Next Attraction To Go?

[JungleSkip]

For when do you think the SF project is 2017?

:shrug:

I know exceptionally little about whatever may happen in SF

 

[Hatetofly]

Intamin had a rough year in Florida...

 

[AK-Jake]

They haven't had a good recent track record. Falcon's Fury, Gringotts, and Cheetah Hunt all had problems from them in Central Florida

Add to the list rides from yesteryear...many of which STILL continue to plague their owners with issues to this day (some after 10+ years): Top Thrill Dragster, Kingda Ka, Pilgrim's Plunge (scrapped), Perilous Plunge (scrapped), Wicked Twister, Intimidator 305, Maverick, Xcelerator...the list goes on and on and on and on. Many of those rides are owned by Cedar Fair...and with all the problems they've had with Intamin, you'd think they'd quit buying their rides!

In any case, Intamin is not known for smooth openings and the most reliable of rides. Pity, because their rides are often very enjoyable...when they work. :smiley:

 

[anihilnation]

AK-Jake, are those all launched coasters?

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Attractions Magazine posted some interesting rumors:

E.T. will be getting a new entrance next to the museum and major refurb
Spongebob might be Kidzone's replacement
If Fast and Furious takes over San Francisco and Beetlejuice's sequel is a success, the show could be moved to Fear Factor
Star Trek is the top candidate to replace Shrek with Pacific Rim as an alternate option

http://attractionsmagazine.com/rumor-queue-look-top-theme-park-rumors-2015/

Okay Im Okay with the ET thing.
Im Okay with Spongebob as long as their is at least 1 thrill ride and 1 family ride or 2 family rides
Not okay with Bettlejuice Moving to Fear Factor
Would rather Pacific Rim But thats similar to transformers.

 

[fryoj]

AK-Jake, are those all launched coasters?

Those are not, but they also made Shoot the Rapids at Cedar Point which is a log flume that fell down the lift and flipped over. A quick scan of the wiki page for Intamin shows that they had so many incidents that they broke them down into separate pages for the different chains. I don't know that we'll ever see an Intamin ride at a Cedar Fair park again. And while a theater simulator type ride probably isn't going to lead to injuries, just their track record with breakdowns alone should sour Universal off of them. A park with the attendance of Universal's parks can't afford the ride downtime that you get with a lot of Intamin's rides.

 

[AK-Jake]

AK-Jake, are those all launched coasters?

Most of the ones that I listed are, but not all of them. Pilgrims Plunge (later renamed the odd "Giraffica") was the chute-the-shoots ride at Holiday World featuring a vertical elevator that lifted you up to the top of the tower (similar to Divertical at Mirabilandia in Italy), as opposed to a chain-powered lift hill. It was CONSTANTLY breaking down--it was literally closed more than it was open, so they scrapped it...after only 4 seasons of operation. Intimidator 305 is a 305' cable-lift giga coaster at Kings Dominion. It originally had a sharp 270-degree turn right after the first hill (screaming along at about 90 mph at just above ground-level) that caused grey outs so bad that people were complaining constantly. At the end of the first year, Intamin completely reprofiled the first turn to cut back on the grey outs. Now it's a greatly improved ride experience, but suffers from lengthy breakdowns more often than it should. Perilous Plunge (Knott's Berry Farm) was a conventional chute-the-shoots ride with an almost vertical drop down to the water. Constant maintenance issues and a passenger fatally falling out of the boat caused them to retrofit the boats with different restraints and order 2 new ones...which led to even MORE maintenance issues. The ride was scrapped after 12 years. Maverick (Cedar Point) gave ONE test ride a single person: to Sandor Kernacs, the President of IntaRide (the US division of Intamin) days before its scheduled opening. There was originally an inline twist in the second half of the ride (just after the launch tunnel and the high-speed turn) that Sandor allegedly called "a little rough." It must have been extremely rough, because testing stopped immediately and Intamin removed the inversion, and then quickly designed, manufactured, rush-shipped and installed a section of replacement track and opened the ride close to a month after the park's opening. The ride then ran fitfully for about the first half of the summer before smoothing out later in the season. I haven't ridden it since its inaugural season, so I don't know how reliable it is today. Then there's SkyRush at Hersheypark: it's a smaller version of Intimidator 305, with unique 4-person wide trains that debuted a new restraint system featuring a lapbar that you pull down from over your head (like an OTSR). The problem was that the extreme forces on the ride was forcing the lapbar down so hard on people's thighs that it was causing extreme pain and cutting off circulation. This gave the ride its nickname: "ThighCrush." After the first season, Hershey worked with Intamin to rework the restraints and while they're better, they STILL come down on your thighs much harder than they should and STILL cause discomfort. The ride opened in 2012.

I could go on and on about past issues with their rides.

Those are not, but they also made Shoot the Rapids at Cedar Point which is a log flume that fell down the lift and flipped over. A quick scan of the wiki page for Intamin shows that they had so many incidents that they broke them down into separate pages for the different chains. I don't know that we'll ever see an Intamin ride at a Cedar Fair park again. And while a theater simulator type ride probably isn't going to lead to injuries, just their track record with breakdowns alone should sour Universal off of them. A park with the attendance of Universal's parks can't afford the ride downtime that you get with a lot of Intamin's rides.

I forgot about the Shoot the Rapids incident. You'd think Cedar Fair would learn their lesson...but they kept building them even after having all the issues they did. They seem to have switched to more reliable B&Ms now, happily.

Agreed that Universal can't afford the downtimes Intamin seems to come with. Can you imagine if Gringotts had been like Falcon's Fury? Yikes!

 

[Gillman]

I'm sorry but I don't know if I can get behind this possible SpongeBob replacement of Kidzone. I know it has possibilities and there is a new movie about to come out but it just doesn't seem to move merchandise like it used to. I wonder if might be more in Universal's best interests to see if something else comes along.

 

[graspthesun]

I'm sorry but I don't know if I can get behind this possible SpongeBob replacement of Kidzone. I know it has possibilities and there is a new movie about to come out but it just doesn't seem to move merchandise like it used to. I wonder if might be more in Universal's best interests to see if something else comes along.

Maybe, but you can't wait forever hoping for something to happen. HTTYD may not have the cult following of Spongebob, but it is committed to sticking around for a long time.

 

[anihilnation]

Most of the ones that I listed are, but not all of them.

Wow ...
I think they had some issues with drop towers in South America as well, I think a girl once fell out of one after the restraint became undone.
That is why I like B&M, they might not push as much for innovation, but there stuff always works.

As for Gringotts, are the restraints also by Intamin?

 

[AK-Jake]

Wow ...
I think they had some issues with drop towers in South America as well, I think a girl once fell out of one after the restraint became undone.
That is why I like B&M, they might not push as much for innovation, but there stuff always works.

As for Gringotts, are the restraints also by Intamin?

I was under the impression that Intamin did the track on Gringotts and Premier did the vehicles, but I could be wrong (I haven't ridden it yet). Anyone else know?

Intamin has had serious issues with their rides leading back almost to the formation of the company...and those issues haven't let up. They build incredible rides, but they just don't have the safety track record that they probably should. Some of the accidents on their rides (like the cable that snapped and ripped that teenage girl's foot/leg off on the Hellevator drop tower at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom in 2007, or the death of the obese, handicapped man on the Superman: Ride of Steel coaster at Six Flags New England in 2004) were the fault of their owners and NOT Intamin. A fellow ride/park enthusiast I know--who is also a brilliant engineer--told me that many of Intamin's problems come from OVER-engineering their rides. They build rides that are unnecessarily complicated in all regards, which leads to the many mechanical issues that they have (the accelerator coaster launch system is a perfect example). Whereas at B&M (where this gentleman did an internship), they keep things as simple and elegant as possible...without compromising safety.

Fun little tidbit for you, and then I'll get back on topic: this engineer I mentioned is a very good friend of Walter Bolliger of B&M (and that I know for a fact). He said the reason it took B&M so long to build a giga coaster is not because of the commonly thought "B&M doesn't build coasters over 240 feet," but rather is due to the simple fact that no one had approached them to build a giga until Cedar Fair did with Leviathan! Furthermore, B&M has (allegedly) always wanted to build a drop tower (with a design approach that is "simple, elegant, and reliable"), but no one has asked them to build one. Keep in mind that Walter and Claude (Mabilliard of B&M) were involved in designing Intamin's existing drop tower design when they worked for Giovanola back in the 80s, before leaving to start B&M. Can you imagine a B&M drop tower!?!?!?!? :drool:

Okay, enough of that. I'll get back on topic. :smiley:

 

[Teebin]

Ok... I'm going to do some thinking out loud. Based on what I originally heard about the fate of Twister, and the totally perplexing news I heard recently, I will toss this out there for you people to chew apart.

Could it be possible that the Tonight Show will soon have two studios, one for winter and state occasions and one for late spring, summer, early autumn? That it would be a tour earlier in the day and then shut down for taping in the early afternoon? That it would be a tour/show-explanation in all other months?

Remember, the original thing I heard last spring was "because of the popularity of Fallon in Orlando". Ever since, many of us have wondered, well how will they recreate that without Fallon, thinking that it would be without Fallon?

I will not tell you what I was told recently, as it sounded so outrageous, but a component of what I was told syncs with above as a big possibility.

Have a roll in the mud with that! :stunned:

 

[Disneyhead]

Ok... I'm going to do some thinking out loud. Based on what I originally heard about the fate of Twister, and the totally perplexing news I heard recently, I will toss this out there for you people to chew apart.

Could it be possible that the Tonight Show will soon have two studios, one for winter and state occasions and one for late spring, summer, early autumn? That it would be a tour earlier in the day and then shut down for taping in the early afternoon? That it would be a tour/show-explanation in all other months?

Remember, the original thing I heard last spring was "because of the popularity of Fallon in Orlando". Ever since, many of us have wondered, well how will they recreate that without Fallon, thinking that it would be without Fallon?

I will not tell you what I was told recently, as it sounded so outrageous, but a component of what I was told syncs with above as a big possibility.

Have a roll in the mud with that! :stunned:

Hmmmm, an ACTUAL Fallon ride. Weeelllllll, it's no Emma Watson ride, but it'll do.

 

[martymcflyy85]

Hopefully not true.

 

[Teebin]

Hopefully not true.

why do you say that?

 

[andrew]

Wouldn't getting guests to Orlando on for several months in a row be a problem? Most people going on the show are promoting something, and can hit up a lot of spots in NYC to promote. How many would include Orlando on the promotion tour?

 

[NJBrandon]

Wouldn't getting guests to Orlando on for several months in a row be a problem? Most people going on the show are promoting something, and can hit up a lot of spots in NYC to promote. How many would include Orlando on the promotion tour?

Toss their family some VIP Passes and a hotel room at the resort and you're good to go.

 

[quinnmac000]

Wouldn't getting guests to Orlando on for several months in a row be a problem? Most people going on the show are promoting something, and can hit up a lot of spots in NYC to promote. How many would include Orlando on the promotion tour?

Also would be a great location to push Legendary, Universal, etc film stars and promote, since this is the place where you can experience them....Synenergy.

 

[Teebin]

Wouldn't getting guests to Orlando on for several months in a row be a problem? Most people going on the show are promoting something, and can hit up a lot of spots in NYC to promote. How many would include Orlando on the promotion tour?

Yeah, I considered that too, and it may well be an issue, but it doesn't strike me as a show stopper. My biggest question is whether Fallon would say yes to such a thing.

The cross promotion of Comcast's holdings would be over the top. Imagine "LIVE, FROM UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ORLANDO - THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON!"

So, I've either stepped outside of the box or jumped the shark on this. I am certainly having fun doing so!

 

[Mad Dog]

Yeah, I considered that too, and it may well be an issue, but it doesn't strike me as a show stopper. My biggest question is whether Fallon would say yes to such a thing.

The cross promotion of Comcast's holdings would be over the top. Imagine "LIVE, FROM UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ORLANDO - THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON!"

So, I've either stepped outside of the box or jumped the shark on this. I am certainly having fun doing so!

Yes, on further thought, the positives may very well outweigh the negatives concerning guest availability and two living locations for the huge Tonight Show production team. But, man, the promotion possibilities are tempting. And, instead of sending the MVP to Disney World, they can send a whole lot of celebs to Universal, as NJ Brandon said, and that will create a hell of a lot of positive good will. This could really be a promotional home run if done to the max. Absolutely intriguing if it's true and not just a rumor.