Maurer AG to Stop Producing Coasters?

[Paradox]

From the latest Parkworld issue found here.

Definitely sad to see a company go out of business, but Maurer has not been selling many coaster lately. Hopefully they can stay afloat long enough to build the strata coaster for Skyline Park.

There might be a possibility that Mack Rides will do the same... I don't want to believe it!

Edit: Herman, I'm relieved! Thanks for your thoughts!

[herman116]

I didn't ride that much Maurer coasters but the few I rode were pretty good (in my opinion). Sad to see that they might stop building theme park rides.

I don't think Mack will do the same. They still sell a lot of coasters. Mack openend 10 coasters in 2016 and Maurer only 1 (according to RCDB.com).

herman116 wrote:

I don't think Mack will do the same. They still sell a lot of coasters. Mack openend 10 coasters in 2016

plus, they're rumored to be manufacturing Blackpool PB's major new coaster!

[Paradox]

Mack has been around for over 200 years and have only been building big coasters for a couple of years. They're definitely not going anywhere.

PTC's still around. Maurer will probably still be a company selling things just not major coasters.

[mkingy]

Yeah perhaps the current climate isn't one that's proving profitable for them. Shame they had some nice ideas. Hopefully the ride at Skyline park get's finished off and is a really impressive ride!

I'll wait for more information on this one, as it is a surprising move if true. Maurer has generally been doing 2-4 coasters per year recently (though 2014 was an anomaly), so it seems like they should be doing enough to remain profitable. Perhaps they'll continue to offer their stock model family coasters while ending production of larger rides, as the former have generally been more popular among parks. If they are ending production, I've got a feeling they would likely stop taking new orders and complete their current slate rather than just stop all of a sudden.

As for Mack Rides, they're one of the most popular coaster manufacturers at the moment so I doubt they'll be going anywhere. The company is installing 10 coasters this year and already has 3 announced for 2017, so they'll be around for a while.

[Mikey]

Not surprising at all. I don't think they ever recovered from the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket crisis. It was their largest installation to date and as far as I am concerned it has been a complete and utter disaster.

The station is not long enough to support people mover boarding. The last three times I have been there a mechanic/electrician has been stationed at the ride to reset trouble lights. There was the hitch / hitch pin issue, the late opening, the constant break downs. It's one of the few rides I have ridden that feels like the math profile on it is completely wrong. In some parts the units are moving too fast and in others they are moving too slow. They keep banking on the X-Coaster model and nobody I know would order it because the capacity was so low.

[Coasterkidmwm]

They bought a B&M that has the same musical seats and stuff afterwards for a reason. B&M seems to be the "we got burned by ______" manufacturer of choice.

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

They bought a B&M that has the same musical seats and stuff afterwards for a reason. B&M seems to be the "we got burned by ______" manufacturer of choice.

Hollywood Dream was actually built two years before Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.

[Paradox]

RRR might not have been that great, but this ride though

[Coasterkidmwm]

GerstlCrazy wrote:

Coasterkidmwm wrote:

They bought a B&M that has the same musical seats and stuff afterwards for a reason. B&M seems to be the "we got burned by ______" manufacturer of choice.

Hollywood Dream was actually built two years before Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.

Lol I got burned

I think HRRR is fantastic and had zero problems with loading or breakdowns the many times I've been on it. Parts of the ride are a lot more nuts than people estimate, myself originally included. I wish they would reprogram the ride to allow a better experience with music though.

And Maurer has come up with a lot of great rides, including Shock that someone just mentioned. I thought Abismo would be great, but honestly a track that flies through its station is a guarantee to bad capacity lol. The company has a lot of awesome custom spinner layouts too. I guess they just can't compete anymore.

I really like Rocket, probably my 3rd favorite coaster their. The loop is absolutely amazing with a lap bar that loose. I didn't notice any break downs when I was there, but the train did have to stop in the station several times. Didn't seem like a big deal to me, they were still dispatching pretty good.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Honestly if you have a guy standing around to reset trouble lights all day like Mikey said it's a sign of a much deeper issue.

[mkingy]

To be honest I really enjoy their spinners too - would be a shame to see these not built anymore as they didn't appear to have many problems that weren't caused by the British media.

[Dirk_Ermen]

Their older spinners were pretty good. The newer custom ones on the other hand were trimmed to death on the block brakes. (Dizz, Cagliostro)

I think most of their issues are caused by the sky loop model. Even thought the ride is thrilling and compact. The inverting Lift Hill causes too many risks on getting people stranded upside down.