B&M or Intamin

I don't mean to flood the threads but this one has interested me for years now. I think it's safe to say that Cedar Point has a pretty close and warm relationship with Intamin. The record speaks for itself with the broken record of coasters i.e. Millennium Force, Wicked Twister, Top Thrill Dragster, and now Maverick. I don't blame them. I'm not an engineer of physisyst but I love the smooth ride the track gives on all the Intamin coasters at the point. I have however heard that there was some kind of contract pending or something like that for another B&M coaster? Can anybody enlighten me on some truth to that? I was curious as to your thoughts as well. As I said I love the thrills and comfort of Intamin's rides, but even though Mantis doesn't have the best comfort level, it most certainly is thrilling and I'm still even after 13 years of riding am blown away by Raptor's thrills and comfort. In my opinion, I really think B&M could knock one out of the park for a future CP ride. What do you all think?

V/R,

Rob

well if they were to put in a b&m it probably would be florless since kinzel doesnt like their flying coasters from what ive heard

There was never a multi-ride contract with B&M. It's a myth.

The relationship with Intamin is hardly warm either. Four coasters and none of them worked correctly out of the box. They continue to work with them because there is no one else who will do things on the scale they will, and they're the cheapest.

B&M's only truly unique product since the first Batman ride is the vertical drop coaster, and Busch has a non-compete for North America for some amount of time. Given that they were showing a car from the Williamsburg ride at the IAAPA trade show, I can't imagine that deal extends more than another year.

That's not to say that B&M rides aren't some of the nicest and easiest to maintain, but they have no offering other than the vertical drop ride that would be unique enough to bother with at Cedar Point.

The flyer is unique. Of the three manufacturers, B&M's is the best in my opinion. But, since Kinzel thinks they suck, I doubt any Cedar Fair park will see them while he's at the helm.

Say what you will about them being forceless and uncomfortable, but they're definitely a crowd pleaser.

The flyer is still practically the same ride doing the same things only you're on your stomach for a small portion of the ride.

And all flyers suck as far as I'm concerned.

Jeff said:
And all flyers suck as far as I'm concerned.

I'll second that...

It's been discussed before, but there are obvious traits between both companies and the way things are done. Pushing limits is just one of them.

Have either of you ridden Air or Tatsu? If not, how can you say they all suck? Air and Tatsu are amazing.

The Superman clones? While I don't think they suck, they could definitely be better.

I've only been on Firehawk (X-flight) and actually enjoyed it, but it wasn't anything special and the KI employees were hitting close to 0pph at the time, it was the worst thing I've ever seen.

Tim, how about, I just don't like them?

...back to the main subject of this post. I think that it would be really nice to see something different than Intamin for a change. No doubt I love M.F., T.T.D. Maverick and W.T., but I would like to enjoy some more inversions, for some reason I do not think that their is another coaster at C.P. that gives the same feeling as Raptor's first inversion. I think they need to get more coasters that give the type of thrill that B&M gives.

I would love to see a flooless coaster like Hydra or one of the models like Griffon or Sheikra. I have been on Griffon and that is in my top ten no doubt. Just my thoughts...

ANOTHER COMMENT.

halltd, their have been B&M coasters

1.) Talon

2.) Hydra

3.) Patriot

4.) And probably others

If Tatsu still sucks in regards to the flyer experience (I can't say since I havn't been on any), at least it's the best looking of the 6.

^^ Uh. I meant the B&M flyers as being a B&M product that Cedar Point doesn't yet have which is unique in their product offering. Kinzel has said the "flying coaster" sucks, so I inferred from that comment that he probably won't be purchasing a flyer from B&M.

I'd never say Cedar Fair would not install ANY B&M coaster in their parks because that would just be ludicrous.

Adam - Tatsu and Air are two of the most unique coaster experiences I've been on. They make the Superman parking lot clones look (and feel) ridiculous.

Just watching the Superman clones make them look ridiculous.

I've heard that Tatsu is a rather forceful coaster, all things considered. Is that true, Tim?

I would love to get over to Europe even if just for Air and Nemesis, as Air looks like a fun, unique experience; and then of course all of the positive things I've heard about Nemesis.

I really am not bothered with the constant Intamins, though I wouldn't be opposed to any kind of B&M that isn't already in the park. As for the non-compete agreement between Busch and B&M, how long has Sheikra been open, since 2003? I was pretty sure I heard a 5 year agreement was out there, which would make next year the last year for the non-compete agreement.

SheiKra was built in 2005.

The only unique "force" on Tatsu is on the dive loop. But, if you thought the loops on the Superman clones were forceful, you haven't seen anything yet. But really, what forces are on MF? The drop? Ok. Then what? Does that make it a bad coaster? To me, a coaster doesn't have to push/push/squish me in order to be good.

The flying coasters to me are unique BECAUSE of the riding position. You're staring at the ground. You're supposedly to be flying like a bird. Since when is flight supposed to be full of forces? I always thought flight was supposed to be peaceful and serene.

Tatsu is truly stunning because of it's location. It's perched on top of a mountain in the center of the park. The lift goes up over a midway and all you can see off in the distance is mountain. Then you swoop down and around over tree tops, over the fountain near the front of the park, looking down at tiny people below, through the dive loop on your back, some more swoopy curves over the trees and you're done. But, like I said, it was truly an amazing coaster experience for me just because it was so unique.

Air is almost like a zen experience. The station plays this soothing music and there are these blue lights all over. The coaster is whisper quiet, and you just glide so gracefully through the air. That's why it's called Air. LOL!!

Mike, if you make it to Alton, you won't be disappointed. Rita is awesome, Air is awesome, Oblivion is awesome, Spinball is awesome and Nemesis is the best invert I've been on. They have some pretty wicked dark rides like Hex and Duel too.

rustudent said:
ANOTHER COMMENT.
halltd, their have been B&M coasters

1.) Talon
2.) Hydra
3.) Patriot

Note, however, that they're all at other Cedar Fair parks, and for the reason that Cedar Point hasn't put in another B&M, this fact is irrelevant.

Anyone have any opinion on 4D coasters? I've never been on one myself, but they look interesting. They also seem to be pretty compact; there's one in Helsinki that looks like it could fit in the space Wild Cat occupies, maybe a little more. Gives the impression of a carnival ride to me though.

Thoughts?