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The Age of Records
By: Pokemaniac (04/04/2008)
During the 90's, new roller coaster technology was blooming. The amusement industry grew rapidly, due to a generally happier world situation. The threat of war was gone, Germany was once again one nation, and most countries with resources to start a war didn't feel like it. In short, the condtitions were much the same as in the happy 20's, after WWI. The seemingly bright future caused more general happiness among people, war was over, time to party! As a result of this, amusement parks became more popular. And so became roller coasters. The need of steel dropped as the chance of a war was reduced to a minimum, and the prices fell with it. This gave parks the opportunity of building big coasters.
Now that the conditions were changed, new possibilites appeared. As the customer flow got bigger, so did the parks' efforts to keep customers coming back. One way to do this, was to have a world record. Until now, giant coasters had been rough, brutal, way too expensive, and not a that big deal, considering the rather small amount of coasters in the world, and the general knowledge among the public (So what if there was a taller coaster somewhere, if no one here knew about it?). But times had changed, it was now possible to build big without knocking out the riders. And due to increased customer flow, it was profitable too...
The nineties would be a competition between parks and manufacturers to build the most impressive roller coasters ever.
In [b]1989[/b], Cedar Point crossed the 200 feet mark with Magnum XL-200. Not only was Magnum big and beautifully located, but it was also considered to be an amazing coaster. Cedar Point had always been a place of records, and would from here on represent the spirit of the industry: Always Bigger.
[b]1992[/b] gave us the first Batman: The Ride at Six Flags Great America, the first coaster where the passengers travelled below the track, with nothing but thin air below their feet. While not many parks could afford to stand up against Cedar Point, that now also had taken the height record for wooden coasters with Mean Streak, they could afford one of the new Inverted Coasters, who were cheaper and smaller, but considered more thrilling. Still, if they weren't biggest, they would get little or no international attention. And while some parks saw another way to market themselves, other parks like Cedar Point and Six Flags saw a new record category...
[b]1994[/b] broke the overall record twice. Desperado at Buffalo Bill's Hotel & Casino in Nevada and Pepsi Max Big One in Blackpool Pleasure Beach were respectively 209 and 213 feet tall, and while Desperado was smaller, it still held the World Speed Record, with its amazing speed of 128.7 kph.
Another record from '94 was the opening of the world's largest Inverted Coaster. Cedar Point opened Raptor, that was about one and a half time bigger than the Batman Coasters. Breaking the overall record every year would crack the budget of any park chain, but breaking a category record like this was bearable. So during the nineties, Cedar Point did exactly that if the money and space was availible.
In [b]1996[/b], Premier Rides introduced the world's first LIM launched coaster, Flight of Fear at (at the time) Paramounts Kings Island in Ohio. The unique launch system propelled the train to the speed of 87 kph, without the need of a lift hill.
10 years later, launched coasters would have the speed record in four out of the six continents where roller coasters existed.
Busch Entertainment also grabbed a record this year. Montu in Busch Gardens Africa was, with its 46 meters, the new largest inverted coaster in excistence.
Cedar Point still had the same amount of record-breakers in one park, though. Mantis became the worlds largest Stand-Up coaster in existence that year.
In [b]1997[/b], Asia finally got a full-circuit record holder. Ever since its opening in 1983, Moonsault Scramble at Fuji-Q Highland had been the world's tallest coaster, standing at 73 meters. But since it was a shuttle coaster, no one seemed to count that one. Now, 14 years later, the park opened Fujiyama, named after the nearby Mount Fujiyama, meaning King of Mountains. The Japanese word for 'mountain' may also mean 'roller coaster', so it could also be translated into 'King of Coasters'. Which it was for about three years. Fujiyama is 79 meters tall.
Meanwhile, Busch decided to secure their record, and built Alpengeist, the last Mega-Inverter, almost breaking the 200-foot mark with its 195-foot lift hill.
Also in the 1997 season, a bit too late due to technical problems, thrill seekers could experience a unique new technology at Granada Studios in Manchester, United Kingdom. While Inverted coasters had been around for five years, the Gladiators Skytrak coaster had a very special feature. The riders lay on their stomachs, below the track, allowing them to experience the ultimate flying feeling. However, Granada Studios had to close the following year, and Skytrak was scrapped. Still, it is regarded as the world's first Flying Coaster, giving birth to a new record category.
The most remarkable addition of 1997, however, must have been Six Flags Magic Mountain's new addition. Superman: the Escape and its sister Tower of Terror in Dreamworld in Australia, are regarded as the first pure record-machines. They were both taller and faster than any existing coaster, thanks to the new launch technology, but had no other features than a launch and a spike besides the impressive numbers.
[b]1998[/b] brought one of Britain's most appreciated rides, Oblivion at Alton Towers. Even though it was a plain sit-down coaster, it still had an unique feature: 8-a-side seats, with only two rows on each car, and a single car per train. However, Oblivion featured a hole with a tunnel through. And the track went almost vertical into that hole. 19 meters above ground followed by a 35 meter plunge into the darkness, eliminated the need of more than one drop. The ride beat the record of being the world's deepest coaster, a record it still has today. Also, Bolliger and Mabillard of Switzerland had shown the world that they were capable of building both visually vertical AND safe coasters.
Six Flags also claimed the Stand-Up record back, with Riddler's Revenge at Magic Mountain. From there on, only one more Stand-Up coaster would ever be built. Georgia Scorcher is smaller than its predecessors, but is considered to be as good as Mantis. Given the pain that male passenger may experience on such coasters, however, 'Better than Mantis' as a fairly low standard to beat.
In [b]1999[/b], Medusa at Six Flags Great Adventure had - or in fact, missed, a new feature: the coaster had no floor, so the passengers' seats were suspended freely above the track. This meant that their only safe spot was their seats, there was no safe floor to stand on, and, unlike the inverted coasters: When you were inverted, you had nothing above you. Or Below you. It is worth noticing that the floorless coasters never became much bigger than Medusa. This was mostly due to the fact that they were too similiar to the traditional looping coasters, so the record wouldn't bee as prestigeous as the Inverter record, for example.
The Age of Records was at its peak in [b]2000[/b]. The tallest Wooden Coaster of all time, the Son of Beast, opened, crushing the record previously held by Six Flags Fiesta Texas's Rattler.
Six Flags Magic Mountain also again snagged the drop record for a brief period of time. Goliath had a 77 meters drop, due to the tunnel following the first drop. In terms of height, however, Fujiyama was still the tallest - For about threee months.
Cedar Point once again took a record, by ordering the ultimate Roller Coaster from Intamin. Millennium Force would be the longest, fastest, tallest and steepest full-circuit coaster in excistense, as well as the first full-circuit coaster crossing the 300-feet mark. A really nice way to celebrate the new millennium.
'The ultimate coaster', however, didn't hold the record for that long. Later in 2000, Morgan Manufacturing's Steel Dragon 2000 would be the last true record-breaking roller coaster ever built. 97 meters tall, 2479 meters long, 93 meter drop. Those records still stand for non-launched coasters. It is also the most expensive roller coaster ever built, due to the amount of steel needed to secure it against earthquakes. Fifty million dollars were spent to build the coaster.
Steel Dragon 2000 was the last coaster not to have a record as a gimmick, but as an ordinary part of the ride. This was because the competition had reached the point where the expenses of building a record breaking coaster became bigger than the income gained from increased attendation. Even building a record breaking Inverted Coaster, for instance, would most likely cost more than 25 million dollars if you were to do it the traditional way. So therefore, parks figured out that it was cheaper to build launched coasters, that way they could keep it going for a few more years. Launched Coasters didn't even have to complete the circuit or feature any amazing new elements, because the launch provided enough thrill for the entire ride. The Age of Record Coasters ended after Steel Dragon. After that followed the Age of Record Machines, as seen in the record breakers from here on:
[b]2001[/b]: Japan would once again take the record of what mattered now: Speed. The launch technology made it possible to gain speed without the need of a supertall lift hill. DoDonPa accelerates the riders to the terrifying speed of 172 kph - in less than two seconds. Then it turns around, go through a tophat, and brakes down again. The ride is over in 55 seconds, most of the time is transport over the brakes and into the station.
[b]2002[/b]: With Wicked Twister, Cedar Point built the fastest and tallest Inverted coaster to date. It consists of a launch and two spikes. Even though Alpengeist is much more massive, Busch can no longer claim to have the world record. Cedar Point can.
[b]2003[/b]: Cedar Point orders the new Ultimate Roller Coaster from Intamin. Top Thrill Dragster consumes more energy than the average town, takes a year to build and costs more than 25 million dollars, but beats the two most prestigeous records: Height and Speed. However, Dragster is a record machine. Built to break the record, not as an ordinary coaster featuring a record or two. It has a launch and a tophat standing at 128 meters, but after the tophat, the ride has delivered everything is was meant to deliver. World's longest brake section slows down the coaster, and the passengers may walk off after 25 seconds to tell everyone that they have been on the world's fastest and tallest (and therefore best) roller coaster.
Two years later, Six flags claimed back the records. Kingda Ka was little more than a clone of Top Thrill Dragster, featuring a faster launch and a taller tophat, and an airtime hill after the tophat.
While one may argue that record breaking roller coasters always have been little more than a clone of what already has existed, they had always delivered more than a record until Superman: The Escape came along. Up and down as effective as possible, to claim the record in the cheapest possible way. Still, these coasters doesn't need to do more than they do, but building a coaster only to claim the record is not necessarily the best investment one can make. But it is very good PR, and that is what the parks were looking for.
This point is where I would like to thank you all for reading this. The reason why I don't do it in the end is because if you have read your way to this, you will most likely read the rest of the article too. PM me for your opinions.
What will the future bring? Since 2005, we haven't seen any big records broken, the war cooled down. Still, we have got some amazing rides the last two years. I will focus most on the record breakers:
[b]2006[/b] gave us Eejanaika, the largest 4-D coaster out there, but Fuji-Q Highland deserves more credit for taking the risk and build this coaster type, than building the biggest. The previous 4-D coaster had been troubled by problems, causing one of the largest companies in the industry, Arrow, to file for bankrupcy.
Another type of coaster was reborn in 2006. Oblivion had been praised and famous in the UK, but in America, Diving Machines were unknown. Busch Gardens Africa brought the Diving Machine out from its cold, deep tunnel and below-the-treeline profile, and up towards the sky. SheiKra became the third Diving Machine, finally featuring a completely vertical drop, and inversions. And it was now the tallest coaster at Busch Gardens Africa, adding a new thrilling ride to the park's skyline.
Also, Six Flags Magic Mountain once again took a record, building Tatsu. While Flying Coaster records weren't as prestigeous as other records, it still was a record. Tatsu is also ranked as one of the best coasters in the park. It also also gained a new record for Magic Mountain: The park now had a whooping 17 coasters, which was more than any other park on the planet. But many members of the public noticed that all the coasters had never operated on the same day...
Due to financial a crisis, Six Flags brought Magic Mountain up for sale in 2006, but the only buyer that had the money was Cedar Fair, the archrival of Six Flags during the Age of Records. The park was not sold.
In late 2006, we started to see signs indicating that the times once again had changed. Cedar Point unveiled their new coaster for 2007, their second coaster since 1985 that didn't break a world record.
This year, Six Flags decided to clean up and get rid of their least appreciated coasters, as well as other things to help them out of their financial crisis. Psyclone had to face the wrecking ball, several parks were sold, and only two Six Flags parks got any new coasters for 2007. Those were small, but they served their purpose: Cheap Thrill. Also, at the end of 2007, one of Six Flags's least appreciated rides was torn down. Flashback had gone from Great America to Georgia to Magic Mountain, where it was standing rusting, its only purpose was to heighten the statistics. In December 2007, it was finally demolished.
[b]2007[/b] gave us one single world record. The succeeder of SheiKra, named Griffon, opened at another Busch park, this time in Williamsburg. Griffon was never marketed as being the world's tallest floorless coaster, even though it was. This year, instead of record breakers, other types of coasters came into view.
Maverick was, as mentioned above, Cedar Point's second coaster not to break a record since Disaster Transport opened in 1985. still, it is considered to be the best coaster at the Point. As one member of CoasterForce said in a recent debate:
[i]"Ride Maverick, go home"[/i].
Despite having lots of records, Cedar Point has been labelled as disappointing by the enthusiasts. Most record breaking coastes have been suffering from dead spots or roughness, or a combination of both.
I think that if the money put into Maverick was spent with the purpose of breaking another record, we would have ended up with a much worse coaster. And judging from the reviews from the public, Cedar Point's next coaster won't beat any record either. Maverick is the finite proof that a coaster doesn't have to break a record to be good.
So far, it seems like [b]2008[/b] will not give us any new height or speed records, regardless of category. Instead, smaller and possibly better coasters are popping up.
At first, this was taken with a little bit of disappointment, but now as we have seen the finished results, most people have agreed that a lot of records aren't necessary to make a year a good coaster year.
Another reason to end the Coaster War is that the Age of Records sparked the interest for coasters among many people during the 90's. More enthusiasts equals more people riding many different coasters, forming communities, and after a while, they can judge the coasters with one loud voice. And the community has so far labelled most record breakers as not-so-great rides, thus enforcing a bit of thinking among the park chains. Building a record breaker nowadays isn't really worth the expense, regardless of what record you break. Take the new coaster opening at Nürnburgring in 2009, for instance. It will be the fastest coaster ever built, but consists of little more than a launch, a turn and a brake. But it will snag the record from Kingda Ka, and be a true dedicated record machine, as it is not going for the height record, only the speed record. Time will show how good this new beast will be.
On the other hand, many parks has gotten status among in the community for having good coasters, even if they are smaller. Balder, for instance, is by comparison to other rides a small coaster, but it is considered to be way better than most other wooden coasters, due to the massive airtime. On a larger scale, The Superman: Ride of Steel models has got better reviews than Millennium Force, also because of the airtime. In short, it isn't worth spending lots of money on a Gigacoaster when a slightly smaller and cheaper Hypercoaster can satisfy the riders better.
As far as I can see, this idea will dominate the years to come. Build big, but not so big that it prevents the coaster from being good.
I think that from now on, people's opinion will have more to say when parks are building new. However, on a local basis, building bigger than the neighbour may still be as important as it was in the 90's. For example, having the biggest coaster in Yorkshire is to a small park more important than having a good coaster, because most visitors in most smaller parks live less than a three hour's drive from the park. The 'biggest' title is sometimes worth the efforts, as long as you don't promise too much.
A big coaster is, after all, what brings people to the park in the first place. Then, after people have been there and spread their opinions, parks can survive and grow on pure reputation, given that they follow up with equally good rides.
We may not see many record breaking coasters in the years to come. Maybe a new Flyer will be bigger than Tatsu, maybe a Diving Machine will be bigger than Griffon. Maybe there will be built bigger ZacSpinners. But who cares, we will almost surely have fun on the new coasters anyway!
Pokemaniac
[b]Sources:[/b]
CF-INFO forums
www.rcdb.com
www.coastergallery.com
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