Today�s rides are constantly developing in size and
style. This perpetual innovation could be the result of a competitive
mentality in the industry. I had hypothesized that a lot of amusement
rides are built to try to break records, and to be the fastest and tallest
of their kind.
An interview with amusement ride designer Don Newfarmer
supported my guess. "Parks like things they can advertise: new, and
bigger, and better, and faster," he told me. Mr. Newfarmer works
for O.D. Hopskins Associates. Among the hundreds of rides he has
designed are The Logger�s Revenge at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
and two rides at Great America.
My thesis is also justified by some of the newest
rides built. Drop Zone, for instance, is a 224 foot tall free-fall
ride. The track length is only 207 feet, though. The Moonsault
Scramble coaster, at the Fujikyu Highland Park in Japan, was once the tallest
above-ground coaster in the world. It is also 207 feet tall.
The newest ride at Great America is Invertigo.
"Paramount�s Great America to Debut First Inverted Boomerang Coaster in
the U.S. in 1998," states the headline of a press release. Invertigo will
also make Great America the first park in the world to have two inverted
roller coasters. These are the kinds of records that can attract
guests to the park.
I think also that the rides are becoming increasingly
high-tech. I had only considered new types of roller coasters, like
suspended, boomerang, and inverted, while writing my thesis. There
is another whole category of high-tech ride I hadn�t thought of:
virtual reality.
The virtual reality rides are safer than regular
rides; any accident they have wouldn�t be at top speed. Also,
older patrons can enjoy these simulator rides, since there is less strain
on the visitor. A good example of this type of ride is Days
of Thunder, at Great America. It simulates a drive in a race car.
There is a large movie screen and digital sound, and it has moving seats.
It can accommodate 148 people at a time.
At the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, they have a slightly different approach.
They have a small roller coaster simulator. It can seat about 10
people. Once everyone has boarded, the whole cabin moves up and down, instead
of just the seats.
After doing some research, I am certain that I was
right about at least part of this: almost every ride is expensive!
At Great America, for instance, they have gotten a new attraction each
year, for the past six years. That has cost the park over fifty million
dollars!
"America�s Theme Parks Ride High", an article from
U.S. News & World Report, points out how much consumers pay for a day
at the amusement park. "Visitors generally pay $25 to $30 for an
all-day theme-park pass and then lay out about the same amount for food
and concessions. Total park revenues are expected to reach $5 billion
this year [1995], compared with $321 million in 1970."
Later, though, it points out how high the cost is
for the owners of the parks. The starting costs of a theme park begin
at $500 million. Of course, to build such costly rides, the
parks need to lure customers. I think that that is why many attractions
at Great America are linked to movies. The ride will persuade the patron
to see the movie; the movie attracts the patron to the ride.
One of my big questions is how safe these multi-million
dollar rides are. On the internet, I was able to find several sites
that stating that amusement rides are very accident prone. On the
other side were people claiming safety, whom I tend to agree with.
One web site told me that amusement parks have 17
times fewer accidents than drinking glasses (Amusement Ride Safety, 11/30/97).
Another web site leads me to believe that the first year of any ride is
its trial period; it is when we are the guinea pigs (WinonaNet Extras,
11/30/97). Both sides agreed that the leading cause of accidents
was rider misconduct. They also agreed that you shouldn�t go on rides
that look poorly maintained.
"The Ups and Downs of Roller Coaster Design", an
article from Exploratorium Quarterly, points out that the rides are very
well planned. In many parks, "maintenance engineers spend two to
four hours a day inspecting trains and rails on each coaster." Mr.
Newfarmer told me that places with unsafe rides don�t stay in business
long; lawsuits force them to go bankrupt.
While researching, I was able to find evidence that
historic rides, such as carousels, can be feature attractions. At
the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, for instance, the two central rides are
the Looff carousel, built in 1911, and the Giant Dipper, a wooden coaster
from 1924. For both of these rides, their "National Historic Landmark"
status is proudly displayed.
I think that amusement rides will continue to set
records. The public could never be content with the same kinds of rides,
over and over. The rides must get faster, taller, and more terrorizing.
I also think, though, that the amusement parks will install more virtual
reality and simulator rides. My research showed me that these areas
will continue to be explored.
Luckily, the future isn�t as grim as I guessed for
the historic rides. Some of the historic and antique rides will survive,
I think. Many people collect and restore carousel animals and even
whole carousels. I actually wouldn�t be surprised if, in the future,
we start creating fancy carousels again, perhaps owned by the elite as
a sign of status.
Amusement rides have become very widespread, occurring
in some malls, casinos, and hotels. I think that the rides will continue
to work their way into our daily lives.
I believe that these rides are predominantly safe.
There will always be a small percentage of the amusement park industry
that prefers money over their customers� safety. After finding out
the facts, though, I consider the amusement parks and rides safe, and I
think that they are being designed to be safer.
From doing this I-Search, I have learned many things.
This project gave me a chance to explore a topic I might never have researched
otherwise. I now know a lot about the history of amusement parks and rides,
although I didn�t include it in this paper. It has also helped me
determine what I think will happen in the future, instead of just reading
about it.
Amusement Ride Safety. http://www.shu.edu/~costanja/safety.html. (11/30/97)
Honig, Carlye. "The Ups and Downs of Roller Coaster Design." The Exploratorium
Quarterly summer 1987: 8-11.
McGraw, Dan. "America�s Theme Parks Ride High." U.S. News & World Report 26
June, 1995: 49-53
The Mining Company (Previous Features). http:// themeparks.miningco.com. (11/28/97)
Newfarmer, Don. Telephone interview. 7 Mar. 1998.
Northwood Neighborhood Homepage (Safety Information). http://www.main.org/northwood. (11/28/97)
Paramount�s Great America. Letter to the author. 20 Oct. 1997.
Paramount�s Great America. www.pgathrills.com/html/invertigopr.html. (1/4/98)
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Letter to the author. 22 Oct. 1997.
U.S. Amusement Ride Accidents. http:// www.shu.edu/~costanja/rides.html.
(11/30/97)