Why Did Wildfire Cost so Much !?!?

It is only 3,073ft. and it cost $14,000,000 ! That is quite a bit for it's size. Was it because of the land ?

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Titan Lap: 19

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that was the average price for a B&M.
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If you have to figure out how to ride a coaster to be comfortable, then that's not a coaster worth riding.

Terrain adds an AMAZING amount of cost to a coaster. If you look at the Vekoma SLC's you'll see the footers are set for "clear flat land". Cheaper by far, but how can you put a price on the Raven or The Beast when it comes to their use of terrain...
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PoTP acolyte - remove fear to reply
Son of Drop Zone - PKI CoasterCamp I Champions!!!

Custom design with terrain adds $$$!

It's really not that much for what it is. I would have guessed $12 mil if I didn't know.

I'm sure the themeing wasn't cheap either...

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Yes it was the EXTENSIVE amount of themeing that went into the ride. Also the devolpment of land that had not been recently used. Also the fact that they wanted the ride to not be visible from the midway made a few complications on ride design. I think it was well worth it, and yes that is about the regular price for a beemer, minus the cost of themeing of course.
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S W :) :) S H
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GO HUSKERS!

Does B&M do theming on rides for there customers ?

and so if a park had a budget of $15,000,000 to spand on just the ride itself, could a length of around 3,500ft. to 4,000ft. be purchased ?

*** This post was edited by TITAN_FAN_13 on 1/31/2002. ***

I think that's the going price for a B:TR these days, and it is shorter and much less "custom." B&M's are just that expensive, and worth it, IMO.

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Nothing... NOTHING... can prepare you for... the Fourth Dimension!

Terrain adds to design costs, but used intelligently can reduce fabrication costs through the use of less steel. Erection costs can be higher though if the terrain is too rugged. Cheaper or more expensive? It all depends.

SLC's like all standard coasters are designed for flat ground, not because it is cheapest, but because it is most common and makes the design adaptable. Where there is some terrain such as on Batwing, compensation can be made by using tall piers on the footers.

Wildfire sits on the side of a big hill/small mountain, so, design and assembly costs were probablly higher than comparable coasters built on level ground. Wildfire also has an extensivelly themed station, gift shop, and observation deck which most likely added to the overall cost of the ride. Wildfire also has a powered maintance vechicle and I imagine those are not cheap.

Much like buying a car where adding accessories and bells & whistles adds greatly to the cost.

Wildfire opens in 70 days.

Does anoyne have a Picture of a Maintance vechicle in use. I've rode WF alot and everytime I ride I always look at the Maintance vechicle inside the shop. It looks like something from American Gladiators.
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Chris Knight
All Your Base are belong to us

Does anyone have a photos of the maintance vechicle...Period

*** This post was edited by Alex Nagel on 2/5/2002. ***

Good way to put it Alex. Hey hey, my name is also Alex.

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SFNE loses its "floor" for 2002! Visit www.geocities.com/sfneguy for info. and pics of SFNE, including the most unique constr. pics of SFNE on the web. Formerly known as srosatsfne.

is it me or does WF king of look like kumba?
-ryan

Hulkster said:
is it me or does WF king of look like kumba?
-ryan

Not so much, unless you are talking about that it was built by B&M, it's a sit-down and it goes upside down. Then sure it looks like Kumba. But that's where the similarity ends.
If you want to talk about a coaster that looks like Kumba look at Medusa's layout. Yes a few differences but pretty much the same.

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FoF said:
Back to the original question, terrain and custom designs tend to make coasters cost more then those that are "cloned".

Yes that's correct. This is probably one of the more themed coasters that is out there....and one of the best views from a coaster as well.

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S W :) :) S H
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Well, I don't think Wildfire is extremely overpriced. Great Bear was 13,000 and its track length is shorter than Wildfire's track length.