Hercules
Posts: 4037
Registered: 10/13/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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 10/6/2005 10:21:52 PM
We all know that there is this "boom" of wooden coaster coming next year. Well actually, it has kind of been over the last few years, but just not as well known. But as of late, there have been some high profile annoucements for some big time wooden coasters. (I'm just talking about the United States here by the way)
The under the radar 2004's that have been highly regarded:
Avalanche
J2 (the coaster formally known as Tsunami)
Thunderhead (obviously not "under the radar" in terms of recognition of its greatness, but still a 2004)
Triple Hurricane
The Wood Class of 2005... starting the high profile thing:
Hades (Mr. High Profile)
2006 announcements so far:
El Toro
Starliner (well, how about a high profile relocation?)
The Nameless Beech Bend coaster
Voyage
So what was/is it? Was it a company, say, GCI? You could look back a few more years and make the argument that some of their great coasters might have really made things get going. Was it another company? Are parks just fulfilling needs or keeping up with traditions? Is this just a trend or a fad of the times? Is this here to stay?
What is your take on this?
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"I could never design another ride like Hercules." - Curtis Summers
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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10/6/2005 11:23:00 PM
Actually, I think the boom has been going on for 10 years now, begining with CCI's first coasters. With them offering drastically underpriced coasters to small parks, the small parks could have a major attraction and make a name for themselves.
There have been a few slow years, but for the most part we have seen four or five wooden coasters added, on adverage, every year for the last ten years.
I think now there are just a few very high profile rides going in that seem to really break the barriers as to what a wooden coaster can do, and larger parks are reliezing that they can make a marketable wooden coaster that is also going to be fun to ride.
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BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
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10/6/2005 11:33:43 PM
Nathan beat me to it. I was going to credit Raven. It was one of the earliest CCIs and like previously mentioned, it brought a rejuevenation to a lot of these little parks because they were cheap. Honestly, do you think that parks like Holiday World, Indiana Beach, Big Chief and Silverwood were on the map for enthusiasts ten years ago?
Raven was the one that really sparked it in my mind because it is so highly regarded and really made HW a destination. I think that the post 9/11 slump across the industry is the only reason that 2002-2005 didn't carry the same numbers as the late nineties and next year.
I believe that the major parks like Great Adventure (and who's next? Cedar Point?) are starting to realize that $5-7 million for a woodie may be better than $15 for a mega looping beast.
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hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/7/2005 12:09:51 AM
i take it back a little further and credit instead a steel coaster, magnum xl~200. magnum made out and back design and negative g forces chic again after a long slump (to me anyhow) where positive Gs got all the love. the hyper coaster phenomenon is like john allen gone MTV. this stylistic connection with the past that many of the most attention-grabbing modern coasters have turned both the industry types and the greater populace on to the sublime joy and perfection of the negative G hill which was exploited so well on the classic woodies. magnum, i feel, blazed a wide trail for the airtime oriented rides, both metal and wood, which have flowered since 1990. this reverent stylization eventually resuscitated the "other" great wood genre, twisters. but i think airtime is the key to wood worship and appreciation.
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"Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
(Whatever is said in Latin sounds profound.)"
Message updated 10/7/2005 12:17:53 AM by hrrytraver
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coaster05
Posts: 6207
Registered: 2/29/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/7/2005 12:12:11 AM
I have thought this about the small parks for quite awhile. You pick up good word of mouth and put in a more affordable and hopefully a long term good ride when you place a woodie. So many steel seem to be flashes in the pan, obviously there are also lots of exceptions, but investing in a good woodie seems like a long term success story.
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Canobie Coaster
Posts: 2694
Registered: 7/26/2005
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/7/2005 6:23:53 AM
I agree that the recent coaster boom began with the Raven at Holiday World because it is a Top 10 coaster, and it was their signature ride. That gave smaller parks life and encouraged them to build wooden roller coasters because they turned out to be a profitable and marketable attraction.
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/7/2005 3:13:10 PM
It certainly wasn't Hercules that started the revolution!
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mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
Rank: TPC News Minister
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10/7/2005 5:22:02 PM
I woudl think that another reason is that Wood coasters are farly inexpensive and smaller parks are findign out they need to add something bug to compete. Wood coasters are the way to go.
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/8/2005 4:56:48 PM
Quote:
mrceagle said:
I woudl think that another reason is that Wood coasters are farly inexpensive and smaller parks are findign out they need to add something bug to compete. Wood coasters are the way to go. |
"another reason"??? that's exactly what Cyclonic said
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Mom always said, "Don't play ball in the house".
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RCGenius
Posts: 1180
Registered: 12/23/2004
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/9/2005 8:43:29 PM
If you ask me, I think that the wooden coaster boom started w/the Phoenix being relocated from Playland Park in Texas to Knoebels Grove in Pennsylvania. Think about it. When it was built at Playland Park by Herb Schmeck in 1948, a lot of people haven't heard about the former Rocket. By the time the park closed, the Rocket, from 1980-1985, was SBNO. By 1985 though, John Fetterman relocated the Rocket to the East Coast & now look at it. Now he's working on a relocation project for Cypress Gardens w/Starliner.
Maybe this wasn't the best example, but what I'm trying to say's that Knoebels pulled off a signature move w/Phoenix by relocating it, so'em that a lot of people thought was impossible. Now it's in almost everybody's Top 10 List.
I also agree w/Cyclonic's idea about how woodies are less expensive than steel ones & the fact that smaller traditional parks can buy them & they'll still have as much recognition & popularity as a lot of corporate parks. Ex.- Holiday World, Knoebels, & Kennywood.
Message updated 10/9/2005 8:46:42 PM by RCGenius
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mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
Rank: TPC News Minister
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10/10/2005 12:12:10 PM
Quote:
larrygator said:
"another reason"??? that's exactly what Cyclonic said |
No from what I get from his post he feel that larger parks have found that they are marketable and in turn a good investmant.
I'm talking about the smaller parks and that they can afford a wood coaster over a major steel.
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Miracles can be made with a rock!
"Get a good idea and stay with it. dog it and work at it untile it's done, and don right." Walt Disney
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BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
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10/10/2005 4:24:23 PM
Quote:
Cyclonic said:
Actually, I think the boom has been going on for 10 years now, begining with CCI's first coasters. With them offering drastically underpriced coasters to small parks, the small parks could have a major attraction and make a name for themselves. |
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"eh oh coasterdad time!"
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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10/10/2005 4:43:23 PM
Quote:
mrceagle said:
No from what I get from his post he feel that larger parks have found that they are marketable and in turn a good investmant. |
Well then, you need to read more carefully, because it was pretty clear in his first paragraph:
"Actually, I think the boom has been going on for 10 years now, begining with CCI's first coasters. With them offering drastically underpriced coasters to small parks, the small parks could have a major attraction and make a name for themselves."
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adriahna
Posts: 4692
Registered: 6/4/2003
Rank: Site Moderator
Skooter Junkie
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10/11/2005 12:02:53 AM
I was going to say The Racer - but I'm seriously dating myself there. Didn't realize you all were talking about the last 10 or so years. However, it's widely considered that this coaster started it all off, and beckoned in the modern age of wooden coaster construction.
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Timberman
Posts: 845
Registered: 9/21/2004
Rank: Gold Critic
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10/12/2005 2:57:51 PM
Quote:
RCGenius said:
If you ask me, I think that the wooden coaster boom started w/the Phoenix being relocated from Playland Park in Texas to Knoebels Grove in Pennsylvania. Think about it. When it was built at Playland Park by Herb Schmeck in 1948, a lot of people haven't heard about the former Rocket. By the time the park closed, the Rocket, from 1980-1985, was SBNO. By 1985 though, John Fetterman relocated the Rocket to the East Coast & now look at it. |
Good point. The Comet at Great Escape is a similar phenomenon. Both coasters are reasonably-sized, affordable and reliable to operate, and both offer (or did offer, I haven't been on Comet since the reprofiling) super fun rides that appeal to both purists and novices. These sort of rides are the backbone of the wooden coaster's enduring popularity. The newer beheamoths, even some of the CCI/GCI designs, have not stood the test of time as well, although this may change with the level of engineering that's coming out of companies like the Gravity Group and those two guys from Switzerland. Smooth crowd-pleasers like Lightening Racer are also bringing new fans a-board (da-dum-dum). The bottom line, of course, is economics, and a good wooden coaster makes a small, privately-owned park viable. I'll be interested to see how El Toro pans out and if it sparks a wooden coaster boom at some of the bigger corporate parks. Whatever the reason, I am very happy to see so many great new wooden rides being built and getting love they so richly deserve.
Message updated 10/13/2005 12:50:37 AM by Timberman
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mrceagle
Posts: 13804
Registered: 6/9/2001
Rank: TPC News Minister
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10/13/2005 5:36:33 PM
i will admit that I was slightly wrong of Cyclonics statment. but again I wasn't talking about CCI. though I grant there 34 coasters did add allot to the coaster comunity in there 8 years of existince. though almost that nearly half that number have been built or are under cunstruction dispite there being disbanted. Many coaster Companies have come out of the works offering wood coaster.
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