Sean F. said:
Easy. No other park has asked B&M to produce a launched ride. Just because they may not offer a launched ride in their brochure doesn't always mean they won't do it. My guess is they want a lot of money for a launch system and a park didn't want to pay that much. They have looked at offering a launch system before using compressed air if I am not mistaken.
Exactly. B&M only has one launched coaster right now. The R&D for these new rides has to be outrageously expensive. Thus, increasing the cost of the coaster. Hulk is a unique coaster, and that launch system wouldn't necessarily work on every B&M that was produced. I imagine that if parks suddenly got an interest in a launched coaster, and were willing to pay the R&D costs, then B&M would produce them. Frankly, I'm not sure that B&M really cares if they produce the most intense, insane, or "crazy" coasters or elements. I imagine they are more concerned about protecting their reputation within the industry. They need to sell coasters to survive as a company, just as McDonald's needs to sell cheesburgers. I think that Six Flags has learned something from the Deja Vu debaucle. They need to keep us enthusiasts coming back, but we're not where the money is. The GP are the ones who are dumping the bucks into the parks. I get my season pass, and that's the last of the money I spend at the park. I walk in, ride my rides, go home. Parks only care about having innovative rides because it's good PR. If they could pack 50,000 people in SFGAm to ride flat rides, I'm sure that's all we'd see there. But, they can't, so they do what will fill that parking lot and the queue lines. That's the whole point. The big American buck. Can't blame 'em. If we didn't make the money, we'd have no parks to go to. So, B&M is being a good business by building what parks want. How long will a company be around if they make something that nobody wants. It doesn't matter if I want an inverted coaster with 30,000 corkscrews in it. I can't afford the 20,000,000 it's going to take to develop the thing.
Here's some thoughts I wrote down before I wrote the above paragraph...
Operating Cost. I don't know numbers, but running V2 is probably a lot more expensive than running Raging Bull. The LIMS suck so much power. I wouldn't be surprised if they had their own generators. (Or is that why Chicago has so many brown-outs in the summer?) A park might take a risk on a high-cost coaster, but will they be economical in the long run? We'll have to see. LIMS are only a few years old.
Space. What can I fit into such and such a space without getting rid of too much. SFGAm ditched SkyWhirl because it wasn't being ridden, and maintenance was too high. Enthusiasts loved it for sentimental reasons, but I was at the park probably 30 times last year, and never saw a full queue. So, here's a good candidate. What can we fit in here?
Anyway... 11:30... Not bad.
-----------------
---------
"Getting on Iron Wolf is kind of like going in a blender and pressing PUREE"
-----------------
Check out CoastNY at www.angelfire.com/ny5/coastny
*** This post was edited by Superdude on 5/16/2002. ***
Umm......just a few comments on your reply, Superdude...
Sure its a great ride but its the same thing every time.
Well..........isn't it the same way with all steelies? Or does the track on any coaster other than B&M's magically change coarse each time?
---------------------------------------------------
I am never scared of B&Ms because they are TOO smooth. I am nervous on hypers, like maggie, that I may get banged up a lot or hurt myself but on AC that fear is gone, which takes away from the ride.
So, if I'm reading this correctly, a coaster only gives a great ride if you come away with bruises or a stiff neck afterwards? Ooookay.............
---------------------------------------------------
The trains are too comfortable and they feel too "safe" that it takes away from the experience.
See previous response.
---------------------------------------------------
The only exception with a b&m is Kumba (gotta love the 0g roll!) and most notibly Alpengiest, my #2 Steelie which NEVER EVER EVER gets boring even after riding it 27 times in a row in the front seat. It is awesome because its like a hyper (170+ Feet) but it goes upsidedown.
And yet, Alpengeist has the same track ride after ride......just like all the other B&Ms......amazing!
---------------------------------------------------
NOTE: Sorry if I annoyed my fellow Buzzers by this, but sometimes I just can't sit idly by and read some of these responses without adding my 2 cents in. And this does NOT mean I'm advocating any one coaster company or against any others. I like all coaster companies equally. I judge individual coasters on their merits, not the designers of those coasters. Thank you.
*** This post was edited by Lallen on 5/16/2002. ***
You must be logged in to post