Lacking the thrill, or the money?

Well I've been thinking again, and I've realized that there have been very few additional coasters built in America this year. Granted that the economy is in a recession, do you think we need to stop expecting coasters to be built at a minimum of every other year in large parks, or should we just hope that our home park stays open if our economy should continue to fall? I'm seeing all these topics come up like What will SF... get for 2002, and I think that you should stop and look outside of the amusement world, it's nice to dream but don't expect much in the upcoming years. I think things we'll see happen are coaster companies forced to file bankruptcy, or possibly closing. Does anybody see where I'm coming from?
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There isn't a problem that can't be solved.
Suicide is NOT a solution!
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I agree, be happy with what you get.

I'd like to know where this "every other year" mentality came from in the first place. I would think though, if you looked at the last three or four seasons, most every major park has gotten a "major instalation" (i.e. a coaster or big thrill ride) Well maybe not the Disney parks....
jeremy

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"Nobody writes about the planes that land." Steve Salerno Washington Times 7-10-01

I'd say that this year(2002) represents the "norm". Most companies will be cautious right now. However, this is how it used to be every year. We've had a great 5 year run, and I appaud parks for some of their decisions. I could live off these coasters for the next 10 years. If you've got some time and extra funds, get out and ride some of these coaster across the US. Check out SRM, Coastermania and Coaster Con at SFMM and Knott's. You won't long for anything after that.
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"Conviction is a luxury for those who sit on the sidelines"-A Beautiful Mind(best film of 2001)

*** This post was edited by DWeaver on 1/26/2002. ***

We've just gone throught the greatest coaster building boom since the 1920s. Coasters were being buildt at such a rapid pace that it couldn't be expected to continue. I think that we had already neared the end of the boom when the recession hit. After a few years, I think that we can expect to see new coaster construction pick up a bit, but it will probably not reach the level of the late 90's again in the forseeable future.

What started the coaster "BOOM" of the 90's? Could it be the internet?
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There isn't a problem that can't be solved.
Suicide is NOT a solution!
Send me an AOL instant message, my sn is unXplanible

I think it was B&M. PKS buying Six Flags started the semi boom of 98-01.
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My fellow Americans; Let's Roll!
http://www.woodencoaster.com

Watching what happened to Geauga Lake, I'd have to say this boom was almost certainly Six Flags's fault. Yes the other biggies had to keep up, but it was 6 flags that would put in, say, four coasters at once. Craziness.

A fairly normal ploy for a well-financed company looking to corner a market or grow market share quickly. Don't look for it to continue into the near future, though, because I really can't think of any major markets that Six Flags doesn't have a fairly siazable stake in in which there is growth potential. They need to add a bunch of coasters to gain market share, but once they do that they need far far fewer to maintain it.

I think the last few years were the “exception to the norm” and we have not returned to the “norm”.

Its funny… a few years ago it could be said “wow! (insert home park name here), is getting another coaster… only 7 years after getting their last. Now they have 3 coasters! How lucky!”

Now it is like, “Oh darn… (insert home park name here) isn’t getting a coaster this year, only a year after they built their last one. This is so unfair! Now (insert another park name here), has 10, and (insert home park name here) only has 9.”

I think many people have gotten spoiled over the past few years.

SFGAMDie HARD said:
What started the coaster "BOOM" of the 90's? Could it be the internet?

No, it has nothing to do with the internet. Honestly, how many people do you know that really access any sort of information about roller coasters on the internet? It had to do with the rapid increase of technology in the 80's, the strong economy, and increased competition.
And I really don't think anybody's really been spoiled, I jsut think that for people, especially the younger crowd here, they don't know any different. What people have to realize is that a good plan for a major park is to add a major attraction every two years. Its different for every park, dependent on profits, gate sales, competition, the economy, over all size of the park, location, space issues, planning issues, etc.

*** This post was edited by ravenguy98 on 1/28/2002. ***

Not to mention the fact that people visit parks for more than just roller coasters....they have to cater to a wide variety of interests.

-CPlaya

I agree. Just realize how many things we use that depend on steel. Roller coasters use up alot of steel, which causes more pollution, which increases global warming, which kills everybody, which destroys the coaster.

If I ever design roller coasters, I will be environmental safe by building recycled steel roller coasters and cutting down as few trees as possible.

Name: EcoCoasters

Nearly all steel has a substantial percentage of recycled material. The economics of steel production have always been such that steel makers use as much scrap as they can get. It takes a lot of steel to build a coaster, but unlike automobiles and other consumer items it's likely to be there a long time. The Coney Island Cyclone's steel frame has been there for 75 years. When it is torn down, the steel will be recycled.

Larger environmental concerns for steel rollercoasters would be runoff, especially during construction, and pollution resulting from repainting operations.

The actual largest environmental impace locally is probably the waste from the people using the coaster. This is balanced on a larger scale since the people would still be producing much the same wastes if they were some where else.

Thanks for the input, Jim Fisher!!!!!!!!!!

Interesing FACT. In the late '70s Kings Island was considering CLOSING! These were Real Recession times with high unemployment of about 8-10%. Fuel prices had jumped from about 55-60 cents a gallon to about $1.00 due to the windfall profits tax from Jimmy Carter and overal things were not looking good for the travel industry as steel mills and major manufacturing and industiral firms were either closing or laying off by the thousands.

What to do? What to do? In Kings Islands case they decided to make a try at something different. They had started with a plan to build a replica of the Shooting Star that used to reside at Cincys Coney Island but after several surveys and ideas the whole thing took on a new direction. THE BIGGEST, BADDEST, LONGEST, FASTEST coaster in the wold was created. News of this ride traveled fast and park attendance quickly rebounded from a steadily declining market. It is very interesting that the economy really stayed bad until about '85 but in that time KI came up with THE BAT, and other big rides inluding the now for sale King Cobra.

It was a huge risk, I see some other parks taking risk such as what HW did with Raven. I think in every buisnesses course there is a point at which a buisness makes decissions that either make or break it. I aplaud those who try.

Chuck

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Charles Nungester
Park Jockey :)

As a MechE student, i'd have to advise against using "as little wood as possible" and "all recycled steel" if you ever design a roller coaster. Recycled material is rarely used where uniformity and strength are critical design points. Recycled metal becomes cast engine blocks, pans, cans, railroad ties etc. Recycled metal does NOT become structural members in an aircraft. There's a reason for that. Also nearly all of the wood used in this country is a farm product. Will you next protest the senseless destruction of the corn in the field near my house? The biggest environmental problem a park faces is the parking lot and all those cars that people drove 100 miles to get there, not the coasters.