See I couldn't bare a car park theme park, and most steel looping coasters seem the same as every other after a while to me, if its all just different combinations of speed and inversions. Still fun, but not worth me travelling far, so yeah a difference of opinion definitely. However I can still appreciate what goes into designing a steel coaster and that, when designed really well, it can make a big difference.
And yet - nobody in masses are going to stand there and say "I wish this coaster was more this/that", they're just going to want it to loop 100 times aren't they? Even though they'd actually enjoy a better designed coaster much more.
They're not required to be an expert on coasters themselves, just like people are not required to know about design or architecture in order to enjoy it, they're just there to be thrilled & surprised by the end result. It's the same kind of principle.
I suppose if I had any say, I'd want there to be a good balance between great design where needs be, but not shy away from balls-to-the-wall thrills where theming would only get in the way.
Recently thought how Drayton Manor has Shockwave themed as some kind of random barn and it's totally inconsequential to the coaster - it could be a metal shed & be exactly the same ride. But had the whole area and layout been designed together as one interacting coaster experience, as in Nemesis, or at least create a build up, it would instantly improve Shockwave as a ride. (Along with not being a stand up coaster)
But yeah I walked the bridge to madness on this one, cor love a debate
Always good, never great... That sorta thing, not some ridiculous notion that the entire ride hinges on some bridge, just that the lack of forethought (because Merlin obviously wanted an indoor queue but didn't want to build a new building so reused the scaremaze tent (which also doesn't really fit into the techno style of the ride)) is usually where these rides fall down on...
Yes this is exactly the problem with Merlin's attitude to design I think, cheapening out and so it amounts to just a half-baked idea. And they were proud of Zufari and its wobbly bridge over the bins.