Carowinds Discussion Thread

[TheDark8]

You still don't get it, do ya? It's cool man... just do whatever "floats your boat."

 

Okay, this conversation is over. Please carry on with your life.

[tarheel1231]

At this point, I believe if the park released the coaster, and it was B&M, people would still believe it's an Intamin. There's a few enthusiasts who can't see what the ride is clearly because they are blinded by their own desires (Intamin).

 

It's an effing Giga Coaster, who cares about the manufacturer?

[BlahBlahson]

^Lots of people on rollercoaster forums. Intamin makes more thrilling rides, period.

 

This is still easily enough to make me want to drive 8 hours for (and my missing Nighthawk credit).

[Canobie Coaster]

It's an effing Giga Coaster, who cares about the manufacturer?

 

What if Golden Horse makes it?

 

All kidding aside, as long as any reliable manufacturing such as Mack, Intamin, or B&M makes this, I am very happy.

[DavidW]

Intamin, reliable?

[Her0ofLime]

Intamin, reliable?

Yes.

Not as reliable as B&M but way more reliable than a lot of coaster companies out there.

I don't really understand why intamin gets such a bad rap for reliablility.

In my experience I have seen more B&M coasters break down than intamin coasters.

Sure, there are some cable accidents, but those are still very far and few inbetween.

[Canobie Coaster]

I meant reliable in the sense that the coaster is a good ride. Though as much downtime as Intamins are perceived as having, I find that they are reliable outside of Bizarro at SFNE (frequent 15-20 minute breakdowns, but nothing major) or Kingda Ka.

[jarmor]

...thursday cant get here quick enough.

[tarheel1231]

It's an effing Giga Coaster, who cares about the manufacturer?

 

What if Golden Horse makes it?

[GigaG]

If Golden Horse made a giga or hyper, would it end up like a badly designed Magnum knockoff (coathanger shaping?)

 

This isn't a jab at Magnum, by the way - I like it!

[pproteinc]

It's an effing Giga Coaster, who cares about the manufacturer?

 

The mere fact that Intamin only calls there coasters over 300ft "giga" coasters and B&M actually refers them as still a "hyper" or 'mega" coasters.

[IronWolfman]

Intamin, reliable?

Yes.

Not as reliable as B&M but way more reliable than a lot of coaster companies out there.

I don't really understand why intamin gets such a bad rap for reliablility.

In my experience I have seen more B&M coasters break down than intamin coasters.

Sure, there are some cable accidents, but those are still very far and few inbetween.

 

I know they were some of the first of their kind, but Tower of Doom and Halfpipe at Elitch Gardens generally have an issue every 30-45 minutes that will cause the ride to be down 10-20 minutes. And that's in a park that as of late has been maintaining their rides pretty well. But I guess that doesn't speak for the whole company either.

[rcjp]

^Yeah, I think it is undeniable that intamin's reliability is not the best. Not that that's something terrible, it just is like that. On the other hand they make some kick-ass innovating rides! Of course there each manufacturer will have their drawbacks and positive aspects. But trying to compare intamin's reliability to B&M's is a bit too much

[ReillyK721]

From what I've seen, Intamin is one of the least reliable manufacturers out there. Here is why I say that...When I visited Portaventura, Furious Baco broke down twice just while I was in line, resulting in a 3 hour wait. At Hersheypark, Stormrunner broke down twice during the day. At Cedar Point, Maverick was closed for 7 hours, I was on Wicked Twister when it broke down, and Top Thrill Dragster was closed for 2 days. And we ALL saw what happened at Kings Dominion with I305. I have never been at a park when a beemer was broken down, even during my countless visits to Carowinds. Luckily, this coaster will 100% be from B&M.

Edited August 16, 2014 by ReillyK721

[MagnumFreak25]

Um... The other Day Gatekeeper, Raptor and Mantis were all closed. But the Intamins were open the whole time. Also I've always thought that Arrows were a little bit more reliable than B&M.

[i<3coasters]

^^ Still, that is a very small sample size. Realistically over their lifespans Intamin's are probably operating 85-90% of the time where B&M's may be around 95%.

 

Intamin certainly does not build "unreliable" coasters. I think it's funny how everyone immediately points to TTD, a notoriously finicky record breaking machine, instead of Millennium Force, when trying to disprove this point. As if something that can be said of TTD is representative of all Intamin coasters.

 

The problem (or maybe risk is a better word) I think Cedar Fair sees when they consider Intamin is that their 2 most recent custom designs for CF have had to be reprofiled (I305 & Maverick), and maybe this puts a ding in their credibility. Especially when you measure this up against B&M's record with the chain, who have built around 10 coasters for them in the past decade that all opened and operated as they were expected to, and are people-eaters capacity wise.

 

While Intamin's open to much more enthusiast acclaim, that essentially doesn't get the parks any greater of a return on their investment. As a potential customer base we are much harder to please than the GP and I'd also guess that we generate significantly less money for them (the majority of us I'm sure already being pass holders to our home parks, if not CF Platinum pass holders). If nothing else, we will be there anyway. Case in point: Leviathan.

 

So from a business-oriented perspective, why would CF go with Intamin over B&M?

 

 

Personally glad that this will be a B&M by the way. It would be nice to make a trip to the Southeast and get to ride what is widely considered the best Intamin Giga and then what will likely be the best B&M Giga.

[tarheel1231]

Doesn't the hydraulic launch system make TTD a maintenance nightmare? Or am I just asking a stupid question?

[i<3coasters]

Doesn't the hydraulic launch system make TTD a maintenance nightmare? Or am I just asking a stupid question?

 

From what I've heard.

[MagnumFreak25]

^^ Still, that is a very small sample size. Realistically over their lifespans Intamin's are probably operating 85-90% of the time where B&M's may be around 95%.

 

Intamin certainly does not build "unreliable" coasters. I think it's funny how everyone immediately points to TTD, a notoriously finicky record breaking machine, instead of Millennium Force, when trying to disprove this point. As if something that can be said of TTD is representative of all Intamin coasters.

 

The problem (or maybe risk is a better word) I think Cedar Fair sees when they consider Intamin is that their 2 most recent custom designs for CF have had to be reprofiled (I305 & Maverick), and maybe this puts a ding in their credibility. Especially when you measure this up against B&M's record with the chain, who have built around 10 coasters for them in the past decade that all opened and operated as they were expected to, and are people-eaters capacity wise.

 

While Intamin's open to much more enthusiast acclaim, that essentially doesn't get the parks any greater of a return on their investment. As a potential customer base we are much harder to please than the GP and I'd also guess that we generate significantly less money for them (the majority of us I'm sure already being pass holders to our home parks, if not CF Platinum pass holders). If nothing else, we will be there anyway. Case in point: Leviathan.

 

So from a business-oriented perspective, why would CF go with Intamin over B&M?

 

 

Personally glad that this will be a B&M by the way. It would be nice to make a trip to the Southeast and get to ride what is widely considered the best Intamin Giga and then what will likely be the best B&M Giga.

 

From what I've seen Intamins will generally be more popular with the GP after a few years. For Example El Toro has more people riding it than Batman.

[loop-de-loop]

Intamin certainly does not build "unreliable" coasters. I think it's funny how everyone immediately points to TTD, a notoriously finicky record breaking machine, instead of Millennium Force, when trying to disprove this point. As if something that can be said of TTD is representative of all Intamin coasters.

That's very true, but when everyone starts bashing B&M, they always point to I-305 as an amazing coaster, yet no one ever points to Millenium Force. Intamin has only built 2 gigas, one amazing, and one still great, but not as good. I find it funny how everyone in this thread wanting intamin thinks this will be like I-305 and not Millenium Force.

[MagnumFreak25]

If it is Intamin it's pretty much guaranteed it would be I305. Intamin build MF style coasters anymore.

[jarmor]

From what I've seen Intamins will generally be more popular with the GP after a few years. For Example El Toro has more people riding it than Batman.

 

You do know its more than a intamin vs. B&M invisible war that can be the conclusion why el toro "seems" more popular to you...

For one...the height requirement for el toro is 48 while batman is 54. More people are ABLE to ride el toro. Not to mention there is a large amount of the park goers who wont ride looping coasters...

[OrlandoGuy]

From what I've seen Intamins will generally be more popular with the GP after a few years. For Example El Toro has more people riding it than Batman.

 

You do know its more than a intamin vs. B&M invisible war that can be the conclusion why el toro "seems" more popular to you...

For one...the height requirement for el toro is 48 while batman is 54. More people are ABLE to ride el toro. Not to mention there is a large amount of the park goers who wont ride looping coasters...

 

Also, B&Ms are capacity monsters for the most part. Their lines are testaments to efficiency, not necessarily popularity. Furthermore, I could just as easily say Dominator at KD gets longer lines than I-305, so the point is moot anyway.

[CPSFMMCW]

^ Neither line seems to ever get long really!

[loop-de-loop]

If it is Intamin it's pretty much guaranteed it would be I305. Intamin build MF style coasters anymore.

And Banshee was supposed to be a forceless invert because B&M doesn't build coasters like Montu anymore. I'm just saying it's difficult to predict how a coaster will perform, especially when you don't even know the layout.