Wooden or Steel?

[Mousenator]

Reading through the "dreamworld's next thrill ride" thread, I noticed there were mixed opinions about what dreamworld should add next and whether or not a woodie is a good idea. So I made a poll. What would you prefer?

[dreamworld_rulz]

Steel.

Edited November 10, 2006 by dreamworld_rulz

[Gazza]

Im not really bothered, both types can be very good, or very bad depending on how its designed, who makes it etc. Im more interested in DW getting a good coaster rather than any paticular type. But with DWs maintenance quality, I wouldnt trust them with a woodie.

[aidan]

They are both good. This thread is gonna start off another wood vs steal fight.

Edited November 10, 2006 by aidan

[joz]

Steel. I haven't been on any "Good" wooden coasters, but those that are considered good are said to be like riding a steel coaster. To me that there is the answer, if a wooden coaster has to be like riding a steel coaster to be considered any good, then that's a pretty good case for steel. I'll concede one point though; wooden coasters for some reason seem to inspire better layouts. If you gave a wooden coaster layout to any company that makes steel coasters, and ran it with more of a wooden coaster train design (IE lapbars and nothing around the head at all) then it'd probably be number one.

[dreamworld_rulz]

They are both good. This thread is gonna start off another wood vs steal fight.

Well maybe people should just put in steel or wood instead of writing a court document.

[dreamworld_rulz]

Aiden next time you send me an abusive PM i'll report you. There's no need to say what you said. The thread was asking what you preferred. If you felt that the thread was going to turn into a fight (and accuse me of causing those fights) then you should have pressed the back button. Your comments (PM) were very childish and it's time you grew up.

[rappa]

Well I voted for Wood but it's all very relative. I don't want to see a poor designed, quickly deteriorating woody. At the same time I don't want to see some half cocked steel coaster from Vekoma. I think I would have to see the two designs on offer before I passed any real judgement. As for what Joz said I have been on both the 'Steel Like' (ala Intamin Pre-fab) and more out of control great wooden coasters. They are both very different and have their good and bad points. I will say though I felt even riding something like Balder still felt very different to riding a steel coaster.

[Gazza]

They are both good. This thread is gonna start off another wood vs steal fight.

Thats the whole point though. At least we are debating in a thread out of the way of the others.

If you gave a wooden coaster layout to any company that makes steel coasters, and ran it with more of a wooden coaster train design (IE lapbars and nothing around the head at all) then it'd probably be number one.

I think though one of the main attractions of woodies is the fact they can do these sort of layouts cheaper than steel.

[Richard]

A few things that are safe about wooden coasters. These days most of the "lesser" wooden coaster builders have been weeded out in favour of the three or so quality companies who seem to get it right every time. Between The Gravity Group, GCII and Intamin it's all good these days. With steel coasters, in terms of major rides there's Intamin, B&M and Vekoma. Don't hold your breath for B&M just yet so it's a toss up between Intamin and Vekoma, and Dreamworld could go either way. As Clint said I'd rather see a good, substantial steel coaster over an uninspiring wooden coaster and vice versa. With the very vague nature of the question at hand here, I just feel it's a safer bet to go with a wooden coaster over steel because it's less likely to be an off-the-shelf Vekoma coaster or a short, gimicky Intamin.

[Jack607]

Steel. Wood makes me cringe for some reason. It's just unsettling IMO.

[aidan]

Wood seems very unique, they are really great, even though the wood on the coasters have been treated at the back of my mind I always think about termites.

[Swanny]

It takes alot of wood to make a wooden coaster though..the supports are very extensive. I'll just say steel and take the enviromentally friendly side .

[MickeyD]

I've ridden plenty of woodies over the years and hands down, I have to say Steel is the only way for DW to go. I don't believe DW would maintain a woody as good as it needs to be kept up. Wood coasters are lots of fun but are limited by what they can achieve. With steel coasters, the sky really is the limit!! I would like to think that this time around DW will raise the bar providing a true white knuckle experience that is Crazy high & Mad fast. Sadly, a woody would be no competition to what MW's next move would be - another good reason why they simply won't do it.

[Gazza]

It takes alot of wood to make a wooden coaster though..the supports are very extensive. I'll just say steel and take the enviromentally friendly side .

I had always been under the impression wood was more environmentaly friendly, since the sort of wood they use tends to come from plantations anyway. Steel on the other hand comes from ore in the first place, and open cut mining has a pretty big impact, then you have to think of all the energy and pollution released in processing and forming it. At least it can be recycled though, but then again timber can be reused in some ways too.

[Dave]

I'd like a woodie, only if there was more land, cos it would be smoother big woodie style i reckon

[Chaos-Maniac]

Like I said before, It doesn't have to be a Woodie that stays in one area, sorta like Superman, Cyclone or Lethal Weapon does. It could just have the station, Then it could go out into the bush, circle the Big Brother house etc. Hopefully DW would be cool enough to make it the longest Woodie in the world, maybe even the highest?

[doublehelix]

I'd love to see a woodie of the quality of Ghost Rider at Knotts Berry Farm here in Australia. I think if it was done properly it could be a great addition to Dreamworld. Alternatively a truly white knuckle steel coaster would also be awesome. A decent stand up or lay down coaster (where the riders are lying prone under the track) would keep Dreamworld at the forefront of 'thrill' rides. At the moment,I'd have to say that Superman is the best coaster in Australia by far,no question,but there is no real fear inspiring coaster in Oz at the moment

Edited November 15, 2006 by doublehelix

[RollerCoasterEnthusiast]

Wood would (wood) be nice to see used again, I am tired of riding all these new plastic ones. Watch out for splinters though! Haha!

[shotgun facelift]

Steel. Wood makes me cringe for some reason. It's just unsettling IMO.

I VOTE STEEL. and why the hell cant they build a coaster that suspends you upside down, and make the whole trip an upside down trip , hell why not enclose a long section of track in a dark pipe and call it THE INVERTED MIDNIGHT MAYHEM COASTER. i love it IM gonna take out a 35 million dollar loan and build it, wish me luck...

[pin142]

Steel as I cannot see Dreamworld/MLT being able to maintain a wood coaster properly over a prolonged period of time.

[www worker]

Like I said before, It doesn't have to be a Woodie that stays in one area, sorta like Superman, Cyclone or Lethal Weapon does. It could just have the station, Then it could go out into the bush, circle the Big Brother house etc. Hopefully DW would be cool enough to make it the longest Woodie in the world, maybe even the highest?

i like that idea but Dreamworld won't build it 1. it will cost over $6 million lol 2. that would use so much wood and take forever to build

[Gazza]

it will cost over $6 million lol

No It wouldn't. To build a massive 60m high woodie like Voyage costs about 7.4 Million AUD: So logically a smaller woodie suitable for DW could be built for 6 million.

that would use so much wood

Stop being stupid, that is a bit like saying it would use too much concrete to build a freeway, or it would take too much seawater to fill a new harbor, or it takes too much steel to build the sydney harbor bridge. If you have the money you can buy as much timber as you need, how on earth did they build the other couple of hundred wooden coasters in the world?

and take forever to build

Again, stop being stupid, even the biggest coasters only take about a year to be built. Its simple really, the bigger the ride, the earlier you need to start building. Though yes, trying to build the worlds biggest woodie is a bit pie in the sky and unrealistic for an Aussie park, and really unnecessary. Nobody would care if it was the biggest wooden coaster since there aren't any other proper ones here anyway, in North America having that sort of record would make sense, but here...bah.

[dreamworld_rulz]

What this debate is still going.?

[wondercam]

wood all the way. it would be great to have a new wooden coaster!!!!!