Theme Park Discussion / Roller Coaster Statistics

Hey all

I do a fair amount of research for the RCDB and have often thought as the database how much information it actually holds. For us Enthusiasts is an invaluable tool but I thought I would take a look a bit deeper into the world of coasters and provide some mostly pointless graphs and stats.

Notes: All work done on this (with one exception) is done using ONLY operating coasters and using all coasters in the RCDB (powered and gravity) so depending what your definition of a coaster is the stats may not be quite accurate. Another point to make is that the DB is not infallible, the older data is clearly less reliable and there will be things missing.
I also understand my maths is not perfect so if you spot an error let me know and I will endeavor to correct it

However lets get on with it and lets see some pointless stats

For starters i decided to have a look at some of the major coaster companies in the world and see how they rate against each other in terms of coaster numbers.

This table shows coaster numbers and percentages for B&M, Intamin, Vekoma, GCI and the now defunct CCI.
I would have taken Gravity group over CCI but they just don't have the coaster numbers yet.

Most interesting for me here is that Vekoma have built almost 10% of the worlds currently operating coasters in the DB (over 10% of steel alone). That's a hell of a lot and will make some people shudder. CCI despite being defunct for a while still have a sizable chunk of the wood market with GCI playing catchup. Intamin don't fare to shabbily thanks to their almost complete domination of the Asian Market for wooden coasters.


Running with this i took a look at where Vekoma have their rides. (sorry for the awful colours) Not much unexpected here though. Asia, Europe and USA have the biggest chunks with the rest of the world following. I expect to see Asias Chunk increase rapidly in the next few years though.


Next up i took a look at the worlds non-sit-down coaster types. Unfortunately the DB groups Dive-Machines and Hypers into the sit-down category so they are not included. (something i may sort out 2mo if i get time) however even with this data the Inverted Coasters in the world would have a serious lead. The 4D's in this graph do include Intamin Ball Coasters,

Its nice to see stand-ups holding their own even after this long. With Chang Currently out of operation the number could go up again soon


Taking a closer look at B&M's statistics we can clearly see they have spent most of their time on Inverted coasters although Dive Machines and Flyers have really started to proliferate recently. There are very few product lines compared to Intamin below but then that's what B&M do, And they are good at what they do.


However when we compare this to Intamin we see some interesting trends. As most enthusiasts know B&M only have one launched ride where as Intamin for Intamin its their main product line. Hyper/Mega/Giga coasters come a distant 2nd with their sitdown loopers actually gaining bronze. (I included Jet-Ski Rescue as a Launch not an Aquatrax)


Next up i looked at the industry as a whole and how many new coasters we have seen in the last 25 or so years. Obviously older data is going to be a bit suspect but it made a pretty graph.

Included is the data for new coasters in USA, Japan, UK and Germany as well as an overall number. Clearly the US leads the way still with the rest of us fighting away down the bottom

2000 was a great year across the world but interestingly the USA saw its peak in 1999,


This made me wonder about who really about who is luckiest to live where in terms of coasters. So i got some area data and figured out coasters/km^2. This graph surprised me a bit with the UK and Japan coming out top. But then I realized America is mostly Cities tied together with road, (there's quite a lot of empty space out there)

As most parks are near urban centres this is not very accurate but it's something for us Brits to think about and stop moaning about our coasters


I followed this up and decided to ignore area. I thought population might be a better figure to work with and figured out many coasters there are per person.
Again the UK finished Top but the USA rocketed up to 2nd. The Australians did a bit better out of this too.


Finally something completely pointless to round this up for now. The number of coasters with a given element can be seen here. Cobra Rolls are undoubtedly given a boost thanks to Vekomas Boomerang but the Batwing could do with more representation in my opinion.

More pointless graphs to follow if i get time
Hope you enjoyed it
Cheers
Dave

Roomie i fucking love you man, this is brilliant.
-JDP

Cool. Interesting how America's Economy went down the hole and the number of coasters went down as well.

Thanks, that was interesting!

wow, im impressed.
nice one.

Wow, crazy.

I was doing nearly the EXACT same thing in Excel...

I've attached my spreadsheet in case you'd like to look at it.
I was just gathering info to start breaking it down by company trends such as Six Flags or Cedar Fair. I'll get there eventually...


Good stuff Roomie... looks like we're thinking alike.

I love statistics!!! This is really interesting.

It sad to see how the numbers have been dropping each year for new coasters. 2011 will be even worst.

I have updated the chart for coasters per person thanks to a mention on TPR that Denmark and the Netherlands may fare higher in the graph.


Seems like the Danish do extremely well for themselves. But us brits just edge out the netherlands

I didn't know that was you! haha

Damn Australia blows in every chart, lol.
Looks like UK's best when it comes to coaster per metre, i almost spilt my drink, i was shocked!
Thanks Roomie!

Kinda funny to see that the coasters built in the USA is going down since that country is bankrupt  




Anyways, really nice stats Roomie, how long did it took you? 

I don't find that funny at all. Besides, there are still more coasters being built in the US than in Germany and the UK combined.

I don't find that funny at all. Besides, there are still more coasters being built in the US than in Germany and the UK combined.

I think it is, 


A. Americans spend way to much money fighting wars. 

B. Don't know what saving money is, since every 3 year old walkes with a credit-card already. My mum told me to save money before I could buy something!

C. I can go on with summing up the list, but my breakfast is waiting for me. 

Oh and in absolute numbers you are correct, but when you look to coasters in the amount of landsize a country has, then other countries win from the USA. 

stop being so INGNORIIIIIIINNNNNNNNT

Sammy what is the point of a forumboard if people can't tell their opinions or facts? 

Anyway if you can't handle a serious discussion, don't react then. 

cena, your just arrogant and its very apparent to EVERYONE.

and SSSammy, if your going to call someone ignorant, please spell check so you yourself dont look ignorant.

EDIT*

Roomie, your a god, beautiful work an amazingly thought out, Thank You!

Edited by rK_, 18 December 2009 - 03:13 PM.