Powderkeg & S&S/Arrow

Looking at the latest contruction update on Swoosh's site.

http://midwestinfoguide.com/silver/010305/new3.html

How many think that this will be the start of many new installations from S&S Arrow?

I am thinking that as long as Powderkeg operates reliably we will see a few more of these. The new track design is really nice, and it looks like it will be just as smooth as any Intamin, and B&M. I can't wait to see the trains. New Megaloopers anybody? ;)

*** Edited 1/6/2005 4:55:38 PM UTC by Coasterfantom2***

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Coasterfantom2 said:

How many think that this will be the start of many new installations from S&S Arrow?

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I would like to think that, but it probably won't be true. We thought that after Tenessee Tornado. No dice there. We thought that after X. Looks like the 2nd one may finally open up after 5 years, and it's on the other side of the globe.

With today's coaster market I'm afraid we won't see a huge influx of arrow coasters.

Now here's hoping I'm wrong........... :)

S&S's acquisiton of Arrow was pretty recent and X was prior to it. S&S is obviously making headway in the world of wood coasters and I think, given time, they could make a comeback with steel as well. If they can deliver a reliable product [something S&S had trouble doing with Hypersonic] parks will be interested in buying.

The reason no one bought "New" Arrow Corkscrews after TT was that almost every park already had an "Old" Arrow Corkscrew. To the untrained eye, there are no major differences.

Perhaps I just caught TT on a bad day, but I didn't find it all that much better than the old Arrows. Yeah it was smooth, I just got knocked around a lot more than I expected I guess.

^Steve, who did enjoy it and doesn't mean to start a flame war. :)

I found TT to be WAY better than the Vortexes and Anacondas of the world, but that is a whole other thread, LOL...:)

As far as PowderKeg and the S&S/Arrow question, I think that THE comparison to make this year in terms of cost, reliability, throughput, maintenace, etc., will be between PK and IJ:ST....if S&S stackes up well against Premier in THAT matchup, we'll likely see a few more of the S&S rides in the future...

Intamin you say? Meh, they're concentrating on the 600-footer for CP in '08...;)

Need I mention that for anyone to sell any rides there has to be a demand. As capital intensive as this business is, I think the demand is shrinking.

Especially on Six Flags' side. They getting to the point of finally "sparingly spend" on their parks (which they should have been doing long ago). Any investment they'd make would only be in the best, bang for the buck ride at the time. To most general public, an arrow style corkscrew is just run of the mill.

I think I agree with Jeff. Sure, the parks want to build the next big attraction to bring more people into the park but what's going to happen when all of the big parks already have an invert and a hyper and a 500' rocket coaster? The big parks will be looking for something different (or running out of room) and the smaller parks still won't be able to afford things like that. It may not happen anytime soon but at some point the big parks will run out of space and big coasters to build. The industry may turn to smaller hi-tech rides or, sadly, start removing some of the older classic coasters to make room for more big ones. Who knows.

They're building another 4D coaster? Where? I thought they were done with those.

I think 10 million is a pretty competitive price for Powderkeg. If it had been B&M it would have cost more, and if it had been intamin it probably would have cost more.

Storm Runner was $12.5 million, and shorter in length. Powderkeg is using parts from Buzzsaw Falls, but is still 3500 in length. Thats a considerable difference in price. I'd think that would make it pretty much a bargain price wise.

Launch coasters are the craze right now, so if Powderkeg is reliable I think a lot of parks would be signing on to build.

Drachen Fire here is the thread regarding the new 4D coaster http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=40377