Any coaster/attraction that was a mistake from day one?

[pianojohn]

Since we have all heard about Kingda Ka's trouble as well as Dragster, I was thinking of rides that opened and had to be closed/demolished due to their poor design.

 

Off the top of my head:

 

The Bat at King's Island

Windjammer at Knott's

Hercules at Dorney

 

Any ideas for other ones or flat rides that never quite worked? There was the one at Busch Gardens Williamsburg in Festa Italia. It was kind of like a Top Spin, but it never really worked right. I think it lasted a few years.

 

John "gone and sometimes forgotten!"

 

PS. How could I forget Drachen Fire! I worked at BGW from 1994-97 and even had a VA license plate with DRACHEN on it! I got to ride it in both incarnations: before and after they removed the mid course loop. It was a good ride, just not engineered correctly. I did REALLY like the low cut trains with the built in LED lights.

 

And Rocket Rods! Duh! That was the ultimate bad idea!

Edited September 9, 2005 by pianojohn

[Guest]

R.I.P Drachen Fire I loved that coaster!

 

~Katie~

[Zingo!]

Drachen Fire! One of the coasters I really wanted to try...

 

Edit: I can't believe I forgot Rocket Rods... now those I TOTALLY wish I could have ridden...

[F1shy]

Definately Drachen Fire at BGW...

 

that's all I can remember... I wish it was still up though, I wanted to ride it before it was demolished.

[pvcoasterguy]

Deja Vu was a mistake. Six Flags' genius idea of buying four prototype coasters was pretty awesome.

[Twister II]

The Flying Coaster was a big mistake.

[SonOfBeastSucks]

Son of Beast!

[tinhead]

The Big One Blackpool, as they forgot to make a good coaster after the first drop

[BiCoastal Kid]

Superman: The Escape

Volares and other related rides

Vekoma Flyers' trains(the layouts are cool)

Twisted Twins

the Energy ride @ EPCOT with Ellen D... fail.

Dahlonega Mine Train(I mangled the spelling of that, oh well, it sucks anyway)

Ninja @ SFoG

TTD

MF

[coasterfreak101]

Hurricane @ the Myrtle Beach Pavillion! OOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!

[Coasterlicious]

Superman: The Escape

Volares and other related rides

Vekoma Flyers' trains(the layouts are cool)

Twisted Twins

the Energy ride @ EPCOT with Ellen D... fail.

Dahlonega Mine Train(I mangled the spelling of that, oh well, it sucks anyway)

Ninja @ SFoG

TTD

MF

 

MF as in Mellenium Force?.. because thats crazy if you think it was a mistake...

[Meteornotes]

The PGA Grizzly! It sucked from day one!

 

dt

[Kroger8]

Hurricane @ the Myrtle Beach Pavillion! OOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!

 

Aww, its not that bad, its just a little rough after the first drop, but after that its really fun!

 

Oh and Ninja wasn't a failure, and Im sure it was pretty smooth when it was first built in NJ, I was too young too remember when they relocated it here, but Im sure it wasn't as bad as it is now, and I don't even think its that bad. Same goes for Dahlonega Mine Train, there is nothing wrong with it, besides its almost 40 years old.

[DATman]

PSYCLONE-I'm sure that ride sucked from day 1. X has had its share of poor design problems too

[socalMAN123]

I think a ride that was a mistake to build is/was Windjammer @ KBF. That ride was just a complete waste of space and money. All it did was hurt you and it stole your money (my dad's wallet fell out)!

---Brent 8)

[TheGreatOne]

The Big One Blackpool, as they forgot to make a good coaster after the first drop

 

Same with Millennium Force. It was a mistake to me in the thrill department. After the first drop, it doesn't have much excitement whatsoever. On the other side of the park, Magnum is thrilling and fun all the way to the brakes.

 

Obviously, MF was not a mistake from a financial standpoint. CP has more than got it's money worth out of it, and it did put CP into the national conscience more than ever (sadly).

 

-Bryan "CP is the most overrated park in the world" Wood

[Meteornotes]

PSYCLONE-I'm sure that ride sucked from day 1.

 

Actually, it didn't. It was actually a lot of fun. Sadly, the ride was damaged in the Northridge earthquake, and it never has run right since then...

 

dt

[benzo41190]

Intamin Stand-Ups. I dont know why they only lasted 2-3 years, i wasnt really around back then (at least to ride them).

[CoasterFanatic]

I think Arrow is probably the most legendary company for make design mistakes that are either have to be corrected very quickly or even doom the ride from the beginning.

 

Drachen Fire - Inversion Removed -> Ride Removed

The Bat - Destroyed Shocks -> Ride Removed (Who would have thought to bank the turns)

Steel Phantom - Trim added after all of a a month -> Almost Complete Redesign by Morgan

Pepsi Max - Reprofiled first drop

X - Modified Trains

Magnum XL - Extra Padding, Seatbelts, Trim, Upstop plates removed in favor of upstop wheels

Shockwave - Removed

 

and the list goes on ...

[jarmor]

Hurricane @ the Myrtle Beach Pavillion! OOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!

 

Aww, its not that bad, its just a little rough after the first drop, but after that its really fun!

 

Oh and Ninja wasn't a failure, and Im sure it was pretty smooth when it was first built in NJ, I was too young too remember when they relocated it here, but Im sure it wasn't as bad as it is now, and I don't even think its that bad. Same goes for Dahlonega Mine Train, there is nothing wrong with it, besides its almost 40 years old.

 

Dahlonega mine train just have some of the roughest transitions I have ever seen on such a small coaster. I guess after we got spoiled w/ B&M coasters and intamin coaster, alot of coasters seem a tad bit rougher now a day then usual...

[ebl]

^^^ I agree, Dave. Psyclone was actually pretty good in its first few years. It's a POS now because of the earthquake, but mostly because of the very heavy trains having beaten up the track.

 

SFMM even ran Psyclone backwards for the 1994 Fright Fest. I took one ride on it like that, and it really wasn't that bad if I recall. I wouldn't ride it backwards now---heck, even a forward ride is rare for me now.

 

I'll second Windjammer, too, while I'm at it. That ride = major suckage.

 

Eric

[Dailey Enterprizes]

I think Arrow is probably the most legendary company for make design mistakes that are either have to be corrected very quickly or even doom the ride from the beginning.

 

Drachen Fire - Inversion Removed -> Ride Removed

The Bat - Destroyed Shocks -> Ride Removed (Who would have thought to bank the turns)

Steel Phantom - Trim added after all of a a month -> Almost Complete Redesign by Morgan

Pepsi Max - Reprofiled first drop

X - Modified Trains

Magnum XL - Extra Padding, Seatbelts, Trim, Upstop plates removed in favor of upstop wheels

Shockwave - Removed

 

and the list goes on ...

 

Ahem...

 

The reason why Arrow was making mistakes like that is that they were really the only company doing what they were doing at the time with exception to Schwarzkopf. IMHO Arrow made some kick ass coasters, regardless of what people say. Ofcourse history shows that anybody who goes beyond what is considered "normal" (IE: Galileo) is considered nuts, so Arrow ofcourse is beaten up for the creation and "attempt" to making X and other coasters. It's a shame that they went out of business.

[X]

Flashback was THE ultimente mistake! SFGAm got it, people complained about roughness, they said to SFOG "You can have it!" People at SFOG complained about roughness, SFOG said to SFMM "You can have it."

People at SFMM complained about roughness they would have sold it, but they realized they were tied with Cedar Point for World Record. Ever since, its been SBNO.

Kevin"I really hope Flashback follows the same path Drachen Fire did!"Bujold

[FlyingScooter]

Mean Streak. CP. This coaster makes no sense to me at all. It has trims on the first drop. Design flaw??? If you're going to have trims on the first drop, why not make it a 300+ drop and use more trims?

We have the first giga-woodie w/ a scorching speed of 55mph!

Edited September 10, 2005 by FlyingScooter

[Canobie Fan]

You know... Beast has trims on almost all its drops