Maufacture hierachy over time

[Rob]

Hi everyone!

So it's been a solid few years since I posted on here, and after a visit to six flags Magic Mountain recently, I was just reflecting on how the perceived hierarchy of manufactures has changed since the late 00s (back in my early teens when my enthusiasm really started), to now. With the emergence of new manufactures, new technologies and some of the old players really reinventing themselves, I thought it'd be an interesting topic to see how others felt about ride manufactures (in a very general sense, rather than trying to be too specific about a particular ride - though, if you've only ridden one ride by a specific manufacture, we'll allow it). So let me take you back to 2008 and how I (atleast) perceiced different manufactures...

So I shall start with my top ...number... of manufactures...

1. B&M (God teir)
2. Intamin

3. Vekoma


4. Maurer Sohne
5. Mack
6. The rest

As I saw it, back then, B&M were the Porsche of manufactures. Their rides were pretty consistently smooth, thrilling, moderately innovative but overall consistent. Essentially, they work. Everyone got a special level of excites when anyone built a B&M.

Intamin were a strong second, and were a lot more innovative but decisively less consistent than B&M. Their accelerator model was basically the hype back then but famously unreliable and massively inconsistent in terms of smoothness, comfort etc. They pushed the boundaries, delivered a good structure, but were a bit iffy when it came to how the thing actually rode. Eg: Colossus (Thorpe Park) and Furius Baco. Both push the boundaries and structurally would probably survive a nuclear apocalypse, but both ride as though you're experiencing one first hand.

Then there were the innovators, who seemed to be trying new things but struggled to actually build anything that opened more than 3 days a season. S&S I'm looking at you. Maurer Sohne and Geurstlauer would also fall into this camp, though both did manage to be slightly more consistent with their spinning coasters (and at this point, Eurofighters and X Coasters were just getting established).

Finally there's the grandads of the industry, who built a few very consistent (usually consistently bad) off the shelf models. They didn't innovate much but you'd always know roughly what to expect. Welcome Mack and Vekoma.

But we move to 2024 and, for me:

1. RMC


2. Mack





3. B&M
4. Vekoma or Gerstlauer

5. Everyone else

RMC are, to my mind, the Tesla of the industry. New kids on the block and incredible at what they do.

Mack have innovated and arguably become a hybrid of 2008s Intamin with the consistency of B&M.

Speaking of B&M, their older products are now pretty rough and their newer ones uncomfortable - most new products now emulating the experience of being entangled into a boa constrictor (in an age of all other manufactures opting for more minimal restraints) thanks to the flying vest being installed on basically everything. They're still consistent, but it's a consistency that in most cases, is dated and makes their rides feel nauseating and a bit of a throw back to a by-gone era (some Mega's excluded - such as Shambhala, which is a personal top 10).

Vekoma have tried to do a Mack, just not quite as successfully. They're making some seriously impressive new products. Much the same for Gerstlauer.

Meanwhile, Intamin have all but disappeared, seemingly focusing around one model (whatever Maverick is). Maurer seem to have had all their X car IP stolen by Premier rides and somehow Premier do it worse, and S&S are erm, consistently delivering coasters that operate 3 days a season.

Anyway! That's my thoughts - where's everyone else with this?

 

[RevolutionRuleZ]

Charles Paige

The rest

End of debate.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Anyway! That's my thoughts - where's everyone else with this?

I've been thinking along the same lines for a while! It's so interesting to look back and see how the reputation of the various manufacturers has changed over the years.

Back in '07, when I first started out my enthusiast career, the pecking order was something like this:

1. Intamin. The most innovative and daring company around. They built "all" of the best coasters. Your home park getting an Intamin was pretty much the best you could hope for. A reputation only rivalled by RMC today.
2. B&M. Also daring and innovative, builder of great rides, but they didn't quite rise to the heights Intamin did. On the other hand, they also never delivered a bad coaster. Every single ride they built was at the very least good, if not outright great.
3. GCI. Remember when wooden coasters were a thing? Well, GCI didn't do them quite as well as Intamin, but they did build great coasters. Internationally.
4. Uhh ... Gravity Group or something, I guess? You rarely saw anybody put coasters from outside the three aforementioned manufacturers in their Top 10, but the Gravity Guys had made a couple of bangers too.
5. The rest. And it was a steep drop from here.
   • Enthusiasts sang the praises of Eejanaika and the recently renovated X2, but I don't recall much celebration of anything else from S&S.
   • Premier was there, but did little business.
   • Chase Morgan and the gang had built the world's largest coaster, but then fell completely silent and were mostly out of the game for some reason.
   • Maurer Söhne was mostly seen for their spinners, wild mouses and Sky Loops, none of which were considered particularly interesting.
   • Mack was the kind of manufacturer you went to for water coasters, spinning coasters or family coasters. They were decisively on the family ride side of the spectrum. A filler manufacturer at best.
   • Gerstlauer was only differentiated from Maurer Söhne by their Eurofighter coasters. Otherwise, forgettable spinners abound.
   • Vekoma was a punchline. Their coasters were seen as synonymous with rough, jolting, and painful. Sometimes they made nice layouts, particularly if Disney told them to do everything differently from what they used to, but the ability to execute those layouts well was definitely lacking.
   • Zierer only built family coasters. Imagine if Vekoma had nothing but their Roller Skaters on offer. A decent manufacturer for family coasters, though.
   • Togo, Arrow, and Pinfari were recently out of business, but their memory lingered. Mostly seen as even worse versions of Vekoma, if at all possible.

And nowadays, things seem to be something more like:

1. RMC. A revolutionary manufacturer, like B&M was in the 90's. They're making well-received thrill machines, including several of the best coasters in the world. Most enthusiasts who have ridden RMC coasters place at least some of them in their Top 10. Fans are clamoring for RMC to come to their home parks.
2. Intamin. Still innovative and daring, still building some of the world's best coasters, but they've also got a bit of a reputation for coasters that don't quite work out. Still, a big Intamin coaster always remains a good reason to celebrate.
3. Mack. Like Intamin with a bit more restraint, resulting in coasters that are generally a bit more reliable overall. They have proven capable of building top-tier thrill coasters, although it seems fans tend to prefer the insanity of a good Intamin over a good Mack.
4. B&M. They've grown into a role as the Rolls-Royce of coasters. Good, reliable, expensive, if a little conservative. Their product catalogue is a bit narrower than that of many other manufacturers, but the few coaster types they have on offer, they do very well.
5. Vekoma. They finally learned how to build good coasters. Their layouts are innovative and well-received. They have an impressive range of coasters on offer. They still pump out a few boring junior coasters from time to time, but that's just the bread and butter for coaster manufacturers. One can't live off of only thrill coasters anymore, as B&M seem to have been the last to learn.
6. Gerstlauer. Turns out that they can build bigger and better coasters than Eurofighters. And they're still quite cheap, so they get a lot of projects.
7. Gravity Group. Mostly building hybrid coasters these days. And sometimes being good at it.
8. GCI. To the degree that wooden coasters are still built, it's mostly those guys who build them.
9. S&S. Mostly because of their Sky Fly coasters.
10. ABC Rides/SBF Visa. Holy heck they build a lot of coasters, but exclusively kiddy stuff.
11. Zamperla. They took over the lowest rung of the ladder and made it their own as everybody else climbed higher.
12. The rest, if any. Many manufacturers are seen too rarely to leave much of an impression. Maurer seems to have made a bet on their Spike Coasters, to the woe of enthusiasts everywhere. Chance Morgan is all but gone, but managed to pick up a contract for a ride in the upcoming Mattel park. Premier sells their Sky Rocket IIs and very little else. Golden Horse/Jinma still aren't seen much outside China.

I might be forgetting some, but that means they've just left very little of an impact on me.

 

[Geeky Pastimes]

In the early 2000s I definitely used to see it as:

1. B&M
2. Intamin (just for the huge coasters they were building)
3. Everyone else
4. Vekoma

Then when I really got into theme park trips around 2016-2020 it was:
1. RMC
2. Mack
3. Intamin
4. B&M
5. Everyone else
6. Gerstlauer

But now in 2024 things are shifting again
1. Intamin
2. RMC
3. Mack (just for wherever they're building an extreme spinner)
4. Vekoma (I really hope they build another flying coaster)
5. B&M
6. Everyone Else
7. Gerstlauer

It's crazy how far B&M have been falling but I just haven't ridden a new exciting one for such a long time. Maybe that Surf Coaster at Sea World is good, but it hasn't made me rush back to Orlando to try it