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Silver Dollar City: General Discussion

Alastair said:
How is it any different to Swiss and German companies building coasters over here though?
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Well, it's pretty obvious. You order something from B&M, Intamin or Gerstlauer it's delivered here in containers from Switzerland or Germany. The cost isn't as much as if it were delivered from the USA.

Arrow sub-contracted Allott & Lomax Steel to construct the Big One because the sheer cost to transport that amount of steel from the USA was just not feasible.

This is why we are Intamin - B&M Country with some other European makers thrown in. ;)
 
Spike said:
Alastair said:
How is it any different to Swiss and German companies building coasters over here though?
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Well, it's pretty obvious. You order something from B&M, Intamin or Gerstlauer it's delivered here in containers from Switzerland or Germany. The cost isn't as much as if it were delivered from the USA.

Arrow sub-contracted Allott & Lomax Steel to construct the Big One because the sheer cost to transport that amount of steel from the USA was just not feasible.

This is why we are Intamin - B&M Country with some other European makers thrown in. ;)
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I would've thought we mostly have European manufactured coasters because European manufacturers and designers actually make the best coasters? It's hardly like US companies have consistently produced better coasters than the likes of B&M/Intamin anywhere in the world.

Also, I can't really see how it would be considerably more expensive to ship track in containers from Europe than it is to ship them in containers from the US? And in any case, subcontracting would hardly be a horrendous thing to have to do would it? If anything European track fabricators have more experience than the US ones do.
 
Alastair said:
I would've thought we mostly have European manufactured coasters because European manufacturers and designers actually make the best coasters? It's hardly like US companies have consistently produced better coasters than the likes of B&M/Intamin anywhere in the world.

Also, I can't really see how it would be considerably more expensive to ship track in containers from Europe than it is to ship them in containers from the US? And in any case, subcontracting would hardly be a horrendous thing to have to do would it? If anything European track fabricators have more experience than the US ones do.
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Well it is a fact that European Manufacturers make the best rides/coasters but if you look at European parks they are littered with European names because of the reduction in cost.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that shipping a coaster from the USA to Europe costs A LOT more than Europe-to-Europe. Sub-contracting is not a horrendous thing to do if the demand is there but it's not any more. Megafobia was the last major sub-contracted coaster in the UK.

Rides like Mumbo Jumbo are cheap to ship because of their footprint along with other S&S rides - Slammer, Ice Blast, Rush etc.

The reason why the rest of the word gets the big name coaster is because they have headquarters in the major continents - B&M and Intamin have both Chinese & American headquarters so they don't ship coaster from Europe. :)
 
This doesn't apply to GCI though. In Europe there are many, GCI coasters. If a park as small as Freizeitpark Plohn can buy El Toro then there must be someone that GCI subcontracts to close to us.

I don't know if it's possible to subcontract an RMC hybrid or wooden roller coaster due to the method of creating the track. The only chance of the UK getting one is if it's at either Alton Towers or Thorpe Park.

Unless a bigger European park would like to get one for us? :p
 
BigAl said:
This doesn't apply to GCI though. In Europe there are many, GCI coasters. If a park as small as Freizeitpark Plohn can buy El Toro then there must be someone that GCI subcontracts to close to us.
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That is a good point, there are a few GCI's. Not many though but Freizeitpark is a good example of a park 'taking a punt' I think and it turned out well from what I can see

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMl0yaVUKPw#ws (El Toro for those that haven't seen it.)

Also, isn't there another GCI in Europe like El Toro with a dark section before the lift? For the life of me I cannot remember it's name or park. :S

I guess wood is always cheaper than steal.
 
I don't think shipping costs are a factor when it comes to woodies. They usually use locally sourced timber. I'm pretty sure Wodan did this. The only thing that would need shipping for one of these hybrids would be the steel rails themselves, and that would take up a lot less container space than shipping a whole steel coaster including supports.
 
Isn't Mack now the European sub-contractor for GCI? I seem to remember them saying something along those lines when Wodan was announced.

Anyway I think Spike has a point but it's not quite as big of a problem as it's made out. However as Rocky Mountain are a new coaster construction company and very much based in certain parts of America I find it unlikely we'll be seeing one of there rides soon.
 
The review on Coasterforce seems to suggest it's not all it's cracked up to be, and notes the lap bars are a problem, as some here suggested they would be:

Outlaw Run sets out to be the most daring, innovative, and wild wooden coaster on the planet, and make no mistake: It's great. And yet, I find myself at least somewhat disappointed.

Your journey on Outlaw Run starts with a surprisingly fast 100-feet tall chain lift ascent. You only have a few seconds to take in the view of the Ozarks from the top before you take a quick dip, rise up, and begin the 160-feet tall record breaking 81 degree descent. The airtime in the back is great, but I hesitate to call it ejector air. The drop is unfortunately at 81 degrees for too short of time as you're pulling out of the drop just as the airtime reaches its peak intensity.

Next, you launch up and to the left towards the 153 degree turn/inversion. I found this to by far be the weakest point of the ride. I was hoping for a Maverick-like experience without the awful OTSR: a wild flip to the side. Instead, the inversion feels surprisingly gentle - almost like any other zero-g roll. It's far from bad, but somehow manages to fail miserably at feeling unique. There is some airtime coming in and out of it, though, which is a nice surprise.

After a somewhat weak element, the ride charges to the left and begins the best series of elements on the ride: the two airtime hills and the turning hill below the lift. You get very intense and wild airtime over these hills that's oh so sweet, but unfortunately, also oh so short lived. Unlike rides like The Voyage where you're launched into the air for seconds at a time, the airtime on Outlaw Run usually comes in fairly short but very intense bursts. In a way, it's more like a very intense GCI coaster. Again, it's great, but I prefer remaining out of my seat for much longer periods of time. The one exception to this rule is the exit of the turn below the lift: you get very intense airtime, it lasts much longer than the previous hills, and you're wildly twisting the whole way through. This is more like what I was hoping the first inversion would be like.

Next up comes the strangest element of the ride: what I call the sideways hill. The train remains tilted 90 degrees to the right and yet never really turns. Unfortunately, I call this the strangest element in that it somehow feels...normal. I'd read reports online that there was very intense "Lateral airtime" on this hill and I'm honestly confused what they meant by that - My brother and I both agreed that if you had blindfolded us, we'd honestly never know we weren't right-side-up. With that being said, you still get plenty of airtime on this hill although not as much as the hills that come before it, so it's still fun.

After one last quick airtime hill, you charge up into the double barrel roll. Before riding, I honestly expected this element to feel the least unique, and it blew away my expectations. During the second barrel roll, you definitely feel yourself turning while you're still mostly upside-down. It's a very unique and fun feeling and by far the most original part of the ride. And on that note, Outlaw Run hits the brakes.

As great as the ride is, I definitely found myself disappointed as I hit the brake run. Perhaps all of the overwhelmingly positive reviews online had raised my expectations too high as I was expecting it to easily become my favorite wooden coaster. And yet, not only did that not happen - it didn't even come close to happening. I was hoping this would feel like a game-changer: something so wildly unique that I couldn't imagine another ride like it. However, with the lone exception of the final barrel roll, it simply feels like a really good ride. It tries to be wild and it does succeed, but not as much as rides like Maverick. It tries to be an airtime machine and it is but not as much as The Voyage. If it were longer, maybe it could have found a perfect mix between the two but it's way too incredibly short for that.

And then there's the other major problem: The restraints. There's a horizontal bar that runs right along your legs and if you're tall like me, it's uncomfortable no matter how you slice it. Making matters worse, if the ride staff staples you as they check the lap bars, the restraint quickly becomes a torture device. During my second time on the ride after this happened to me, my leg hit the bar so hard on every airtime hill that I still have a giant bruise half a week later. The pain in addition to the wildness of the barrel rolls pretty well made me not want to ride anything for the rest of the day, and that simply isn't the feeling I want when I get off a ride.

Now, with all of this being said, you'd probably expect me to give the ride a much lower grade than a 9. The simple fact is that in spite of all of its problems, Outlaw Run is still a solid ride that's tons of fun. The airtime, despite how short lived it is, is very intense and even the worse elements still aren't bad. It's a very great ride - it's just not one of the best.

Pros
+++ Intense Airtime
+ Mostly consistent quality
+ Great theming
+ All around enjoyable
+ Smooth but retains a slight rattle: it definitely feels like a wooden coaster

Cons
-- That dang bar across my legs
- Unbelievably short ride time
- Airtime comes in short bursts instead of prolonged hills
- Original elements don't feel as original as previously hoped

Overall Grade: A-
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I'm no woody expert (only been on 2 in my whole life) but at the very least, it looks amazing and so fast. If one was built in the UK, I'd be there in a heartbeat.
 
Well let's hope that the next wooden coaster from RMC is an improvement on Outlaw Run. It doesn't look short like they described though. It's also a shame that the staff are making the restraints worse too. But still, £6,000,000 for it is absolutely awesome!
 
To be fair, most other reviews say the restraints are OK. That was the first I found with anything negative to say about the ride, yet they still give it 9/10!

The thing that makes me think something like this would be ideal for the UK is the cost. $10,000,000 is an absolute steal for such an exciting innovative ride. If marketed right, I'm sure people would flock to ride it.

Although, am I right in thinking the cost would shoot up if parts had to be shipped from the US?
 
That only cost £6 million!? That seems like a bargain for such a beast of a coaster! Let's hope some officials from UK parks are going to head over for a ride, something similar could be a fantastic investment for a park here. One of the non-Merlin parks should start saving up!

:)
 
I couldn't believe it when I first read that it cost just $10,000,000, but it's true and numerous articles, RCDB and the Wikipedia pages all confirm it. For that kind of price, you'd struggle to come up with a reason NOT to buy one if you were considering something like it! :p
 
BigAl said:
I couldn't believe it when I first read that it cost just $10,000,000, but it's true and numerous articles, RCDB and the Wikipedia pages all confirm it. For that kind of price, you'd struggle to come up with a reason NOT to buy one if you were considering something like it! :p
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It's the same for a lot of monstrous coasters though. A prime example being Monster :p

Not sure if this was the original or relocated cost, but regardless - Walygator paid just a little over £4.5m!

To put that into perspective, BPB have begged and borrowed £5.5m just to refurbish the Goldmine. And they could have had that!
 
Screamscape have commented on Outlaw Run and how well it is being received:

2013 - Outlaw Run - (3/20/13) Outlaw Run and opened, and according to all reports I’ve seen so far the ride is a huge hit. Of course, with the launch of a new style train always comes some complaints, comments and some room for improvements. On the negative side, I’ve heard a few complaints about the placement of the “shin bars” on the restraints being a bit too tight, pressing very hard into riders legs. On the plus side, in addition to a smooth and comfortable ride, I’ve heard one reader comment that they were happy to see that these trains were much more accommodating to larger riders than other coaster trains. Of course, your mileage may vary here as every person is built a little differently. All said and done, I’d have to say congratulations to Rocky Mountain for delivering what will be one of the most talked about coasters of the year. You can also find a great opening day report from Outlaw Run posted to ThemeParkReview. Now I just have figure out how I can ride this one myself someday...
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Didn't know George Clooney was the manager of Silver Dollar City...

Sent from my HTC One V using Tapatalk 2
 
An article about riding Outlaw Run at night was posted on Coaster 101 (includes photos and an evening POV) a few days ago which shows this beautiful ride looking even more spectacular than usual.

outlaw-run.jpg



Longy also found a POV of it on Youtube in full darkness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_-EVDPaxQw#ws


Stunning!
 
The wheels make it sound like the trains weren't content with just throwing one person off the ride...

Still not sold on it... Then again, the Beast at night is one of the best coaster experiences in the world and very little can actually compare to it... But I've never been sold on the RMC concept in the first place...

Ramble...
 
Aren't the trains used on this RMC's own, not Gerstlauers? And the restraints are different to the restraints used on the other two I-Box coasters too. More or less everyone that has been on this has given it very, very good reviews, and it's so different to any other wooden coaster we've ever seen. The price for them is also staggering (this cost £6 million) and what this type of ride can do for the wooden coaster has only just started.

For a new company, RMC's work is extremely impressive and I'm not really surprised that Six Flags are paying for some of their older wooden coasters to be improved by them. The more out there, the more likely that these will start to appear outside of the US. I think their work is really exciting, more so than the work being produced by other more established companies in the industry.

Give them a chance! :)
 
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