The next big thing...

Yes, Cedar Fair needs to make a stronger commitment to wood. The Paramount takeover resulted in a whole bunch of wooden coasters especially at KI and KD some of which are very good. It is a positive sign that they are fixing and redesigning SOB instead of tearing it down. Now the question is, what do you do with Mean Streak?

Also, DP could use another wooden coaster. PA parkgoers love wood as evidenced by the popularity of the wooden coasters at KW, HP, and KG.

Everyone likes woodies but they're not bringging in the money its the new steel monsters that are making the big bucks for the parks.

I hate Six Flags as much as the next guy but I have to say they are the ones setting the bar on new coaster designs just look at X.

Sure it was a maintenence problem but it was the first of its kind.

More new ideas such as Thrill Lifts and Tilt sections are going to be incorperated soon. You guys are asking whats next when all you have to do is look. *** Edited 2/18/2007 4:00:05 AM UTC by Sheikrafanatic***

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Arthur Bahl said:Also, DP could use another wooden coaster. PA parkgoers love wood as evidenced by the popularity of the wooden coasters at KW, HP, and KG.

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Arthur, as far as wood at DP - I'd bet on sooner rather than later.. ;)

edit: Steel coasters work beter at parks that HAVE wood. How many parks out there have NO wood at all? not many...

For growing a small park into a medium-sized park, wood is by FAR the better investment, IMO. The evidence is pretty strong.
*** Edited 2/18/2007 5:39:14 AM UTC by rollergator***

Not to go too far off topic, but is there any news lately about Revolution/Delgrosso's?

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Sheikrafanatic said:
I hate Six Flags as much as the next guy but I have to say they are the ones setting the bar on new coaster designs just look at X.

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Oh yeah, X really set the world on fire.

Not to mention everything it did to help SFMM!

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Sheikrafanatic said:
Everyone likes woodies but they're not bringging in the money its the new steel monsters that are making the big bucks for the parks.

I hate Six Flags as much as the next guy but I have to say they are the ones setting the bar on new coaster designs just look at X.

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Wrong and wrong

I would say that the steel of this era has really driven the race for records, and when you try to apply bigger and faster to wood it hasnt always worked like Son Of Beast.

If done by the right companies like the Gravity Group and Great Coasters, and maybe throw intamin in after a few more in the US, then wood will be the way to go. Think about it last year was a big hype year for wooden coasters, with the voyage and el toro, for both intamin and TGG but, also the Kentucky Rumbler, which i heard had good reviews as well. I had the most fun with the voyage, last year of all the coasters i went on. Wood is like alot of you said much cheaper to build, but also much easier to create a different layout on.

If you were to look at most b&ms the layouts are alot alike to many of their coasters. Intamin does about the same, steel has really done alot of the same, with layouts for the same kinda coasters. So to be honest, it would be better, and also alot more family oriented to put in more wood coasters, even though they are a bit rougher, at least your not throwing children on rides that go upside down as much, who may be intimidated to try that out. Anyhow i see Maverick being a good ride this year as far as the most hyped go, but it will take some people away too because there are people out there that dont like going through inversions.

No wood? Among the major parks with big coasters, the one that comes to mind first is BGE. Surely, they could come up with some way to fit a wooden coaster in with one of their themed areas. A big El Toro type of coaster might be ideal for complimenting the coasters that they currently have.

Woodies will ALWAYS still you just due to the nature of wood.

Some parks have all wood and no steel which could also be a problem. Parks need to be diverse. Parks to me need a junior, a family, 2 wooden, a multi looper, a invert and a huper and it's a good park. Not just wood and not just metel but both.

If you want both, just build a coaster like Gemini w/ steel track & a wood stucture.

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Coasterkid200 said:
Some parks have all wood and no steel which could also be a problem. Parks need to be diverse. Parks to me need a junior, a family, 2 wooden, a multi looper, a invert and a huper and it's a good park. Not just wood and not just metel but both.

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Wrong....how do you explain that some of the most vibrant, successful, and strongly growing parks like Hooliday World, Mt. Olympus, Indiana Beach have pretty much just wood coasters? I can name parks with the lineup you proposed that plain suck.

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Coasterkid200 said:
Some parks have all wood and no steel which could also be a problem. Parks need to be diverse. Parks to me need a junior, a family, 2 wooden, a multi looper, a invert and a huper and it's a good park. Not just wood and not just metel but both.

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Funny, I don't miss a steel coaster at all when Im at HW or Knoebels, The Dells, MIA (Even tho they have one) *** Edited 2/19/2007 3:22:17 PM UTC by Charles Nungester***

^ Yea i guess *** Edited 2/19/2007 4:52:13 PM UTC by Coasterkid200***

The next big thing will be a 500-ft LIM deuling flyer w/ 15 inversions. Heck, make it a THREE-WAY racer!

Here is my suggestions for a well balanced park regarding coasters:

Small park - 1 or 2 wooden, 1 spinning or mouse, 1 junior and/or kiddie (possibly a small looper as well)

Medium park - 2 wooden, 1 midsized steel looper, shuttle looper or boomerang, 1 spinning or mouse, 1 family type coaster, 1 kiddie (another wooden, a hyper and an inverted/floorless are optional for larger parks in this category)

Large park - 2 or 3 wooden, 1 hyper, 1 inverted or floorless, 1 multilooper, 1 dueling/racing spinner, 1 launched coaster, 1 or 2 family type, 1 kiddie (plus possibly other coasters of various sizes and designs). *** Edited 2/19/2007 9:25:46 PM UTC by Arthur Bahl***

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Coasterphan said:
Inverted Log Flumes.

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^^^ That is good :) :)

I'll always argue the fact that you can put the exact same coaster in every major amusement park across the country and 80% to 90% of the people who visit the parks wouldn't even care let alone notice.

Living in the Detroit area, everyone goes to Cedar Point and occasionally Disney World or Disneyland. Maybe 10% to 20% have gone elsewhere once or twice in their lifetime.

The whole steel coaster clone talk is ridiculous when you're talking about two rides that are over a thousand miles apart.

Many people in the enthusiast community have to get in their heads that no one else follows this stuff religiously and realize that the coaster they just got off of is the same ride in California.

Steel coasters are cheaper to maintain, the ride feels the same after years of being built, and the people like them.

The next big thing is uniqueness and more family oriented rides. Record breaking coaster have reached their limits and are way to expensive for many park budgets.

One of the concerns about record breaking coasters is that some of them have been maintainence nightmares, always breaking down. TTD and KK are classic examples. Others such as SOB had major flaws that presented safety problems.

Some of the record breakers were later modified to make them less rough. Rattler is an example of this. Steel Phantom underwent even more drastic changes when the loops were replaced by airtime hops and more twisting turns.

The important thing now is that other factors that were neglected or downplayed during the coaster wars are becoming more important than setting coaster records. Family friendliness, reliability, theming, and ride variety (more flat rides, dark rides, water rides, transport rides) are among these concerns.

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Record breaking coaster have reached their limits and are way to expensive for many park budgets.

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Really? That's why I started this thread...now let me say that I agree 100% with the idea that the current trend appears to be more highly themed, family friendly coasters (although I disgaree with anyone who suggests that Maverick is in any way "family friendly"...going upside down turns off many)...but perhaps more highly themed is a trend in particular.

But have record breaking coasters truly reached their limits?

I would bet that when Magnum XL-200 and the Great American Scream Machine debuted (although Maggie got the spotlight) people also said then that records have been reached that were now "at their limit".

That's why I asked about those who are in the coaster industry itself what the "next big thing" is.

When I started this thread, I guess I was asking more along the lines of technology. That is, we had the wooden era, the steel era, the "upside down era", then suspended coasters, then inverts, then floorless, then diving and "4-d"...

What is out there that average enthusiasts like myself don't know about yet...but will see at CP in the next decade?

(in other words, what idea got passed onto Kinzel's desk that is the REAL reason he is sticking around for a few more years?) *** Edited 2/20/2007 6:21:02 PM UTC by OhioStater***