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Future prospects for B&M

Pokemaniac said:
Of course, there's an exciting alternative to this grim prospect: The announcement of a new B&M could be right around the corner. I just have a hard time imagining where.
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It’s worth remembering that RCDB doesn’t list the rumoured Surf Coaster for SeaWorld Orlando. I could see that possibly being a 2022 ride.

In terms of after 2022; there’s a decent chance that Chessington could be building a B&M in 2023, and there were rumours that Dollywood’s 2023 attraction could be a B&M hyper. Besides, there’s bound to be some new parks springing up in China soon enough that will need B&Ms!
 
While B&M only have the 3 or 4 rides currently under construction its worth noticing that there are at least 3 more Chinese B&M's I expect to see pop up soon. The lead time with these parks is so long though that God knows when that will be.

B&M are still my favourite manafacturer but I agree they could do with a bit more innovation even if it's just in their layouts. They tend to play it safe which I'm sure ties in with their extremely high reliability but it does make it feel like they are a bit stagnant at times.

I remember this same conversation occurring about 20 years ago when every B&M had the same layout order (loop, dive loop/immelman, zero g roll, cobra/batwing, brakes, corkscrews) it was a formula that served them very well from Kumba in 1993 to Scream in 2003 but it did get a bit stale. However they managed to get out of that little rut so here's hoping they can move forwards a bit here.
 
Hyde said:
  • Consider a floorless-ish option on Gigas; B&M clamshells are quasi floorless as it is!
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First, I just want to say great analysis! Those charts are just...mesmerizing haha.

So anyways, I have some cool info with regards to the idea of a floorless B&M Giga. There is that new history book out on KI (A Ride Through TIme for those who haven't heard of it).

In the part that discusses Orion, it said that GM Mike Koontz was wanting to have floorless trains on Orion, but ultimately went with the standard trains for capacity reasons.

That piques my interest and makes me wonder whether or not B&M was actually willing and capable to do floorless trains on Orion, or if it was just kind of an off-the-cuff, arguably far-fetched suggestion by park management that was not really going to happen anyway. Regardless, I would agree that floorless trains at 90mph+ would be pretty neat (assuming they could find a way to keep the clamshells).
 
I just found this really interesting video by The Coaster Josh on this very topic:
Interestingly, he thinks that B&M will be innovating far more in the years to come, and that in 3.5 years’ time (by 2025), B&M will have announced at least 3 new coaster types.

I had a thought as to something B&M could do; have they ever thought of offering their take on a mega-lite? A coaster that would provide the airtime-filled experience of a B&M hyper within a smaller-scale ride (~100ft tall, ~2000-3000ft long)? That might appeal to smaller parks or parks with less cash to spend!
 
Matt N said:
Interestingly, he thinks that B&M will be innovating far more in the years to come, and that in 3.5 years’ time (by 2025), B&M will have announced at least 3 new coaster types.
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No Matt, you can't do that. Someone's opinion doesn't carry more weight just because they published a YouTube video. Let's hear your own thoughts dude, that's plenty enough for all us.
 
Matt N said:
It’s worth remembering that RCDB doesn’t list the rumoured Surf Coaster for SeaWorld Orlando. I could see that possibly being a 2022 ride.
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While I wouldn't say it's out of the question, it's worth noting that none of the SeaWorld parks have managed to open their new for 2021 coasters, including Icebreaker in Orlando. As this continues it makes the thought of a new for 2022 coaster at SeaWorld Orlando seem less and less likely every day.


This may be off topic, but the comparison of innovation by B&M vs. Intamin reminds me of a difference of approach between NASA and SpaceX. NASA spends years, even decades carefully designing hardware before they build anything. SpaceX just builds a rocket and it blows up. They tweak the design and blow another one up. Rinse and repeat until the rocket eventually doesn't blow up.

To my knowledge, none of Intamin's creations have actually exploded, but they have had some doozies.
 
Benenen said:
No Matt, you can't do that. Someone's opinion doesn't carry more weight just because they published a YouTube video. Let's hear your own thoughts dude, that's plenty enough for all us.
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Sorry… I thought it might be an interesting conversation starter.

As for my own thoughts; I’m not sure I personally see things majorly changing for B&M any time soon. Sure, they might release the Surf Coaster, which I’m sure will be very successful, but I’m not sure that they need this major change in portfolio that everyone says they do. I think they’ll tick over just fine with their current product range, personally. There will always be parks out there wanting a new B&M.
 
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