This is sort of a risky question, but i thought about it recently. There is much talk about parks being not too well maintained (if a park safes money on cleanliness, staff and appearance, can i presume that they maintain their rides well?)
Then there is the fact that fatal accidents happened during the last season and the fact that the Public is (handsdown) bloodthirsty. We all read that crowds were much longer after a ride had an accident, if someone died the appeal seemed to be even bigger.
Do you think that a lethal accident would be the ultimate promotion (in the long range)?
If someone died on a coaster that was the park's fault, you would never see me on it...no matter how much I loved the coaster. But, most accidents or deaths result from people doing things they should not be doing. In that case, let's ride!
I agree with Martling. If the accident was mechanical, I would not ever ride it again, no matter how much I liked it before. But if it was a riders fault, no problem. I rode Shockwave at PKD when I knew someone had been killed on it. (Their fault.) I was thinking about it while I was in line, but I knew mechanically the ride really was not at fault.
I dont think ridership would increase because of that although there probably would be a few people who would want to ride it more. HOWEVER, after an accident the park might work to improve the rides appearance and safety, which eventually might make the ridership increase.
I remember hearing on Discovery Channel one time that back in the 20's and 30's(during the first Golden Age of Coasters), if a ride had a reputation of being dangerous to the point of death(s), the ridership DID actually increase. Let's see what happens with Splash Mountain.
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"Brak presents the Brak show starring Brak!!!"
You know... this may be a little touchy, it's true, but I think there's some truth to it. Many people like thrill rides for their sense of danger, and an accident may play into that. I mean, why do people still talk about the Crystal Beach Cyclone - it wouldn't have anything to do with the nurse on duty in the station to tend to all the injuries and riders who had fainted, would it? Coasters on which someone died can develop a certain infamy, and that certainly may raise their profile. I mean, it was on my mind the first time my wife and I rode Timber Wolf at WoF ...
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Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.
Yes, agree completely with Spewey's sentiment.
The magic word in ANY commercial undertaking is: "PUBLICITY." Good or bad. The corporate glitterati will work feverishly to "spin" the negative pub, but behind closed doors, they will love the attention.
A rather distant-cousin type of example would be how certain elements used to ban a particular song, etc. from being played on the radio. This is negative pub for the artist....who would then go on to reap millions from that very same pub.
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buckweet FL
anybadcoastabeatsanygoodjob!
I would tend to agree with most of you, especially Martling. I remember back in the days of Geauga Lake that a girl died from riding the Double Loop. She was probably an eighth grader and was on a Physics Field Trip with her school. She was not supposed to ride any of the rides due to her asthmatic condition... but did she listen? No. She had an asthma attack and went into Cardiac Arrest. And her parent tried to sue the park... for something that was her fault. People these days...
