Sephiroth7
Posts: 2421
Registered: 4/4/2001
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
 4/28/2005 11:46:02 AM
(United States, not Europe)
I think the coaster to start this "modern" revolution surely has to be Batman: The Ride. It seems, right after that ride came out...everyone began getting inventive. Obviously, technology has a lot to do with this. Batman was so much smoother / more advanced then antyhing before it and technology can be thanked for that. But regardless of reason, Batman: The Ride kick started this modern steel revolution that we are living in today.
Not to be outdone, Six Flag's other widespread coaster, Scream Machine / Viper / etc etc, really gave birth to the "megacoaster". "7 inversions!?" At the time, that was huge and intimidating. If you rode on the Scream Machine, you had guts. There were other coasters (Steel Phantom), but none had the marketing power of Six Flag's coaster.
There are a ton of other coasters...so get crackin.
|
Sephiroth7
Posts: 2421
Registered: 4/4/2001
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
 4/28/2005 11:48:18 AM
Damn, now I look like an idiot for spelling steel AND influential wrong in the topic. Good job me 
Message updated 4/28/2005 11:24:15 PM by Sephiroth7
|
Sephiroth7
Posts: 2421
Registered: 4/4/2001
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/28/2005 11:48:37 AM
Stupid double posting...don't know why this keeps happenin to me...
Message updated 4/28/2005 11:24:38 PM by Sephiroth7
|
WAR2174
Posts: 1067
Registered: 3/6/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/28/2005 12:21:05 PM
Now you look like a bigger idiot for double posting.JK!
I would agree that the inverted craze really kicked off the explosion of coaster building in the late 90's.
But I will go with the easiest choice:Revolution. It started a huge craze in the late 70's where looping steel coasters were being built all over the place. Names like Loch Ness Monster, Mindbender, Shockwave, Superdooperlooper showed up and changed everything. The craze was huge. They even made movies about coasters. Revolution started, well, a revolution.
Message updated 4/28/2005 12:22:52 PM by WAR2174
|
Hercules
Posts: 4037
Registered: 10/13/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/28/2005 4:02:25 PM
Oh boy, here we go again
Maybe this will bring 3r1c out of his mini retirement. Just kidding dude.
Since I have a B&M invert fetish, I can't agree more with Batman: The Ride. However, I see the days of the good inverts as being numbered.
I do have to say that anything Arrow would have to be in this category. I know it is just supposed to be a coaster, but I'm going to go with Arrow in general. Who knows where the industry would be without them throwing in so many loops and inversions. Sure, they don't look pretty at all, and some argue that they are overly rough, but they led the way for a little while there.
|
Swimace
Posts: 5916
Registered: 8/28/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/28/2005 8:25:44 PM
Kumba. It was the first free form looper (looping coaster not restricted to certain sized loops and corckscrews). It boasted the first Cobra Roll, Zero-G camel back roll, and dive loop. Also, it had the biggest loop when it opened. It was also the first B&M mega-looper. Basically every one of B&M's looping coasters comes from Kumba
|
Godsentone
Posts: 521
Registered: 3/31/2005
Rank: Gold Critic
|
4/28/2005 8:32:19 PM
Hey I decided to look up the definition of revolutionary to add some validity to all these claims.
Here's what I found:
Revolutionary-Marked by or resulting in radical change:i.e. a revolutionary discovery.
Now all we have to do is determine which coasters are marked by change or resulted in radical change.
I think you can make claims for 2 coasters and 1 ride all in the same great park. IOA first introduced Spiderman the Ride, Dueling Dragons, and The Incredible Hulk, which all featured something that was state of the art.
|
Sephiroth7
Posts: 2421
Registered: 4/4/2001
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/28/2005 11:25:54 PM
God, the rides you mentioned are innovative...not influential. You can argue Spiderman "will" be in the future, which I'm sure it will....but we're talking about coasters here buddy  .
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
4/29/2005 12:07:14 AM
The Bat: sure, it didn't work out too well, but it was the first "gimmick" coaster, and paved the way for coaster designers to think "What kind of vehicle can I design to give a unique ride?", and thus, we now have 101 Inverts, 18 Flyers, 35 suspendeds and 22 stand-ups worldwide.
PS, ignore Alpenflug
Schwarzkopf's shuttle loops: They changed the way people think about coasters, and without the concept of a launch coaster our tallest coaster would still be Millennium. It was totally different than anything ever seen to date, and just the way coaster design is approached (lift hills can no longer be taken for granted).
Schwarzkopf was just plain influential himself.
Coney's Cyclone: Just because it provided an industry benchmark for a great wooden coaster that almost 80 years later is still being emulated in designs. Other older works by Traver, Church and Prior and such also have been the influence to dozens of great rides.
D'oh, steel only, sorry.
Message updated 4/29/2005 12:07:54 AM by BobFunland
|
Hercules
Posts: 4037
Registered: 10/13/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/29/2005 12:25:03 AM
Viper at Great Adventure because that thing is going to be around forever and it is just a matter of time before you see that heartline roll popping up all over the place!!!
Oh... wait what?.... Oh really?..... Taking it down?...... No more Togo?..... Wow.... Ooops...... I must seem like an idiot now huh?
Anyway, I'm going out on a limb here, but, I will stay in the same park and say Medusa. The floorless is here to stay. But I guess the truely influential link to the floorless is the inverted, so all roads lead back to Batman. I guess the Medusa argument is dead then and the Batman argument has some fuel on it.
Going back to Arrow, how about Magnum XL-200. I believe this is where the debate really got fired up in the last thread. But I mean really. It was the tallest at one point. I believe that GASM at Great Adventure was for the a couple of weeks there before Magnum was built... but anyway... thanks to Arrow and Magnum, you now see those great Morgan Hypers out there Actually, thanks to Arrow and Magnum you now see rides over 200 feet. Sure it was just a matter of time, but a couple of years of waiting and we would still be waiting for TTD to be built.
|
larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/29/2005 12:40:12 AM
I'll go with Magnum for the following reason. How many people have we heard complain that their park can't put in a 200 foot coaster because on zoning restrictions. Nowadays everybody wants a 200 footer and Magnum started this revolution arms race in coasters.
and I have to agree with WAR2174's comment about Revolution
|
Corona
Posts: 53
Registered: 7/12/2002
Rank: Senior Critic
|
4/29/2005 12:46:22 AM
I agree with those that said Magnum. That was the when the coaster craze really got rediculous. Much to our benefit.
|
Swimace
Posts: 5916
Registered: 8/28/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
 4/29/2005 7:22:23 AM
Quote:
Hercules said:
Anyway, I'm going out on a limb here, but, I will stay in the same park and say Medusa. The floorless is here to stay. But I guess the truely influential link to the floorless is the inverted, so all roads lead back to Batman. I guess the Medusa argument is dead then and the Batman argument has some fuel on it.
|
And you just strengthened my point about Kumba. Medusa's layout is a modified version of Kumba's.
--------------------
"Not even the Magi can save you now"
|
coaster05
Posts: 6207
Registered: 2/29/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/29/2005 8:17:20 AM
Wasn't the matterhorn at Disneyland the first real use of the tubular track?
|
Sephiroth7
Posts: 2421
Registered: 4/4/2001
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/29/2005 2:44:38 PM
I didn't say the MOST influential steel coaster, I said "coasters". We shouldn't start flaming at each other hehe. Just name other coasters you feel helped pave the way for today's amazins. There's surely more then one. I mean, you can say Batman for loopers, Magnum for hypers. It's like comparing apples and oranges.
|
benleibo
Posts: 781
Registered: 6/25/2003
Rank: Gold Critic
|
4/29/2005 2:55:11 PM
I'm going to go with Kumba.
Kumba really revolutionized steel looping coasters. I mean the difference between Kumba and the Arrow loopers of the same era is HUGE! Kumba introduced new inversions that are still staples of B+M coasters, such as the zero-g-roll, dive loop, and interlocking corkscrews. The way it just flows from one inversion to another with a blistering pace was so new at the time. Until then, steel loopers were just loops and corkscrews. Kumba's inversion order has been tried similarly on almost all of B+M's monster steel coasters. The terrain aspect of Kumba also got a lot of attention.
|
Hercules
Posts: 4037
Registered: 10/13/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/29/2005 3:01:41 PM
Oh you haven't seen flaming yet. Did you check out the other thread? Now that was flaming. And it is definately possible in for this topic.
I could name the least influential. This whole most influential is kind of hard. But anyway, here is one. Son of Beast. I think this ride falls into the category of most and least influential. It is the most and least because it is the only hyper wood coaster out there and the only one with a loop. It got a lot of buzz when it first hit scene. To tie them both together, nobody has ever tried to build another 200 foot tall wood coaster and nobody has tried a loop on a wood, thus making it influential in the fact that all parks realize that they should never try anything like that. 
Now I hate to say this, but the Wild Mouse. I'm not sure what the first "wild mouse" type coaster was, but that was influential. Those things are popping up all over the place and is a great thing for families and they are pretty popular. I hate them because I don't like the rides that they profide and they have low capacity. But, they are pretty popular and have branched out to spinners and other things.
|
larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/29/2005 3:44:12 PM
Quote:
Hercules said:
Oh you haven't seen flaming yet. Did you check out the other thread? Now that was flaming. And it is definately possible in for this topic. |
That's only because Eric likes arguing. It is very clear that Magnum started the race for bigger coasters. Yes, it's true that if another coaster of that size opened before Magnum we would be calling that other coaster influential/revolutionary and the starter of a craze. But the fact is Magnum is the one that started the arms race.
--------------------
Mom always said, "Don't play ball in the house".
|
Sephiroth7
Posts: 2421
Registered: 4/4/2001
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/29/2005 4:27:14 PM
Hercules: STEEL COASTERS! . Also, in order for a ride to be influential, OTHER rides have to spawn from it. Again, SOB is innovative, not influential.
Quote:
Hercules said:
Oh you haven't seen flaming yet. Did you check out the other thread? Now that was flaming. And it is definately possible in for this topic.
I could name the least influential. This whole most influential is kind of hard. But anyway, here is one. Son of Beast. I think this ride falls into the category of most and least influential. It is the most and least because it is the only hyper wood coaster out there and the only one with a loop. It got a lot of buzz when it first hit scene. To tie them both together, nobody has ever tried to build another 200 foot tall wood coaster and nobody has tried a loop on a wood, thus making it influential in the fact that all parks realize that they should never try anything like that.
Now I hate to say this, but the Wild Mouse. I'm not sure what the first "wild mouse" type coaster was, but that was influential. Those things are popping up all over the place and is a great thing for families and they are pretty popular. I hate them because I don't like the rides that they profide and they have low capacity. But, they are pretty popular and have branched out to spinners and other things. |
|
BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
|
4/29/2005 4:31:39 PM
^Very true
Quote:
benleibo said:
I'm going to go with Kumba.
Kumba really revolutionized steel looping coasters. I mean the difference between Kumba and the Arrow loopers of the same era is HUGE! Kumba introduced new inversions that are still staples of B+M coasters, such as the zero-g-roll, dive loop, and interlocking corkscrews. The way it just flows from one inversion to another with a blistering pace was so new at the time. Until then, steel loopers were just loops and corkscrews. Kumba's inversion order has been tried similarly on almost all of B+M's monster steel coasters. The terrain aspect of Kumba also got a lot of attention. |
I don't neccessarily think that Kumba was too influencial. Yes, they introduced some new elements, but nothing that had never been done before (zero-G rolls had been seen, as had cobra rolls). More of the B&M adaptations and innovations, and IMO, interlocking corkscrew's aren't all that influencial, just a design elements probably done to minimize space consumed and add a thrill element.
Sorry, I just don't buy into Kumba all that much... eh, it is and isn't at the same time I guess, I'm split
--------------------
My Online Photo Gallery
Sign this petition
Message updated 4/29/2005 4:56:11 PM by BobFunland
|
larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/29/2005 4:36:48 PM
How about Flight of Fear igniting (LIM/LSM/Hydraulic) launched coasters?
Message updated 4/29/2005 4:45:04 PM by larrygator
|
Hercules
Posts: 4037
Registered: 10/13/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/29/2005 4:48:20 PM
Quote:
Sephiroth7 said:
Hercules: STEEL COASTERS! . Also, in order for a ride to be influential, OTHER rides have to spawn from it. Again, SOB is innovative, not influential. |
I know, I'm retarded  I just won't post in here anymore in fear of saying something retarded.
My argument though was that people were influenced to not do any of those things. It was kind of a joke. Nevermind though.
I saw something on xtremecoasters.com in the random facts thing that the first operational steel coaster was built in Japan in 1958.
--------------------
"I could never design another ride like Hercules." - Curtis Summers
|
Sephiroth7
Posts: 2421
Registered: 4/4/2001
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/29/2005 10:04:04 PM
Well at least you know you are ... j/k
|
WAR2174
Posts: 1067
Registered: 3/6/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
4/30/2005 11:54:40 AM
I don't know Bob. Kumba was an influence from the standpoint that it really put B&M on the map. You could argue that the rise of B&M forced other companies like Intamin, Arrow, and S&S to try things maybe they wouldn't have tried to get some of their power back in the coaster game. Rides like Hypersonic and X were developed. And the cost of such endevours led to a classic company(Arrow) going under. One could argue that Kumba did lead to all that.
|
coasterwom
Posts: 1446
Registered: 3/23/2001
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
5/21/2006 2:52:02 AM
Magnum XL 200, Kumba, Flight Of Fear, King Cobra, Stealth, and The Beast were very influential coasters that marked the beginning of coaster eras. These are some of my favorites also.
|
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
5/21/2006 8:54:41 AM
When did The Beast become a steel coaster? And are you under some contractual obligation to Paramount that you have to mention one or more of their coasters in every one of your posts? Just wondering...
|
CCTrack
Posts: 663
Registered: 6/10/2005
Rank: Gold Critic
|
5/23/2006 5:13:33 PM
I would have to go with Magnum XL 200, set a milestone for the first coaster to break the 200 ft barrier...
|
CCTrack
Posts: 663
Registered: 6/10/2005
Rank: Gold Critic
|
5/23/2006 5:15:04 PM
Sorry about this post but while I'm here does anyone have a good website where i can get and print the pictures of layouts for any coasters?
|
Animan1
Posts: 5394
Registered: 5/14/2003
Rank: Platinum Critic
|
5/24/2006 8:29:29 PM
No, I don't have any suggestions for layouts in particular, but I do have another suggestion for you: Edit button. Use it. 
|
Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
|
5/26/2006 7:20:54 AM
Quote:
coasterwom said:
Magnum XL 200, Kumba, Flight Of Fear, King Cobra, Stealth, and The Beast were very influential coasters that marked the beginning of coaster eras. These are some of my favorites also. |
How about explaining yourself? I see Maggie being on that list, it set the stage not only for the boom in hyper coasters, but also a race for the tallest coaster, the fastest coaster, and it proved that the classic thrill of an airtime filled out and back ride could still bring people through the gates.
But the rest? Really, how is the Beast even influentual. If you want to talk about an influentual coaster at that park, how about the Racer, not the Beast. The Racer proved that people still wanted wooden coasters, and that a big wooden coaster had a place at a theme park. It marked the begining of the come back of the coaster as a whole.
So please, tell me how the rest of the rides you mention fit in.
--------------------
My Track Record
Penncoasters.com
 
Annoy a liberal, work hard and be happy.
|