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The first UK RMC; where will it happen?

Matt N

Matt N

CF Legend
Hi guys. Ever since they built New Texas Giant in 2011, Rocky Mountain Construction have taken the coaster world by storm with their innovative creations. Whether it's by building the first launched wooden roller coaster in Lightning Rod in 2016 or by inventing the hyper-hybrid coaster in Steel Vengeance in 2018, RMC have been pushing the envelope like no other company. If it's possible, RMC are doing it. But my question to you all with this thread is; if the UK ever gets an RMC, where do you think it will go to, or where would you like it to go to?

I know that the resounding answer in this thread will probably be Thorpe Park, and that is my probable answer for the UK park that I think will get an RMC first. As much as I don't personally want Thorpe to get an RMC (I'd personally rather see them build a hyper coaster, as they're the only UK park that could feasibly build one), it's definitely the UK park that has the most RMC-related talk surrounding it. With the amount of YouTube videos and the like that you see with THORPE PARK RMC in the title these days, it's now falling into the category that other fantasy projects like RMC Gwazi and RMC Mean Streak were in before they actually happened in that there's so much talk surrounding it that it almost has to happen eventually, if you get what I mean.

In terms of the UK parks that I would like to see build an RMC first, my first preference is Alton Towers. With the creativity of some of the people in Alton Towers and the amount of space they have, I could see an RMC working wonderfully. In the park's huge valley, for example, I could personally see a terrain RMC along the lines of Outlaw Run, Lightning Rod or Wildfire working wonderfully. With Merlin at the helm, they also have the money to create something pretty wonderful, and if there's a UK park that Merlin will allocate lots of money to, it's Alton Towers. As much as I said that Thorpe was the most likely, I also think that there's quite a high chance of Towers building the country's first RMC; Merlin are more likely to allocate them a large amount of money, and they have somewhat of a penchant for building unique, ground-breaking attractions, like an RMC would likely be.

My other preference would be to see one of the country's mid-level theme parks, such as Flamingo Land or Paultons Park, build one. Now I don't think any of the country's mid-size parks will bring out the next Steel Vengeance by any means, but I could definitely see Flamingo Land, for example, building something like a Raptor if their Colossus clone in 2020 is successful, and I think it would be a really bold and powerful move for them to make. If Paultons Park ever makes a move towards building more thrilling rides, then I could also see them going for a Raptor.

But where would you like to see the UK's first RMC come to?
 
Flamingo Land could have built two RMCs for the price of their Colossus clone, but they didn't.
I have to agree that Thorpe could be the one and only UK park to ever see an RMC
 
I’d really LIKE to see an RMC at Thorpe, partly for selfish reasons (it’s my closest major park) but also because they’re overdue a new development and there’s so much space going to waste there, especially now Logger’s Leap is no more. I still don’t think it’s terribly likely that we’ll get one anywhere in the UK anytime soon, though, and I do think that when Thorpe finally unveils a new attraction it’s more likely to be a GCI at best. Would absolutely love to be proven wrong though.
 
The talk surrounding Thorpe getting an RMC does not correlate one bit to Thorpe actually getting an RMC. It's not even a rumour at this point. With Steel Vengeance you can understand the speculation as Mean Streak was a huge structure with low ridership in a park full of world class coasters. But with Thorpe, nope. There's not even a hint to suggest an RMC is a likely option over any other coaster type (if it even gets a new coaster at all!)

That said I think it's the most likely park in the UK to get one but that's essentially by default. Blackpool have no space for a ground up and I doubt they'll touch their classics. I guess there's an off chance that Flamingo Land could get a Raptor but it's more likely they'll just not get any new coaster for at least 15 years after Colossus. Towers I just can't see where they would fit a sprawling terrain layout that meets their height and noise requirements (all their coasters are quite compact). Paultons is a definite no as it's a kiddie park and Drayton, Oakwood and Lightwater won't be getting any new coasters soon, let alone an RMC.

So that leaves Thorpe but there's nothing to me that suggests they'd go down that route, it's just not a complete impossibility like the other parks. Overall a bleak time to be an RMC fan in the UK but at least Zadra and Untamed are super easy to get to.
 
Matthew Fair said:
Flamingo Land could have built two RMCs for the price of their Colossus clone, but they didn't.
I have to agree that Thorpe could be the one and only UK park to ever see an RMC
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what Flamingoland was spending money on with their new attraction, but it surely wasn't all for the coaster, as the Malaysian media has reported the ride being sold on for about 2.5m€ in 2018 and I'm pretty certain transport and construction costs can't be anywhere close to the additional cca. 20m£ Flamingoland claims to have spent on the ride? They've obviously either hugely inflated the ride's cost in their PR department or there's some serious money laundering scheme going on that nobody is really bothered looking into for some reason?

To conclude, nah, they couldn't have bought two RMCs with the money they've spent on the 10 inversion coaster, simply because they'd probably 'spend' far more money on the RMCs than any other park too.

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I've no doubt in my mind that Thorpe have at one point or another thought about an RMC. I'm sure shortly after DBGT opened they were already looking at their next big thing (which of course should have been for 2020), and were already well aware of the hype and potential of RMCs. How far they went down exploring that route before their mid-term plans changed is something we'll never know, but I'm sure they'll have toyed with the idea.

There was also the rumours that SW8 at Towers was going to be an RMC opening in 2017 too. I don't know how much truth was behind it, but I definitely heard the idea of a RMC taking Blade and the surrounding area's place on more than one occasion. Sadly the Smiler incident happened and that changed plans, so again, I guess we'll never know.

But yeah, for the UK's first RMC, I can only see it being Thorpe or Towers. I don't see Blackpool getting another major investment any time soon (especially with their next big focus being Valhalla). Equally with Flamingo; I don't see their 10 inversion cred sparking a new wave of investment for them. An RMC is not a suitable investment for Chessington (who need something a bit tamer and with a more consistently higher throughput) nor Paultons (who should be looking to expand and improve their water and dark ride line up). And I don't see any other park being in a serious position to be legitimately considering an RMC.

So yeah, Thorpe or Towers is where it will happen (if ever)

Personally, I'd prefer Thorpe since it would add to the park more.
 
I hope that if a British park gets an RMC, not too many entitled fansboys complain because it's not as good as Steel Vengeance (looking at some toxic KI fans here)
 
Uh guys? What the hell? What about the Iron Horse conversion of Gullivers World's Antelope coaster? ? It's going to have a launched lift hill, break the wooden inversion record AND have more airtime moments than SteVe, El Toro and The Voyage combined! And that's not even mentioning the octuple down it features halfway through the course. The airtime on this beast will literally kill you.

In all seriousness though, I may be pessimistic, but i'm struggling to see an RMC coming to the UK in the current state of our industry. Maybe if something happens in the industry that either introduces a new competitor large enough to build one, or perhaps if the London Resort does happen and Merlin then decide to invest in Thorpe again, but otherwise I struggle to see who would do it.
 
Lightwater valley's ultimate :D could get the RMC treatmentand take back the record of the world longest rollercoaster!!! There are not many wooden roller coasters in the UK... :rolleyes:
 
If they built one, even if it was by far away the worst RMC, the UK enthusiasts would claim it was 'one of the best'. Possibly name their children after it.

It'll be unique for having the slowest speed and the least airtime - truly one of a kind and therefore rightfully treasured. Amen.

Edit - Oh, hello there! First post *waves*
 
Nitefly said:
If they built one, even if it was by far away the worst RMC, the UK enthusiasts would claim it was 'one of the best'. Possibly name their children after it.

It'll be unique for having the slowest speed and the least airtime - truly one of a kind and therefore rightfully treasured. Amen.

Edit - Oh, hello there! First post *waves*
Click to expand...
Haha!! Welcome Nitefly ?
 
Nitefly said:
If they built one, even if it was by far away the worst RMC, the UK enthusiasts would claim it was 'one of the best'. Possibly name their children after it.

It'll be unique for having the slowest speed and the least airtime - truly one of a kind and therefore rightfully treasured. Amen.

Edit - Oh, hello there! First post *waves*
Click to expand...
See, I almost think that the opposite might occur. Well, not the opposite, but I certainly don't think people would necessarily hail it as the most amazing thing ever if it wasn't.

When an RMC gets built in this country, part of me fears that some of the enthusiasts in this country will want it to be the next Steel Vengeance, will hype it up as being the next Steel Vengeance during construction, and will be bitterly disappointed if it isn't when it opens. If you look on YouTube, for example, most of the videos on RMCs for the UK and RMC coasters for Thorpe Park don't just seem to hypothesise about any old RMC. Pretty much all of them seem to predict a hyper hybrid equal in scale to, if not bigger than, Steel Vengeance. I think that when a lot of people think "UK RMC", they almost automatically think "Steel Vengeance", or at least a ride on par with Steel Vengeance in terms of quality.

I absolutely adore it, but I'd almost say a similar thing happened when Icon was built at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Ever since Helix opened, people had wanted a Mack launch coaster in the UK, and were overjoyed when it was finally rumoured that Blackpool were building one. However, I remember before the layout was even announced, the hype was unreal. Even when the ride had been announced, people were saying that it was going to decimate everything else in the UK and be one of the very best coasters in Europe, and some people even made comparisons with Maverick. I think a lot of people wanted (or perhaps almost expected) Icon to be on par with or stronger than Helix from a ride experience standpoint. Because of this fact, the hype for it was literally unreal during construction and as such, I think quite a few people were very disappointed in the end product because despite Icon still being a solid ride, it seemingly was nowhere near as good as Helix or even Blue Fire in the eyes of most. I suppose Alan Schlike is a skilled designer, and Mack launch coasters seem a little more hit and miss than RMCs on the whole, but my point still stands.

Before I ramble on about Icon, what I'm basically trying to say is that I fear that some people in the UK enthusiast community don't just want an RMC in the UK; they want the next Steel Vengeance in the UK. And they will be very disappointed if it isn't. For example, imagine if a park in this country built a ride similar to Goliath at Six Flags Great America; an awesome ride, but nowhere near the best coaster RMC has produced. Something similar to Goliath would be an awesome ride for this country, in my opinion, but I fear that many would be disappointed that it wasn't Steel Vengeance.

On the other hand, there's still a decent chance that a park in this country could build the next Steel Vengeance; we've done it plenty of times before! Nemesis arguably was the Steel Vengeance of its ride type at the time, for example!
 
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