Biggest Failure

[Nic]

Another big failure: Guage Lake adding tons of new coasters and then not being able to maintain they're over-development-----then being forced to sell.

Similarly, it looks like Wallygator can be mentioned alongside that. Why didn't they realise that dumping a massive B&M in the middle of a small park would not automatically make hordes of people travel to the middle of nowhere to visit.

 

[nadroJ]

Hypersonic XLC.

 

[gavin]

^ It ran for quite a few years though, didn't it? Unlike quite a few others that have been mentioned. Plus, it led to Dodonpa which has been running, fairly hassle free, for over 10 years now, and still has the most powerful launch of any coaster, even now.

For Dodonpa alone, I would say Hypersonic was not a total failure.

For me it's that ridiculous Vertigo thing at Walibi. It failed as an individual coaster, but also ended the coaster career of the company.

 

[nadroJ]

Opened 2001, closed 2007, and apparently it spent a lot of that time down. 6 years for a $15,000,000 investment plus whatever money they spent trying to fix the thing, only for it to go anyway, I'd say that's pretty failurific ;]

 

[dj-fireball999]

I think Th13teen deserves an honourable mention. Now, I actually really quite enjoy the ride. I know a lot of people slag it off, but if you sit at the back, it's a hell of a lot of fun to ride. The massive cock up was the theme and marketing. It's a family coaster. Nothing more, nothing less. Why, then, did they feel the need to market it as "the ultimate thrill ride", and to give it a spooky horror type theme?! Kids who would love it are too scared to go on, and teenagers (and, lets face it, enthusiasts) came off bitterly disappointed at how tame it is. Way to go Morwenna.

To be fair, it brought the people through the gates, which is what their aim was. But it still doesn't mean that it wasn't a dick move by Morwenna.

 

[bmac]

Opened 2001, closed 2007, and apparently it spent a lot of that time down. 6 years for a $15,000,000 investment plus whatever money they spent trying to fix the thing, only for it to go anyway, I'd say that's pretty failurific ;]

Don't forget the train replacement only a few years in, too. The thing also had trims going up the spike to slow the ride down AND it ran on airplane tires, the thing basically did a whole bunch of crap no other coaster did before (I heard the ride was incredibly smooth when it ran).

 

[Nemesis of oblivion]

Storm Surge. Leaks everywhere, everyone complains about it. I doubt it hardly increased gate figures after the 1st or 2nd week. Slow, slow throughput and cramped in a congested area.

Hardly a crowd pleaser

 

[madhjsp]

Don't forget the train replacement only a few years in, too. The thing also had trims going up the spike to slow the ride down AND it ran on airplane tires, the thing basically did a whole bunch of crap no other coaster did before (I heard the ride was incredibly smooth when it ran).

Meh, I wouldn't have called it that. The launch was sweet but the rest, right down to the jarring brake run, was kind of uncomfortable. Take a look at this little kink after the turnaround:

It rode as oddly as it looks.

I'd lump it into the "fail" category. But as I seem to recall reading somewhere, it was the actual prototype model, not just simply the first air launch coaster S&S produced. That would help to explain why it wasn't nearly as operation-ready as its successors.

 

[VascoXTRC]

Drachen Fire

 

[CoasterCrazy]

Storm Surge. Leaks everywhere, everyone complains about it. I doubt it hardly increased gate figures after the 1st or 2nd week. Slow, slow throughput and cramped in a congested area.

Hardly a crowd pleaser

Plus the noise that is audible throughout the park....

Perhaps the initial looping coasters, such as the early centrifugal (or more aptly centripetal) railways and Coney Island's loop-the loop, which no - one dared ride and preferred to watch instead, causing a charge to the ride in operation. Many of these caused astringent pain due to the G-forces on riders due to the circular, rather than contemporary teardrop shape of the loop. Another was the Flip Flap Railway, also at Coney Island:

This one caused neck injuries....

 

[Martyn B]

I don't think the circular design of loops cause any problems. Rage has a loop like that, and it's fine.

 

[VascoXTRC]

^ I agree Revolution (SFMM) also has a circular loop. I think the lack of headrests or head support lead to these injuries. Speed is a major factor as well.

 

[gavin]

They're not perfectly circular though. Look at the bottom. They're not going from flat into a total circle.

 

[Bottom_Feeder_13]

Also in that the restraint was probably a single position lap bar at the most, I all the other examples you gave have individual ratcheting lapbars which do a good job holding in most people so there can be less than 0g at the top, some probably hit -0.5g, while with a single position lap bar they needed probably at least 0.25g at the top for it to be considered "safe" so the difference in force would be at least .75g at the top, more at the bottom.

 

[Bear]

Also in that the restraint was probably a single position lap bar at the most, I all the other examples you gave have individual ratcheting lapbars which do a good job holding in most people so there can be less than 0g at the top, some probably hit -0.5g, while with a single position lap bar they needed probably at least 0.25g at the top for it to be considered "safe" so the difference in force would be at least .75g at the top, more at the bottom.

Um... have you got a source for those numbers which I'm guessing you just farted out?

 

[Lofty]

It contained a lot of "maybe" and "probably", so it was obviously based upon opinion.

 

[elephant58]

Probably Orphan Rocker in my opinion. It was started in 1988 and according to RCDB, it has been continually worked on since 2004. Also, didn't X bankrupt Arrow?

 

[johhnyD1498]

WindJammer at Knott's. It led to TOGO going out of business

 

[Hyde]

^ I'd call that a success. :wink:

I have a tie: Kings Island and Six Flags.

Kings Island - While it is one of my top amusement park picks in the U.S., Kings Island has had a riddled history of great successes and awful failures. While they have coaster classics like The Racer, Vortex, and the Beast, they also built the Bat and Son of Beast. When this park opened in 1972, it was the top amusement park of the nation (larger than Cedar Point) - marking the golden age of roller coasters with the construction of The Racer. Growth however was hampered by failed projects, and the park fell behind over the next 30 years. Kings Island could very have been an equal to Cedar Point had wiser investments been made.

Six Flags - While the chain seems to be on better ground now, their trail has been rocky. In the 90s then owner Premier Parks Inc. began gobbling up small amusement parks around the nation and across the pond in Europe. The 90s were a great time for tourism, and Premier believed that they could buy smaller parks for cheap, ramp them up with huge thrills, and come out with a huge success. This plan obviously backfired, Six Flags declared bankruptcy, and had to sell off many of their parks. It went to show that the amusement park industry has a certain organic nature that cannot be rushed - successful parks grow and prosper over time.

 

[ignace]

Typhoon in Bobbejaanland was and still is a huge failure imo. How to replace a wonderfull Schwarzkopf for a Painfull piece of crap...

Another epic fail would be "de Vliegende Hollander" in Efteling. The best part of the ride is the queue, after that it gets worse and worse...