Rollercoaster Construction Timeline...

How long does a park give itself in terms of time for a new ride to be planned and constructed?  (How long is a coaster in planning before we see any sign of it?)  How long do coaster manufacturer's need to design and construct a ride?  How long does a park actually take before contacting a coaster manufacturer to decide that they will build a coaster?

Planning is a very variable thing.  Things can happen in a matter of months, or they can take years.  Of course it also depends on what level of detail you are talking about.  "We want to add a coaster down by the creek some day", is one level of planning.  "We've spent $50,000 on a site study, have proposals from 3 coaster companies, have selected the proposal that we prefer, have financing arranged, and have filed a preliminary building permit," is another level of planning.  And of course, the amount of planning required for a heavily themed terrain hyper is much greater than what is required for installing a Boomerang.

*** This post was edited by Jim Fisher on 1/24/2002. ***

So coaster manufacturer's actually send proposals to parks for rides?

In the case of SF it's not fully up to the  individual park but rather the company to plan what type of coaster they want to build for the park .Other issues such as local  height restrictions must also be taken into account as well .After the coaster type and company has been chosen an application for permission to build the coaster has to be approved by the local planning board in the community where the park is located once that is done then the chosen site must be prepared while the coaster is being fabricated by the manufacturer.The coaster track sections and support components are then delivered to the park and put into place.Once construction is complete the ride is fully tested and ready to open.

That's right.  Parks or chains don't sign meaningless 3 coaster deals with suppliers with the pricem the design of the coaster, and location of the installation undetermined.