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Battle of the top coaster designers  

1,050 members have voted

  1. 1. Battle of the top coaster designers

    • Intamin
      514
    • B&M
      536


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I voted Intamin. It's not because my home park has two (soon to be three) extremey unique pieces of Intamin hotness. I have actually been on more B&M's than Intamins (19 to 11 to be exact), but my top 5 is exclusively Intamin.

The reason? Nearly all Intamin coasters have at least one, and usually several, OMFG AAAAHHHH!!! WTF!!! moments. Be it the launch of an accelerator, the ejector airtime of a prefab woodie, or the drop of a Giga, Intamins are forceful, awesome, and insanely FUN rides the whole way through. Ride experience aside, B&M has the undoubtale edge, be it safety, capacity, reliability, etc. I DO agree that B&M's are fantastic rides, but they aren't *quite* out-of-this-world like a few of the Intamin's I've ridden are.

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If we were still in the early 2000s (and earlier), and B&M was still pumping out 'intense' rides like Batman at SFMM, then I'd be more inclined to go with B&M. Even now, they do have some awesome stand-ups, plus rides like Tatsu.

 

But when it comes to rides that are OMFG-holy-crap-this-is-insane, you can't beat the Intamins. Compared to the amazingness of Maverick, Excelerator, etc., the new B&Ms just seem kind of boring. Nitro at SFGAdv was fun, but Goliath at La Ronde, or Diamondback? Fun, yes, but not scary or insane.

 

Until B&M can come up with a ride like El Toro, I will just consider them conservatively-fun rides.

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From an objective and practical point of view (as some others have also said, especially considering a park's point of view with regards to what might be a better investment in the long run), I'd say that B&M would probably be the best coaster builder out there. Reliability and safety (though more than a few Intamin-related coaster accidents had far more to do with the operation of the rides rather than design flaws, to be fair) are key points from the point of view of a park considering which company to hire to build a ride. A B&M would probably be a far "safer" investment for a park from that standpoint, + the GP doesn't seem to care one way or the other as long as a park has "a new coaster" they can ride.

 

That said, from a subjective point of view (and this is how I voted), I'd have to go with Intamin all the way. I've ridden over 175 different coasters in my lifetime (most all of them from 1997 on, as I spent many years scared to death of coasters, unfortunately) and no idea off the top of my head how many of each manufacturer's I've ridden, but safe to say I've sampled quite a few of each. I had gotten a bit jaded when 2004 rolled around, having ridden various coasters all up and down the east and west coast of the US, so when I got to CP for the first time I wasn't expecting anything to really wow me. But how wrong I was! MF and TTD, two Intamin creations, are the only two (well, I'll admit there are a few coasters that might have gotten me slightly nervous, like the straight drops on Deja Vu and Griffon, before I rode them for the first time) coasters that really had me shaking in my shoes right before my first ride on them. That left a special impression on me that I won't ever forget. I'm not saying there aren't B&M coasters out there that I really love and would ride over and over again given the chance (Apollo's Chariot, Afterburn at Carowinds and Intimidator at Carowinds are three that come to mind), but the coasters that have made the biggest impression on me over the years are all Intamins. From a rider's point of view, if a company can make a coaster that can wow me like that, then they have my vote.

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Here is my opinion...

 

B&M is a great manufacturer. I have been on 26 coasters by this manufacturer that cover six of the types B&M manufactures. Among those 26 coasters, only one (Vortex at California's Great America) is not worth riding if there is more than a two train wait. Every other B&M I've been on, I would be willing to wait at least 15 to 20 minutes to experience. In addition, B&M's Diving Machines, Flying Coasters, and Mega Coasters are industry leading designs that any park would be exceptionally happy to have, and even most Stand-Up coasters (generally their lowest-rated design) built by this company are better than three-quarters of the coasters out there. B&M doesn't make that many types of coasters, but the ones that they do make they make well.

 

Intamin is also a great manufacturer. I have been on 21 coasters by this manufacturer covering 14 types of coasters. My favorite coaster, Bizarro, is an Intamin Mega Coaster, and the company also has several great products like the Accelerator Coaster, Blitz Coaster, Giga Coaster, Looping Coaster, Suspended Catapult Coaster, Wooden Coaster, and ZacSpin. However, I am generally not a huge fan of some of the company's other designs, including the Stand-Up Coaster, Swiss Bob, Indoor/Family Roller Coaster, and Children's Roller Coaster. In addition, most types of coasters built by Intamin are semi-unique as there aren't a lot of similar rides out there, and even within the same type the designs vary greatly. However, Intamin rides can be all over the scale. There are quite a few that are really good, but there are also several that are pretty bad (aka I don't care to ride them ever again).

 

Overall, both companies are great at what they do. B&M builds extremely smooth coasters that are fun and at the right level for most people to ride without being too extreme, and almost all of their rides are really good, but when you go on too many of them they can begin to feel similar. Intamin builds unique, intense coasters that are often very different from what other manufacturers are willing to attempt, but they can sometimes be too aggressive for many peoples' taste and can be unreliable. Although Intamin is probably the most popular manufacturer among enthusiasts in general, I'm gonna have to go with B&M. With Intamin, it is kind of a toss-up whether I'll get an amazing ride or a not-so-good ride, but with B&M I know exactly what to expect and have rarely been let down.

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It's hard to say, but I voted B&M. Here's why:

 

While I do agree that Intamin has more OMFG-this-is-crazy!-type coasters (most of my favorites are Intamin), I just love the reliability of B&Ms. They manufacture some pretty fun rides! There are not very many B&Ms I don't like, but several Intamins that I don't really care for, and several that I like now, but if I rode them over and over again, I'd get pretty bored. However, B&M coasters are still fun even with repeated rides. I have ridden Medusa at SFDK soooooo many times, but I never get tired of it. It's just a fun coaster.

 

Other things I like about B&Ms: They don't appear too "scary" to most GPs, so I can usually convince the people I'm with to ride them with me; B&M coasters are pretty long-lasting (at least the ones I've ridden); they are very smooth; I like the variances of the inversions; but most of all, I'm pretty familiar with B&Ms and if I see one at a park, I know I can count on it to be a good coaster.

 

But like I said, I'm a lot more familiar with B&Ms and as I ride more Intamins, I might change my opinion.

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^^Don't hold your breath on that 2012 coaster.

I'd be shocked if they got anything like that in the next ten years, let alone next year.

 

^I agree, you'll need that air to scream at the state of California for not allowing it.

There are so many things to scream at the state about, it's ridiculous.

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I like them both about equally but I voted for B&M because I have been on more B&Ms and all the B&Ms I have been on are awesome (except Vortex at CGA). I like all of the Intamins I've been on except Flashback (the one that was SBNO at SFMM for years) and Woodstock's Express at CGA (the lap bar popped out at the top of the lift hill). Once I go ride all the Intimans back East I might like them better than B&M. I also give the edge to B&M because all their rides are high capacity and they have all those cool inverted coasters (I wish Intamin would make more inverted coasters).

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