B&M Wing Coasters - Fad or Fab?

[JJLehto]

..both?
They are a fad but what wasn't?

Standing coasters used to be a rage now I never see em built.
Every new thing goes through it's fad period, then cools off.

 

[TilenB]

They are too smooth and tame, they just don't give you an enjoyment you get from riding Inverts, for ex.

 

[marc]

B&M Wing Coasters - Fad or Fab?

I think the other way tbh, I think parks will get them instead of inverts.

 

[IntaminToWin]

^ They're rough and go backwards. Name one coaster that goes backwards and is good.

(And yes, I know I'm going off topic...)

Intamin Inverted Impulse Coasters (Wicked Twister, Possesed are my creds)

 

[Venom2053]

I have yet to ride one but I'll hazard a guess and say they are a Fad. Yes, B&M will sell a lot of them in a short span of time (maybe 3 years) but I think ride types like inverts and hypers will remain the big tickets that B&M will always be able to sell.

There are nearly twice as many Boomerangs on the planet than B&M Inverts.

This is because B&M goes for quality over quantity. Walter even said it himself in an interview that they only take on projects that they want to do and that they can handle. Vekoma will just be happy for your business and take your money and push out another crappy clone.

 

[gavin]

I think the other way tbh, I think parks will get them instead of inverts.

Parks that can afford a Wingrider will likely already have an invert though. I see these being added to well-established parks looking for something new to add to their line up. I don't see them as an alternative to anything necessarily.

I can see Six Flags/Cedar Fair/Happy Valley etc rolling a load of these out in the short term, then like flyers and inverts they'll die off and get bought every few years.

 

[Jake]

I can see them being more like the Dive Machines popularity wise - some parks will get them for something different, but it's not a 'staple' ride like an Invert or Hyper, which most big parks will shove in (if they haven't already).

So... I think we'll see a couple more, then maybe another surge in a few years. I doubt they'll become as popular as some of the other models, but they're not dead in the water just yet.

 

[marc]

B&M Wing Coasters - Fad or Fab?

The problem is the parks are going to get flooded with them and as jake says that will be it for a few years.

Asterix build a new inverted one but before that when was the last new one?

 

[Hyde]

Time will tell, but Wingriders still don't really bring anything new to the table layout wise; just a different way of riding the tracks.

We have seen Inverted, Stand-Up, and Flying coasters from B&M, which all saw surges and then slowed down to a trickle on orders. Based on B&M's history, I'd imagine this new coaster style will be the same.

 

[Antinos]

You guys are missing the main points of why boomerangs were so successful: they have a small footprint, they're cheap, and they provide a decent thrill to the average person(six moments of being upside down). Think about building a small RCT park and you're almost done with it. You're almost out of space and you want one more roller coaster. You can't fit a hyper or a looper, or even a compact wooden coaster, so what's the next best option? A boomerang because you can shoehorn it into a tight space and it will attract a decent amount of people. It's also why SLCs were so popular. We may hate them, but they're quite a thrill to the average park goer as well as a cheap, compact investment.

 

[michaellll]

My vote is more or less what I hope wingriders will become rather than what I believe they'll be.

Now, I've only ridden Wild Eagle so my opinion on this perhaps is skewed quite a bit because I haven't ridden any of the wingriders most people seem to be enjoying. Wild Eagle was a perfectly fine coaster, but it was by no means as good as I thought it would be considering the investment and how long B&M has had to improve on their layouts ever since the first B&M sit-downs.

I'd prefer to ride Kumba over Wild Eagle 9 times out of 10 and that seems like a problem.

So I'm hoping that this is a fad, but since people seem to like these quite a bit, I feel that one or two will be built in 2014 and there will be a trickle of them throughout the decade.

 

[Ian]

Asterix build a new inverted one but before that when was the last new one?

The other one in France, at Walygator Parc.

 

[gavin]

^That was a relocation though.

I'm pretty sure the last actually new B&M invert before the one at Asterix was Phaethon back in 2007. That's a pretty big gap really.

 

[ATTACKHAMMER]

I hope wingriders don't end up like boomerangs. I loved The Swarm and it would be brillinat to see more wingriders. I think wingriders will be successful.

 

[Kebab]

I don't think people will get bored of them, but I'm sure they'll release something new and people will move onto the next best thing. They'll still be around, but they'll be popping up very slowly (like Dive Machines and Flying Coasters), I wouldn't be surprised if they start building clones of The Swarm/X-Flight soon though.