I think you definitely hit the nail on the head when you're mentioned parks needing to "fill out" their lineup between their "Woodstock Express and Steel Vengeance". Tons of American regional theme parks opened with (or added shortly thereafter) family-friendly models like Arrow Mine Trains, Schwarzkopf Wildcats, Jet Stars, Jumbo Jets, and Speed Racers, or other transportable Euro models. A lot of those parks added bobsled or suspended coasters, along with wild mouse models. But over time those models or even entire manufacturers went defunct and the marketability of TALLEST, FASTEST, MOST XTREME seemed to win out from a financial perspective. So the "middle tier" between the Vekoma roller skaters / Zierer Tivoli models was mostly left over from yesteryears' "biggest and baddest" aging into just "big and scary". I think the family coaster trend, or just building more creative and modern "middle sized" rides in general - is a good one overall. It's hard to develop enthusiasts out of kids or even adults who are too scared to get on big smooth rides like Valravn, Gatekeeper, or Millennium Force, but get RATTLED by Gemini's final helix or the snap into the brakes on Raptor. Building rides that are more accessible, more unique experience-wise, and less punishing will make for more new fans who will be more interested in seeking out new experiences.
As a father of a little thrill seeker 6 year old living in Orlando, I can confirm that there is not much for him to get on outside Disney, there is really a big gap between kiddie coasters and thrill coasters on most parks, he loves taking videos of Roller Coaster at Seaworld but will start crying when he realizes that can’t get on them, reason why Disney is still the best parks for families and they still getting busy, waiting on Penguin Trek and Phoenix to open, then wait a few years for him to be 48 inches and can get into Hygrids and Mummy plus whatever Epic brings.
100% agree. i only started riding coasters late last year and i am hooked. and guess what. i started with dark themed family coaster. Van Helsing´s Factory at Movie Park
My favorite family ride would be wickerman at Alton towers it's strange to have a family ride themed to human sacrifice but the lengthy lines prove the risk was worth it i have seen every one from young kids teens and even older people enjoy it
With all that, the acceptance to more thrilling coasters might rise too. Or they might even get more wanted, as people getting used to some thrill earlier now. And Voltron ist the best example for that, as Europapark committed on a more intense and thrilling coaster in their normally more family friendly lineup.
Can we please get a Mack extreme free spinning coaster in the states with 3 launches, 200+ ft top hat, 5-7 inversions, and 4k+ feet of track. As of recently it feels like we are stuck in the family coaster age. Ready for Cedar Fair, Dollywood, or Busch Gardens to step up and give us something to believe in. We need a Thrill to Happiness coaster on crack in the US. If one of these parks would step up and do it they would get a world wide draw for the next 5 to 10 years. Probably could get it done for less than 40 million. Velocicoaster cost 300+ million and most was spent on theming. The companies I mentioned don't need to theme the hell out of the coaster. Build a masterpiece and it will speak for itself.
My first rollercoaster was kingda ka when I was 15 . From that moment, all I wanted to do was go fast. less speed and G forces = good? does not compute nono - inclusivity is good
One family coaster that isn’t being talked about enough is coming to Drayton manor in the uk. It’s designed by intamin and it’s been said that it’s going to feature various switch tracks that are going to allow the layout of the ride to change each cycle. So one train may go over a section of track forward while the next train may go over the same section backwards and the trains will go over each section in different orders.
I got over Texas as a little kid so like 6-7 years ago and I didn’t have a chance to be scared😂 and also my first coaster was rockin roller coaster so I started out as an enthusiast
@badmoonrising7795 no i mean on the thrill spectrum. Like my home park of great america... people complained that raging bu was "rageless bull". Its a 200 ft tall family coaster. Superman ultimate flight and x flight each just kind of meander.
