98-186: Roller Coasters Week 6: Coaster Manufacturers Thing of the Week! Arrow Dynamics - Overview ● American ● Primarily steel coasters ● 1960’s - 2002 Arrow Dynamics - Disneyland ● Founded 1946 by WWII vets Karl Bacon and Ed Morgan ● Contracted by Disneyland in 1953 to build most of its original rides Arrow Dynamics - Fame ● Developed the original Matterhorn Bobsleds, the first steel coaster! ● In the 60’s, developed log flumes ● In 70’s-80’s, continued with coasters and had lots of success due to their innovation ○ Invented the suspended coaster ● Almost every major park had an Arrow coaster Arrow Dynamics - Decline ● In the 90’s other steel manufacturers like B&M and Intamin drove Arrow away ● Their coasters were higher quality ● Arrow tried one last hurrah with X at SFMM, but it failed ● X was the first “4D” coaster, invented by Arrow ● Went bankrupt in 2002 Schwarzkopf - Overview ● German ● Steel ● 1960’s - 1990’s Schwarzkopf - Beginnings ● Named after Anton Schwarzkopf, the engineer who owned the company ● Began with rides for traveling fairs, which are popular in Germany ● In 1964, made their first steel coaster, the Wildcat ○ Simple, but copied across Germany and U.S. Schwarzkopf - Portable Coasters ● Also known for innovation ● Invented the portable roller coaster, important for European markets ● Some could stand 100ft tall but still be small and able to be packed in a week or two ● Also invented shuttle coasters and shuttle loops Schwarzkopf - Downfall ● Anton was not a good businessman ● Schwarzkopf went bankrupt several times, the final being in the 80’s ● Most of its engineers went to Zierer and Gerstlauer, manufacturers still operating today ● His rides are still known for higher quality and better ride than Arrow coasters Vekoma - Overview ● Dutch ● Steel ● 1979 - Present Vekoma - Old McDonald ● Founded in 1926 as a farming equipment manufacturer ● Moved into amusement in 1979 with Super Wirbel at Germany’s Holiday Park Vekoma - Striking Similarities ● Very similar to Arrow ride systems in layout, style, and even rolling stock ● Famous for two (widely cloned) coaster lines: ○ Boomerang - Shuttle coaster with cobra roll/vertical loop ○ Suspended Looping Coaster (SLC) - Inverted coaster with 5 inversions; cheaper than B&M but less comfortable Vekoma - Mixing it Up ● Mixed the SLC with the Boomerang with the Invertigo model ● Riders sit back-to-back, facing other passengers ● Also made a huge one in 2001 that was plagued with technical issues Vekoma - Fly Like an Eagle ● Invented the flying coaster with Stealth at what is now California’s Great America ● Slow loading times and technical issues made it a failure Vekoma - Now ● Manufacture kiddie rides and family coasters ● Known for cloned coasters, but they do sometimes make custom ones for clients ● Recently made Expedition Everest for Disney’s Animal Kingdom PTC - Overview ● American ● Wood ● 1920’s - 1979 (But still operating) PTC - Oldboys ● Oldest existing manufacturer ● Formed in 1904 in Philadelphia ● Began with making less extreme rides like carousels ○ Sometimes credited as the inventors of Skeeball PTC - Building a Legacy ● In the early 1900’s they began producing wooden coasters with designers like John Miller ● Survived declines in coasters by switching their focus to kiddy/family coasters PTC - John Allen ● Under John Allen’s ownership, PTC resumed making coasters in 1972 (even though he didn’t want to) PTC - The Racer and Revival ● Under Allen, PTC made the Racer, leading to the Second Golden Age ● Made 10 more coasters between 1972 and the early 80’s ● They then stopped making original coasters PTC - The Toboggans ● Famous for their wooden coaster trains ● Very boxy, 2-3 rows, usually individual lap bars ● Currently focus on train production and restorations Dinn Corp / Dinn & Summers - Overview ● American ● Wood ● 1972-1991 Dinn Corp / Dinn & Summers - Racing Origins ● Charlie Dinn was a Kings Island engineer helping build the Racer ● Helped design the Beast at KI 7 years later Dinn Corp / Dinn & Summers - Super Coaster Bros ● Partnered with Curtis Summers in 1989 to make Dinn Corp. ● Produced about 10 coasters between then and 1991 ○ Mean Streak (Cedar Point, top) ○ Texas Giant (SFOT, bottom) ● Stopped production in 1991 Dinn Corp / Dinn & Summers - Big Coasters, Big Bills ● While known for their massive coasters, Dinn Corp. coasters deteriorated fast ● Usually had to be retracked within 5 years ● Showed that large coasters are not a good idea unless done correctly Custom Coasters International (CCI) - Overview ● American ● Wood ● 1992 - 2002 CCI - Bringing Back the Wood ● Founded 1992 by Denise Dinn-Larick, daughter of Charlie Dinn ● Started with smaller coasters, but eventually Shivering Timbers at went big Michigan’s Adventure ● Dominant in the 1990’s, helping to bring wooden coasters back during the rise of steel coasters CCI - Big Numbers and Bankruptcy ● Produced over 30 coasters in less than 10 years ○ 7 in the year 2000 alone ● Went bankrupt in 2002 building the New Mexico Rattler Mega Zeph at Six Flags New Orleans (Built 2000, RIP) CCI - Legacy ● Most modern wooden manufacturers have ties to CCI: ○ Denise Dinn ran a small division of S&S ○ Mike Boodley formed GCI ○ Four of CCI’s primary designers went on to found Gravity Group, the premier wooden coaster manufacturers nowadays Modern Manufacturers Intamin AG - Overview ● Swiss ● Steel ● 1979 - Present Intamin AG - Rides, not Watches ● Abbreviation of International Amusement Installations ● Found 1967, beginning with flat rides like observation towers ● Served as a middle man for Schwarzkopf, then began making their own coasters Intamin AG - Big Name Designer ● Their first coaster was only 19 ft tall (Jr. Gemini at Cedar Point) ● Werner Stengel, often credited as the greatest steel coaster designer, worked for Intamin ● Stengel founded Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH, which designs most coasters today Intamin AG - Repertoire ● Perfected the stand-up coaster invented by minor manufacturer Togo ● In 1999, began their “Mega Coaster” line ○ Out-and-back hypercoasters with large helixes ● Commonly make hydraulic launch coasters ● Their recent “Mega-Lite” line is popular for its short height but huge airtime Intamin AG - Recordbreakers ● 300 ft barrier: Millenium Force at Cedar Point (2000) ● 400 ft barrier: Top Thrill Dragster at CP (2003) ● Tallest coaster in the world: 456 ft tall, Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure (2005) ● Fastest coaster: 149 mph, Formula Rossa at Ferrari World Dubai (2010) Intamin AG - Recordbreakers Formula Rossa (left) Millenium Force (right) Top Thrill Dragster (left) Kingda Ka (right) Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) - Overview ● Swiss ● Steel ● 1990 - Present B&M - Super Coaster Bros. ● Founded 1988 by two Intamin employees (technically) ● Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard ● Founded to try to leave the amusement industry ● Contracted to build Iron Wolf at SFGA, and were sucked back in :) B&M - GUESS WHAT THEY MADE ● Invented the inverted coaster with 1992’S Batman: The Ride at SFGA ● Also Dueling Dragons :) ● Also made Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa in 1993 B&M - Look Ma, No Floors! ● Invented the floorless coaster in 1999 with Medusa, which became Bizarro ● Also began making hypercoasters in 1999 with Apollo’s Chariot at BG Williamsburg ● Improved upon Vekoma’s flying coaster concept as well B&M - Other Favorite ● Usually had no launch hills except for The Incredible Hulk Coaster at Islands of Adventure (YAYAYAYAYAYA) ● This was changed in 2015 with Thunderbird at Holiday World ● Thunderbird is a wing coaster, one of their primary models Great Coasters International (GCI)- Overview ● American ● Wood ● 1996 - Present Great Coasters International (GCI) - A “Wild” Start ● Started 1994 by Mike Boodley and Clair Hain, Jr. ● Their first coaster built was the Wildcat at Hersheypark ● Known for sweeping drops and lots of crossover elements ● Inspired mainly by the 1920’s coasters Great Coasters International (GCI) - Fly Throughs ● Their famous features are “fly-throughs”, where the track passes by the boarding station ● Began with Dollywood’s Thunderhead in 2007 ● Do not PTC rolling stock (trains), but rather “Millenium Flyer” trains, noticeable by their front grate The Gravity Group - Overview ● American ● Wood ● 2005 - Present The Gravity Group - Flippy Dippy ● After CCI’s 2002 bankruptcy, many of their designers founded this company ● First coaster was Hades at Mt. Olympus in Wisconsin Dells ● Added a corkscrew to Hades in 2013 The Gravity Group - High-Five ● A year after Hades, they made Voyage at Holiday World ● This is often called the #1 wooden coaster in the world ● One of their common features is a 90º banked turn ● Recently made Deuling Dragon at Happy Valley in China ○ Features a “high-five” element! Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) - Overview ● American ● Wood (?) ● 2001 - Present RMC - Foundation ● Established 2001 by Fred Grubb and Suanne Dedmon ● Fred began in specialty and amusement construction ● Alan Schilke of Arrow Dynamics joined them in 2009 to help design attractions RMC - The I-Box Track ● Schilke and Grubb worked on a new type of track called the I-Box and debuted it on the New Texas Giant at SFOT ● The I-Box features multiple planar pieces of steel that replace the traditional wood stack, and can be manufactured easier RMC - The I-Box Track RMC - Innovators ● Their first true steel coaster uses their “Raptor” track ● This is the Wonder Woman Golden Lasso Coaster at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, built 2018 7 Degrees of L.A. Thompson The realm of wooden coaster construction is especially interconnected: ➔ L.A. Thompson invents the wooden coaster in 1880’s ➔ John Miller becomes L.A.’s chief engineer ➔ Herbert Schmeck learns from John Miller while they worked with PTC ➔ John Allen was Schmeck’s apprentice; he designed the Racer ➔ Charlie Dinn worked with John Allen on the Racer ➔ Denise Dinn worked for her father Charlie before CCI ➔ Most major wood designers today are from CCI Next Week: Identification and inversions!.