Rollercoaster Golden Age Dying?

Maybe it's just me, but I've been noticing that the industry and everything that revolves around it is beginning to suffer.

Coaster and thrill ride companies are consolidating and merging to survive, rollercoaster and thrill ride websites are all beginning to close their doors for good.  Especially the good ones!  I pray that Coasterbuzz never closes down!

Parks are also beginning to save their dollars for less thrilling additions.

The 2002 year for Dollywood was going to be the year of their next coaster and instead their getting a new "land" with yet another simulator ride!  The one they have now they can't fill even halfway up and they're building another.  Choosing to go the family friendly route versus the Thrillseeker route is beginning to become the norm.

What are you thoughts about this?  I'd like to know what others think of what is going on in the industry.

-----------------

Well, I don't really think we can say it's DYING but I think we can say that maybe it isn't doing as well as some of the better years (1999). We can't really say 2002 is going to be a bad year because only a couple of parks have announced their rides. I mean if CP gets something good then a majority of the people here will say it's a good year. But I say we just wait and see. :)

-------------
We're not White, Black, Hispanic, or Asian. We're American!

I don't think its dying. Most coaster companues don't just produce coasters, they make other things. As parks want roller coasters, they will get them. B&M did very well, so much that their coasters are Generic in parks.

Coaster Companies like B&M are doing well, so is Intamin. Morgan went under and had to merge but look at what Morgan has done over the last few years, not a whole lot. Just some hypers and a Giga. Compare that to all B&M has done 

Of course companies are not going to do as well as they did in 1999 and 2000 because everyone and their mother wanted a new coaster. Since every park isn't like Cedar Point and the Six Flags chain parks the have to wait a while before they get new coasters, so you won't see coasters being added every year.
-----------------
"The opposite of war isn't peace, its creation," Rent.

*** This post was edited by Jephry on 10/3/2001. ***

I think that everyone was spoiled in the past few years. New coasters are still being made, but yes, more family coasters. The industry is simply evolving, which is a good thing. Would you rather have a park with only thrill rides or with both thrill and family? I'd have the latter because it keeps crowds at the park, and intises more people to go. That gives the park more profit for more things, rather than only a few thrill seakers which isn't enough to maintain the park.
-----------------
Hey, SFGAm management, can I buy a couple cages of Sky Whirl?

Nothing is dying, it's just slowing down a bit. You need to remember that 1998-2000 were not the norm when it comes to coaster construction, not even close.

Regarding Web sites, that's an entirely different phenomenon not unique to any one site genre.

-----------------
Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"
Watch the grass grow!

Jeff's right on here folks, we were SPOILED!  This little slowdown gives us a chance to travel and visit all the coasters we haven't even visited yet...PPP, here we come!!!
-----------------
rollergator - intent on improving the "guest experience" - coming soon to a park near you

Everything goes in cycles of popularity. 1998-2001 were some of the biggest years the industry has seen both in terms of rides built and general popularity. We've passed the hump. Things will still go on and nothing is even close to dying out. Enthusiasts will still be enthused about visiting the parks and riding the rides, but it will probably be a while before we see the sheer numbers of rides being built that we have recently.

I actually did a bit of research on the subject and while my numbers may not be 100% accurate they're pretty close. I found that more coasters were built in North America from 1998 to 2001 than were built from 1984 to 1997! North America built more coasters in the past 4 years than we did in the previous 14. That's a pretty staggering figure!

So nothing is "dying" in my opinion, just normalizing for a while. Until the next boom in popularity :)

Same thing people were saying last year before the 2001 announcements.....................

Amusement parks are here to stay, coasters may be having a slow year, but we are not out of the golden age yet.

-----------------
Please disregard anything said by me that is incomprehensible, incoherent, or just dumb. I am and will be drained from the arduous school year, thank you!

As long as CCI continues to build the same caliber of rides, we'll continue to live in a "golden age".
-----------------
Yeeee Haaawwww!

Oh no there are going to be only 50 coasters being built in the US during the 2002!!!! what a travesty, i think theme parks and amusement parks are completely dead!!! (Alright enough sarcasm, just trying to get my point through) Every year cannot be as incredible as 1999 or 2000. All industries have slower years in between periods of amazing prosperity. 2002 will be a great year for coaster again but it just might not top the past few years, but will have to wait for some more announcements.

Since we hardly have heard any announcements for 2002, I think it's hard to say we're in any kind of a slowdown.

-------------
Batwing-Bow Down