Less than a week ago, Intamin announced four new ride models and the coaster world collectively yawned. Intamin, who is renowned for their innovation, was immediately scorned for “ripping off RMC” with their single rail track design. For “copying Mack Rides” with their Ultra Splash model. And then there was this doozy, left on a video on Intamin’s YouTube channel:
Ouch! And no, that’s not Brad from We Were Inverted.
Sadly, I was unable to see these ride concepts without first hearing outside perspective. My introduction to these ride concepts came when I discovered them via ScrewyLoops. I was waiting for Sam to get ready to go out for dinner and his video began to autoplay in my car following another video I was listening to as I drove. I was a couple of minutes from Sam’s house, so his views commentary played over my radio as I drove. I wasn’t able to look at my phone to see what he was seeing until I parked in her driveway. If you’d to see his thoughts, by all means, watch his video, “New Intamin Roller Coasters are… Interesting!?“
With that being said, I wanted to give my take on these new rides by Intamin, here on the We Were Inverted blog. I downloaded the official brochures from Intamin for each of these rides and watched the videos on their channel showcasing each. I tried not to look at the comments, but Brad’s was just there and I looked!
Damnit, Brad! Moving on…
Knowing that I am going to get into some details on these rides, I have decided to break up each ride into its own blog. I’ll probably have more to say on the Hot Racers (below) and Vertical LSM Coaster models since I’m not as keen on water rides. But still, those two rides do pique my interest. Now, let’s move into Part 1: Hot Racer.
This is the ride that I am most hopeful for – the single rail, Hot Racer model. It is also the one that seems to be the most divisive.
Intamin is touting that they offer three variations of this design with varying track lengths, and dueling abilities. These are not plug and play, however, as Intamin clearly states under each variation, “Sample layout. Other configurations available.” So Intamin already looks to be planning on customizing their single rail coasters from the get go. I’d venture to say the sample layouts could serve as a possible clone version for prospective buyers with a tighter budget? Not 100 percent sure on that, but it seems plausible.
At the time of publication, Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC), has only two single rail Raptor track coasters in operation, with Six Flags Great Adventure’s (SFGAdv) Jersey Devil currently on hold due to setbacks from Covid-19. Those two coasters, Six Flags Fiesta Texas’ (SFFT) Wonder Woman Golden Lasso and California’s Great America’s (CGA) Railblazer, are mirrored clones. It will be interesting to see what is headed Kentucky Kingdom’s way as Coaster Kings discovered some waivers that lead them to believe the park will be adding their own RMC Raptor in 2021 or beyond. Read their article, “Kentucky Kingdom Planning RMC Raptor for 2021?” for more details on that rumor.
So what’s the big stink about these new Hot Racer concepts? Well, it’s the single rail, of course. RMC became associated with this track style upon Wonder Woman’s and Railblazer’s openings in 2018, and many sites and enthusiasts claim that they were the first manufacturer to do so. That is incorrect!
Coasterpedia credits three other companies who have also created single rail coasters in the past, most of which came years before RMC ever built their first coaster. Those companies include a Russian manufacturer named Pax Company, an American company, Setpoint, and a defunct manufacturer named Caripro from the Netherlands. Looking through their creations on the Roller Coaster Database (RCDB), it is clear that single rails did not originate with RMC. Check out this shuttle coaster named Cobra from Pax on RCDB, for example. While certainly a strange looking ride, it’s clearly single rail and it can be traced back to 2002, with similar models from the company (without photos) listed on the site as opening as early as 1998.
My guess for the hate comes from the fact that RMC is everyone’s favorite manufacturer these days. Even I find myself thinking the company can do no wrong. Why? Well, because to date, I haven’t seen them do wrong, maybe except with Lightning Rod’s early issues and downtime. Minus that, all their rides are fresh and exciting, whether a conversion of an old wooden coasters, a ground up creation like Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City, or the previously mentioned, Jersey Devil Coaster. I guess people don’t want other companies moving into RMC’s territory?
I’m sure some people reading this are going to cry out that it’s not the fact that its single rail, it’s the fact that that Intamin’s single rail looks exactly the same as RMC’s. To those of you I say, look closer and see the round spine? It’s not exactly the same.
Go ahead, roll your eyes and say that’s a minor difference. Then I’ll counter that Vekoma’s early track is practically Arrow track. Chance track shares traits from both Arrow, Vekoma, and Morgan. Mack looks a lot like Intamin. Need I go on? If you want to see a blatant copy of a company, then I implore you look at Giovonola’s three creations. That’s what you call imitation. I didn’t even know Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) didn’t make Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain (SFMM) or Titan at Six Flags Over Texas (SFOT) until I began reading up on those two coasters. Just by looking at them, I had no clue.
So now that you know that I’m not going to throw Intamin under the bus, I am excited for the hopeful addition of this model to a park in my region. The dueling version is what excites me the most as having two trains allows for a higher capacity over the RMC counterparts thus far. It’s quite genius since having single row riders on those trains presents an instant problem for any potential buyer in being a capacity nightmare. People roasted SFGAdv for that very thing with Jersey Devil’s announcement. That park can see some large crowds with its close proximity to New York and Philadelphia. Still, I’m excited to experience Jersey Devil when it does finally open.
The launching aspect does interest me as well, although not as much as the dueling. We have not yet seen a launched Raptor from RMC and I have heard no rumblings of any being in the works. That’s not to say they haven’t discussed it, or it’s not a possibility. They just haven’t. The fact that Intamin is coming to the table with that on the plate is yet another variation that makes their offering different. And I like that.
Who knows if or when a park will take a stab at one of these Hot Racer models from Intamin. They seem like a perfect choice for some of the smaller tiered parks out there. With Dorney Park, Six Flags America (SFA), Knoebels, and Kennywood all being within a reasonable driving distance from me, I really hope one of them takes a chance on one. Even Hersheypark, with its all new expansion has the room for something this scale, easily! And we all know Hersheypark has worked with Intamin before, featuring Skyrush, Storm Runner, and Fahrenheit. We shall see
Should one of those parks invest in a Hot Racer coaster just know…
You can be my wingman anytime! (Top Gun, 1986)
Patrick
Be on the lookout for “Intamin or Imitiation? Pt. 2: Vertical LSM Coaster” in the coming days.
