Most overdone coaster type of 2005!

[RTCnoob384]

ok in this post I will talk about the most overused cliche coaster in all the world for 2005.(only coasters new to 2005)

drum roll plz ok and the most overdone coaster is the......

Rocket coaster!Now there are going to be about 3-4 come out next year.the list as follows

Kingda Ka
Kanonen
Rita
Superman: The Ride(maybe maybe not)

lets uncover the history of the rocket coaster:
We go back a long long time ago in 2003 when in a park in Ohio a great masterpiece of a coaster was built(acually it wasn't that great)it was the tallest it was the fastest it had a kinda stupid yet kinda catchy name...Top Thrill Dragster.Ok as time progresssed it had a few problems, the park knew this.Another park had an idea they would make a clone(except for a small hump in the middle)of this ride and fix the problems with the original.Well they started constuction much later after the publice found out.Some were happy others were mad so didn't care and others wanted doughnuts.Sooo OOther parks cought on to thses ideas and are making smaller ones.Now we are back to the present times with 4 rocket coasters being built.

So if you have any questions or want to add go right ahead.

[BorisTheFish]

Rocket Coasters existed before TTD, Xcelerator was the first i believe, back in 2002

[RollerC]

Superman:The ride isnt a rocket coaster

[Harpo]

Xcelerator was the prototype for TTD. It was supposed to be used to work out the bugs before building the much bigger version at The Point. Hmmmm, that plan went off without a hitch, didn't it? ;)

Biggest disappointment for 2004: Rainout in December. Planned on going to Knott's to ride Silver Bullet (as a side trip from Vegas), but the rains came down, and the side trip was cancelled. Had I made it to Knott's, I would have been able to add 2 coasters to my 2004 list, which would have put me at a new personal high of 190 different coasters in one year. Instead, the year came in second at 188.

I'm disappointed for myself, but I feel really bad for the folks in southern Cal who had to deal with the flooding, mudslides, etc. that came from the poor weather.

[RTCnoob384]

No no, RollerC this is a new coaster.Being buit at a australian park called Warner Bros. Movie World.I have no info on this but it isnt another superman ride by Six Flags.

[raptorrvnge4928]

RollerC, you forgot to mention Storm Runner... the first hydraulic launcher with an inversion.

[SFA PKD Fan]

Where do you get superman:the ride from? as far as I know the only SF park adding a coaster for 05 is SFGRADV with KK & in order for WBMW in Austrailia to use that theme they'd probably require liscensing from SF first.

I would agree that the rockets are being a bit over used when there are still parks out there in the SF & paramount chain that could benefit more from traditional rides such as a floorless or even a traditional sitdown steel looper & no doubt SFGRADV will have major problems with KK.....I mean if CP couldn't get all the bugs out of TTD then what makes SF think they'll do any better?

[soundgodz]

Originally posted by SFA PKD Fan


no doubt SFGRADV will have major problems with KK.....I mean if CP couldn't get all the bugs out of TTD then what makes SF think they'll do any better?

You might not be aware, but Storm Runner has been pretty flawless from day one (that I know). There were lessons learned from Xcelorator and TTD. Don't forget that because TTD was over twice as high as Xcelorator, they were still pushing the the technology to it's limit. I think for reliability you would want to look instead to Superman:The Escape for a the example. Or not.

[Harpo]

Hmmm, S:TE was closed my last two times to Magic Mountain, including in June 2004.

[SFA PKD Fan]

S:TE's been closed most of the 04 season simply because SFMM can't even afford the high maintenance/operating costs for the ride right now.

Just goes to show how bad SF's money situation is right now if they can't even afford to keep the rides running that they've got now,let alone building any new ones.

[soundgodz]

When I was at MM in 2002 one side of Superman was down in refurb, so only one train was running. However the next day we'd returned and the second train had gone down as well. That's how reliable my experiece was.

[RCT2head]

hey... let's pool the money and buy off a SF park... and I'd elect Harpo CEO of it... it might actually work, as their plans aren't either... (I wasn't jokin' you Harpo)

[Xzentrificenceo]

Originally posted by SFA PKD Fan
S:TE's been closed most of the 04 season simply because SFMM can't even afford the high maintenance/operating costs for the ride right now.

Just goes to show how bad SF's money situation is right now if they can't even afford to keep the rides running that they've got now,let alone building any new ones.

Yes it was down for a fair amount of the 04 season but there was major work being down to it, not the cost of running it.


RCT2Head
I suggested that at least a year ago and got no takers. It sure would have been great to take over a park and make it great.

[Harpo]

Originally posted by RCT2head
hey... let's pool the money and buy off a SF park... and I'd elect Harpo CEO of it... it might actually work, as their plans aren't either... (I wasn't jokin' you Harpo)

Thanks! Count me in -- I'd be glad to give it a shot!

Now, if we can just come up with about $100 to $150 million...

[BorisTheFish]

i have £2 in my account!!!! its a start

[soundgodz]

It's cheap enough, I could pick up a block of 1000 if I was more secure about their operations.

[Harpo]

It's not as cheap, but you may want to think about Winston Hotels (WXH), trading in the $11 range. They pay a fairly good dividend, and their stock seems to be fairly stable. I picked up a couple hundred shares of that to aid in income creation. (Six Flags common stock doesn't pay any dividend, although the Preferred stock does. Cedar Fair pays a very nice distribution, but you wouldn't be able to buy as many shares -- it's currently trading in the low $30's. Additionally, their Limited Partnership structure makes for some very interesting tax issues.)

If Six Flags wasn't losing lots of money, and didn't have as significant a quantity of debt, it would be a better risk. But, it should show the extent of their troubles when, with the current interest rates in the 4%-5% range, they just floated new debt at 9 5/8% to go towards paying off 9 1/2% debt -- that's going the wrong way, rate-wise!

If you could afford to potentially lose the entire investment, and wanted a risk where there's a potential for a great upside (if they can make major corrections in their operations and profitability -- something they have thus far failed to show), then Six Flags would have the potential for a great return. However, I wouldn't expect that return until there's a major change in the upper management, before which there's a rather good chance they could go bankrupt, as indicated by their terrible Junk Bond debt ratings. (I forget the exact numbers, but I saw something once indicating that approximately 20% to 30% of companies with debt ratings as low as those of Six Flags wind up declaring bankruptcy.)

[soundgodz]

I agree about Cedar Fair. When I started looking at it, it was trading at $25 but has slowly trended up in the last year. I should have doubled down on Vivendi when it dropped to $11, but I was gun shy. Same for Lockheed Martin at $26 and EA at $25 just after the last split. I guess my instincts are ok after all, but until I get my home situation back in hand (condo issues) I need to keep my funds ready for a new house.

[leonardofury]

Originally posted by SFA PKD Fan
Where do you get superman:the ride from? as far as I know the only SF park adding a coaster for 05 is SFGRADV with KK & in order for WBMW in Austrailia to use that theme they'd probably require liscensing from SF first.


I believe Premier parks who own Six Flags also own the Warner Bros Movie world parks. WBMW Madrid has both Batman and Superman themed rides

[soundgodz]

Warner Brothers owns the rights to DC comics, they own DC comics as well as Looney Toons. It's Premier that has to license from Time-Warner.

By the way, from RCDB:


Amusement Park: Warner Bros. Movie World
Type: Steel - Sit Down
Status: Under Construction opening 2005
Cost: $12,000,000 USD

History: Rumored to be an Intamin Rocket Coaster.