Give it all away, or keep it secret? (Coasters)

[wolfblood]

Recently there's something that's been on my mind regaurding roller coaster announcements.

For the most part nowadays, whenever a coaster is announced by a park. They pretty much show off everything of the upcomming coaster, not just concept art and stats...but also the layout and simulations of the POV.

In one way it's exciting to know what's comming to a park, but on the other hand...there's really no surprises once the coaster opens. Unless it's an indoor coaster or there's an indoor section with special effects, we all know what's comming.

Over on message boards, there's always a initial buzz once something is announced...but then it just fades away since there's really no more speculation.

Compare that to two certain coasters opening next year, The new Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas, and X-Raptor at Gardaland in Italy.

Both coasters are sharing several things in common, while they both have given out a couple bits of info here and there...for the most part the parks are leaving everyone in the dark about layouts and special features.

All we know for the new Texas Giant is it's using a brand new track system, it'll have some pretty sweet trains, and it'll have very steep drops and overbanked turns. Layout-wise, all we know is the layout is being changed...and the only hints we can get is by looking at current construction pics.

As for X-Raptor, all we know is it's a prototype from B&M. (Looks to be similar to Intamin's Wind Walker train approach, but even then we really don't know what it's gonna do.) Once again layout-wise, we're all in the dark and can only get a clue by recent construction pics.

Over on the message boards, both the Texas Giant and X-Raptor threads are buzzing a lot more. People are flat out excited and curious to see how the coasters are progessing, mainly due to the sheer fact we have no idea what the finished coaster is going to look like.

So with that said, should parks give everything away when they announce a new coaster? Or should they keep things secret to keep everyone guessing till it opens?

Personally, I'd like to see more parks go back to keeping things secret. After all, Mystery Mine at Dollywood wouldn't have been so mysterious if it's surprises were given away.

[Bud Parsley]

This is the way today's information-hungry society works. We want every detail now, as fast and as much as possible, and then 5 minutes later we are bored and on to something else.

It is good for parks to keep things secret. But I can also see they need to entice people to come.

Take Green Latern for example. I feel like I've already practically been on the ride.

Movies are the same way; excessively long previews often show TOO much of the story. I've known several previews where, afterward, I had no desire to see the movie because I pretty much already knew the entire plot!

[skinnyguy]

I've thought about this from time to time. I remember when I was younger before the internet came around, we'd go to Disneyland, SFMM and KBF every couple of years and there would usually be an area boarded up where a new ride was being built - you'd see the poster or teaser for it, and have no idea what it was going to be until returning the next year or the year after that to see the whole new ride.

It's so different know, where we can practically ride entire attractions online before ever going to the park. Sometimes I miss the whole "What are they building over there?? I can't wait to find out when we come back!"

On the other hand...it's sometimes cool to see the rides before going to the park - gives me something to look forward to.

I say keep new attractions secret as long as possible...it's more exciting and interesting to speculate, I think.

[jacobalpha]

Secrecy enhances the curiosity of the people and allow the management to work with freedom and concentration. After compiling the project,management should disclose about the new and latest rides or any kind of news. I agree that it is a favorable act.