BGE 250 Drop Tower 2011 and Multi-Launch Coaster 2012

[marc]

Nope I agree with you there with regards to the Disney coasters.

But over here we have got used to a project costing £12 million with most of that budget going on theming etc and the coaster suffers which is was concerns me with this as well. If you ever get the chance to go on 13 you will see what I mean.

Disney do not really make thrilling coasters, they are well themed family coasters but nothing top 20 apart from Sreamin'

As I said I hope they can pull this off and make it good.

 

[Hyde]

^ Still, RnR, Expedition Everest, BTMR, and Space Mountain Disneyland are damn good rides. Mediocre layouts, but the theme makes the difference.

I'm rather confident Busch will be able to manage an above average family coaster, better than 13.

 

[madhjsp]

I'd be inclined to agree that we can hope for a solid product out of Busch. Though it was Merlin who greenlighted Th13teen and it's Merlin who now owns the Busch Parks, wasn't it part of the terms of the sale that the creative and management staff of the Busch Entertainment would be kept on board when they changed hands?

 

[Hyde]

God I hope so. :lol:

 

[Ian]

In case you haven't already heard, the Mach Tower will not open as planned because they are waiting on a part from Italy.

 

[marc]

I'd be inclined to agree that we can hope for a solid product out of Busch. Though it was Merlin who greenlighted Th13teen and it's Merlin who now owns the Busch Parks, wasn't it part of the terms of the sale that the creative and management staff of the Busch Entertainment would be kept on board when they changed hands?

The same agreement when they took over Tussauds in the UK then, that one worked well :roll: It does not matter if they keep the same people on etc the project still needs signing off at the top and that is normally where they say lose 3 million or whatever.

I am not putting the coaster down btw I just find it really strange that they are using a company they normally just built smaller family coasters.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

They didn't go with Moser and Zierra to be cheap, it's just that the park really hates and distrusts Intamin so they've gone with alternatives. Head engineering guys at the park have explicitly said they hate Intamin.

I know Pompei had troubles, but it seems a bit ott how they feel about Intamin, but who knows what their issue is. Maybe it was something to do with the way the company dealt with something that really pissed them off and destroyed any working relationship. Whatever the issue, its specific to BGE and not a company wide thing.

 

[madhjsp]

From Screamscape:

(6/6/11) I really don’t know all the details yet, but BGWFans.com is reporting that the Mach Tower at BGW has suffered another setback that could delay the ride’s opening until closer to July. According to their report, the ride car itself has been removed from the tower after suffering some kind of malfunction with the braking system that caused damage to it during a test drop.
Given that virtually all modern drop tower rides use a power-free magnetic braking system using real earth magnets, I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of any kind of malfunction of this nature before. In short, the braking systems are virtually foolproof, so I’ll be very curious to hear just what may have gone wrong.

 

[D1993]

but bge have no intamin coasters. i dont understand why the would hate them? what intamin rides do they have apart from (apparently) escape from pompei?
i really dont want a zierer coaster, i want bloody intamin!

 

[Anonymous]

^ I love how you bash a ride for not being built by the company you want, how are you so sure that Zierer can't build this ride better than Intamin??
If it were an Intamin then I would be pretty sure that it will bash you into the restraints with unnecessary much force, where as it may end up something like what Mack did whey they created Blue Fire (which is awesome by the way!!)...

It could be complete crap as well, but who knows until they actually build this thing...

 

[D1993]

^ um because they suck. haha i dont care if its sounds stupid, theyve never made anything really apart from kiddie coasters. I judge based on what ive been on and what i see and ive never had a problem with intamin rides and restraints, in fact i prefer them to anything else! (apart from the dam things braking down and having to wait longer in line etc)

i guess i dont like risks. im definetly not bashing verbolten, im sure either way bge will make a great ride out of it i just want an intamin coaster there really.

 

[Anonymous]

^ Riight, only small coasters....
So a 1 mile long and 150 ft tall coaster is counted as small now, not to mention that it's actually highly rated among enthusiasts [CLICK]...
You should really check the facts before you throw out such statements. And on the other hand making a kiddy coaster vs. making a big one isn't really that much of a difference, just the scale it's done on...

 

[Ben]

So, they built something good 24 years ago, with MASSIVE amounts of help from someone else, and we're supposed to forget the fact they've built bugger all since then, and what they have built large and of a similar model (Wicked) is nearly universally hated and regarded as awful?

That's logical...

It's a truth universally acknowledged that Intamin would make a better job of this than Zierer. You wouldn't get Primark to make you some couture in the same way.

 

[rollermonkey]

Who hate Wicked?

People who've never been on it perhaps.

I have ridden, and I think it is a very good ride.

 

[D1993]

^ Riight, only small coasters....
So a 1 mile long and 150 ft tall coaster is counted as small now, not to mention that it's actually highly rated among enthusiasts [CLICK]...
You should really check the facts before you throw out such statements. And on the other hand making a kiddy coaster vs. making a big one isn't really that much of a difference, just the scale it's done on...

ok but the major amount of coasters are smaller ones. Sure there is lisebergbanan and wicked. sure theres others, but really theyre not a major roller coaster manufacturer, or even predominantly present in the field (other manufacturers such as gerstaluer, mack, S&S) etc. What i was saying was very simple. I just want an intamin coaster, because apart from maintenance issues they always deliver and zierer is very in-experienced in comparison.

 

[Anonymous]

Not a major coaster company, inexperienced??
The only company's that have produced more coasters are Zamperla and Vekoma (that I have found), sure they may not be big in the "high thrill" section of rides but instead they are really big in the family coaster section. I also doubt that this will nothing else then a family coaster as well, since it will fill the exact same gap in their line-up as Thirteen did for Alton Towers. They have a small kiddy coaster, and the rest of them are more aimed to thrill seekers, much like Alton. Now they are going to add one that will fill that gap, which is great for them to attract more family's in the future and not fill the whole park with "chav like" types as Thorpe...

So why not go to one of the bigger players on family rides. By the look of the pictures that have surfaced so far, then it will most likely be a version of their new ESC models (Elevated Seating Coaster) and I have only heard good things about the two that have been built so far...

I'm actually glad that this won't be an Intamin, since then you could ride this thing and enjoy it, instead of getting bashed up like most Intamin do...

 

[Ben]

^You want it to be like Th13teen... But it couldn't POSSIBLY have been made by the people who MADE Th13teen...?

I don't get it...

 

[Anonymous]

No I meant that I could understand from a business point of view that they want to get a family coaster instead of a thrill one, just in the same way that Alton had the reason to get Thirteen, the fact that BGE wanted something similar to Thirteen is understandable since it does something more than just the coasting, the drop bit works pretty good with the right kind of theming, and theming is something that BGE is good at...
Why they didn't want an Intamin is something that they have decided not me, also why would Alton go to Intamin in the first place, why not any other manufacturer, like Zierer for instance??

The thing that disturbs me in this topic is that everyone assumes that to make this kind of coaster in the first place they have to go to Intamin, when some other company can and may even produce a better ride experience...

The same logic could have been applied to Europa Park. Why they decided to build a new launched looping coaster themselves instead of going to Intamin, I mean WHY ON EARTH would Mack decide to make a launched looping coaster, they "only" do Wild Mouses and Power Coasters?? They should have gone with an Intamin, since everyone knows that they are the best launch coasters in the world!!
In the end I'm actually happy that they didn't go with an Intamin, since I prefer Blue Fire to any Intamin Accelerator coaster I have ridden.

So why can't this be the case here, this might actually turn out better than what Intamin did with Thirteen, it might also be crap (which I doubt, since I'm pretty sure that Zierer would make a ride just as good as Intamin do...).

 

[Ben]

also why would Alton go to Intamin in the first place, why not any other manufacturer, like Zierer for instance??

Because Alton have sense...?

The thing that disturbs me in this topic is that everyone assumes that to make this kind of coaster in the first place they have to go to Intamin, when some other company can and may even produce a better ride experience...

Well, no. Imagine if they were just announcing Alpengeist, and they said it was going to be a Vekoma. What would people be saying then? It's the same thing. A certain company will always build the best of a certain type, and for this sort of ride, it is an Intamin.

The same logic could have been applied to Europa Park why they decided to make a launched looping coaster themselves instead of going to Intamin, I mean WHY ON EARTH would Mack decide to make a launched looping coaster, they "only" do Wild Mouses and Power Coasters?? They should have gone with an Intamin, since everyone knows that they are the best launch coasters in the world!!
In the end I'm actually happy that they didn't go with an Intamin, since I prefer Blue Fire to any Intamin Accelerator coaster I have ridden.

Um, I imagine Europa built it to show off what they could do. Of course, Mack had already proven themselves much more than Zierer have, and DON'T just build Wild Mouse coasters or Powereds. I imagine if it had been any other park in the World, they WOULD have gone with Intamin, but, because of the unique position of Europa, it was a Mack. As it happened, it paid off. But, that's the exception, not the rule. It usually ends up sucky when they try to take on the big boys.

So why can't this be the case here, this might actually turn out better than what Intamin did with Thirteen, it might also be crap (which I doubt, since I'm pretty sure that Zierer would make a ride just as good as Intamin do...).

OK, good. I'll be hedging my bets that we'll be seeing lots of "wish it was an Intamin" posts soon.

If Zierer are so amazing, why have they not shown it?

 

[Anonymous]

A certain company will always build the best of a certain type, and for this sort of ride, it is an Intamin.

And you are basing that on what, one ride?? So you are essentially saying that if any other company, like for instance B&M, decided to make a similar ride then parks should still go for Intamin, since they have built the only one in existence...
You need a selection of similar rides from different company's to be able to make that statement stick...

Um, I imagine Europa built it to show off what they could do. Of course, Mack had already proven themselves much more than Zierer have, and DON'T just build Wild Mouse coasters or Powereds. I imagine if it had been any other park in the World, they WOULD have gone with Intamin, but, because of the unique position of Europa, it was a Mack. As it happened, it paid off. But, that's the exception, not the rule. It usually ends up sucky when they try to take on the big boys.

The wild mouse and power coaster bit was sarcasm if you didn't notice it, since you all seem to believe that Zierer can't do anything else small Tivoli coasters...
I can buy your idea on Mack wanting to show what they can do, but why do it now and not when they decided to get that god awful Silver Star from B&M...

I'll be hedging my bets that we'll be seeing lots of "wish it was an Intamin" posts soon.

I believe you, but you never know...

If Zierer are so amazing, why have they not shown it?

They have, but since almost all of their coasters are family coasters then they are pretty much overlooked by all us enthusiasts since we want big "scary" stuff that get the adrenalin flowing...
This might also be Zierer's big chance to expand their market into larger things than just small/medium family coasters.