Steel Coasters vs. Wooden Coasters. Which is better and why do you think this way.

Oh, BTW, I prefer wood. More of an out of control experience. But my favorite coaster is a Steelie currently. That could change next year...

I like wood.

Are you coming out, John? ;)

He was waiting for you to go first, Tek ;)

Oooh. Burn.

It's okay, Tek. You're just not fooling anyone with your straight act. ;)

*** Edited 9/27/2005 11:27:23 PM UTC by Michael Darling***

Notice John didn't deny he's waiting for Tek to go first! ;)

Ha! The really funny thing, that was a great use of an inside joke, Mr. Darling ;).

But 'arguements' and vs. topics aren't a big thing here.

You need to 'grow up' and just answer the man's question.... he needs help on a paper and you all want to argue wether or not it is a worthy topic.... c'mon people.

and Ben P... yes steel is better. Pretty Much anything you can do with wood you can do with steel and even more. Now don't get me wrong because I LOVE both.

All the warped wood does it break my back year after year. And whoever said wood holds up better over time is on crack. The only reason all the old wood coasters are still around isn't because they are better rides... its because they are protected by ACE and who or whatever else. *** Edited 9/28/2005 12:30:30 AM UTC by TopThrill10***

The best steel coasters beat out the best Wooden Coasters.

I just haven't ridden them yet.

Although it is funny that the best genre of steel coasters(Intamin Hypers) uses Wooden Coaster Elements, just smoother and bigger.

ben p

You realize that your talking to enthusiasts here and not the general public. Enthusiasts make up a very small portion of park attendance. They generally prefer wooden coasters as you can see, but the general public is more on the steel coaster side. Think of it this way. Why do parks, for the most part, buy steel coasters instead of wooden coasters. The ratio is like 1:10 or something. It may be b/c the general public prefers them.

This is the way that I see it

wooden

more out of control, better airtime ( usually), don't ever get boring, feel more classic

Steel

more that you can do with them launches loops ect. smoother.

Personally I prefer wooden coasters. But there are a few steel coasters like Millennium Force than no wooden coaster even comes close too.

Which is better?

BOTH is best! :)

I like to be shaken up a bit when on wood though, ultra-smooth coasters are best made of steel...IMO.

I wish Screechin' Eagle hadn't been mentioned...at least TX Cyclone *might* operate again...still wondering about MegaZeph...fopr some reason, an SBNO steelie just isn't NEARLY as depressing...

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coasterqueenTRN said:
Comparing wood to steel is like comparing plastic to cyberskin......nevermind.

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Too much info! ;)

One word for you...

Glass! :)

Glass is nice, but doesn't fold or bend.

But it retains heat or cold ;)

True. No complaints here. It's a crevice issue.

When done well, steel is just as effective a ride as wood. I'd have trouble picking Raven over S:ROS or Boulder Dash over Fire Dragon. And why would I want to? To please my inner woody snob? That doesn't really benefit me, when I clearly have a place for both.

And I've been on enough bad wooden coasters to know that they can be just as boring and rough as a bad Vekoma.

Giga has a valid point. The GP doesn't really care. They are more interested in the biggest, fastest, tallest, prettiest, etc. and they are usually not well-travelled.

In other words, they don't know that OTHER coasters exist out there besides Mean Streak and SOB. ;-)

TopThrill,

I was very honest with Ben P. I wish him luck on his paper!

Batwing,

Roar was VERY smooth this past June when I visited SFA. Sweet as honey! :-) Maybe I caught it on a good day? Last year it wasn't so smooth.

Brian,

Kiddy coasters will sometimes do that. ;-) I got the credit years ago, but it was fun watching Bill get the credit earlier this year. lol.

Gonch,

Glass? Been there/done that. I won't go back. Glass is evil. Some of them are kind of pretty though. I wouldn't mind having a few in my window as decorations. :-)

Rob,

I agree. Flexibility is a must. ;-)

-Tina

*** Edited 9/28/2005 10:21:44 AM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

You are not the first person to ask for our wood / steel opinions for a research project, although the last one I remember was an elementary school report.

Most research papers are rather dry and boring. If you want to spice it up a bit, I suggest asking TXKID if you can use his son's 5th grade report as a reference.

http://coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=40960

http://coasterbuzz.com/forum.aspx?mode=thread&TopicID=18938&page=1

*** Edited 9/28/2005 2:54:21 PM UTC by greatwhitenorth***