Wood Coasters - A Thing of the Past?

Is my counting off....I thought there was the the S&S in WW/EV, and the GCI at SDC, the Pax Woodie (rcdb says it's gonna be Grey Wolf...that's cool!), and the two Intamins. And don't think for a second that Rampage is gonna go SBNO again before I get on it. Europe is probably be filling up with wood in the neat future, and then probably Asia....

As far as the U.S. is concerned, there's still going to be SOME wood installed, but parks by design are few and far-between (geographically speaking). But since wooden coasters really change their personalities somewhat each time they get a re-track, I'm hoping to see a GG *influence* on some stuff that (not sure how to put this politely, but here goes)...NEEDS it a bit more than the duo over in Santa Claus...but oh my goodness, *if* (when?) GG installs something there...:):):) Sorry if some of you think 3 smileys is excessive, I think in this instance it was... appropo...

bill, having so much fun with foreign words and phrases lately I should probably be beaten...;)

Bill, lay off whatever you are on man ;)

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Da Poodle

Coming in 2003-The Spawn Of Magnum!

Bill, shame on you for mentioning a GG instilation at HW (hehe) it's the offseason and snowing up here you know.. I guess I can forgive you since right now one of your Floridian teams is beating Duke.

But on a sad note for other parks I don't think too many woodies will ever get as much TLC as HW's woodies with the addition of Hammersley (sp) to they're *Family*

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"Rock over London..Rock On Chicago..Wheaties, Breakfast of Champions"! -Wesley Willis

Hmm, I guess the Ozark Wildcat doesn't qualify as a woodie? Well you just forget that I even mentioned it, because I prefer one less person in front of me in line to ride it. :)

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SWOOSH
MIG-The Midwest Information Guide [sfne.com/~swoosh/]

I'm so confused, is there another Bill? or what? haha...

I'm with you Swoosh, now the lines will be 1 minute shorter!

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"I often thought of becoming a golf club"

In short, no. Wooden coasters are not a thing of the past and many examples prove this. Larger, corporate parks like SF & CF build large steel coasters because they can afford $12 to $25 million dollars to impress the GP with their Viagra complex of bigger/ faster is better. Where smaller, family parks can remove the large expense and build creative wooden coasters for $3 to $8 million. Six Flags has built some woodies over the past 5 years (Villian), but they are few and far between.

Holiday World has become an enthusiast hotspot over the last 3 years because of their two gems in the forest. Indiana Beach couldn't afford a $15 million dollar B&M flyer (nor did they have the space) and built CE and LoCoSuMo for about $6-7 million. Yes, yes, Coasterbill, I was getting to your beloved Ozark Wildcat soon enough, don't know the price tag, but I'm sure they didn't hunt down Intamin for a hypercoaster. Another great example is Wild Adventures in Valdosta, GA. Cheetah probably cost less than $4 million and I'm heading there to ride it during spring break....Martin's Ferry Island has a good woodie that attracts the families as well as avid enthusiasts. Hershey is not small, but a larger park and has two outstanding woodies and a solid third. I could also see parks like Knoebel's, for example, building another woodie in the future if space provides. Other examples include Boulder Dash, Zeus & Cyclops, Great White, Shivering Timbers before Cedar Fair took over, and the one in New Mexico (the name escapes me now). Why should the small parks spend huge capital on steel coasters once every 20 years, when they could build 3 woodies in 15 years at the same price?

It's all about the Benjamin's.

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There's nothing like a woodie...

Bill that should be :) :) :) :) four smilleys for the dueling TGG coaster HW is getting :)

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Charles Nungester.
Confirmed, Lesourdsville Lake opening for 2003 details soon at Lesourdsville.com

New Mexico Rattler.

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
You must be this dumb to ride Viper. -SFGAdv.

I really, really wish that most of the "GP" would "get it" when it comes ot wooden coasters. If they would respond ot wooden rides they way they ought too, then we would see many more of them. And, yes, I say "ought to." You know why? Ask a member of the "GP" about their first trip to a park with a good woodie. You'll get an enthusiastic lowdown on the number of loops they conquered, the height of the tallest ride, maybe how they refused a few rides 'cause of how extreme they are... yadda yadda yadda. Then, just when you think it's over, you get: "Oh, yeah... and there was this one ride, can't remember the name, but it was really really good... but it was a wooden coaster. Weird, huh?"

...As you just stand there with an open mouth, trying not to hit one of your good friends in the face

This has happened to me on numerous occasions. The way I see it, the GP likes medium sized woodies just as much as we do. They've just been condintioned by the sheer audacity of modern steel coasters to think that they're not supposed to. Consequently, they think they're alone, and never discover that everyone else thinks the same way they do. And becasue they don't know, the parks don't know. And because of that, the parks think a small, wooden ride would have no appeal, and consequently build few of them.

Imagine what would happen if parks thought wooden rides were as "sexy" as steel. They'd build tons of the things! Wooden rides scare off fewer people, as they lack loops and outrageous heights. They can accomodate younger people, as they have only lap-bars. They cost a lot less to put in. While they are maintanance intensive, parks generally seem to be able to cope with that. And, despite a lack of various elements and types, each one is very unique, giving a park with several woodies a considerable variety ofhrills (If you disagree, go to Kennywood. Then we'll talk).

Wooden coasters will always be around. No park is ever complete without a woodie. Plus, it may not seem like it, but there are still things that can be done with woodies that haven't yet.

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"Here's my ten cence, my two cence is free"-Eminem

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RubberDucky said:
Plus, it may not seem like it, but there are still things that can be done with woodies that haven't yet.

Like,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,? Elaborate more please. This is what we were discussing above. What else can they do with woodies(elements and types of woodies) that they haven't yet. Don't just leave us hanging with that cliffhanger of a statement.

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"You know its a good ride when you come into the final break run wiping tears from your eyes"-me

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Frankly I don't *want* to see anything more done with woodies. No more loops. No launches. I don't want to see the invention of the "floorless woodie" or the "inverted woodie." Leave those gimmicks to the steel coasters.

I prefer wooden coaster to stay as *traditional* as possible.

Moosh - purist

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"Honey...if 'catty' were a perfume you'd reek of it!"

*** This post was edited by Mamoosh 2/3/2003 4:35:30 PM ***

Chuck you mean my favorite park in the work is getting a dueling TGG woodie?? Are you just kidding? Is this true or just a prediction you have made for the future. I could easily see that the next HW coaster could be a TGG dueling woodie! I hope so! You can NEVER have too many woodie! :-)

No need to drool over a dueling TGG at Holiday World just yet. While I'm sure the park will get more wood at some point remember it was 5 years between Raven and Legend.

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"Honey...if 'catty' were a perfume you'd reek of it!"

Wooden coasters will only be built when another park requests them. Sadly, many parks are looking for that "new age" coaster so people will get interested. If a company can create a new unheard element on a wooden rollercoaster as PKI did with SOB than I believe there could be a whole new wave of woodies.

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They have the internet on computers now!??

-Homer Simpson
*** This post was edited by GamblingChicken 2/3/2003 4:57:05 PM ***

2004 will make it 4 years between Legend and whatever would get built for that year. With the BIG addition to the waterpark for this year and 2 flat rides (one's an S&S double shot) there certainly is no new woodies for this year nor do they really need it but a racing/dueling one would be the way to go whenever they plan for their next coaster. I think they should stick to traditional thrills. I'd rather see them alway add woodies instead of a looper but either way would be OK since the two they have are top notch.

Mamoosh said:
No need to drool over a dueling TGG at Holiday World just yet.

Hey, with enough drool, there could be a 'splash down' section. Yay!

Kevin, surely you understand that I have no Idea of what HW would be getting for the near future. I was joking/dreaming :)

HW is going to do what HW feels is best for it's park and so far they have made almost all the right moves.

Chuck, who thinks some kindda expansion might be needed before they built another TOP TEN coaster, but I still wouldn't mind mingling in the masses 4 times a year :0

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Charles Nungester.
Confirmed, Lesourdsville Lake opening for 2003 details soon at Lesourdsville.com

ROFL chris.

Holiday World has two wooden coasters entrenched in the Top 5. I'd be willing to bet some money they'd like to have three ranked that high. How and when they do it is anyone's guess. But even if there were never to add another woodie [Paula - you *didn't* read that!] I'd still love the park a ton ;)

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"Honey...if 'catty' were a perfume you'd reek of it!"

I count:

-Gray Wolf(PAX)

-Ozark Wildcat(GCI)

-Balder(Intamin)

-Enchanted Village woodie(S&S)

-Park Fantasia woodie(Vekoma)

-Ravensburger Spieleland woodie (Intamin)

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