BGE 250 Drop Tower 2011 and Multi-Launch Coaster 2012

[michaellll]

Yeah, I don't think coasters need to be painted in an intimidating manor to be considered well themed or representative of their respective intensities.

BGE is truly gorgeous, and the color of the coasters compliment the park well.

And really, I think the mach tower is beautiful personally. Just a shame it brakes so early.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Huh? Apollo is in no way at the back of the park.

Well no, not in terms of where the entrance is, but they were allowed to paint it brightly because of it's location in the park, it's hidden.

And what does the color of the rides have to do with the intensity, or lack thereof, unless you're an art major?

It has EVERYTHING to do with it. If you build a 200ft+ coaster and call it the fluffy bunny ride and paint it pink you're doing it wrong. That isn't what Busch is doing, but I just wonder why they go with themes and visuals somewhat unrepresentative of the ride experiences (or intended experiences.)

Perhaps, Busch, in it's efforts to be one of the most beautiful parks in the world, has decided to avoid theming rides with blood and guts?

Who said anything about a need for blood and guts? And why can't that be beautiful anyway?

Yeah, I don't think coasters need to be painted in an intimidating manor to be considered well themed or representative of their respective intensities.

Right. So, you think visuals, audio, etc... has nothing to do with conveying mood and thus contributes nothing to ride experience? That's essentially what you're both saying. Being "well themed" is one thing, being "appropriately themed" is another entirely. I'm not saying BGW isn't, I'm just saying they make odd choices.

I mean, if you don't believe me, why is it that the other SeaWorld parks don't make such odd choices? Or for that matter, that such odd choices are really rare in theme parks full stop...? Why do you think so few coasters are pastel coloured? Or pink? Or baby blue? These colours don't represent adult, intense, and all things "roller coaster".

I'm sure I'm wasting my time with you guys, but whatever. If you're naive enough to think this stuff don't matter, you're very mistaken. What a ride conveys with it's name, colours, logo and theme is ridiculously important for attracting guests to the park and to ride it... And what made BGW think that a may pole was a better theme concept than something cool, dynamic, dangerous, deadly or intense for a ride clearly aimed at adults and designed to emulate falling (which is a concept humans understand leads to death, thus a scary thrill) is beyond me. But it's also really interesting, because if it works - I want to know why.

 

[Intricks]

Coasters are in no way just designed for adults. They are a ride designed for people above a certain height, not above a certain age.

That being said, who cares about the color of a ride? You arent going to be intimidated by **** colors, rather the height, speed and riders screams of varying sorts. While a Griffon may be a mythical beast, it is also a loyal guardian. No need to make a ride based off of a guardian, be dark and 'scary' colored. Sheesh.

Switching between the hideouts'...

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Coasters are in no way just designed for adults. They are a ride designed for people above a certain height, not above a certain age.

That being said, who cares about the color of a ride? You arent going to be intimidated by **** colors, rather the height, speed and riders screams of varying sorts. While a Griffon may be a mythical beast, it is also a loyal guardian. No need to make a ride based off of a guardian, be dark and 'scary' colored. Sheesh.

Switching between the hideouts'...

You know full well what I meant by coasters and adults, it was a generalisation. More to the point, the ride in question is a massive drop tower that IS aimed at adults, so whatever.

And no one cares about the colour of a ride? Well ****, why the hell aren't they all just bare metal?

And to get people screaming you have to GET THEM ON THE RIDE.

To ENHANCE the natural visuals such as height and speed you use things like colour.

And I never said every coaster aimed at adults needs to be dark and scary, for the 100th time, I just pondered WHY.

IF Busch were going for making a typically regarded "intense" ride type look tame, then that's great, but I don't think they were.

You're missing the point, arguing for the sake of it... and being stupid. This **** matters, or else it wouldn't be such a key design consideration. Even at parks who don't bother with theming beyond colour and name, it occurs. It's important. Look at the **** storm that errupted when Thirteen opened. A ride that claimed intensity in it's marketing, name, theme, concept, colour and scenery far and beyond what it gave. With regard to Mach Tower, people have been criticising it's appearance since it was announced, practically laughing at it.

 

[michaellll]

Right. So, you think visuals, audio, etc... has nothing to do with conveying mood and thus contributes nothing to ride experience? That's essentially what you're both saying. Being "well themed" is one thing, being "appropriately themed" is another entirely. I'm not saying BGW isn't, I'm just saying they make odd choices.

I mean, if you don't believe me, why is it that the other SeaWorld parks don't make such odd choices? Or for that matter, that such odd choices are really rare in theme parks full stop...? Why do you think so few coasters are pastel coloured? Or pink? Or baby blue? These colours don't represent adult, intense, and all things "roller coaster".

I'm sure I'm wasting my time with you guys, but whatever. If you're naive enough to think this stuff don't matter, you're very mistaken. What a ride conveys with it's name, colours, logo and theme is ridiculously important for attracting guests to the park and to ride it... And what made BGW think that a may pole was a better theme concept than something cool, dynamic, dangerous, deadly or intense for a ride clearly aimed at adults and designed to emulate falling (which is a concept humans understand leads to death, thus a scary thrill) is beyond me. But it's also really interesting, because if it works - I want to know why.

Woah. Woahwoahwoah.

Don't put words in my mouth.

This stuff does matter, but I don't think painting the coasters at BGE the color they're painted was a bad decision. It meshes with the park and the rides tend to speak for themselves. That's what I believe anyway.

And I've never seen a well themed drop tower in the US personally, so I don't expect much from them. That's why I think Mach is pretty. That's about it...

I don't think people in the US rely as heavily on the theming of the rides for thrill like people in Europe. But that's just my personal opinion. We're not used to it at the same caliber IMO.

 

[Antinos]

The rides are painted bright colors to get people excited. Plain and simple. In Apollo's case, the colors fit the theme in my opinion. The purple represents the deep color of the sky at dusk and the yellow represents the sun. Griffon is a flying creature, so painting the track to represent the sky makes sense. Alpengeist is painted white to represent the snow, and just in case you would like to argue that snow is below you, unlike the track, then it can represent the cloudy sky. I don't care what color the rides are painted, because their three largest rides are 200 feet tall and I'll feel tiny standing next to the massive rides.

 

[D1993]

who cares about the dam colore. Basically the ride is crap because theres no freefall and this should be a lesson for bge to not be so dam stubborn and realise that there are just some things that intamin will always make better.

 

[bizarrofan10]

Why does the color matter? Are you telling me that Griffon would be a better ride if it was painted red instead of blue? Come on! When you are going 90 degrees straight down a height of 200 feet at 70 mph, the LAST thing in your mind is the color of the ride.

 

[D1993]

^ yeah I definetly agree. I mean the color of the ride can make it LOOK better or cooler, but when you're actually riding, it makes absolutely no difference. I dont think it makes much of an impact on the GP anyways, as big rides capture the attention anyways whether its light blue, dark red or baby pink

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Sigh. You guys need to read up some psychology and art theory. Depressing how little you think it matters, and how you don't realise how it even effects yourself. :/ If it didn't matter, they wouldn't be painted at all. If it didn't matter, they wouldn't be themed at all. Theses aspects contribute massively to the experience of being in the park, choosing what to go on and the ride experience itself. If you really don't think the buildup to going on something created by its sensory visual and audio experiences doesn't effect you on ride, then wow. Despite the fact that BGW has some massive coasters, they are all... what a colossal surprise, quite tame. Oh I wonder why this could be?

I strongly believe that BGW made conscious decisions to theme their rides tamely, like Tussauds did with Air at Alton Towers. Air is far more intense than it implies through imagery, but they dumbed it down for a more timid audience. It's the only 1.4m roller coaster my mum will ride - and I seriously think she'd ride things at BGW, too. Oblivion on the other hand, has been designed so that it looks more intense than it actually is, and it works. It's massively better suited to me (and the audiences I represent) than Griffon.

 

[Brett7710]

I strongly believe that BGW made conscious decisions to theme their rides tamely, like Tussauds did with Air at Alton Towers. Air is far more intense than it implies through imagery, but they dumbed it down for a more timid audience. It's the only 1.4m roller coaster my mum will ride - and I seriously think she'd ride things at BGW, too. Oblivion on the other hand, has been designed so that it looks more intense than it actually is, and it works. It's massively better suited to me (and the audiences I represent) than Griffon.

I do agree that the colour and theming of a ride can affect people's perception of the ride, I also agree that it can affect how popular a ride is, but I don't think colour has much or any effect on ride experience. Unlike theming, which can obviously make a huge difference, otherwise Ghost trains and other similar attractions wouldn't be up to much.

I'm suprised that you think Air is more intense than it's colour implies, I personally don't think it has enough speed to be considered intense, I think people just ride it for the novelty of the flying position as opposed to a thrilling ride. Whereas Oblivion is quite thrilling, I don't think it's colour portrays a more intense ride, the video's in the queue line however do.

Back on topic, i'm sure most people could think of a more suitable theme for a drop tower, but how many of them would tie in with the German theme in the surrounding area of the park? Maybe the park didn't want such an intense ride out of Mach tower, maybe they just wanted a compact ride that would give a good view of the park without just being an observation tower.

 

[michaellll]

Sigh. You guys need to read up some psychology and art theory. Depressing how little you think it matters, and how you don't realise how it even effects yourself. :/ If it didn't matter, they wouldn't be painted at all. If it didn't matter, they wouldn't be themed at all.

It's quite depressing how condescending you can be. Inferring that some of us are so unaware of our experiences that we can't make/support legitimate opinions.

I strongly believe that BGW made conscious decisions to theme their rides tamely

So you agree that it was a good decision to paint their coasters the colors they did? That's what I'm finally getting out of this. Guess what!? That's what I was saying from the beginning.

And.......I don't think anyone argued that theming didn't matter, so there's no reason to make a point of it.

#i'mdone

 

[Antinos]

The colors of the ride were chosen for a reason. Planning and Design didn't just put a color swatch up on the wall and blindly throw darts at it - they know what they were doing. But, to reiterate what I said, Alpengeist is painted white for its theme and the ride is intense. If it were painted red, for example, I would still ride it and feel like my legs were being ripped off.

And just throwing this out there, if Alpengeist were painted red, sooooo many people would bitch about how bad it looks compared to the rest of the park.

 

[D1993]

^ yeah I reckon a red alpengeist would look weird and not suit the atmosphere. The park of course thinks of that, but really people are gonna ride the dam thing if its green, yellow, pink, red blue whatever the hell it is. I dont think a red alpengeist would be any less popular than a white alpengeist

 

[D1993]

dam bge is taking their time with this coaster! Not even an announcement date yet?

 

[tomahawk]

It's September 4....

 

[D1993]

It's September 4....

The announcement for Verbolten (or whatever the ride name will be) is September 4?!
But thats today!
I cant believe I didnt notice this .....

 

[Josh73]

The announcement is today??? Ooooo! What will it be???

 

[tomahawk]

I was saying, it is only September 4, chill the **** out.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

So you agree that it was a good decision to paint their coasters the colors they did? That's what I'm finally getting out of this. Guess what!? That's what I was saying from the beginning.

No, you'e been saying more than that. I never once said their choices aren't incredible. I just said they are odd choices, I argue that they make their rides tamer than the hardware typically is through theming, and it's no accident... it's a conscious choice. Oh, and that colour matters.

The colors of the ride were chosen for a reason. Planning and Design didn't just put a color swatch up on the wall and blindly throw darts at it - they know what they were doing. But, to reiterate what I said, Alpengeist is painted white for its theme and the ride is intense. If it were painted red, for example, I would still ride it and feel like my legs were being ripped off.

And just throwing this out there, if Alpengeist were painted red, sooooo many people would bitch about how bad it looks compared to the rest of the park.

Well of course, no one argued this? You're thinking very black and white. That doesn't change the fact that Alpengeist has a tame theme and colour scheme than most rides of it's kind. On top of that, physically speaking, Alpengeist is a pretty tame invert anyway, so I don't honestly have a clue what you're talking about.

Anyway, I summed all my theories re: BGE up in a blog post. If you care to learn more, have a read... if you don't, whatever. http://hajimesthemeparkblog.blogspot.co ... se-of.html