The Death of the Wooden Roller Coaster

[Mikey]

Kiddos,

I hate to tell you this, but I think you should know that I think your generation is likely to be the last to experience the wooden roller coaster.

There has been a lot of action from Six Flags, Cedar Fair, and others choosing to demolish their wooden roller coasters. Some have opted to refurbish them, others have opted for straight demolition and redevelopment. The last few weeks I have been engaged with customers who are working to adjust their liability insurance coverage to reflect attraction additions and subtractions for the second half of the season. There has been some sticker shock in some of the coverage as Wooden Roller coasters are now being classified in a much higher liability category then they were previously. In some cases on the basis of insurance coverage alone it is no longer economical to continue to operate the attraction.

Wooden Roller coasters are cheap to construct but have higher operating costs. They depreciate in value much faster and require full time professional carpenters and craftsman to keep running unlike their steel counter parts. These folks are actual craftsman, not people who replace parts but people who know how to actually build something from scratch in order to fix a problem. Carpentry has always been an art form and roller coaster carpentry is becoming a dying art. As these rides die out, entire departments are being culled. The kids coming out of the school house are so focused on getting into college that there is an extreme shortage of knowledgeable tradesmen.

This morning a good friend of mine called, he has been a carpenter for a park for close to 25 years. Management told him at the end of the season that the ride he has taken care of all this time will be demolished, and his services will no longer be required. At 62 years old he knows he isn't likely to be hired on anywhere else, and even if he was he would have to move away from his birthplace and the place he will likely be buried. He is lucky that the park is giving him enough severance that he will never have to work another day in his life, but sad that he did not get to retire on his own terms.

These events and others have resulted in the perfect storm that is likely to lead to a long term trend. Certainly doesn't help that the post millennials have almost zero tolerance for attractions which offer any form of discomfort as a part of the experience. God forbid you actually have to look up from your cell phone for two seconds in order to listen to the safety spiel or remember that selfie sticks can be lethal when a human body runs into them at 40+ MPH.

What's amazing is the percentage of parks these days have no desire to hire full time retain in house talent. It seems between having to deal with the trade unions and the high cost of paying people who actually know what they are doing for a living is by modern business standards asking to much. Which is funny, because we charge twice as much as consultants then we ever made as employees and we get to expense mileage, airfare, rental car, meals, and visits to strip clubs.

So those of you who are apart of generation X, cherish those rides on your favorite coasters. Within the next few years a lot more wooden coasters will be heading to the retirement home in the gift shop with a lot of collateral damage along the way.

[Paradox]

I utterly despise this movement to remove the wooden coaster. While RMC might be going strong they are nothing like the classic wooden coasters. It makes me sad to see even in The Racer thread people wanting a classic gone because "it's too rough." It seems as if GG and GCI are our last hopes at this time and even then they are modernizing as well.

If RMC lays a finger on my Boulder Dash I will flip.

If Kings Island ever removes The Beast (and I think it will happen eventually, even if it isn't real soon, since rides age) I think the backlash will rival Google+ integration in YouTube comments. The Beast is surprisingly fun for something that doesn't really do much with its layout. I like getting beat up on rides. Not sure exactly why that is, but if all newer rides strive to eliminate all laterals such that you could literally fall asleep on them, then they changed it now it sucks. I will miss getting beat up on rides.

[TTD03]

I really really really doubt KI will remove The Beast... ever. Yes it takes up 35 acres of land, but that ride is one of the most famous wooden coasters left. I don't mean Cyclone famous, but famous in the coaster world. There is no ride like it, and its definitely not the most uncomfortable woodie out there.

[Coasterkidmwm]

"Classics" will survive like Blue Steak and The Beast, but I don't see others sticking around much at other parks.

And yes Mikey the younger folks are massive pussies. If you think Gemini is rough, I have no idea what to tell you lol.

It is kind of sad how many people I find complaining about wooden coasters that are perfectly fine. Rides such as Wildcat at Hersheypark, Predator at Darien Lake, Wild Beast at Canada's Wonderland or Grizzly at Kings Dominion I find to not be painful at all and really good fun. I think that people ride wooden coasters too stiff. People need to lean back and let their body absorb the bumps and jolts rather than be shoved around by them. Sure there are times where it is so bad that nothing helps, but I find that to be rare. The few occasions where I ran into that are Hell Cat at Clementon, Rolling Thunder at Great Adventure, and Wildcat at Lake Compounce. There is also a difference between wooden coaster roughness and steel coaster roughness. Steel coaster roughness is headbanging rattling and jerks in banking transitions. This can't be fixed with body posture, which is why I can't stand so many steel coasters.

I have found wooden coasters to be consistently good if not great. My top 3 coasters are wooden, so it gives you and idea. Part of it has to do with the roughness. I find that a little bumping around really keeps valleys and turns much more eventful. Mostly though, it has to do with the way they are designed. Older wooden coasters have a lack of precision that make the hills have unexpected jolts of airtime. Riding the Coney Island Cyclone the other day, I had an experience that you will never find on a steel coaster and a kind of feeling that just can't be explained in words. Coming out of one of the turns, there is a drop that has a pop of airtime before pulling up that comes out of nowhere and it has a little lateral jolt the other way that you can barely even see. It gives this temporary feeling of a complete lack of control that made me scream involuntarily out of excitement (which I barely do). But people get too tied up with how rough a wooden coaster is or how there isn't a crazy ejector hill like El Toro. Some people claim that people like wooden coasters because they like a "classic experience" and a "blast from the past" when in reality, we just find wooden coasters to be better. And it doesn't matter about the history or the nostalgia. It is about how wooden coasters are just so much more enjoyable.

Seeing all of these great wooden coasters go is pretty terrible. The only one that doesn't suck is Twisted Twins. We're lucky that park is even alive at all. But to see rides such as Cyclone at Six Flags New England, Colossus at Magic Mountain and Medusa at Six Flags Mexico go is just terrible. Plus new ones aren't really being built (RMCs don't count). All the good ones are going to China. I like seeing GG try to adapt to the new environment though while still keeping their more traditional style. Maybe one day people will appreciate how good wooden coasters really are.

[Paradox]

devilsrule911 wrote:

Wild Beast at Canada's Wonderland

Wild Beast was ok and a little too rough for my liking, but Minebuster was actually a lot of fun and I enjoyed it even though many people say it is horrible.

[TTD03]

^ I have to say, just rode Hurler 4 days ago. It is so bad right now. Like really bad. Like, never felt this kind of pain on a wooden coaster. Like it legit hurt to the point where I couldn't even enjoy the rickety ride. The turn around the station was the worst.

^I agree about Hurler. The Jackhammer turn around the station after the trims was horrible. Grizzly was a lot of fun though, it had a lot of moments not on steel coasters and some great lats.

Anyway, it does look like the wooden coaster's days are up. I'm thankful I have El Toro practically in my backyard, as it's one of the few woodies that seems to not be going anywhere soon thankfully. I went to KD a month ago today and I liked the coasters but somehow, I was "bored" with the forces. As soon as I hopped on Racer and Grizzly, that all changed and I was interested again until even now. Wooden coasters simply offer more interesting and unique forces than steel coasters, and it's really sad to see them go

[TTD03]

^ Lol. When did Racer go to Kings Dominion? News to me!

Rebel Yell perhaps?

Paradox wrote:

devilsrule911 wrote:

Wild Beast at Canada's Wonderland

Wild Beast was ok and a little too rough for my liking, but Minebuster was actually a lot of fun and I enjoyed it even though many people say it is horrible.

Yeah Minebuster was pretty good, but it was just kind of boring. The last helix was pretty cool though and there were a few bits of airtime.

[Paradox]

devilsrule911 wrote:

Paradox wrote:

devilsrule911 wrote:

Wild Beast at Canada's Wonderland

Wild Beast was ok and a little too rough for my liking, but Minebuster was actually a lot of fun and I enjoyed it even though many people say it is horrible.

Yeah Minebuster was pretty good, but it was just kind of boring. The last helix was pretty cool though and there were a few bits of airtime.

The headchoppers with the waterslide complex were pretty cool to me. Wild Beast's layout is pretty nice too it just needs some TLC and it would be ok.

I also don't count Intamin/RMC woodens as "true" wooden coasters.

TTD03 wrote:

^ Lol. When did Racer go to Kings Dominion? News to me!

Rebel Yell perhaps?

Yeah I meant Rebel Yell, my bad

^Personally I put Intamin Prefabs and RMC coasters in their own categories. There's the traditional wooden coasters, and then these would be modern wooden coasters

I really don't hope Balder will go down. That's such a good coaster!
But I don't think it will go down in the next 5 year's. At least I hope so.

[mkingy]

Makes me sad - especially as we don't have a plethora of woodies in the UK - however they are a lot more iconic (couldn't see Blackpool getting rid of its woodies and Oakwood wouldn't be worthwhile without Megaphobia).

The world's first roller coaster (excluding the classic "Monta??a Rusa" style) was obviously made out of wood, so removing woodies even means an insult to the history!

While I don't think I'll see the wooden coaster disappear altogether during my lifetime, I think it's safe to say that they will be disappearing somewhat rapidly over the next few decades. I don't mind if RMC and some other manufacturers continue to make their wooden coasters in a newer style, however I don't see too many more traditional woodies being built.

Mikey, what is your opinion on companies such as GCI and GG, then? Whom are still actively building coasters in the USA and worldwide. And those firms might still be constructing brand new ones in 30 years time.

And surely coasters like Voyage have a long time left to live, right? A part of me will die the day they have to demolish Voyage, and that bond is only from three or four cycles on it lol.

Wooden coasters will not die. Yes, the classy outdated woodies are definitely dissapearing. But companies like GCI and others are still sticking around, and I can garuntee new coasters from both of them in the future. Although, I think RMC is going to be the leader of it all. They've had many projects over the year, and many more in the future, and I can see the majority of coasters in our day being replaced by RMC in the future.

I honestly think Boulder Dash will be getting an RMC in the future, too. Not soon, but within 5 years or so, I have a very strange feeling that Lake Compounce is going to give it over to receive more popularity and income. As far as I know, Boulder Dash has been getting pretty rough over the past few years (I've been told, haven't ridden). Soon, LC is going to give up on retracking it, since it's going to cost a lot of money only to be done again in the future. It's a great ride, and I LC knows that, but it isn't long before the lack of popularity takes over and causes them to take action.

Every time I've gone to LC, BD always has a really short queue, sometimes the shortest in the whole park, and I feel that LC knows that, and are trying to come up with a good way to gain the popularity it once had. While RMC may not be coming soon, I bet it's been put on the table a few times, and have been thought over many times as a possiblity for a new attraction.

If BD gets worse in the next few years, and doesn't get a retracking, then I have the feeling LC is going to have RMC give it a makeover. I personally don't mind that happening at all. It's a great wooden coaster, and while it would be really sad to see it go, I think what RMC could have in mind for such an intense layout would be absolutely bezerk. I mean, imagine all the airtime.

Lets just hope that if it DOES get RMC'd in the future, it's a hybrid and not an I-box, gotta at least keep it a bit wooden, to carry on the lore.

[mkingy]

*Retrieves Popcorn*

tiepilot35 wrote:

A part of me will die the day they have to demolish Voyage, and that bond is only from three or four cycles on it lol.

Same here. It would be even worse for me than if KI does remove the Racer.

TTD03 wrote:

I really really really doubt KI will remove The Beast... ever. Yes it takes up 35 acres of land, but that ride is one of the most famous wooden coasters left. I don't mean Cyclone famous, but famous in the coaster world. There is no ride like it, and its definitely not the most uncomfortable woodie out there.

I had been kinda halfway thinking about starting a NL2 project about what if RMC Beast happened. Even tho it's fine as is.

SkyArrow wrote:

tiepilot35 wrote:

A part of me will die the day they have to demolish Voyage, and that bond is only from three or four cycles on it lol.

Same here. It would be even worse for me than if KI does remove the Racer.

Yeah Racer > Voyage

[Paradox]

mrcrolly wrote:

Wooden coasters will not die. Yes, the classy outdated woodies are definitely dissapearing. But companies like GCI and others are still sticking around, and I can garuntee new coasters from both of them in the future. Although, I think RMC is going to be the leader of it all. They've had many projects over the year, and many more in the future, and I can see the majority of coasters in our day being replaced by RMC in the future.

I honestly think Boulder Dash will be getting an RMC in the future, too. Not soon, but within 5 years or so, I have a very strange feeling that Lake Compounce is going to give it over to receive more popularity and income. As far as I know, Boulder Dash has been getting pretty rough over the past few years (I've been told, haven't ridden). Soon, LC is going to give up on retracking it, since it's going to cost a lot of money only to be done again in the future. It's a great ride, and I LC knows that, but it isn't long before the lack of popularity takes over and causes them to take action.

Every time I've gone to LC, BD always has a really short queue, sometimes the shortest in the whole park, and I feel that LC knows that, and are trying to come up with a good way to gain the popularity it once had. While RMC may not be coming soon, I bet it's been put on the table a few times, and have been thought over many times as a possiblity for a new attraction.

If BD gets worse in the next few years, and doesn't get a retracking, then I have the feeling LC is going to have RMC give it a makeover. I personally don't mind that happening at all. It's a great wooden coaster, and while it would be really sad to see it go, I think what RMC could have in mind for such an intense layout would be absolutely bezerk. I mean, imagine all the airtime.

Lets just hope that if it DOES get RMC'd in the future, it's a hybrid and not an I-box, gotta at least keep it a bit wooden, to carry on the lore.

LC also knows that they have one of the best wooden coasters in the world. Trust me if the do RMC it the enthusiast backlash will be insane. I for one will never step foot in the park again, which would be sad considering I absolutely adore this park. I'm all for topper track to keep it running great though.

The people who said it is "rough" are those who said El Toro's turnaround valley is rough and probably felt a couple rattles in there that produce some fun laterals and couldn't handle it because it isn't as smooth as an RMC.

So glad that there are many "classics" and ACE Landmarks that will definitely survive. Jack Rabbit + Racer + Thunderbolt for the win!

^ not to mention the phoenix and twister, and thunderhawk is protected by the state of PA..... I think our state's collection of wooden roller coasters will survive longer than most.