legacy of arrow documentary

Not really sure which forum this should be posted in, but, has anyone else seen ACE's "legacy of Arrow development" documentary? I watched it earlier today and thought it was amazing. The interviews, vintage footage and stock photography used throughout was spectacular. I learned a lot about how Arrow got its start and how they had a much bigger impact on the modern theme park than I even realized, going back to their humble beginnings making kiddie and family flat rides and machine parts. If you haven't seen this doc yet, I highly recommend checking it out. I have always been a fan of Arrow's designs, and after watching this, I have an even deeper love and respect for Arrow rides and attractions.

[Paradox]

Yea I saw it and liked it a lot. I wish they would have covered Orient Express in the documentary though, it's one of my favorite arrows.

Also >inb4 people hate on Vekoma without looking at the bigger picture.

Paradox wrote:

Yea I saw it and liked it a lot. I wish they would have covered Orient Express in the documentary though, it's one of my favorite arrows.

Also >inb4 people hate on Vekoma without looking at the bigger picture.

Yeah, arrow didn't think that one through lol.

[Paradox]

spacemountainfan619 wrote:

Paradox wrote:

Yea I saw it and liked it a lot. I wish they would have covered Orient Express in the documentary though, it's one of my favorite arrows.

Also >inb4 people hate on Vekoma without looking at the bigger picture.

Yeah, arrow didn't think that one through lol.

Yea and I agree that Vekoma shouldn't have done that to Arrow either, but even if that never happened Arrow could have never competed with Intamin and B&M. I don't really place much fault on Vekoma for leading to the demise of Arrow, but I think Arrow was doing it to themselves and took too long to adapt to the changing market. I still wish they were still around today, but hopefully Vekoma and S&S can continue their legacy.

Vekoma kinda had a role in arrows demise like B&M did. B&M took away arrows crown as the highest quality and most thrilling while vekoma took away the compact cheap ride market.

MagnumFreak25 wrote:

Vekoma kinda had a role in arrows demise like B&M did. B&M took away arrows crown as the highest quality and most thrilling while vekoma took away the compact cheap ride market.

Not to mention vekoma stole their track style and vehicle design. They basically stole the very thing that made arrow coasters, well, arrows.

After watching that documentary, all I have to say is WOW. Great documentary though! Sad to see the company go. But that whole ride in Vegas thing................Im kinda glad that was vetoed.

matthew6969 wrote:

After watching that documentary, all I have to say is WOW. Great documentary though! Sad to see the company go. But that whole ride in Vegas thing................Im kinda glad that was vetoed.

Yeah, that just looked like a nightmare. Especially with the spatial constraints that already exist on the strip. Not sure how they would have actually been able to pull that off.

[Paradox]

spacemountainfan619 wrote:

MagnumFreak25 wrote:

Vekoma kinda had a role in arrows demise like B&M did. B&M took away arrows crown as the highest quality and most thrilling while vekoma took away the compact cheap ride market.

Not to mention vekoma stole their track style and vehicle design. They basically stole the very thing that made arrow coasters, well, arrows.

bestdani posted this on NLE and I think it shines a light on the true relationship between Vekoma and Arrow.

It was a little hard on Vekoma. I don't think it was ever mentioned that Vekoma was required to buy only arrow made trains, brakes and lift technology for nearly 13 years. They were not free of this obligation until 1990, when the first vekoma trains came out. However they still sold Arrow trains as well into the early 2000's. it also didn't make sense there or on the wikipedia page with the timing of Arrow's consulting work with Vekoma - they started using Arrow's track design in the late 70's and used nothing but arrow trains and brakes until they designed their own in the 90's. The boomerang they talked about so much from vekoma used arrow trains and the first one was in 1986, well before the 90's timeframe they talked about. Park Vault has a great series of articles about Vekoma, and is currently working through one concerning Arrow to coincide with this documentary.

My laptop doesn't have a good spec to enjoy lengthy videos.