What was the most/least substantial year of roller coasters?

[GuyWithAStick]

The title almost entirely explains it. What years(in modernity) were the most substantial, and lest substantial for roller coaster additions?

For lest substantial, I think 2004 was the year. Not too many major coasters/breakthroughs came out. The 3 largest rides were Storm Runner, Silver Bullet, and Thunderhead. Not too many coasters that stand out at you.

For most substantial, I think it was 2000. A ton of new coasters that are still #1s after 15 years came out, like Millennium Force, Boulder Dash, Bizarro(SFNE), The Boss, Goliath(SFMM), Steel Dragon 2000, Son of Beast, Lightning Racer, The Legend, and many more. It was the year of the Giga, the inverting woodie, the CCI raid, and the transition from classic to modern B&M.

So, what do you think? What year(s) do you think impacted the industry the most, had the most diverse selection of new rides, and or just had the best coasters open, and what year(s) were kind of 'meh'?

 

[Pink Cadillac]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

I agree with what you said. I also think 2005 wasn't at the standard of the others. It had the record breaking Kingda Ka and the reinvention of the dive machine (Sheikra), but from a critical aspect it only had Hades, Superman Escape and the aforementioned making any mark. 2010 was similar in that respect. It had coasters like Formula Rossa and i305 that broke records and were very different, but no one batted an eye at anything else apart from Intimidator and most people thought it was disappointing.

However from my own point of view, instead of the same great coasters/experiences recreated every year, I like to see the industry push forward (within reason) with its designs (even if the end product needed more work done like X at SFMM) and every year this millennium had coasters that did that.

 

[Jordanovichy]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

Certainly for the UK, I think 1994 was the most substantial year for roller coasters with Nemesis at Alton Towers, Shockwave at Drayton Manor and The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach all being built.

 

[TMCoasters]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

2000 was definitely the best year in coasters. Bizarro led the charge and is my personal favorite. Also Boulder Dash, Millennium Force, Son of Beast, Steel Dragon 2000, and many more.

 

[ECG]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

Certainly for the UK, I think 1994 was the most substantial year for roller coasters with Nemesis at Alton Towers, Shockwave at Drayton Manor and The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach all being built.

Couldn't agree more. Who gives a **** about anything outside the UK and all the coasters that everyone else mentioned so far pail in comparison to Shockwave and The Big One. :roll:

 

[Ben]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

^Your contribution to the conversation has hardly made headlines Jerry.

I'll echo what everyone else has said and say 2000.

 

[Jordanovichy]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

Certainly for the UK, I think 1994 was the most substantial year for roller coasters with Nemesis at Alton Towers, Shockwave at Drayton Manor and The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach all being built.

Couldn't agree more. Who gives a **** about anything outside the UK and all the coasters that everyone else mentioned so far pail in comparison to Shockwave and The Big One. :roll:

I was just saying in terms of UK coasters :roll: I'd say in 1994 PMBO and Shockwave were pretty decent additions, I was trying to add some UK coasters to the discussion, I apologise.

 

[ECG]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

Why are you apologizing? You're entitled to say what you want. I just don't think those coasters are worth mentioning in a discussion about the best year of new coasters comparatively speaking.

 

[Thekingin64]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

I'm with Jordan here. For the UK, 1994 was a big year but on a worldwide scale, they (mostly) pale into insignificance.

 

[owentaylor121]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

Certainly for the UK, I think 1994 was the most substantial year for roller coasters with Nemesis at Alton Towers, Shockwave at Drayton Manor and The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach all being built.

Couldn't agree more. Who gives a **** about anything outside the UK and all the coasters that everyone else mentioned so far pail in comparison to Shockwave and The Big One. :roll:

I was just saying in terms of UK coasters :roll: I'd say in 1994 PMBO and Shockwave were pretty decent additions, I was trying to add some UK coasters to the discussion, I apologise.

Don't forget Nemesis!

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[steel]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

1999 was almost as big as 2000 (if not bigger). Apollo's Chariot, Raging Bull, Gwazi, Afterburn, SROS @ Darien, Powder Keg, Steel Eel, Tremors, the original Medusa, Bandit, Twister @ Knoebels, Georgia Scorcher, all of Islands of Adventure including Hulk and Dragons, plus all kinds of infill stuff - mice, boomerangs, some spaghetti bowls. 1999-2000 was really the peak of the Coaster Wars era, culminating with Millennium Force, or arguably TTD and Kingda Ka a couple years later.

"Least substantial" I assume you're asking about recent years, because basically everything before the mid-70s when Arrow and Schwarzkopf figured out inversions was not very substantial. In the western world the last few years have been kind of quiet, but there's more new construction than ever worldwide.

 

[Hyde]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

I'm going to venture outside of the recent past:

Least substantial year: 1939. This marked the end of the Great Depression, but also the end of a horrid decade for the amusement park industry. I've heard it said that at the beginning of the Depression in 1930, there were 2000 amusement parks, sharply declining to ~250 by the end of the decade. High unemployment meant fewer park goers willing to spend money to travel, and the Great Depression in America also began the downfall of public transit in many cities, making trips to the local park more difficult. Things didn't pick up for parks following the Great Depression and World War II either - "whites only" policy and rise of other pastimes meant greater competition for amusement parks.

Most substantial year - 1972. Kings Island's main vision was a way to relocate the Cincinnati Coney Island amusement park to a new location that wouldn't be prone to flooding along the Ohio River. However, the park's opening in 72 also brought about a radically new concept - building a roller coaster as a prominent feature of the park. The Racer was designed by the well renowned John C Allen (he actually was coaxed out of retirement for it), and importantly demonstrated the possibility of an amusement park to build a large, family-friendly roller coaster as a major draw. The Racer is often heralded as beginning the Second Golden Age of roller coasters, helping reignite interest in roller coasters (thanks also to the Brady Bunch), with a swash of other large coasters soon to come after.

 

[SimonSays99]

Re: What was the most/least substantial year of roller coast

From a German point of view I think the most important coaster year was 1978 when the "Reisender Looping" - internationally marketed under "Looping Star" - by Schwarzkopf debuted on German funfairs. Before any of the few theme parks of the time in Germany had a looping coaster the fairs pushed the limits way into the 80s. My father told me there were thousands of people visiting the fairs on weekends and gaped at the new marvel and applauded the few brave who rode.

The less substantial for me of course 1997 - when showman Bruch sold Thriller. He admitted later on this was a mistake seeing the ongoing success of Olympia Looping and the non-satisfactory run of Euro-Star.