RCGenius
Posts: 1180
Registered: 12/23/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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 2/15/2006 8:16:30 PM
Which coaster do ya'll think was the best and worst coaster investments & why? Here are my two choices:
Best - Pheonix
When Pheonix was built back in 1985, it had to undergo a relocation project & the ride was only $2 million. We all know that it practically makes the majority of our Top 10 List & it was just amazing how that year Knoebels decided to build a medium-sized woody that'd make them a good competitor in the amusement park industry. Pheonix's an amazing woody & set at a dirt cheap price too back in its day.
Worst - Expedition Everest
I know that this year's the grand opening, but I really don't think that any coaster should run with its cost being $100 million. I know that it's not just the coaster itself b/c it's also b/c of the mountain, but unless it breaks records or so'em, I just think that it was a huge waste of money. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad that WDW's finally adding another coaster into their lineup since their last major one was Rock 'n' Roller Coaster back in 1999. It'll be great for the first 2-3 years, but in the long haul, WDW will understand that they've invested on a mediocre coaster & could've invested in a more cheaper coaster w/more satisfying results in the long run.
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Scott
Posts: 2766
Registered: 11/7/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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2/21/2006 6:00:54 PM
I don't think so. Animal Kingdom has been seeing record crowds (even in the off season!) now that EE is open. EE gives locals more reason to visit AK, and draw more tourists to the resort as a whole. Expedition Everest may give DAK the boost it's needed for years now. I think the ride will be a huge success. Tourists will be drawn to animal kingdom because of this ride.
btw,
DCA's TOT - 80 million
Florida's TOT - 80 million (12 years ago)
These rides were great investments!
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Hercules
Posts: 4037
Registered: 10/13/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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2/22/2006 1:33:13 AM
They will be drawn especially because of this huge advertising campaign that Disney is doing for the ride.
If anything is the worst investment it is Superman: The Escape at SFMM with Top Thrill Dragster in a close second.
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taylorb251
Posts: 1181
Registered: 3/8/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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2/22/2006 1:12:57 PM
I don't understand how you can say the EE is a big waste of money. I would think you need to give time to see what happens. I bet you think splash mountain was a big waste of money for just a log flume ride, but it has become one of there most popular rides.
I do think Top thrill dragster that did break records is a big waste of money since it is always broken down.
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Swimace
Posts: 5916
Registered: 8/28/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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2/22/2006 4:00:36 PM
Quote:
RCGenius said:
Worst - Expedition Everest
I know that this year's the grand opening, but I really don't think that any coaster should run with its cost being $100 million. I know that it's not just the coaster itself b/c it's also b/c of the mountain, but unless it breaks records or so'em, I just think that it was a huge waste of money. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad that WDW's finally adding another coaster into their lineup since their last major one was Rock 'n' Roller Coaster back in 1999. It'll be great for the first 2-3 years, but in the long haul, WDW will understand that they've invested on a mediocre coaster & could've invested in a more cheaper coaster w/more satisfying results in the long run. |
You have totally missed the big picture of Everest. Disney knows exactly what they're doing, and Everest is in no way a mistake. Disney isn't solely trying to get a quick jump in Animal Kingdom attendance, there's a bigger reason behind Everest. With Animal Kingdom's pre-Everest state, many families on vacation would choose to skip the park all together. Disney is trying to get people to stay on property longer, which brings in much larger benifits than a ticket to AK. Disney is trying to get their guests to feel like Animal Kingdom has something amazing to offer them, something so amazing that the guests are going to tag another night onto their room. Add up the price of an extra day at Disney (tickets, room, food, etc.) and Disney stands to make a ton of money off of Everest. I think you're reallly off base saying that Everest is one of the worst coaster investments of all time, because a ride the size of Everest is exactly what Animal Kingdom needed to increase profit throughout the entire Disney property.
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RCGenius
Posts: 1180
Registered: 12/23/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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2/22/2006 8:20:54 PM
I understand now what Expedition Everest will do & how it'll have a huge impact in the near future. I was just saying that b/c it was set at a very high price, & I didn't think any coaster that expensive would've been all that in the first place. Besides, I saw some pictures & a video of EE & it did look like an exciting new thrill ride & an excellent major coaster for AK to build around. Ya'll were right & I was wrong.
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Swimace
Posts: 5916
Registered: 8/28/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
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2/22/2006 9:25:12 PM
Quote:
RCGenius said:
I understand now what Expedition Everest will do & how it'll have a huge impact in the near future. I was just saying that b/c it was set at a very high price, & I didn't think any coaster that expensive would've been all that in the first place. Besides, I saw some pictures & a video of EE & it did look like an exciting new thrill ride & an excellent major coaster for AK to build around. Ya'll were right & I was wrong. |
I understand how you can think that, and at any other park in the world it would be true, but the economics at WDW works differently than any other park in the world. It's ok, you can still keep your RCGenius title 
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Scott
Posts: 2766
Registered: 11/7/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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2/23/2006 5:50:26 PM
yeah... a park like MK pulls in about 50,000 - 60,000 people a day! and at 70 bucks a ticket...
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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2/23/2006 11:34:23 PM
Quote:
Swimace said:
You have totally missed the big picture of Everest. Disney knows exactly what they're doing, and Everest is in no way a mistake. Disney isn't solely trying to get a quick jump in Animal Kingdom attendance, there's a bigger reason behind Everest. With Animal Kingdom's pre-Everest state, many families on vacation would choose to skip the park all together. Disney is trying to get people to stay on property longer, which brings in much larger benifits than a ticket to AK. Disney is trying to get their guests to feel like Animal Kingdom has something amazing to offer them, something so amazing that the guests are going to tag another night onto their room. Add up the price of an extra day at Disney (tickets, room, food, etc.) and Disney stands to make a ton of money off of Everest. I think you're reallly off base saying that Everest is one of the worst coaster investments of all time, because a ride the size of Everest is exactly what Animal Kingdom needed to increase profit throughout the entire Disney property. |
Swimace - your post hit the nail on the head, the purpose of Expedition Everest is to get families to spend one more day on Disney property. Give then a reason to stay 5 days versus 4 days.
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mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
Rank: TPC News Minister
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2/26/2006 4:23:38 PM
Quote:
RCGenius said:
I understand now what Expedition Everest will do & how it'll have a huge impact in the near future. I was just saying that b/c it was set at a very high price, & I didn't think any coaster that expensive would've been all that in the first place. Besides, I saw some pictures & a video of EE & it did look like an exciting new thrill ride & an excellent major coaster for AK to build around. Ya'll were right & I was wrong. |
That 100 million was far more then the Mountain and ride. it was development and the new land around the ride. Each of those buildign had to of been 1-2 million a peace(being build to last and with stand Hurican force winds)The coaster itself was likely 20-30 million with the development. So with like 20 buildings at 1.5 each adn a 25 million coaster average. it's posible that 55 million was put into everythign other then the Mountain. so 45 million for the mountain of that quality and the landscaping isn't that bad.
also keep in mind Disney helped Vekoma vesign a new track system which I'm suer disney shares on teh patent. which will make them allot of money.
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mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
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2/26/2006 4:34:45 PM
Sorry for the double post but I wanted to keep this organized and get back to topic.
Best: Bolderdash
Single handedly brought a once degrepid amusment park into the lime light. The design and style of the coaster is something new. best of all you can only get it at Lake Compounce so the park now gets visiters from all over not just CT.
Wost: X
It's aparintly one of the most expensive coasters SFMM ever bought. Since its Debute in 2001 it's only been able to spon one new coaster of its kind. The coaster has also had allot of downtime including 3 month of down time in 2002.
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Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
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2/26/2006 6:10:12 PM
I don't think X would be considered one of the worst coaster investments by most people - or at any rate, not by me. I don't think that its downtime has been much worse than TTD, and while it wasn't as much of a record-breaker as TTD when it opened, it is still one-of-a-kind and offers a very unique experience. The whole ride is like nothing I have ever experienced, and while you don't hear a lot about it much anymore, I'm sure it helped SFMM's attendance in both the short- and long-term.
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BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
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2/26/2006 7:38:36 PM
Quote:
mrceagle said:
Sorry for the double post but I wanted to keep this organized and get back to topic. |
With X, it was the prototype, and one of the most complicated rides around. A lot of unique or new types of rides take awhile to work out - for example, Volcano Blast Coaster could only launch half loads to start with; Giant Inverted Boomerangs. Hypersonic XLC went down for a while a few yeras ago to make it better, it too was a prototype. Look at the Bat, it was actually deconstructed too! There are a lot of prototypes out there that just take a while to work out - X runs somewhat reliable now - and some coasters take longer than others. Now that they are building a second, I think its safe to assume a lot of the bugs have been worked out.
I say Steel Dragon 200: no coaster, by itself, is worth $50 million at this time. What makes it worse is the accident.
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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2/26/2006 9:53:23 PM
I might have to go with S:ROS @ SFDL. I am not sure where SFDL's attendance figures were before the ride. But if has not helped attendance much what was the purpose. Then again is attendance is still better now than it was 5 years ago at SFDL, then I take back my two cents.
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mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
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2/27/2006 1:21:15 AM
I get your prototype statmest. The Giant Inverted Boomerange was a close second in my mind.
As far as Steel Dragon I had't found out much of that accident just that The Goverment is refusing to let it reopen. all the coasters at that park are expensive they have to stand up to Typhoone winds, Earthquacks, etc. Nothing is build simple in Japane.
I had heard that SFDL had 1.2 million the year they became a SF park and opened Superman. Since then attendance has droped. I can admit they relied too much on an unariganal Hyper coaster and did too little to the park to make it what it should have been
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BobFunland
Posts: 7962
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2/27/2006 2:01:32 AM
Superman: Ride of Steel at Six Flags Darien Lake:
* First Intamin Hypercoaster
* First Six Flags Hypercoaster installation
* First use of Superman theme
Where does unariganal come in?
I know Japan has strict building codes, but like I said EVEN WITHOUT the accident, its still an awful lot of money.
In an article from 1999, Darien Lake's attendance was 1.5 mil pre ROS. In 2004, it was 1.25 mil according to Amusement Business via UCLA's Anderson School
Good nomination - and to answer your question, I guess "to show our ability to build coasters". Honestly, I don't know what the hell SFI was thinking circa 1999-2001. Didn't Darien Lake's boomerange come a year or two before anyways? Surely doesnt say much if attendance has fallen 16% over six seasons for the ride...
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hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005
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2/27/2006 11:09:51 AM
Quote:
mrceagle said:
they have to stand up to Typhoone winds, Earthquacks, etc. Nothing is build simple in Japane.
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i don't want to derail this topic, but i just want to assert that "earthquacks" is thus far my favorite mrc typo.
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mrceagle
Posts: 13804
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2/27/2006 11:57:15 AM
Thing is af far as the investmant. If before the coaster 1.5 million were going I can see the investmant. The park didn't really suport the coaster. I wasn't talking abou tthe Hyper coaster being un origanal but the design. It's Un thought out and basic. there is more steight track on that thing then I have seen on any coaster in my life. I just feel for 12,000,000 Intamin could have done better.
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coaster05
Posts: 6207
Registered: 2/29/2004
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2/27/2006 1:38:15 PM
^I am so shocked to see you turn stuff around to make yourself look better.
BFun addressed everything you said and found things you were wrong on. Instead of acknowledging that you change what you said.
Most coasters have only a little bit of straight track so wouldn't having a lot be orginal. It is also a very well respected coaster among the GP and enthusiasts.
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Scott
Posts: 2766
Registered: 11/7/2004
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2/27/2006 6:08:50 PM
actually bob, Superman the escape had superman long before the one at DL.
Message updated 2/27/2006 6:09:21 PM by Scott
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mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
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2/27/2006 9:01:42 PM
Quote:
coaster05 said:
^I am so shocked to see you turn stuff around to make yourself look better.
BFun addressed everything you said and found things you were wrong on. Instead of acknowledging that you change what you said.
Most coasters have only a little bit of straight track so wouldn't having a lot be orginal. It is also a very well respected coaster among the GP and enthusiasts. |
I wasn't trying to do any thing like that. The coster is a good investment. it's all that has gone on after that makes it look bad.
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coasterwom
Posts: 1446
Registered: 3/23/2001
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4/19/2006 7:06:31 AM
Best Investment: Expedition Everest
Worst Investment: Coasters that have been lost.
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