andrus
Giga Poster
Ok I admit the title is a bit odd, but I couldn't come up with anything better to describe this. I was watching the TV show "Engineering Thrills" where they were doing some research to find out why people enjoy roller coasters. Then " the scientist guy" said at the end of a run on Fahrenheit that the engineers missed out on the opportunity to have some music playing. He said that when you hit the break run and your heart rate is still up it would be easy to just play any kind of music to enhance the pleasure. Here's the clip (start watching at 6:39):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCHg9Gpo7e4[/youtube]
This is something I've wondered a long time; why doesn't parks think of roller coasters as an experience rather than just plonk a coaster in their park? It struk me especially in the US where it was very rare that they even played music in the station. To just have some music playing in the station and at the brake run would grately enhance the the ride experience! Not just because it's nice with some music but because it enhance the feeling of fear/joy building up tension in the station and giving a reward as you finish the ride at the break run.
Black Mamba, which is a personal favourite of mine, does that very well so I'll use it as an example: When you enter the area and queueline you can see all the amazing theming, it's almost like you're in an exotic African country rather than a theme park. Then you enter the mystical cave-like station. When the train take off they dampen the light and African bongo music starts playing. You then enter the lift hill where the top is enclosed and more music plays to get you started before the first drop. Then the train travels through the terrain: almost crash against walls before the train whip you round a flat spin last second, or go through fast helixes inches from the surrounding walls! The rides ends with a right hand turn into a cave and complete darkness. As soon as you hit the brakes the bongo music starts to play yet again to keep your heart rate and pleasure levels up. Here's a video if you haven't been on the ride:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku4vOAgwEBM[/youtube]
I belive that Black Mamba would be a fairly average coaster if just plonked on a bit of land Six Flags or Cedar Fair style. But with all the amazing features mentioned above it turns into one of the absolute best coasters in the world imho!
Ok, so Blak Mamba cost a huge amount of money. But you don't need to spend a fortune on theming and underground stations etc. There's plenty of cheap things that can be done to enhance the ride sensation like station music, music at the brake run, ride interaction with the surroundings and a good ending to the coaster. The ending is eg what makes the difference between my two favourite inverts Black Mamba and Katun. While Katun slowly crawls into the brakes where you have to wait in five minutes Black Mamba finishes with a fast turn into complete darkness and some music. The coasters have equally good layouts imo but while Katun leaves you with a dull ending Black Mamba has a "omg what an amazing ride"-ending, and that's what makes the difference for me!
I thought that parks hired professional architects/designers when adding new coaster? But apparently most parks don't since they just plonk the rides and don't care for the details. Those so important details that imo can make or brake a coaster! I don't know what to make of this, maybe I'm just a bit dissapointed with the industry as a whole and want a change? I want parks to design an enitre ride experience rather than just plonk down a new coaster! Feel free to discuss!
Sorry for long post, thanks for reading etc!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCHg9Gpo7e4[/youtube]
This is something I've wondered a long time; why doesn't parks think of roller coasters as an experience rather than just plonk a coaster in their park? It struk me especially in the US where it was very rare that they even played music in the station. To just have some music playing in the station and at the brake run would grately enhance the the ride experience! Not just because it's nice with some music but because it enhance the feeling of fear/joy building up tension in the station and giving a reward as you finish the ride at the break run.
Black Mamba, which is a personal favourite of mine, does that very well so I'll use it as an example: When you enter the area and queueline you can see all the amazing theming, it's almost like you're in an exotic African country rather than a theme park. Then you enter the mystical cave-like station. When the train take off they dampen the light and African bongo music starts playing. You then enter the lift hill where the top is enclosed and more music plays to get you started before the first drop. Then the train travels through the terrain: almost crash against walls before the train whip you round a flat spin last second, or go through fast helixes inches from the surrounding walls! The rides ends with a right hand turn into a cave and complete darkness. As soon as you hit the brakes the bongo music starts to play yet again to keep your heart rate and pleasure levels up. Here's a video if you haven't been on the ride:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku4vOAgwEBM[/youtube]
I belive that Black Mamba would be a fairly average coaster if just plonked on a bit of land Six Flags or Cedar Fair style. But with all the amazing features mentioned above it turns into one of the absolute best coasters in the world imho!
Ok, so Blak Mamba cost a huge amount of money. But you don't need to spend a fortune on theming and underground stations etc. There's plenty of cheap things that can be done to enhance the ride sensation like station music, music at the brake run, ride interaction with the surroundings and a good ending to the coaster. The ending is eg what makes the difference between my two favourite inverts Black Mamba and Katun. While Katun slowly crawls into the brakes where you have to wait in five minutes Black Mamba finishes with a fast turn into complete darkness and some music. The coasters have equally good layouts imo but while Katun leaves you with a dull ending Black Mamba has a "omg what an amazing ride"-ending, and that's what makes the difference for me!
I thought that parks hired professional architects/designers when adding new coaster? But apparently most parks don't since they just plonk the rides and don't care for the details. Those so important details that imo can make or brake a coaster! I don't know what to make of this, maybe I'm just a bit dissapointed with the industry as a whole and want a change? I want parks to design an enitre ride experience rather than just plonk down a new coaster! Feel free to discuss!
Sorry for long post, thanks for reading etc!