be done more often. I'd like to see flying carpet type ride (DaVinci's Cradle) inside a building with a black light and swirling CO2.

I wont ask what the Al Stewart *reference* is, but what *I* want to know is "Who in the blue hell is Al Stewart"
lata,
jeremy

2Hostyl, my musical *taste* notwithstanding, he was quite the rage in the late 70s. "Time Passages" is the one song from the album (remember VINYL, oooooh...;)) that you may have been unable to avoid. The other "hit" would have been "Year of the Cat", but I'm gonna go out on a limb, much like my own kitty, and assume you don't remember that one.

Actually, I can *and do* listen to funk, R&B, soul, jazz, rock, OLD "Heavy Metal", everything from Sly Stone to Jill Scott to REM and Jane's Addiction. Al Stewart just fit the topic header best, and by now you guys have to be *acutely* aware of my desire to "theme" ALL things...

P.S. I am by no means "complaining" about this enormous proliferation of flats, I enjoy many of them (but I will be more careful in the future about the spinning rides like the Paratrooper...). Even the ones I don't like draw people away from my favorite rides, so they're ALL good IMO....

South Park reference time: "Ya know, I learned something today"...Watch the ride cycle once before strapping in to something you have *little* tolerance for...

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Any resemblance between this post and humor is purely coincidental. No robots were harmed in the filming of this episode...The sarcasm filter default has been left ON for your enjoyment.

It's a bit of both.

Flat rides are typically less expensive to buy and operate than most coasters.

I also believe the public is getting a resurgance of their love of flat rides, kind of like the resurgance about a decade ago with the wooden roller coaster.

There also seem to be more companies now a days that make flat rides.

I just kindled a love of them starting last year. I sure missed out on some great rides, still trying to catch up

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God Bless You!
Moss Pier on the Indiana Horizion