hugecoltsfan
Roller Poster
I mean having similar/copying rides isn't exactly new in the coaster world.
Intamin Unveils Four New Concepts
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I mean having similar/copying rides isn't exactly new in the coaster world.
CrashCoaster
CF Legend
Might wanna merge this thread with the other one.
roomraider
Best Topic Starter
There's a number of questionable statements in there.
Not heard of rides like Master Thai then I assume? Which must be smaller surely?
I am amazed that with the compact LSM launch ride they didn't go with the single rail track too. You know just to rub our faces in it.
Antinos
Slut for Spinners
Proliferation of technical innovation throughout the industry is to be expected, like B&M debuting their version of the wing coaster despite Intamin's, or S&S's free spin despite Intamin's. Yet these products still mechanical differences from each other - manufacturer specific track and support architecture, B&M's significantly different and much improved trains, S&S's significantly different and improved trains, etc. Why is Intamin choosing to develop a totally new single rail track architecture when they already have multiple existing track architectures in different gauges? Surely there will be mechanical differences, but the hot racer trains look quite similar to Raptor trains. The Pulsar ripoff is actually exactly that, though...which is something that we just aren't used to seeing in the west where such a high profile company like Intamin doesn't put their own signature on their products.
The Sky Rocket II fighter looks great though, even though they went with something so similar as opposed to just using Sandy's Blasting Bronco as the stock model.
RMC doesn't make the S&S Free Spin track. They only made the track for the first one at Fiesta Texas and the 2nd at Great Adventure.
Typical Liechtensteiner manufacturers. Always knocking off designs. When are they going to start obeying international patent law over there?
I think you could technically say that the "zig zag loop" goes a bit further up the half-loop before the track starts rolling, hence making it more of a double inversion than a non-inversion, but yeah, it's awfully similar.
Sidenote: while I don't really miss the days of all coasters consisting of the same kinds of elements put in different sequences à la RCT, I'm kinda tired of manufacturers deciding to come up with a new element name every time they bend tracks in new directions. Most of the time, the "elements" stay one-off anyway. I mean, how many Flying Snake Dives were ever built? Bowties? Stinger Curves? Top Gun Stalls? Dog Tongues? Maxx Dive Loops? We're getting so many new element names nowadays they're turning meaningless, because they only describe what one coaster is doing, yet every manufacturer seems to pile on more single-use names for every new ride they build.
That being said, it might be preferable to every manufacturer building the same elements but naming them differently. What's the difference between a Corkscrew, a Flat Spin and a Wing Over again?
NO!!!!!! What are you gonna say next; a Twisted Horeshoe Roll is just two corkscrews!?
Crazycoaster
Giga Poster
No, clearly you’d say it’s two zero g rolls
tomahawk
Strata Poster
I have thoughts, and none are really positive.
It's been said, but these are blatant ripoffs. The pulsar model is laughable, and makes me think of the atrocious Perilous Plunge.
The sky rocket knock off is pretty piss poor as well. Inverted launch sounds like the worst type of hangtime.
The single rail just looks mediocre. Clearly the one was a bid for WCR and it wasn't chosen. It just looks like a half assed attempt to stay competitive with RMC on the single rail model.
When you start spreading yourself so thin with different projects, you aren't excellent at any one thing. This is my initial take.
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It's been said, but these are blatant ripoffs. The pulsar model is laughable, and makes me think of the atrocious Perilous Plunge.
The sky rocket knock off is pretty piss poor as well. Inverted launch sounds like the worst type of hangtime.
The single rail just looks mediocre. Clearly the one was a bid for WCR and it wasn't chosen. It just looks like a half assed attempt to stay competitive with RMC on the single rail model.
When you start spreading yourself so thin with different projects, you aren't excellent at any one thing. This is my initial take.
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Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
Intamin are still building some of the best coasters in the world... Taron, Hyperion, Taiga and many more projects on the go that look like world beaters, Jurassic coaster, the French and Belgian coasters... Looks like they’re just trying to corner a bigger slice of the market by expanding their portfolio with these models... Parks who already have a good working relationship with them no longer need to look at Mack, RMC etc for these blatant rip offs...
Can’t say I blame them to be honest, and it’s not like it hasn’t been happening for decades.
I also think these versions may well end up better than the originals, aside from the single rail... But we’ll have to wait and see.
Can’t say I blame them to be honest, and it’s not like it hasn’t been happening for decades.
I also think these versions may well end up better than the originals, aside from the single rail... But we’ll have to wait and see.
witchfinder
Giga Poster
Yeah these are pretty shameless copies for the most part (especially the Ultra Splash) but obviously Intamin are looking to make inroads with the more compact coasters that can be sold to smaller parks. I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see a park like Thorpe go for one of the Sky Rocket clones as a cheaper alternative to a bigger coaster model whilst also giving it 'world's first' marketability for the upside down launch.
JoshC.
Strata Poster
The thing I don't get with the Ultra Splash is how they seem to push the fact that the station doesn't (and perhaps can't) have a turntable, like Pulsar. Immediately makes the Mack alternative seem better, especially to larger parks, since you have that option?
I don't have a problem with the imitation (never had a problem with Golden Horse's imitations either). I question how popular these models will be, and I'm curious how expensive they'll be compared to their obvious competitors. I'd love to see a Giga Splash though; a drop like that on a water "coaster" would be great fun tbh.
The Infinity model appears to be two separate coasters that race, whereas the likes of Master Thai is a single coaster which 'self races'. I imagine that's what they're twisting.
I don't have a problem with the imitation (never had a problem with Golden Horse's imitations either). I question how popular these models will be, and I'm curious how expensive they'll be compared to their obvious competitors. I'd love to see a Giga Splash though; a drop like that on a water "coaster" would be great fun tbh.
The Infinity model appears to be two separate coasters that race, whereas the likes of Master Thai is a single coaster which 'self races'. I imagine that's what they're twisting.
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Coaster Hipster
Giga Poster
The similarities are obvious. But let us not forget the parks also influence ideas for coaster concepts. We don't have access to behind-the-scenes conversations between manufacturers and parks, most of the time anyway.
Nigloland in France asked Mack Rides to build a coaster very similar to Intamin Mega-Lites. The park liked Piraten's layout, but weren't impressed with Intamin's t-bars and seating style back then. Source: Rodolphe Gélis, the park manager himself in a 2017 documentary.
Djurs Sommerland put faith in Intamin for DrageKongen, even though Vekoma has arguably more experience building Suspended Family Coasters. Why would Intamin refuse to build a coaster because it's too similar to the competition?
Especially considering the timing of the video release, right before IAAPA Virtual Expo Asia, these new Intamin designs seem to fill a market demand. With the pandemic crisis, investments will become scarcer and somewhat cheaper. For example, the "Sky Rocket II"-like swing launch coaster addresses such likely need from many parks to operate on a reduced budget, footprint and deadline.
Plus, Intamin adds - in my opinion - superior coaster restraints and seating compared to the existing RMC Raptor or Premier's Sky Rocket II. That may help these new models become marketable and profitable enough.
While obviously us enthusiasts love the likes of Taron, Taiga, I305 and Walibi 2021 the most, let us not forget it is also the generic rides that keep companies' order book full. I mean, could Vekoma have afforded their successful Renaissance without the sale of countless SFCs and Family Boomerangs? Surely selling so many of these duplicate models paid some of the Research & Development costs to improve their track bending, layout calculations, and vehicle performance processes.
From a business perspective, Intamin's approach totally makes sense to me.
Nigloland in France asked Mack Rides to build a coaster very similar to Intamin Mega-Lites. The park liked Piraten's layout, but weren't impressed with Intamin's t-bars and seating style back then. Source: Rodolphe Gélis, the park manager himself in a 2017 documentary.
Djurs Sommerland put faith in Intamin for DrageKongen, even though Vekoma has arguably more experience building Suspended Family Coasters. Why would Intamin refuse to build a coaster because it's too similar to the competition?
Especially considering the timing of the video release, right before IAAPA Virtual Expo Asia, these new Intamin designs seem to fill a market demand. With the pandemic crisis, investments will become scarcer and somewhat cheaper. For example, the "Sky Rocket II"-like swing launch coaster addresses such likely need from many parks to operate on a reduced budget, footprint and deadline.
Plus, Intamin adds - in my opinion - superior coaster restraints and seating compared to the existing RMC Raptor or Premier's Sky Rocket II. That may help these new models become marketable and profitable enough.
While obviously us enthusiasts love the likes of Taron, Taiga, I305 and Walibi 2021 the most, let us not forget it is also the generic rides that keep companies' order book full. I mean, could Vekoma have afforded their successful Renaissance without the sale of countless SFCs and Family Boomerangs? Surely selling so many of these duplicate models paid some of the Research & Development costs to improve their track bending, layout calculations, and vehicle performance processes.
From a business perspective, Intamin's approach totally makes sense to me.
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Matt N
CF Legend
This could actually work very much in Intamin’s favour, in my opinion. I’d argue that they perhaps have one of the most diverse product ranges of any manufacturer out there now, when you take into account that they offer a wide range of non-coaster rides too.
Think about it; when new parks are built, a lot of developers building a new park seem to sign package deals with only one or two manufacturers to provide a large percentage of the park’s ride hardware. For this type of thing, Intamin will now look like a very, very appealing choice to any budding theme park developer, as they offer pretty much anything a park could want.
Let’s start with coasters. Big-ticket, flagship coaster? The Mega Coaster and Giga Coaster both have you covered! Thrill launch coaster? The LSM Launch Coaster and Accelerator Coaster have you covered! Wooden coaster? The Prefabricated Wooden Coaster has you covered (although they admittedly haven’t sold one since 2008)! Mid-range family thrill coaster? Both the Multi-Dimensional Coaster (think Thirteen/Darkmare) and the Family Launch Coaster have you covered, as well as the new spinning coaster model they recently unveiled at Futuroscope! Not forgetting that they offer a plain Family Coaster model too, which could probably function as a junior coaster if need be! There’s probably quite a few I missed, but Intamin can provide pretty much any coaster a budding park could want!
And even when you move on to non-coasters, Intamin still has a lot to offer! Thrilling flat rides? Just put in a Mega Gyro Swing, a Suspended Twinhammer and one or more of their numerous drop tower options! Water rides? They can offer a Flume Ride, a Rapids Ride, a Water Coaster, an Ultra Splash and a Giga Splash! Dark rides? The Motion Base Dark Ride is up to the challenge of a flagship dark ride, and they also have the Tow Boat Ride and the Slow Boat Ride which could function as dark rides, as well as the Ultra Tower, the Dome Ride, and numerous other models! Family flat rides? Just put in a Bounty (pirate ship)! Something a little more relaxing? Intamin also offers flying island rides, Ferris wheels, observation towers, and also has a full transportation division which builds monorails, and the aforementioned Tow Boat Ride and Slow Boat Ride could function as relaxing rides!
Before I get too much into Intamin promotional piece mode, my point is; Intamin offers such a diverse range of products it’s almost mind-boggling. When I list all of their ride types like that (and there are probably a few I missed), it shows that you could almost build a complete theme park using only Intamin products, and there’s very few (if any) other manufacturers you can say that about. Because of this, I’d argue that this puts Intamin in a very strong position. If you’re in charge of building a new theme park, then having one manufacturer like that that offers so many different products will be a godsend. It’s a win-win situation for both sides; it’s good for the park because they only have to deal with one manufacturer (Intamin), and package deals like that often obtain more rides for a reduced price, while it’s also good for Intamin because it means that they get more money, and they can promote the new park as an example of a happy customer who purchased many of their ride types. That way, other park developers will hopefully go to this hypothetical new park and think “Wow! Intamin did such a great job providing the ride hardware for this park; we need to hire them for our new park!”. And so, another new park is built using Intamin ride hardware, the park gets a great package deal and easier maintenance, Intamin gains a greater market share and greater profits, everyone’s happy, and the cycle continues.
So how does everything I just said relate to Intamin’s new concepts? Well, I can definitely understand why Intamin would want to release similar concepts to concepts that have already been done by someone else. I know that on the face of it, these concepts look as though Intamin is copying RMC, Mack, and Premier Rides, amongst others. However, going back to these hypothetical new parks that I was just talking about, I think that this could be a very clever move on Intamin’s part. If we use the example of a park likes the look of these new concepts when devised by another manufacturer, but has loads of other Intamin rides already and a good relationship with Intamin, then if Intamin said to that park “Hey, we can provide this concept too!”, then the park is naturally going to go for the manufacturer who they have a good, strong relationship with and many other rides from, instead of taking a risk and going with a new manufacturer who they simply don’t have that strong relationship with. And so, Intamin successfully diversifies their product range even further, which both improves the reputation of the company among existing customers and makes them more appealing to new customers, and the cycle of Intamin’s growth continues.
EDIT: Sorry for very long post.
Think about it; when new parks are built, a lot of developers building a new park seem to sign package deals with only one or two manufacturers to provide a large percentage of the park’s ride hardware. For this type of thing, Intamin will now look like a very, very appealing choice to any budding theme park developer, as they offer pretty much anything a park could want.
Let’s start with coasters. Big-ticket, flagship coaster? The Mega Coaster and Giga Coaster both have you covered! Thrill launch coaster? The LSM Launch Coaster and Accelerator Coaster have you covered! Wooden coaster? The Prefabricated Wooden Coaster has you covered (although they admittedly haven’t sold one since 2008)! Mid-range family thrill coaster? Both the Multi-Dimensional Coaster (think Thirteen/Darkmare) and the Family Launch Coaster have you covered, as well as the new spinning coaster model they recently unveiled at Futuroscope! Not forgetting that they offer a plain Family Coaster model too, which could probably function as a junior coaster if need be! There’s probably quite a few I missed, but Intamin can provide pretty much any coaster a budding park could want!
And even when you move on to non-coasters, Intamin still has a lot to offer! Thrilling flat rides? Just put in a Mega Gyro Swing, a Suspended Twinhammer and one or more of their numerous drop tower options! Water rides? They can offer a Flume Ride, a Rapids Ride, a Water Coaster, an Ultra Splash and a Giga Splash! Dark rides? The Motion Base Dark Ride is up to the challenge of a flagship dark ride, and they also have the Tow Boat Ride and the Slow Boat Ride which could function as dark rides, as well as the Ultra Tower, the Dome Ride, and numerous other models! Family flat rides? Just put in a Bounty (pirate ship)! Something a little more relaxing? Intamin also offers flying island rides, Ferris wheels, observation towers, and also has a full transportation division which builds monorails, and the aforementioned Tow Boat Ride and Slow Boat Ride could function as relaxing rides!
Before I get too much into Intamin promotional piece mode, my point is; Intamin offers such a diverse range of products it’s almost mind-boggling. When I list all of their ride types like that (and there are probably a few I missed), it shows that you could almost build a complete theme park using only Intamin products, and there’s very few (if any) other manufacturers you can say that about. Because of this, I’d argue that this puts Intamin in a very strong position. If you’re in charge of building a new theme park, then having one manufacturer like that that offers so many different products will be a godsend. It’s a win-win situation for both sides; it’s good for the park because they only have to deal with one manufacturer (Intamin), and package deals like that often obtain more rides for a reduced price, while it’s also good for Intamin because it means that they get more money, and they can promote the new park as an example of a happy customer who purchased many of their ride types. That way, other park developers will hopefully go to this hypothetical new park and think “Wow! Intamin did such a great job providing the ride hardware for this park; we need to hire them for our new park!”. And so, another new park is built using Intamin ride hardware, the park gets a great package deal and easier maintenance, Intamin gains a greater market share and greater profits, everyone’s happy, and the cycle continues.
So how does everything I just said relate to Intamin’s new concepts? Well, I can definitely understand why Intamin would want to release similar concepts to concepts that have already been done by someone else. I know that on the face of it, these concepts look as though Intamin is copying RMC, Mack, and Premier Rides, amongst others. However, going back to these hypothetical new parks that I was just talking about, I think that this could be a very clever move on Intamin’s part. If we use the example of a park likes the look of these new concepts when devised by another manufacturer, but has loads of other Intamin rides already and a good relationship with Intamin, then if Intamin said to that park “Hey, we can provide this concept too!”, then the park is naturally going to go for the manufacturer who they have a good, strong relationship with and many other rides from, instead of taking a risk and going with a new manufacturer who they simply don’t have that strong relationship with. And so, Intamin successfully diversifies their product range even further, which both improves the reputation of the company among existing customers and makes them more appealing to new customers, and the cycle of Intamin’s growth continues.
EDIT: Sorry for very long post.
I don't necessarily agree with a company ripping off another companies design; however - healthy competition does drive innovation / improvements to a ride type.
Another thing to think about, mainly on the single rail concept; having Intamin offer this type of coaster - as well as RMC, opens the doors to this coaster type being readily available in Europe. Yes RMC work in Europe - but it's more cost effective for the purchaser / manufacture to be on the same continent, and if this means we see those coaster popping up in some of the smaller European parks; I can't see that as a bad thing for the GP or us.
Another thing to think about, mainly on the single rail concept; having Intamin offer this type of coaster - as well as RMC, opens the doors to this coaster type being readily available in Europe. Yes RMC work in Europe - but it's more cost effective for the purchaser / manufacture to be on the same continent, and if this means we see those coaster popping up in some of the smaller European parks; I can't see that as a bad thing for the GP or us.
therealcoatman
Roller Poster
Although a fair few of the models are rip-offs of already existing models, I think these versions will still definitely be really successful... Just a few comments to make:
The Hot Racer is quite different in terms of the fact that it has a launch and not a lift hill like the RMC Raptor, I also imagine it will have a higher capacity due to the dueling feature.
I imagine the Ultra Splash will have a lower capacity than the Mack Power Splash as it doesn't have the turntable loading system thing... another difference is that Mack are soon to be introducing the version with the loop, could we see Intamin do the same...?
This is a really good point, I can definitely see quite a few Hot Racers coming to Europe - would be a great opportunity to market as the World's first launched single rail coaster and Europe's first single rail coaster, maybe even the World's fastest single rail coaster, if one of the European parks could get one of them before anyone else...?
Overall, despite some of the models being complete copies of other existing models, I hope they are a success for Intamin and can't wait to see what parks could be getting them in the near future...
The Hot Racer is quite different in terms of the fact that it has a launch and not a lift hill like the RMC Raptor, I also imagine it will have a higher capacity due to the dueling feature.
I imagine the Ultra Splash will have a lower capacity than the Mack Power Splash as it doesn't have the turntable loading system thing... another difference is that Mack are soon to be introducing the version with the loop, could we see Intamin do the same...?
This is a really good point, I can definitely see quite a few Hot Racers coming to Europe - would be a great opportunity to market as the World's first launched single rail coaster and Europe's first single rail coaster, maybe even the World's fastest single rail coaster, if one of the European parks could get one of them before anyone else...?
Overall, despite some of the models being complete copies of other existing models, I hope they are a success for Intamin and can't wait to see what parks could be getting them in the near future...