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Why build a vekoma?

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airtime_uk_ash

Mega Poster
Just doing some research on odyssey "the worlds tallest" vekoma slc and I was staggered to find out it cost £28 million pounds!!! Q


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Cheaper, I imagine. On a similar vein to the Manufacturer Cost topic, Vekomas and similar would be cheaper then the likes of B&M or Intamin.

There are also other factors like perhaps other manufacturers were busy at the time so couldnt produce the rides in the specified timescale.

EDIT: found the topic viewtopic.php?f=78&t=40374
 
Ha, we were literally discussing this the other day. I wonder if by the time they realised how much it would actually cost decisions had already been made or something?
 
£28 million??? They could've literally almost bought Helix AND Balder for the same price.
 
28m£ for a seaside Vekoma SLC that can't operate in high winds has to be one of the worst investments in the history of the industry...

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I think it was probably a rash decision that simply wasn't looked into enough. I'd imagine Fantasy island received huge financial backing for this project and this probably hindered them, realistically they could have got a staggering amount more for their money but were probably pushed into corners to make the most of the funding. Im certainly no expert but I'd like to think that a park spending their own money and making their own major investments would try to get a bit more bang for their buck so to speak.

Not sure if the fact that the ride was built to commemorate the queens golden jubilee would have had an impact on planning / approval? I know the ride was originally planned to be even bigger so perhaps what was built was rushed through the design process to ensure it was built in 2002? I also dont know if the treasury could have played a part in the financial backing because of its links to the golden jubilee.

Either way i feel sorry for old queenie as she gets a nice big cred to commemorate her fabness and it ends up being an SLC...
 
^Yeah the original plans were for the ride to be 100ft taller. And I wonder how much Nestle coughed up (the ride was sponsored by KitKat back in the day). Still, a stupid amount to spend on a ride, if that really was the final figure.

Despite the massive outlay, apparently Fantasy Island did get quite a lot of money back on Odyssey from Vekoma because of the amount of changes to the ride needed in order to make it work at all. The stall turn (which truly lived up to its name!) and the the sidewinder both got lowered. But this never fully cured the problem of a slight gust causing the ridfe to close. The Vekoma Big Air which now sits in Taiwan was meant to go to Fantasy Island, but after the Odyssey debacle, the park and Vekoma didn't have the best working relationship, to put it nicely.

But it is still the fabbest SLC of all!
 
Technically, Vekoma are one of the most robust and flexible manufacturers of coasters. Who knows what happened with JO

It was most likely presented to many manufacturers and most said no and Vekoma just happened to deliver what the park wanted? I personally think it's a case of who could deliver.
 
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