Theme Park Discussion / Arrow Suspendeds are becoming an extict animal :(

I bet that soon Arrow Suspended coasters will be as forgotten as Virginia Reels and Scenic Railways.

virginia reels were ressurected as spinning coasters.

A big reason for GASM and BBW removals was that the rides were just constantly breaking there structures. This isnt cheap to re-weld track pecies and bolts or re build footers.
Some other rides do this, but the parks will dissassemble them and repair them on the ground. You can see this process if you look at SFOT's shockwave,a portion of the track can be seen laying on the ground from some angles. If anyone has ever seen Shockwave run it sways back and forth ALOT, supposidly this actually helps it out some, think how bridges and skyscrapers sway, Rigid structures are more prone to snapping or severe bending.

A little fantasy trip I went on today...

With B&M doing all sorts of different types of car styles and tracks, I wonder if their not working on a suspended version of their tracks? I mean now that the Arrow suspendeds are going the way of the Dodo, it seems that if they want to carve out a niche in the coaster wars, they would do something along a four across swinging suspended attraction.

After all, it seems that track scale, ergo, the dive machines at the Busch Gardens parks are quite a bit wider than the standard Beemer. And scaling up the regular inverted style that they have created might be a good area to start with. It just seems natural that they would do something in a way of a suspended in their style.

As the trends seem to be going, inversions don't seem as popular, as a few new tracks of their design have been non-loopers lately. Raging Bull for one example. Look how Phantom's Revenge was altered and removed it's virtical loop. Because parks want to include attractions that will appeal to a wider audience.

Nah, inverted coasters, are much more reliable and generally cheaper to maintain than suspended coasters, mainly because the trains don't sway back and forth. Suspended coasters are becoming rare because they are quite obsolete. If Arrows are slowly being destroyed, it would be nothing compared to the many coasters forgotten after the great depression. Many ride concepts were also forgotten, of course the steeplechase and Virginia reel have been revived (there is one powered VR in existence), as have the looping coasters and bobsleds, but some concepts were never resurrected, for instance, I doubt anyone here has ever heard of a ride called the whirlifly. Most vintage roller coasters were lost during the great depression.

There is no point in B&M making a swinging suspended coaster. Vekoma still produce a stand alone product : http://www.vekoma.co...id=13&Itemid=11

No doubt, if B&M made a rival coaster, it would be something special, just that I can't see it ever happening. The Vekoma product isn't popular enough to warrant b&m making a rival design. Notice the trend... Vekoma design the fixed suspended coaster (SLC), B&M design the inverted coaster and completely surpass the SLC in every way. Vekoma design the flying coaster, B&M design the prone coaster and completely surpass the flying coaster in every way.

If B&M wanted to make a suspended swinging coaster, they would have done it a long time ago. Plus, B&M have never been in the market for family coaster, and if they were intend it for the thrill market, there would be no point as they already offer the inverted coaster.

B&M's inverted coasters already "swing" on their own due to design. The only extra swing missing is the one when you hit the brakes, otherwise the track banks properly for the forces.

I do think Big Bad Wolf was one of the best suspendeds though. Vortex at Canada's Wonderland isn't bad (but better than it's Top Gun twin at Kings Island). I don't remember much of Ninja to really comment on, and Iron Dragon is my "I'm taking a break from riding coasters" ride.

B&M's inverted coasters already "swing" on their own due to design. The only extra swing missing is the one when you hit the brakes, otherwise the track banks properly for the forces.

Banked track != swinging cars. Swinging cars will react slightly differently on each run depending on the passenger load/weight distribution, while static cars on a banked track will follow the same path each time.

B&M will never make a swinging suspended coaster. It's not their MO -- B&M has always been about making highly polished, no-risk designs. Swinging cars add too many maintenance headaches. (This is, incidentally, why they designed the original BTR inverted coasters to answer Arrow's suspended coasters. BTW, Magnus -- B&M got to it before Vekoma, IIRC.)

It is a shame to see some of these go, though. Big Bad Wolf, at least, should've stayed. (Especially since it leaves a big gap in the ride selection at BGW.)

-ACE

Yep, you're right. The first SLC was 1994 with the first Inverted preceding it by 2 years.

Still, you get my point

I hope at least a half dozen of these rides can be saved because there's some real gems out there. One of them was Big Bad Wolf. It was a sad sad day when they took that out. I wouldn't expect the casual themepark-goer to care much about Arrow suspended coasters with all the "bigger" and "better" around them, but I think they're some of the best designed rides out there when they're maintained properly. Ninja at SFMM is almost always a walk-on every time I go there so perhaps it's days are numbered too. Would it even be possible to build a new suspended coaster now if someone wanted to? Is that patent now public domain?

I hope at least a half dozen of these rides can be saved because there's some real gems out there. One of them was Big Bad Wolf. It was a sad sad day when they took that out. I wouldn't expect the casual themepark-goer to care much about Arrow suspended coasters with all the "bigger" and "better" around them, but I think they're some of the best designed rides out there when they're maintained properly. Ninja at SFMM is almost always a walk-on every time I go there so perhaps it's days are numbered too. Would it even be possible to build a new suspended coaster now if someone wanted to? Is that patent now public domain?

Did Arrow even have a patent on the concept? Vekoma were producing suspended coasters at the same time as Arrow and still do produce one. Zamperla make a suspended swinging coaster http://www.zamperla....l?category_id=5 and it is widely known that Schwarzkopf had a suspended swinging coaster (preceding Arrows design) on the drawing board that never saw the light of day due to company bankruptcy.

A little fantasy trip I went on today...

With B&M doing all sorts of different types of car styles and tracks, I wonder if their not working on a suspended version of their tracks? I mean now that the Arrow suspendeds are going the way of the Dodo, it seems that if they want to carve out a niche in the coaster wars, they would do something along a four across swinging suspended attraction.

After all, it seems that track scale, ergo, the dive machines at the Busch Gardens parks are quite a bit wider than the standard Beemer. And scaling up the regular inverted style that they have created might be a good area to start with. It just seems natural that they would do something in a way of a suspended in their style.

As the trends seem to be going, inversions don't seem as popular, as a few new tracks of their design have been non-loopers lately. Raging Bull for one example. Look how Phantom's Revenge was altered and removed it's virtical loop. Because parks want to include attractions that will appeal to a wider audience.

No offense, wolfman, but raging bull is over ten years old. More than "a few" of B&M's coasters are non-inverting.

there is always the concept of a wooden invert...

seriously...

That's actually a really good idea! I mean, the crazy ricketing, the amazing floorless feel, and the tunneling effect without the tunnel! But, what about the matinence cost?

It'd be interesting to see the weight difference between SLC cars and wooden coaster trains. I'd imagine the supports would have to be fairly substantial to pull off an inverted wooden coaster.

Did Arrow even have a patent on the concept? Vekoma were producing suspended coasters at the same time as Arrow and still do produce one. Zamperla make a suspended swinging coaster http://www.zamperla....l?category_id=5 and it is widely known that Schwarzkopf had a suspended swinging coaster (preceding Arrows design) on the drawing board that never saw the light of day due to company bankruptcy.

I'm assuming whoever came up with the concept patented it. That wouldn't exclude other companies from developing similar technologies, though, which is why there are mechanical and design differences to distinguish each manufacturer's suspended concept.

A little fantasy trip I went on today...

With B&M doing all sorts of different types of car styles and tracks, I wonder if their not working on a suspended version of their tracks? I mean now that the Arrow suspendeds are going the way of the Dodo, it seems that if they want to carve out a niche in the coaster wars, they would do something along a four across swinging suspended attraction.

After all, it seems that track scale, ergo, the dive machines at the Busch Gardens parks are quite a bit wider than the standard Beemer. And scaling up the regular inverted style that they have created might be a good area to start with. It just seems natural that they would do something in a way of a suspended in their style.

As the trends seem to be going, inversions don't seem as popular, as a few new tracks of their design have been non-loopers lately. Raging Bull for one example. Look how Phantom's Revenge was altered and removed it's virtical loop. Because parks want to include attractions that will appeal to a wider audience.

No offense, wolfman, but raging bull is over ten years old. More than "a few" of B&M's coasters are non-inverting.

To add to that, Phantom's Revenge wasn't altered to make it more family friendly or appeal to a wider audience. It was altered to make it appeal to an audience, period. Just like most Arrow loopers, it was very rough and too intense through the inversions. B&Ms are still largely relegated to the thrill-seeking crowd by virtue of being tall, containing inversions, or both.

there is always the concept of a wooden invert...

seriously...

The very idea of an inverted wooden coaster makes my head scream in pain. Just ouch.

Ninja in SFMM is the only Arrow Suspended that I've ever ridden and that was a blast for me. I'm sad that I didn't get to ride "Big Bad Wolf" before it closed but I'll get over it.

And Inverted Woodie? I'd ride it! Im adventerous!