Worst coaster designer?

Who do you all think is the worst coaster designer of all time?
I think Togo is just plain bad.

I think G-Force. Just kidding, youre just the best spammer. I'd say vekoma, though they have began to get with the times as of late, the best would be arrow or Intamin IMO, arrow was great when they existed, their rides have a great mix of excitement and intensity. Intamin is just Intamin, nuff said.

meh, intamin, theyve killed too many people. J/K, lol. I havent ridden a togo so I cant agree, but I dont think that vekoma's are too bad, or even arrow.

I've ridden 1 Togo...I don't remember anything bad about it when I rode it being as I was just a casual coaster rider then...Vekoma isn't so bad either though they are a bit on the rough side. I think every coaster company has it's good points and bad points *cough*Intamin*cough*killing*cough* J/k

Are we talking about coaster designers, or coaster manufacturers?

My least favorite designer is Mike Boodley. I think most of the coasters he designed have completely random layouts with pointless twists and turns, and have no track plan whatsoever.

Definatly Hopkins. Just take a look at the pictures of this craptacular roller coaster made him:
http://www.rcdb.com/installationgallery254.htm

I rode two Hopkins coasters before, and IMO they are very good rides. More positive gs than any B&M, lots of laterals, and are very disorienting.

I was gonna say, those rides look extremely fun IMO. Even the one you posted, that ride looks fun with the underground tunnel and loops with higher/lower exits. And the Desert storm ride is a great one, I havent actually ridden it but i have seen it in person and it is very nice to look at, probably one heck of a ride for a place like castles n coasters too. as for individual designers, I have no least faves, but I do have a favorite, and it is the stengel group.

I'd say for track design - B & M. Theyre very plain, but because they are so smooth, they make good coasters. Intamin are the best. For smoothness - vekoma are the worse, but they are coming back with some of the newer designs.

Vekoma boomergangs are bad, their other rides are alright. B&M were at the top of their game but they fell a little short they have some really good coasters like Kumba, Katun, Nemesis, Dragon Khan, Raptor, Montu, Riddler, there track designs arent the worst

vekoma and toga suck(sorry for being so blunt)

B&M and intamin are the best(in my opinion)

and my favorite designers are the stengel group, and the worst is those hopkins dudes, that coaster looks like something out of a washing machine!

Vekoma doesn't suck, but Togo does. Almost every coaster they have made is crap. CCI was the best woody group

Originally posted by e-man

I was gonna say, those rides look extremely fun IMO. Even the one you posted, that ride looks fun with the underground tunnel and loops with higher/lower exits. And the Desert storm ride is a great one, I havent actually ridden it but i have seen it in person and it is very nice to look at, probably one heck of a ride for a place like castles n coasters too. as for individual designers, I have no least faves, but I do have a favorite, and it is the stengel group.

I rode one hopkins (the dragon) and it wasn't very enjoyable. it looked fun but the transitions were painful, and the track system was rough (and it seems to be a little too "light" on cross ties and spline diameter).
It has some nice G's, but thats about it. Layout wasn't breathtaking, weak finale, long straight-section.

My favorites would be Schwartzkopf (way ahead of his time, pure genius) and Stengel (nevereending innovation), followed by bolliger and mabilard (although most of their rides are designed by Stengel and Giovanola favbricates the track). Wardley is also a very good designer, I'd like to see more of his designs elsewhere.
I'm surprised nobody mentioned Ron Toomer (sp?) as desginger of arrow dynamics. Most people seem to dislike his rides, a better track system and better element shaping (heartlining) would've been nice, but he was also very innovative. Alan Shilke needs to be credited as the man behind "X".
TOGO is absolute crap, I agree. Not too fond of wooden coaster designers, but i'm sure Intamin Fan can tell you more about those .
Of course, you can't forget about Stan Checketts (S&S) and all his crazy ideas for S&S.

Ok, i think i covered them all [;)]

"My least favorite designer is Mike Boodley. I think most of the coasters he designed have completely random layouts with pointless twists and turns, and have no track plan whatsoever."

Amen to that...

"My favorites would be Schwartzkopf (way ahead of his time, pure genius) and Stengel (nevereending innovation)"

Another very large AMEN. Anton though knew how good Stengel was, which was why Anton hired Stengel on very early. Most of the heartlining and "way ahead of his time" stuff was because of his ideas and Stengel turning them into reality. Eventually yea, Stengel outgrew him, but still, both of them combined are crazy. Stengel just has "Coaster sense"

Im also a fan of the old wood builders...Allen, Traver and the likes all were some of the most intense rides out there, most of which were demolished because of intensity or shutdown/weakened. Also the guys over at Gravity Group LLC...they can put together a MEAN ride.

Thought that might be the case with those, a lot of rides are like that where the pics can make them look much better than they really are *cough*psyclone@SFMM*cough*, and adding to what you said about designers, IMO Toomer is the greatest individual designer in the steel coaster industry, while many complain about the lack of haeartlining and such, I personally love the designs of arrow coasters, they just could use better handling and such. As for overall greatest individual designer (not company), Harry Traver is a stand out to me, his rides were designed decades ago and yet they remain as some of the most intense rides ever built, though many of his genius designs no longer exist.[V] Also Bill and McNulty, the designers of Raven and Legend, 2 of the greatest woodies ever built, are standouts to me.

Toomer I dont believe ever did any calculations. He was sort of the "imagineer" who designed the layouts. But that was it. Arrow did the calculations and its kinda their fault for not making the rides smoother BUT still, good ole Magnum isnt THAT rough at ALL and is just laced with airtime.

[Kev]

I've always kind of liked arrow coasters. It's the restraints that suck IMHO. As for worst designer, I'm not really sure I can think of one. I've found at least a small amount of enjoyment out of every coaster I've ever ridden, even the dreaded Togo standups. If I were to pick a favorite though, it would have to be Schwarzkopf.

^the togo standups are great rides, especially in the back with some nice air time and high g's throughout the helix

@Real ^^, Your comments on smoothness just made me say this. I think people are getting a bit too picky and (whats the ride word hmmm, wimpy?) when it comes to bumpy coasters. People are always complaining how inverted Vekomas are so rough and crappy when in fact they aren't that rough and they do have a fairly good layout.
blah blah blah, I could go on, but I'm too tired heh.

[stupid] Personaly i dont think there is such thing as a bad designer/company. Sure some make better rides than others but so what? As long as im riding one i really dont mind. You cant really by a coaster enthusiast i think go to a park and think, im not riding that Vekoma coaster because its made by Vekoma therefore its rough and crap... and so what if they are rough. Personaly i would rather ride Corkscrew at Alton Towers than AIR. AIR is a coaster you could just fall asleep on. Whereas on corkscrew you actualy do get some forces and the pain to the ears waks you up

My favorite designer is Fred Church. Most of his coasters had just perfect layouts, and were fairly twisted. He didn't care about airtime too much, so most of coasters had very little of it (besides Giant Dipper @ SCBB, and that still could use more air). In terms of layouts though, I think he was the best designer ever.
http://members.aol.com/coasting2/revere_cyc.html

Herb Schmeck also did some pretty amazing designs, but I think he "cheated" on a few of his coasters (Phoenix and GE Comet). What I mean by that is the brakerun on Phoenix, and the turn out of the station on Comet start on one side of the turn and end up on the other side, making a "crossover turn", which if done makes it very easy to design a double out and back. The Idora Wildcat didn't have this though, and was probably Schmeck's best layout.

Originally posted by Fornication Nation

^the togo standups are great rides, especially in the back with some nice air time and high g's throughout the helix

@Real ^^, Your comments on smoothness just made me say this. I think people are getting a bit too picky and (whats the ride word hmmm, wimpy?) when it comes to bumpy coasters. People are always complaining how inverted Vekomas are so rough and crappy when in fact they aren't that rough and they do have a fairly good layout.
blah blah blah, I could go on, but I'm too tired heh.

I agree. Actually, everyone now thinks they are "Enthusiasts". Really? what is an enthusiast anyways? Someone who loves rollercoasters and loves to ride just about anything?

Or is it an overly analytical, cynical pessimist who thinks that because they can point out flaws, drag rides down and make fun of them that makse them an enthusiast?


But sorry. This is in no way towards anyone here, but I find it more and more especially with the younger generation (from 11-17). All they ever do is talk trash about any ride they can, point out all the flaws and pretty much just ANALYZE.

MY message to people like that: Take a break from Coasters. Take a break from NoLimits or RCT or whatever has made you so analytical...then come back and say "This ride looks fun" and try to enjoy it.

Ever hear people say "You wont like it if you tell yourself you wont" well thats true. I used to be like that, used to think that Corkscrew at CP sucked, so did Magnum and my basic overal outlook on life was "lets analyze it so I can tear it apart". Now, Magnum is a MUST ride when Im there and Corkscrew I will ride anytime. Im glad I broke out of it, because Ive yet to ride a coaster I CANT find fun in (wether that be ARROW, VEKOMA or TOGO)

Grow up and enjoy life...you get one shot at life, why spend it tearing stuff apart trying to act hard when you could just the same enjoy it? People also like to tear stuff apart because it makes cheap conversation...

/rant off

Why cant people just be thankful for the plethora of coasters we have in the world today? Stand back and take a look at all the rides we have, all the variety and all the parks to visit. If all the rides people complained about were taken out, wed have very few rides to ride in this world...

Originally posted by Real

Toomer I dont believe ever did any calculations. He was sort of the "imagineer" who designed the layouts. But that was it. Arrow did the calculations and its kinda their fault for not making the rides smoother BUT still, good ole Magnum isnt THAT rough at ALL and is just laced with airtime.

I couldn't agree more with you Real, Toomer was a great designer who's abilities were masked by poor engineering on arrows part. IMO, the poor engineering did not really make the rides worse though, just unique. And to IntaminFan, Schmeck is a great designer IMO, whether he [8D]"cheated" or not, he still made some great rides in his time.

I dont like it when people tear apart rides either. Mantis looks like a wicked ride and people says it sucks. It looks smooth. I would ride almost every possible coaster i could if that were to happen which i dont think it will.

G-Force you 'teared' togo apart in your first post...

Real said everything that i wanted and also in a much nicer way A

I like almost every other company then Togo, I never liked them at all.