It is the year 2020. The Summer Olympic Games are in Tokyo. Russia is mining Helium from the moon, and India is walking on it. A World Expo is held in Dubai. It is also a leap year.
Many things will be different in the world by the time 2020 comes around, including the amusement industry outlook in the United States.
Anaheim Expansion:
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| Concept Artwork for Fire Mountain |
Even though Disneyland was the Walt Disney's first attempt at a theme park in 1955, and arguably the first major theme park in the world (prompting the creation of Busch Gardens Tampa in 1959 and Six Flags Over Texas in 1961), its growth has been mainly insignificant compared to its sister park complex in Orlando, Florida. Anaheim finally did get another park that seems to be a mixture of EPCOT and Disney's Hollywood Studios in Disney's California Adventure in 2001, but it has only recently come into its own with the addition of Carsland. WESTCOT never happened, and a lonely Magic Kingdom of the west will never be enough to truly tap into the California market (even if it is easily one of the most visited theme parks in the world annually). On many occasions, there have been rumors of new attractions and areas themed to villains (like Fire Mountain) coming to Orlando, but why not Anaheim? An entire park themed to the numerous villains of Disney Movies would complement the existing 'Story-book' feel of Disneyland and the more contemporary setting of Disney's California Adventure very nicely.
Polercoaster Revolution:
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| Concept Artwork of a Polercoaster |
After being introduced at IAAPA two years ago, the observation tower/restaurant/lounge/club/gift shop/billboard/roller coaster has caught the eyes of a few establishments. US Thrill Rides now offers a solution to parks both low on land and in need of an iconic structure of some sort. There are already two announced orders in the pipeline for the southeast United States: one at a sports complex in Georgia and another in Orlando. The Florida installation claims that it will be the 'tallest' roller coaster. While the overall ride quality of a 500+ foot tall El Loco might come into question, that is not the main intention of building something like this. Prospective buyers want something that will seen from miles away, attracting guests and riders like moths to a lamp. The popularity of this idea of a polercoaster will continue beyond the year 2020 due to its many potential applications.
Paramount's Return:
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| Logo for the new Paramount park in Spain |
As of 2014, Paramount is back in the Amusement industry. This time it will be different though. The biggest problem with Paramount's acquisition of all of the properties from Kings Entertainment Company was that they were already existing theme parks with existing atmospheres each about 20 years in the making. When Paramount tried to enforce it's brand on the park by removing animal safaris and adding water slides, it left a handful of parks looking for a true identity. Paramount wanted their chain to be like the newly opened Universal Studios in Orlando in 1990, but wasn't willing to spend the big money that Universal was. This could also be due to the fact that Disney wasn't a few miles down the road. In 2006, Paramount washed its hands of the amusement industry by selling all of its parks to Cedar Fair, making it one of the largest park chains in the world.
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| Layout of the new park in Murcia, Spain |
With an empty plot of land to work with, Paramount really could create a Universal Studios equivalent in Spain. Warner Brothers has a park in Madrid, so success will not be handed to them. Competition will fuel many unique attractions at both parks, and the plausible success of this one park could convince Paramount to try the North American market again, using the built-from-scratch, sandbox approach.
Mack's Rise/ Intamin's Fall:
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| Layout of a 12-Inversion design by Intamin |
The last major project from Intamin in the United States was
Skyrush at Hersheypark, and it doesn't look like that is going to change anytime soon.
Intimidator 305,
El Toro, and
Skyrush all have had high profile failiures recently, especially being Intamin's newest prized creations.
Intimidator 305 had the extensive reprofiling of its first drop, wheels that would only last a week, and the 2 month-long period of downtime this past season due to the cable lift debacle.
El Toro also had major issues with its cable lift in 2013, and
Skyrush almost also underwent a reprofiling of its first drop. Another example, even though it is not a roller coaster, is
Shoot the Rapids, a modern Intamin Shoot-the-Chutes ride at Cedar Point which had a major problem with its lift hill in July and was closed for the rest of the operating season.
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| Reprofiling of Intimidator 305's first drop and turn after its inaugural season |
It is evident that Intamin must look deeply at the company in the mirror and ask it to change its ways before its too late. Cedar Fair, Busch Gardens (Williamsburg), Six Flags, and many other major amusement park chains have sworn off of Intamin, but it's not like it will go the way of Arrow Dynamics. Intamin has the flexibility and versatility of their extensive catalog of amusement attractions that Arrow did not. It should also not be overlooked that the steel roller coaster consistently rated as the best in the world, according to Amusement Today, came from Intamin in 2000 (
Millennium Force at Cedar Point).
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| Concept artwork of Mack's Helix due in 2015 |
With Intamin on the way out, B&M will be alone at the top of the amusement industry, at least concerning roller coasters. One manufacturer is on the way up, though: the german company Mack Rides. No longer is Mack resigned to building Wild Mice and kiddie coasters; they made a significant impact on the amusement industry with their creation
Blue Fire at Europa Park (also owned by the Mack family). The success of
Blue Fire prompted SeaWorld San Diego to order a slightly similar launching roller coaster in 2012 (
Manta) and Liseberg too with
Helix in 2015. These new designs could be considered more 'organic' in flow than what Intamin is known for, possibly more like some B&M designs. By 2020, Mack will have a growing portfolio of world-class roller coasters that will attract even more parks looking for a quality launching roller coaster.
The arms race for the longest drop or fastest speed on a roller coaster may be at an end, but the demand for quality coasters will only increase by the time 2020 comes around. Quality of guests' experiences at a park is increasingly becoming a point of emphasis; a fully guest-centered experience is the trend of the amusement future.
Picture Credits (In order of appearance):
http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/09/06/tokyo_sq-24032042f4b4b41623019f8fb968fa351ac16a0e-s6-c30.jpg
http://31.media.tumblr.com/93c8d2ebb0a9eb46164402373108abce/tumblr_mqp7hdpyXf1r8ldbjo1_500.jpg
http://i6.minus.com/jbhoJNMjfgdixc.jpg
http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2011-10/378296820-07151606.jpg
http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2011-10/218145160-07153339.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlwHYpe0uMjDIQLloNkMrsgGo-aSx2s5Iu808IZ0har-tY2I6TzoQgF3JLH_XwgSX48_FQKzDhRkD2wf8BFDuVzptiqUiduaTY0R0_UiJpPAQEof88MX7oEsKpgFEUTrMBnRcUYQ6OPxg_/s1600/Intamin12Inversion.jpg
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/columbusframer/media/I-305ClintNovak.jpg.html
http://www.themeparkreview.com/forum/files/helix_121009_kurva_35_0.jpg
http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/7192/fig2fj9.jpg
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