Relationship between B+M and Six Flags?

StarCoasters et al got it right at the top of this thread. Six Flags is going to look good here simply because they have more parks than the other chains (combined?). It's really big apples being compared to quite smaller oranges.

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Scott W. Short
scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

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Todd said:
GP does like B&M's Incredible Hulk is the worlds most beloved coaster, hence why the GP voted it number 1.

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Of course, you also realize more people have seen this coaster than any other. The GP doesn't know S:ROS or MF from a hole in their sock unless they live less than four hours away from it.

On the other hand, it's nice to see a change in pace on the Discovery Channel Top 5 programs, even if there's some inevitable bias. One more year of Magnum at #1 and 30 people would have tuned in tops.

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya on 1/2/2003. ***

Intamins also have first gen. freefall too.

This might have been mentioned before, but I didnt see it so excuse me if it was, but the choice of company is also based on what the parks want. B&M rule the looping coaster market IMO, but Intamin rule the non-loopers. If CF wanted a Stand-up, they probably would have gone to B&M. But they wanted a tall launched coaster, so they went to Intamin. B&M do not favor launched coasters, but Intamin make a variety of them, and with CF's past good experiancee with them, they chose Intamin for launched coasters as opposed to lets say Premier. So much of the decision relies on type of coaster, and which company makes the type you want the best. This combined with money availible, space, and past experiance with certain companies is how parks choose who they go to for their rides.

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"Launching in 1,2,3..2..1"
-Wicked Twister Ride Op.

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/coasterman/ said:

Six Flags Owned Intamins

1. V2(SFGAM) 2. American Eagle(SFGAM) 3. Superman(SFA) 4. Superman(SFNE) 5. Superman(SFDL) 6. Batman: The Escape(SFAW, Designed by B&M while they worked at Intamin, very similar to Iron Wolf) Skull Mountain(SFGADV) 7. Flashback(SFMM) 8. Superman: The Escape(SFMM) 9. V2(SFMW) 10. La Vibora(SFOT) 11. Superman: Ultimate Escape(SFWOA) 12. Goliath(SFH)

Cedar Fair Owned Intamins

1.Steel Venom(VF) 2. Xcelerator(KBF) 3. Unknown(CP) 4. Wicked Twister(CP) 5. Millennium Force(CP) 6. Jr. Gemini(CP) 7. Disaster Transport(CP)

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Thats about a third of what they have. You even forgot major rides, like Perilous Plunge and Big Foot Rapids. Remember the observation towers too. And a lot of the Intamins were added very recently, since Millenium Force.

The relationship Six Flags has with parks is different because of their buying power. That being said, to generally imply as some have that relationships mean little in this business shows a lack of understanding about sales and the amusement industry in particular. Depsite being a worldwide industry the amusement industry is a small one. Personal relationships and being a good salesperson are keys to survival in a niche industry like this one. It is a very social one, you only have to attend events hosted by IAAPA to realize that. People not only do business but they get drinks together, eat together and socialize together. If you have a cobination of a good relationship with parks and good products there is a good chance you will succeed. The best example of this is Intamin in the 1970's and early-to-mid 1980's. Peter Schnabel was the head of thier US sales department for the bulk of this time. He was able to sell the Schwarzkopf line into parks like Magic Mountain, which bought several rides including a Wildcat, the prototype looping coaster Revolution and an Enterprise. When Intamin switched to Giovanola for many of thier rides parks like Magic Mountain continued to buy from Intamin because of the rapport established between salesman and customer. This does not mean cost or other factors do not play a part in sales. But, very strong relationships exist and many have for decades on end. To say that these mean nothing within this industry shows that you have never worked in it.

Adam
http://history.amusement-parks.com

Yes but 7 for like 5 parks is more thn 12 for 25+ parks.

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Säubern Sie mit Milch? ;)

You can also think about it this way. Once a parks matinence department is familiar with a companies systems, it can be easier and more cost effective in the long run then having to have personel trained with new systems. I know this fisthand through my after school job. Our Dairy Queen (FREE ICE CREAM IS GOOD) had to buy new softserve machines. The owner could have saved money with cheaper ones but to save in the long run and avoid having to retrain us, they opted for ones from the same company as before so we knew how to use and maintain them.

*** This post was edited by arlok2 on 1/2/2003. ***

I think he meant Intamin coasters, not including flume rides or towers.

As I understand it can also work like this:

A park want to build a new coaster or ride sometime under the next seasons. They say what they want but not only to one company but most of the companies that offers that kind of coaster/ride type. Then they let the companies come up with a rough design, ideas, how much it would cost to manufacture, design and also how much it cost to run the coaster/ride. The one that came up with the best design and mostly preferbly most cheapest project will win the contract.

Feel free to correct ...

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olov said:

Feel free to correct ...

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Yeap, that is pretty much it. Although parks do other go with very vague descriptions for what they want rather than "Stand-up, 120ft" but more "Rollercoaster, exilerating focusing on the teen to 30's market." So you may get an Intamin Hyper bidding against (for a mad example) say a Vekoma Boomerang.

This is why Vekoma build so many rides, they can build something the park wants at a price that is lower than any other manufacturer. For this reason when DejaVu went over budget it was a major problem.

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