Negative side effect of TTD

Hi,

I wonder why no major coasters are announced for 2004 yet.
My guess is that now that TTD has broken all the records, no one is in a hurry to invest all the millions for a new monster machine that's going to be second best, anyway.
What's the next big thing that will open the pockets of the themeparks?

Well, the positive side effect is that perhaps more parks will be inspired to market heavily themed rides or coasters with unique layouts. If it can't be a record breaker, a creative layout will have to be the draw. Dollywood's "Thunderhead" and Hershey's new Rocket Coaster are two examples of this. I certainly hope there will be more announced in the near future.

Then again, a clone will certainly provide enough drawing power in a market that doesn’t have much competition (i.e. Six Flags New Orleans)

*** This post was edited by djgreghaus 9/30/2003 5:17:38 AM ***

Although I hate to bring this up again, not all parks have announced things, and the ones that have are good looking coasters, with the examples of Hersey's Rocket and Dollywood's Thunderhead. Two of the Paramount Parks are getting waterparks, while two others are getting flying coasters, and well, Six Flags doesn't exactly have the biggest budget to go breaking world records right now. But that being said, not every company goes out to break world records, there are a lot of awesome coasters out there that never held world records, or weren't made for the intention of breaking them. But I do see your point. Well, we shall see what the rest of the industry has in store for us.

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as always,
Vote Bob.

CP is in direct competition with very few parks. Coasters being built or not being built hundreds of miles away from Sandusky have nothing to do with TTD.

Yeah, where have you been? We have Knott's, Hershey (when they decide to tell us the name), Knoebels, Dorney (2005), Universal Studios Orlando...there are many good rides coming up for next year. But, as you can see, Cedar Fair dominates the list...

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"Get busy living or get busy dying"
~Shawshank Redemption

Parks aren't really *that* concerned about record breaking. I mean, how many parks do you think were reasonably in a position to break SD2k's record at all, let alone in a wise business move. Bad economy + poorly managed cash flow = no capital investment.

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff

Six Flags Over Texas, Alton Towers, La Ronde and Silverwood (and virtually every other park on the planet) don't decide what to build or not build because Cedar Point built a 420-foot ride. That's nonsense.

There haven't been a lot of announcements because the boom is over.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

I think that it is going to take something revolutionary before we see a big boom again. I mean steel loopers, inverts and then hypers all got things going. It is going to take something new and exciting to really spark the industry again. I think that if it weren't for the prohibitive cost rides like Spiderman at Universal might have done it. The same goes for the 4-D if it would have worked out better the first time. The amusement park landscape is getting saturated with the "standard" sorts of rides.

Besides, non-coaster rides seem to be big hits at parks now. (Sally interactives, giant flats, water parks etc.)

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff

....and not *every* new ride has been announced yet....CF and Paramount have just disclosed most of their new attractions first...
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We're whalers on the moon, we carry a harpoon, but there ain't no whales so we tell tall tales and sing a whaling tune...

What's this stuff about a new ride at Knoebels? I haven't heard anything.

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I'm a loser.

Didn't you hear that Alton Towers is going to dig a 500 foot deep hole so they can have a hill taller than TTD?

Don't forget the slow economy and bad weather this year. A lot of parks probably just don't have the money for a new coaster this year.

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2003 Parks: Cedar Point, SFWOA, Kennywood, PKI, MIA, SFGAM, SFKK and HW.
Still deciding where to go in 2004.

Jim I haven't heard anything about a 500 foot hole, is that just a joke? and what is Knoebels getting?
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I am one.
I am Turbo.
Top Thrill in the front row... anything else is lame

Turbo said:

Jim I haven't heard anything about a 500 foot hole, is that just a joke?

____________________________________________

It's a joke...

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~ http://woaguide.thrillnetwork.net ~

Fright Fest Update
*** This post was edited by SFWoARules! 9/30/2003 8:56:55 PM ***

Also, the only negative side effect of TTD is it makes alot of other rides (not all, but alot) that used to seem so thrilling now not thrilling at all
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I am one.
I am Turbo.
Top Thrill in the front row... anything else is lame

I don't know about that. Sure, TTD is extremely intense, but I'm still taken into shock on the Hulk's launch. I don't see TTD taking away from any other rides. TTD and MF both have qualities that the other cannot match.

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"Get busy living or get busy dying"
~Shawshank Redemption

My tongue was planted firmly in my cheek.

Turbo said:
Also, the only negative side effect of TTD is it makes alot of other rides (not all, but alot) that used to seem so thrilling now not thrilling at all

That's overstating things a bit. It's a great ride, but it isn't that great. Given the choice, I'd sooner plant my ass on Magnum or Millennium Force all day.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

ApolloAndy said:
Besides, non-coaster rides seem to be big hits at parks now. (Sally interactives, giant flats, water parks etc.)

Note which major park just used all three of these. ;)

I don't necessarily go to parks to be thrilled (yea, it's to have fun) and I'm sure not every "family", every 5 year old, every grandma, every single person will be able to/will want to ride Dragster. It shouldn't and won't do harm to other parks decisions, because they know what to add to make their guests happy and kick up attendance figures (Holiday World, Wild Adventures, and Silverwood are outstanding examples) and everyone has different tastes in what they want to ride/see.

I don't understand at all why so many people think that after X and Dragster, the amusement and coaster industry has stretched *everyone's* thrill-o-meter to the point that Goliath, Riddler, Millennium Force, Raptor, Disaster Transport, and Revolution have suddenly become useless and boring. Not everyone is in that particular enthusiast state of mind and not everyone that goes to the park is an enthusiast or coaster-lover. Last time I looked, theme parks with very few coasters were the most popular and highest-attended yearly.

-Danny
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Coaster Insomniacs- The Other Ride Meat

Proud Purchaser of S&D Greetings 100th 2004 Calendar
*** This post was edited by Koaster King 10/1/2003 9:48:42 AM ***