Theme Park Discussion / Dinn Coaster Extinction?
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23-September 10
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Jaguar
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^No. His daughter was involved in the company but if the split of engineering talent from CCI to GCI (only a few), Gravity Group (the majority), and S&S (Dinn), leaves us with pretty good evidence of where the coaster design, innovation and engineering came from.
I think the smaller Dinn's could use some mild re-profiling and a little TLC but otherwise could stick around. My only experience with the smaller Dinn's is Wildcat @ Michigan's Adventure and I see no reason why it can't remain more or less as it is... A little fresh lumber would go a long way, but it's perfectly ride-able regardless.
The BIG Dinn's are a dying breed for a reason... They're impossibly expensive to maintain properly, they fail to attract crowds, and are generally a bad investment. If a park sees it as a signature attraction (SFOT) or is really determined (hopefully CP) they'll find ways of modifying them to make them better rides that will attract more positive attention. If not they'll go the way of Hercules...
In general big wooden coasters are difficult to maintain. The biggest of the CCI's (The Boss, Villain, Shivering Timbers, etc) are known to be deteriorating, especially if they're not getting a ton of TLC... Shivering Timbers (from what I've read) is still going strong thanks to still being the signature attraction at it's park, but many of the others are blowing away). The Voyage has already had trims added, lighter trains switched in, and a couple sections retracted and it's not even five years old! I imagine Holiday World will keep it up and kicking but it's clearly going to be a long, steady investment to keep it together.
The Intamin's are strange and I don't feel like I can comment from a rider or engineering standpoint. They seem a bit more durable but also seem to vaguely miss the point of being a wooden coaster? But those are seems... I'd have to ride some now and again in 10 years to really comment.
Ride6
I'd say the best rides are hybrids and medium sized wooden coasters. I know viper was cheap, and for being a CyClone, it is one of the best wooden coasters in the world. What was a major economic failure was X, it costed almost twice as much as millennium force, and the renovation brought the price up to more than 65 million.
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