Vekoma Rides - Do you like them?

[dj-fireball999]

I guess it's time to find out just how many coaster enthusiasts like Vekoma. Whenever Vekoma are mentioned by anybody, people usually complain about their roughness, restraints, trains, and the amount of "off the shelf" rides that they have produced.

However, these bad points of past Vekoma coasters have been rectified by their new designs.

So out of curiosity, what is your favourite Vekoma ride?

And do you like their "older" style rides, or the newer ones?

(even if you don't like any, which would you say is the best that you have been on?)

My personal favourites are all Disney Vekoma rides, and Corkscrew at Alton towers - I don't know why, but I've always had a soft spot for it.

 

[Crow]

They made Hex The Legend of The Towers, Villa Volta, Phantom Manor and Big Thunder which are all amazing. They also made Vampire and Vogel Rok which are also quite good, so yes. I like vekoma.

 

[Ben]

^Almost all of those rides are awesome because of the theming, nothing really to do with what Vekoma did.

Apart from Vampire, which the only good parts of are thanks to Arrow, and was a LOT better before Vekoma ruined it.

I don't really like them. Some of their new stuff is better, but... still, the Motorbike Coasters are awful... the Stingrays look horrific, so, really, just the sit-down coasters (Mine Trains, Tibidabo's) impress me of the newer stuff. Oh, and Kumali is God-awful, so the SLCs haven't got any better IMO. And the new trains on The Great Nor'Easter were... um... terrible when they started to move.

The models that I really like of theirs are the GIBs (Stunt Fall, which I hear is the best) and the Flying Dutchmen (Batwing). The vast majority (Boomerangs, SLCs, various crap) bring these down though. If I had to put them into either "Terrible" or "Amazing", it would be terrible.

 

[Mike]

They also made Vampire

Vekoma only made the trains- Arrow made the actual ride to begin with.

All Disney Vekomas (with the exception of Space Mountain: Mission 2)= Excellent.
Most other Vekomas= Meh.
Vekoma SLCs= OUCH.

My favourite Vekoma has got to be Paris' Big Thunder Mountain, which, unsurprisingly, is at a Disney park.

 

[dj-fireball999]

They also made Vampire

All Disney Vekomas (with the exception of Space Mountain: Mission 2)= Excellent.

What's wrong with Space Mountain?

 

[Mike]

They also made Vampire

All Disney Vekomas (with the exception of Space Mountain: Mission 2)= Excellent.

What's wrong with Space Mountain?

It's slow, rough and boring.

 

[Ben]

Rough?

That would be an understatement if I ever did see one.

 

[dj-fireball999]

They also made Vampire

All Disney Vekomas (with the exception of Space Mountain: Mission 2)= Excellent.

What's wrong with Space Mountain?

It's slow, rough and boring.

Fair enough, but an uphill launch, tongue, sidewinder and corkscrew is still pretty fun! Rough - yes

 

[dj-fireball999]

Then again it depends on where you sit, front isn't bad, middle is ok, back is just terrable, but I like it there! :wink:

 

[dj-fireball999]

I actually don't mind their newer stuff.

I like Everest, I like the mine trains, and I like the new SLC restraints, although that one gets mixed opinions depending on the person you ask.

I really like the new SLC restraints, really ergonomic.

 

[DjTommyB]

The only rides I like from Vekoma are Rock n Rollercoaster at DLP which is just brilliant and Big Thunder Mountain at DLP which was also really good. I have yet to do Space Mountain: Mission 2 so can't really comment on that.

EDIT: Forgot to add Jubilee Odyssey and Velocity to the list and having now done Space Mountain: Mission 2 I can say that I also really liked that even though the launch wasn't really that fast and it was a little rough but I still really liked it and I don't really care if a coaster is a little rough. They can't all be glass smooth.

 

[Mike T]

Vekomas can be great roller coasters as long as they're properly maintained and cared for. A few good examples are Expedition Everest, Rock N Roller Coaster, and MIA's Thunderhawk - all which show that when you eliminate the element of roughness, you come to find that some of Vekoma's layout designs are quite good.

But to be honest, I don't mind most roller coasters, and what I've experienced by Vekoma is far from some of the worst I've been on in terms of unenjoyment and how violent the ride is on riders. I can cite several other instances on coasters that truely makes Vekoma's work look like child's play (cough Beast cough cough).

 

[Screaming Coasters]

They also made Vampire

All Disney Vekomas (with the exception of Space Mountain: Mission 2)= Excellent.

What's wrong with Space Mountain?

It's slow, rough and boring.

Pretty much the story of your sex life...


I actually Love Vekoma for the simple fact that they are not scared to try out new things. oh, and Big Thunder Mountain <3

 

[dj-fireball999]

They also made Vampire

All Disney Vekomas (with the exception of Space Mountain: Mission 2)= Excellent.

What's wrong with Space Mountain?

It's slow, rough and boring.

Pretty much the story of your sex life...


I actually Love Vekoma for the simple fact that they are not scared to try out new things. oh, and Big Thunder Mountain <3

Totally agree , well said, however I can understand why some people despise them. Some tick all the boxes for some people, some just don't. Vekoma are a mixed bag of nuts.

 

[Slash]

Yes I do like them. The coasters I've been on have been fairly good but not excellent. They will never be as good as B&M or Intamin.

Oh and stop parading your fanboyism :wink: You'll regret it one day... Much like this kid...

 

[F.A.S.T.]

They are alright.
Sure there a bit rough but you can get over that. (They are also currently trying to improve on that.)
They've been trying to expand there ride base, witch is a great thing. They've also been trying to improve their old ones. (New trains, ect...)

Sure there old rides do suck a bit, but were looking toward a bright future with this company.

 

[dj-fireball999]

Yes I do like them. The coasters I've been on have been fairly good but not excellent. They will never be as good as B&M or Intamin.

Oh and stop parading your fanboyism :wink: You'll regret it one day... Much like this kid...

Ok, I admit that I do really like Vekoma, but I'm not that bad, am I? lol

 

[Screaming Coasters]

Nah, it's cool to be a fan of Vekoma. I am too, I just don't parade it around lol.

 

[rollermonkey]

There are a few decent Vekoma flatrides, and as mentioned, the work they do for Disney is good, but the thing I like the best about Vekoma?

They are prolific, which helps with the credit chasing.
:wink:

I think I've got nearly 50 with just SLC's and Boomerangs alone. Add in all those rollerskaters, and...

 

[gavin]

Moved from General Discussions.

I like Vekoma. I'll repeat what I said in the favourite manufacturer topic, that I really like a few of their coasters, find the majority of them to be ok, but have never really disliked anything I've ridden of theirs, except maybe X:NWO.

The Disney coasters I've tried so far have all been really good, especially Space Mountain at Hong Kong Disney.

Boomerangs are ok rides. As UC mentioned earlier, they're a great way for a small park to start establishing themselves with a "big" coaster. They're pretty forceful, too. I think we just bitch about them so much because, as enthusiasts, we rather try something we haven't ridden before.

I've only tried 3 SLCs. I wasn't too keen on the "Kumali" layouts in China. The original one in Shenzen was a bit rough, but the one in Beijing was very smooth. I just found the layouts to be pretty boring. I really enjoyed Vortex in Thailand though. I have to try one of the "rough" ones I guess to see what all the complaining is about.

Their mine trains are decent. Nothing mind-blowing, but if parks theme them well, they make for really fun rides.

Family coasters/rollerskaters are great at what they do. Pretty dull for us, but very good for kids and families. I'd actually argue that Vekoma make the best "kiddy" coasters.

Old style loopers/corkscrews. Hmmmm, tough one. I loved Alton and Flamingoland's corkscrews as a kid, and the one I rode in Malaysia was really smooth, so I want to defend them. These days, though, they're just not very interesting coasters. I think this is the type that suffers most from aging. French Revolution was great when I first rode it: interesting, surprising layout with some decent airtime. It really has gone to **** though, and I rarely bother with it these days.

I really, really want to try a Flying Dutchman or GIB. I should hopefully get to ride one in a couple of months.

My favourite Vekoma coaster is Gravity Max. I would be really interested to know why parks seem to have ignored the Tilt Coaster. It may be a gimmick, but it's an excellent one that would definitely bring in the guests. Is it to do with costs? Reliabilty? Space? I really have no idea....