Sea World

[JoshC.]

24 minutes ago, Mark9 said:

For the same reason companies purchase B&M hypers and gigas over the Intamin/mack/Gerstlauer equivalents.

But don't companies go to B&M for Hypers and Gigas because they have the most experience making them, and arguably make the best ones? Eyebrows would equally be raised if a park went to Gerstlauer for a traditional, 7-8 row long train Giga, no?

 

24 minutes ago, Mark9 said:

With B&M comes the ultimate quality in rollercoaster design, reliability and capacity. Busch also seems to have a good working relationship with B&M, probably why they are are building their fourth ride at Seaworld Orlando. 

All very true, and if B&M were ever going to design a new generation launch coaster, Busch/Sea World would be the most obvious choice for the first one, given their relationship.

[Mark9]

50 minutes ago, JoshC. said:

But don't companies go to B&M for Hypers and Gigas because they have the most experience making them, and arguably make the best ones? Eyebrows would equally be raised if a park went to Gerstlauer for a traditional, 7-8 row long train Giga, no?

 

Most enthusiasts would argue against B&M making the best hypers. Besides, I think B&M have sold more hypers for the simple reason their rides work whereas Intamin have had problems with people being flung out of seats and trains getting stuck mid circuit in the past.

[JoshuaA]

3 hours ago, Mark9 said:

 

For the same reason companies purchase B&M hypers and gigas over the Intamin/mack/Gerstlauer equivalents. With B&M comes the ultimate quality in rollercoaster design, reliability and capacity. Busch also seems to have a good working relationship with B&M, probably why they are are building their fourth ride at Seaworld Orlando. 

That is all good, until you realise the selling point of the model. B&M Hypers are well established, they have been in production since 1999.

 When it comes to gigas, the only competitor is Intamin. Which have a pretty shaky track record only building two, with the most recent one having a lot of issues.

You also have to consider who would buy this model? Six Flags have loyalties to Premier and S&S for their launch coasters, Cedar Fair had quite a lot of success with Mack (Copperhead Strike), and even if a company considers building one of these, they have cheaper options (S&S, Premier, Gerstlauer, Vekoma) and companies like Mack build just as smooth if not smoother rides than B&M, also usually very reliable launch coasters. If it is just a vanilla launch coaster model, I do think this will flop.

 

 

[Mark9]

19 hours ago, JoshuaA said:

That is all good, until you realise the selling point of the model. B&M Hypers are well established, they have been in production since 1999.

 When it comes to gigas, the only competitor is Intamin. Which have a pretty shaky track record only building two, with the most recent one having a lot of issues.

You also have to consider who would buy this model? Six Flags have loyalties to Premier and S&S for their launch coasters, Cedar Fair had quite a lot of success with Mack (Copperhead Strike), and even if a company considers building one of these, they have cheaper options (S&S, Premier, Gerstlauer, Vekoma) and companies like Mack build just as smooth if not smoother rides than B&M, also usually very reliable launch coasters. If it is just a vanilla launch coaster model, I do think this will flop.

 

 

Cedar Fair have built one major Mack ride whilst B&M have built Yukun Striker, Orion, Leviathan, Fury 325, Banshee, Valravn & Gatekeeper since 2012.

 

Anyway, its a bit of a moot point. If it is a generic launch coaster, I still think companies would be interested in a B&M equivalent because they are the best in the business at what they do. Their only real rid type that isn't a hit is the junior inverted which is actually pointless. Everything else they've done has been smash hits so why would this realistically be any different. 

 

 

[JoshuaA]

6 hours ago, Mark9 said:

Cedar Fair have built one major Mack ride whilst B&M have built Yukun Striker, Orion, Leviathan, Fury 325, Banshee, Valravn & Gatekeeper since 2012.

 

Anyway, its a bit of a moot point. If it is a generic launch coaster, I still think companies would be interested in a B&M equivalent because they are the best in the business at what they do. Their only real rid type that isn't a hit is the junior inverted which is actually pointless. Everything else they've done has been smash hits so why would this realistically be any different. 

 

 

Because all of the other models are don't have too much competition to be fair. Look at their last big model they debuted, Wing Coasters were a success. Because it was a fairly innovative idea, even though Furius Baco exists, B&M made the first good wing coaster lol.

 

With a launch coaster, most smaller-medium parks/Six Flags will opt for the cheaper Premier and when it comes to Cedar Fair really Mack/Intamin makes for a worthy rival for B&M.. Its a market were you have options upon options, with some companies like Premier basically only making launch coasters. 

 

Sure a B&M launch would probably be a great ride, but if it just a generic launch coaster. I don't see the market for it. 

 

 

[Matt 236]

It’s no secret that B&M are very much the Rolls Royce/Lamborghini of ride manufacturers to this day.

 

Whilst they are arguably less innovative than in the 90’s, they continue to build strong, reliable and often popular re-rideable coasters. Many companies such as Sea World and Cedar Fair frequency buy models from them, with their dive and hyper models still being remarkably popular. Duelling Dragons is the only B&M known to be fully scrapped to this day.

 

The introduction of a launch coaster would be a great and logical move, especially when these types of coaster are especially popular with the likes of Taron, Helix etc. 

[Mark9]

19 hours ago, JoshuaA said:

Because all of the other models are don't have too much competition to be fair. Look at their last big model they debuted, Wing Coasters were a success. Because it was a fairly innovative idea, even though Furius Baco exists, B&M made the first good wing coaster lol.

 

With a launch coaster, most smaller-medium parks/Six Flags will opt for the cheaper Premier and when it comes to Cedar Fair really Mack/Intamin makes for a worthy rival for B&M.. Its a market were you have options upon options, with some companies like Premier basically only making launch coasters. 

 

Sure a B&M launch would probably be a great ride, but if it just a generic launch coaster. I don't see the market for it. 

 

 

 

Those models don't have competition because B&M effectively killed off the competitions equivalent rides (Arrow suspended, Arrow looper, Intamin mega & wing-rider) by refining concepts to perfection. The floorless coasters are gimmicky as hell and sold incredibly well right off the bat. 

 

Besides I feel like we're both missing that SeaWorld Orlando is currently building a launch coaster and then is building another one a year later. There's clearly room at parks for two launchers from two companies at the very least. I agree with you that it will probably have something unique about it otherwise B&M wouldn't be bothering at all. 

[Matt N]

Land clearing has started for the B&M Surf Coaster:

 

I can’t wait to see what this is like!

[Mark9]

Is this actually the B&M 'surf;' coaster. The rumour came and went like a summer breeze and I feel like the park has said absolutely nothing about investment, neither have fan websites. 

[JoshC.]

42 minutes ago, Mark9 said:

Is this actually the B&M 'surf;' coaster. The rumour came and went like a summer breeze and I feel like the park has said absolutely nothing about investment, neither have fan websites. 

 

The development stalled because of Covid, is the short answer. It's why things stopped almost as quickly as rumours surfaced, and why the park haven't spoken of it.

 

In terms of fan sites, here's a recent article from one which discusses recent patent files: https://behindthethrills.com/2022/01/new-patent-seaworld-surf-coaster-train-layout-restraint/

The key features are over the top lap bars (a la Mack and Intamin), and seats with vertical movement.

 

And a totally comprehensive, reasonably recent (Dec21) look at the specific project: https://bgwfans.com/2021/bgwfans-leaks-seaworld-orlandos-project-penguin/

[Mark9]

 

I love being wrong. 

[Cal]

 

So the B&M surf coaster is essentially a stand up coaster with seats that move up and down? Really interested to see how this works/rides but can't say I'm particularly excited about it...

[jom222]

Will be interesting to find out how much of the movement can actually be felt. Definitely a unique idea and fits perfectly with the theme. 

[MattyB]

SeaWorld's Failed VR Rollercoaster Experiment: The Legendary History of Kraken

[MattyB]

Manta Abu Dhabi POV

[Benin]

Looks better than Icon. 

[Mark9]

In a pretty swift move, track has arrived for Seaworld Orlando's new rollercoaster which has the code name 'Bobsleigh'. And what is perhaps more surprising is that this family rollercoaster will be yet another B&M. Track has arrived on site and white track has also been seen at B&M's production facilities. 

 

It is rumoured that a lot of the ride will be indoors.

 

[Matt N]

For some additional context, the ride is replacing the long-gone Antarctica dark ride, and plans discovered by ParkFans unearthed that the layout will be something along these lines:

I'll admit that B&M seem like an unexpected choice, but I think that that looks like good fun, and exactly what the park needs!