gad198

I've personally seen email correspondence directly from Cedar Point park representatives stating that they aim for a 50/50 split. The ride ops I've talked to have echoed this language. I'm not saying ride ops are always 100% accurate in their statements, but I'm inclined to believe this is the truth if most everyone associated with the park is saying the same thing.

I was going to cover this in my initial response, so thank you for bringing this out. Long Fast Lane waits do mean that many customers are willing to pay for access to special queues. We both agree that the demand for Fast Lane is high even with the price increases we've seen in the last couple of years. The parks control all of the supply. Cedar Fair has decided that their supply strategy is to sell lots of Fast Lane bracelets at a lower price point. I believe that this strategy is actually hurting their cause over the long run. Kings Island representatives stated that when Fast Lane was initially introduced that they were targeting families coming on once a year visits, and that they wouldn't be riding much more than the guests in standby lines. The reality is that the vast majority of Fast Lane users are between 13 and 30 years of age, are looking to ride a lot, AND - perhaps more importantly - are looking to ride only the most popular coasters. To the Interpreter's point earlier, part of the reason that Diamondback's standby lines are much longer this season is because you're getting a lot more Fast Lane guests running through the queue this year. The ride ops are frequently letting in a LOT of Fast Laners in at a time. Those two things in tandem are artificially depressing the Fast Lane wait time to close to zero most days. The result - Fast Lane guests are STRONGLY encouraged to rinse, lather, and repeat at other popular rides because there is literally almost no incentive NOT to do it! What that's doing is artificially increasing the demand for the popular coasters. Let's take a look at our old capacity formula, shall we: Total Capacity = # of Fast Lane riders + # of Standby riders Total capacity is a fixed number. If more Fast Lane guests are running through a ride line that means that the number of seats for standby guests MUST fall, which by extension means that the standby wait times must increase. Diamondback standby lines have fallen victim to this simple equation and the wait times have increased there. Short Fast Lane wait times on popular coasters = bad news for standby riders. At Cedar Point you have a different problem. The reality there is that - particularly on the popular coasters - you have two sets of lines moving slowly. I've been told by several Cedar Point ride ops that they are to employ a 50/50 split at the Fast Lane merge points. Due to the high volume of Fast Lane guests moving through the popular coasters there (TTD, Maverick, Millennium Force), those Fast Lane lines frequently back up. The 50/50 split means that not only are you not clearing out the Fast Lane queue, but you're also not really clearing out the standby queue either. This is the real-life version of trying to straddle the line or staying on the fence. Cedar Point is trying to please both Fast Laners are standby guests, but the end result is that neither really get what they want. To top it off, they're giving away the gate which makes the problem worse! Cedar Fair has done a lot right in the last few years, but this is one area that they've gotten almost entirely wrong.

Great post, and I agree with everything here. All you need to do is take a look at how Cedar Point's version of Fast Lane has changed with time to see how quickly their philosophy has changed. I remember the first day when Cedar Point introduced Fast Lane you could team up with five other people and get access to Fast Lane - with access to all of the major coasters - for $30 per person. $30!!!! That also granted you right into the station access on all of the major coasters (TTD, Maverick, Millennium Force, Raptor). Still seems amazing in retrospect. Since that initial rollout, we've seen the Cedar Point Fast Lane program include: Multiple price increases Access points moved on several coasters (most notably on Millennium Force, where the access point has been moved from the station all the way down to the bottom of the ramp) The addition of Fast Lane Plus, where quick access is further limited for certain coasters Cedar Fair representatives publicly stating that the Fast Lane bracelets available-for-sale daily quota is up to 20% of the forecasted attendance In my opinion, Cedar Fair is really trying to have its cake and eat it too with the Fast Lane system as currently constructed. It seems the focus right now is selling as many Fast Lane wristbands as possible with little regard for anything else. The fact that there are significant Fast Lane waits at the popular Cedar Point coasters simply tells me that they are still leaving TONS of money on the table. The price point right now for Fast Lane - particularly at Cedar Point - is still WAY TOO LOW. A significant price increase would help alleviate many of the problems we're currently seeing with Fast Lane there.

^ You must have been in line right ahead of us. In fairness, the queue was probably closer to half-full all told (close to half-full in the upper portion and half of the lower queue area), but your wait time assessment is dead-on, as it took us about 45 minutes. I even turned to my brother and said the exact same thing about the old days when a full queue was a 45 minute wait. Seems like a long time ago. Two things are happening at Diamondback this year: (1) Lots of Fast Lane guests are strolling through the line. I'm guessing there must have been at least 200 Fast Lane guests that came through during our time in line yesterday. I don't have an issue with the fact that Fast Laners are coming through. I DO have an issue with how Fast Lane guests are allowed access to the ride.. I've seen groups of 15, 20 or more Fast Laners all let in at one time so as to clear out their queue. I've seen this on more than one occasion and it irks me to no end. Diamondback is - by far - the most popular ride on the Fast Lane system right now. It's the best ride on the Fast Lane (non-Plus edition) right now and it's also the most re-rideable. I've seen numerous Fast Laners who will get in line, ride, and then get right back in to ride again. Unfortunately, it's putting stresses on the system I don't believe Kings Island envisioned. (2) The crew this year - with some exceptions - has been lackluster this year as far as getting trains out in a timely fastion. I'm at the park usually a couple of times a week, and the only ride I will consistently ride no matter the crowd levels is Banshee. Why? Because I know that the Banshee line won't take forever to get through and the line will always move quickly. Yesterday was a great example. I could get on Banshee 3 times in 45 minutes yesterday in the same time it would take me to get 1 ride on Diamondback. Banshee is consistently moving several hundred people an hour more than Diamondback right now. Those several hundred people aren't - for the most part - still clogging the Banshee lines later on in the day because they've already moved through the line. This is a large part of the reason why the Banshee lines are manageable this year and the Diamondback lines usually aren't. I'd like to see Kings Island do the following: Limit the number of Fast Lane guests to a maximum of 8-10 people per train, all the time. Some of us have been warning for a long time that a high Fast Lane-to-standby guest allocation would lead to longer wait times, and Diamondback is falling victim to that right now. You can't create shorter wait times for some without creating longer wait times for others. Ironically enough Banshee has not had this same issue as there have been far fewer Fast Lane guests there. Interesting. Make Diamondback a Fast Lane Plus ride only. High Fast Lane usage was a problem at Firehawk for a while, so what did they do - they simply put in on Fast Lane Plus. High Fast Lane usage was an issue at Flight of Fear, so what did they do - they removed it from the system entirely, at least as of today. If you go to Canada's Wonderland their two best rides - Leviathan and Behemoth - are on Fast Lane Plus only. This is the best solution IMO for everyone because Kings Island makes the same amount of money with fewer Fast Lane guests, which means shorter standby wait times AND a better Fast Lane experience because there are fewer people in front of them. Done and done. Adopt the Banshee/Firehawk model and remove the loose article bins. You have to wear your shoes/flip flops on Diamondback, so doing this eliminates every and all possible causes of slow dispatch times. Just make it to where all guests can do is sit down in the seat and strap in. I know that members of Kings Island's staff reads these boards, and this item is directed at them. We're not coming on to this site to complain about Diamondback's operations just to have something to complain about. We try to be as objective and thorough in our analysis as possible and we're simply trying to enjoy a better experience while at the park. Many of us have been going to the park for quite some time and go frequently. Many seasoned park goers - and I'd argue some of your most loyal patrons - are bringing out what we feel is an issue that needs to be fixed. I really encourage you to delve in to the things we've brought to your attention, because it is affecting a significant part of your customer base. Diamondback is one of the best rides in the world, and it should have some of the best operations to match. Thank you.

I'm definitely taking the under on that one. Think about it this way... The most heavily attended seasonal parks (excluding Knotts) in the Cedar Fair chain are Cedar Point, Canada's Wonderland, Kings Island, Kings Dominion and Carowinds. If Carowinds is truly getting a giga, then that leaves only Kings Island as the only park in that group without a giga. All of those parks have a hyper already in place except for Kings Dominion. IMO it's a matter of "when" Kings Island will get a giga and not a matter of "if". For those of you who haven't ridden Leviathan - super smooth all the way round, four wonderful pops of airtime (first drop, speed hill, and the two larger airtime hills all offer excellent airtime), it lacks capacity-killing seat belts and it moves about the same volume of people as Banshee does. Before Diamondback was built it was a dream just to have a hyper. Just imagine a park with Diamondback, Banshee and a 300' B&M speed coaster!

^ X2 can be one of the best AND worst coasters in the US - all in the same lap! Sit in the right seat (front row - inside seat) and it's heaven. Sit in the wrong seat and it's a bottom 10 coaster. Green Lantern...hehe, the last time I was out there I took one look at the riders faces as they came into the final brakes and said to myself "no thanks!". Some things in life just aren't worth the pain! Six Flags Magic Mountain is really the best and worst of what theme parks in the US have to offer. Their ride collection is quite good. I think they have the third best ride collection in the US behind Cedar Point and Great Adventure. Tatsu alone is worth the trip. The views from tops of the coasters are just absolutely spectacular, some of the best that can be found anywhere in the US. It's one of the few parks where I can spend the whole day and not get bored. On the other hand, their ride operations have consistently been subpar, particularly when accounting for the volume of crowds they get. They'll often times run one train on a coaster with the capacity to run two or more trains at incredibly inopportune (i.e., very busy!) times. The dispatch times on their larger coasters (excluding Goliath - the crew there is usually good) are less than optimal almost all the time. The park has a lot to offer, but it surprisingly doesn't have a lot to do other than coasters. A non-coaster rider has a tough time keeping busy there with shows, flats, etc. For the record, I like Magic Mountain, but I don't love Magic Mountain. There's a lot of potential there - if the park was in competent hands. They've hitched their wagon to the thrill-seeking crowd, but at some point they're going to have to take a hard look at that strategy and assess whether they've been too narrow in their focus. Cedar Fair parks are catering to both the thrill-seeking AND non-rider crowd. The Cedar Fair entertainment offerings are vastly superior now than where they were several years ago. They're putting in things for everyone, whether it's flats, new shows and waterpark upgrades. The question I'll leave is this...has Six Flags really learned anything since emerging from bankruptcy?

The Ride Warriors weekend a few years ago was a really good time, so it's nice that they're doing a similar event again! If they're publicizing this event so far in advance it sounds like they're trying to make this a "larger" event than the one several years ago. If that's the case, I really hope that they open up more rides during the ERT sessions to help disperse the crowds. It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds.

My list, in no particular order: Skyrush - still the only first drop that truly terrifies me El Toro - best first drop on a wooden coaster in the US Leviathan - perhaps the best overall first drop on a steel coaster in the US/Canada SheiKra/Griffon - just pure, smooth, unfiltered airtime...love these drops Nitro - the best first drop of any of the B&M and Intamin megas, Leviathan excluded Skull Mountain at SF Great Adventure - the drop in the back row is off the chain...literally and figuratively! X2 - not the biggest fan of the rest of the ride, but going face first down the first drop is an unforgettable experience Wild Eagle - the drop in the back row is surprisingly strong

In fairness, the DB crew this season - in general - hasn't been as good as some crews in the past. The seatbelts certainly haven't helped. Having said that... The DB crew today was absolutely spectacular. Some of the best dispatches I've ever seen on the ride happened tonight. There were several instances where the train was almost to the very top of the lift hill as the train directly ahead of it was coming in to the final brakes. Best DB crew I've seen - by far - this year. If they keep up the good work a lot of the griping about the stacking and longer lines will abate. Just two more quick notes: Continued kudos to the Banshee crew. They may be consistently the best crew operating any coaster in the country this year. There's a reason that the wait times have been manageable this year on Banshee and it's not because the ride isn't popular. They are terrific. Surprised this hasn't been brought up frequently, but Diamondback is running FANTASTIC this year. The coaster is smooth in all seats this year - even the very back row - with the exception of the bottom of the turnaround. The airtime is there in abundance in all rows. It's running like a top 5 coaster this year.

Looks like a nice ride for this park. I really like the wingriders overall and this one has a unique layout that looks like it'll be a lot of fun to ride. It's nice that even with two trains that the capacity will still be north of 1,000 people per hour so the lines should move pretty quickly. I know a lot of enthusiasts are probably going to gripe about this addition to some degree. "It's not themed", "it looks slow", "it won't crack my top 10", "it'll probably be forceless", "I don't really like B&M wingriders because it's not an Intamin with 90 seconds of ejector airtime"...whatever. Can't we just appreciate that this will be a fun coaster that you know will be up and running when you visit the park? The one statement I found very profound is this one: I said when Leviathan was announced that we may have seen the last of the larger Intamin installations in the US for some time. Parks have gotten much smarter about how they spend their money on the larger coaster installations, and I get the sense that Intamin's days as a premier manufacturer in the US are numbered. Holiday World had a lot of time to think about this install - by far their largest to date - and went with B&M. Parks want to know exactly what they're getting when spending that amount of cash and B&M is delivering the goods.

They may be right - if their average wait was only one or two minutes before I get your point though, it's not quite that dramatic. The stopwatch on my phone isn't lying. I've timed the dispatches on most of my visits there and on average they are 15 seconds slower this year than they have been in the past. The one area I will agree with you here is that while it does feel like you're waiting a lot longer the numbers aren't that dramatic over a short duration. However, I'd much rather wait 25 minutes than 30. If I ride 12 times in a season that's an extra hour I can do other things with other than waiting in line. I do consider that significant. The bins have always been there since the ride opened. Fast Lane has been around for a couple of years now and even then the presence of Fast Lane alone doesn't affect dispatch intervals. The only thing I'm aware of that's really changed from last year to this year is the staff and the seat belts so it has to come from one of those two things.

The math you're using isn't quite accurate. At 90 second dispatch intervals you move 1280 people per hour (pph) if the train is full (32 people x 3600 seconds/hour divided by 90 seconds). At 95 second dispatches you move 1212 pph. At 110 seconds you move 1047 pph. Notice that the capacity calculations have nothing to do with how many trains you're running or how long the ride time is. If the ride had 10 trains available but still only dispatched at 95 second intervals the capacity doesn't change. The only thing that matters is how frequently are you dispatching trains and how many people you can fit on each train. The 165 pph difference between 95-second and 110-second dispatches is 489 total seconds or just over 8 minutes an hour (165 pph divided by 32 people per train multipled by 95 seconds/dispatch). The dispatch times ARE longer this year at Diamondback and ultimately that's the bottom line. I'm much more interested in how we can get the dispatch times down vs. why it's happening. Ultimately though you have to figure out why it's happening in order to effect changes. If the addition of the seat belts isn't the reason then what is it?

I partially agree with the last two sentences but disagree with the first. Have you noticed how the Diamondback ride attendants are taking personal belongings from guests next in line to board all the time now? In past years they were only doing that during "power hours" but it's an every time deal now. This is done solely to try and make up time in two areas - to have the guests sit down in the trains more quickly and to compensate for the time it takes to find, fasten, and adjust the seat belt. The seat belts were installed in a position that was poorly thought out, and that has also added to the load times. Let's say that the seat belts add on 9 seconds on to each cycle (2-3 seconds delay while the on train rider unfastens their belt, 4-5 second delay to fasten the belt, and 2 additional seconds for the ride attendant to check belts) and assume 90 second dispatches pre-seat belt. Pre-seat belt you were sending out 40 trains an hour. Post-seat belt you're now sending out 36.4 trains, a difference of almost 4 trains or 116 people less per hour just due to this one change. There have probably been some minor time savings with the attendants taking some guests items to bins, but guests are still going to the bins to drop items off which negates some of those time savings. I've timed the dispatches while at the park for years. During my visits a decent crew in past years averaged about 95 seconds per dispatch (a rate of 1210 pph). Crews this year have been averaging about 110 seconds per dispatch (a rate of about 1050 pph). The Diamondback line takes longer to get through this year than it has in the past. I don't think that it's coincidence that the seat belts and longer wait times appeared at the same time. The crew can only do so much because they're almost 10 seconds behind the 8 ball before they start. Meanwhile, Banshee has typically had one of the shortest waits of any popular coaster in the park. Banshee is probably moving three to four hundred more people an hour than Diamondback right now. I still really like Diamondback - even more than Banshee - but when confronted with a 35-40 minute line at Diamondback or a 10-15 minute line at Banshee which am I going to choose?

Honestly, I don't have issues with Diamondback being a regular Fast Lane ride. I do have issues with how many people Diamondback is putting through on an hourly basis this year. There are some crews that are exceptions to this, but the load/interval times this year on Diamondback have not been good. I'd MUCH rather Kings Island do away with the (completely unnecessary) seat belts and focus on better capacity than move Diamondback to Fast Lane Plus. I can't imagine too many people buying regular Fast Lane if Banshee, Diamondback, FOF and Firehawk were all only on Plus.

I was looking around the forums and didn't see anything about this yet. It would appear as though Flight of Fear has been upgraded from Fast Lane to Fast Lane Plus. Please see: https://www.visitkingsisland.com/things-to-do/fast-lane It also looks as though Gatekeeper is back to being on Fast Lane Plus only at Cedar Point. https://www.cedarpoint.com/things-to-do/fast-lane

I really hope this doesn't come to fruition. Low capacity + coasters that track poorly + inevitable downtime = no bueno. On a sidenote, are there any other good clues besides the B&M coaster footing pattern we saw when the shredded paper in the media boxes was reassembled? 66 days seems like a lot of work and a lot of filler to throw in for an announcement that may be setting some people up for anticipointment.

There are some rides at Wonderland that are not on Fast Lane (or Fast Lane Plus). They are mostly low capacity coasters so if you want to ride them I'd do so right at opening and in this order: The Fly The Bat Thunder Run Ghoster Coaster (the wooden coaster back in the kids area) Sledge Hammer (if it's running) As mentioned by CedarPointer you'll want to check out the flats. I'd also recommend that you walk through the kids area, as I personally think it's better than the one at Kings Island. I would also recommend a stop at any of the Hot Potato stands in the park and grab some poutine (french fries topped with gravy and cheese curds). It's the best non-sweet food item I've had at any park anywhere.

I talked to several Cedar Point attendants at the Fast Lane merge last year and they all said that they were instructed to do a 50/50 split. That high split percentage is the reason I didn't ride Maverick at all last year, because I saw the Fast Lane line out to the ride entrance on multiple occasions and figured it would be at least a 90 minute to 2 hour wait when it was 45-60 minutes pre-Fast Lane. Multiple trip reports verified the longer wait times for standby folks, which is why you will see Maverick on the Fast Lane Plus this year. In fairness, Cedar Point has - by far - the most Fast Lane users so a lot of Fast Lane issues are unique to Cedar Point. Having said that... I cautioned years ago that a high split percentage geared towards Fast Lane users would become problematic on days with high Fast Lane usage (which is pretty much every day at Cedar Point now). Canada's Wonderland allowed 8-10 people on Behemoth and Leviathan at a time, which is 25%-30% of available seats. That's much more reasonable than the 50/50 splits (or higher) that have been reported at various times so far this year at the more popular rides at Kings Island. Standby wait times on the most popular coasters at KI and Cedar Point have noticeably increased since Fast Lane was implemented. This is not a surprise since most Fast Lane users are much more inclined to ride the most popular coasters to get maximum benefit. I still think the solution is pretty simple - raise the price on days that are expected to be busier. This particularly applies at Cedar Point where I still believe the Fast Lane price is too low. Remember the days when you could get a Fast Lane bracelet at Cedar Point for $30 a piece?! An abundance of Fast Lane users in a given day means you're either overselling them or you're not pricing them high enough. I truly believe that on days that are historically busy (and Kings Island has more than 40 years of data to work with on this) you need to raise the prices enough where Fast Lane users still feel like they're getting benefit AND where standby lines aren't moving at a snails pace.

My friend Dave sent me a text at 11 this morning saying a normal 10 minute wait for Diamondback turned into a 25 minute affair. I just saw reports that Behemoth and Intimidator Carowinds have the seat belts as well. Check out this bit about Behemoth operation today from kunpc1, a moderator over at the fansite CWMania: Is this similar to the way Diamondback is being operated right now? I haven't seen any posts that specifically address the new loading procedures. Interestingly enough, despite the seat belts on Behemoth they are not currently on Leviathan. Say what?! This whole saga is just getting more bizarre by the minute.

The ride ejection reports have usually shared one thing in common - insufficient restraints. Notice that we haven't seen an Intamin coaster with a T-bar restraint in the US since Top Thrill Dragster. Three of the coasters that originally opened with T-bar restraints (the Superman megas at the Six flags parks) were modified substantially in response to the ejections. Morgan, Giovanola and B&M figured out a long time ago that what keeps you in the restraint on a coaster with airtime isn't a seat belt, it's the angle of the seat and how deep you are positioned in that seat. Intamin finally caught on to this. If you look at Skyrush, the last Intamin mega built in the US and the coaster with arguably the most aggressive airtime in the country, look at the angle of the seats: https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8292/7502972400_479aca8bb5.jpg Compare that picture with Behemoth: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3051/2439004705_be1d93e9cc.jpg Skyrush doesn't have seat belts similar to what Diamondback has now, and that ride is far more aggressive than Diamondback. Oh well. I still believe the seat belts won't be on Diamondback long-term and will be removed eventually once common sense reigns again.

For the record I'd consider doing so too, but admittedly most patrons aren't like you and me. The Interpreter mentioned in a post some time back that bags of corn would come back if sent out on the Diamondback course because of the way the seats are angled. If there's one company I trust with my safety it's B&M. Their track record speaks for itself. I still believe that this seat belt is here for entirely unnecessary purposes. On the surface it looks like the seat belt does something to aid safety, but it's just an illusion - the placebo effect if you will. The primary restraint on any vehicle you're riding in, whether it's a roller coaster or a car, will typically have a far more significant effect on your safety than any secondary safety measures. Seat belts in your car are the primary restraint mechanism in your car. That's also the reason why all of the government ad slogans tell you to buckle your safety belt in some capacity ("click it or ticket", etc.). Seat belt usage saves more lives than any other safety related device in cars, and very few refute this. The primary restraint on Diamondback is the clamshell restraint/reclining angle of the seat combination. The restraints themselves have primary and secondary mechanisms to prevent failure. Millions of riders have ridden on B&M hypers without incident with no seat belts. We're well past the point statistically where that result would be considered insignificant. I spent a several hours researching seat belt statistics before posting this just to see what I'd find. I also decided to take a look at the incidents where riders were ejected on Intamin hyper coasters. From what I can gather the first incident, at Darien Lake in 1999, prompted the installation of seat belts on the other Intamin megas including the mirror clone at Six Flags America and the coasters that opened up the next year, Superman: Ride of Steel (now Bizarro at Six Flags New England) and Millennium Force. Another rider was ejected in 2004 on Superman (now Bizarro) at Six Flags New England. The accident report issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety had several interesting quotes, two of which I'll quote below: The ride report is worth reading and you can read a reprint of it below: http://www.rideaccidents.com/2004.html#may7a Bottom line - if you think that seat belts might help keep you in a coaster train - if the primary means of restraint aren't where they're supposed to be on some rides with appreciable airtime - it might be presumptuous at best. The primary restraint (lap bar, clamshell, whatever) needs to be in proper position to avoid any issues. There's a reason why coaster designers generally don't use seat belts as the only means of restraint.

I don't think it's in Kings Island's best interest to say anything about this situation publicly. They could position it positively as a "this is just for extra safety" statement, but I really don't see the value in opening themselves up to questions about any of their previous safety policies. It's Pandora's box waiting to be opened. I believe Diamondback will be giving its 10 millionth ride sometime this season. B&M hypers have probably given - conservatively - at least 100 million rides worldwide. To silver2005's point earlier, how many incidents involving the failure of restraints have we seen on B&M hypers? Zero. Anyone who has ever seen the inner workings of a B&M restraint knows that the odds of any of their restraints failing is so close to zero it may as well be zero. I'm sure B&M's safety record is a big reason why Cedar Fair continues to go to them to design their coasters. This is just an educated opinion, but I don't believe the seatbelts on Diamondback are primarily there for safety reasons, even though that's that reason most people buy in to. I believe the belts are there to simply make sure that the rider - specifically those with larger lower body proportions - fits in the seat. If the belt doesn't buckle then there's no need to deal with the primary restraint. Would anyone here ride Diamondback with the restraint up with the seat belt only restraining you? Probably not right? Just food for thought for those of you who believe that seat belt only would somehow be an effective way to restrain you in the VERY unlikely event of a restraint problem.

Except B&M hyper coasters have existed for 15 years and have had 0 ejections. It feels more like a knee-jerk reaction to the public's reaction over the New Texas Giant incident more than anything else. +1. Completely redundant and totally unnecessary. They'll probably be removed eventually, but say adios to a good chunk of capacity until they're removed.

Parks are going to build rides they believe will be good investments as their primary consideration. If those rides happen share similar characteristics then that's fine, and the two megas at Canada's Wonderland are great examples. Leviathan completely changed how crowds flow in that park. I've been there on days where Leviathan is sporting a half hour or longer wait in the first couple of hours while Behemoth is a five minute wait or less. It moves people like crazy, is a lot of fun and extremely re-rideable. It was a fantastic investment IMO. Having said all that, how many parks have two similar megas in the same park? Wonderland and Cedar Point are the only two right now (and perhaps Carowinds if you believe the rumors for next year). How many parks have a B&M invert and an SLC in the same park? I believe only La Ronde has that combo. As popular as Arrow loopers were there was probably good reason why parks didn't choose to build more than one in the same park. I'm not saying that you can't have more than one invert at a park. I'm not saying that you won't ever see an existing B&M invert replace their current trains with the newest model. I am saying that the park has to make sure that it's going to be profitable for them to make decisions like that. That's especially true with the trains, because the current models work just fine. Parks would need to see a ton of maintenance savings for them to even consider a decision to replace trains, and I simply can't imagine that would be the case.

There are two things working against this: most parks already have an inverted coaster of some kind (either B&M invert or Vekoma SLC) and the higher cost of a B&M invert. The parks that don't already have an inverted coaster are diminishing in number. Just thinking aloud the larger parks that don't have an invert but could probably use one are Dollywood, Silver Dollar City, Kennywood, and Holiday World. Some other parks - like Canada's Wonderland or the Six Flags properties with an SLC - have an invert there already so it's harder to justify another invert installation. The higher cost of a B&M invert makes it harder to the smaller parks without one to install. Spending $15 million - or more - on a single attraction is tougher for the smaller parks to justify. Having said that, the fact that B&M changed their train design - one that worked well for years - means that there are probably more invert installs soon to come elsewhere. When B&M changed their hyper train design starting with Behemoth we saw three additional coasters use the same system (Diamondback, Intimidator & Shambhala) so it wouldn't surprise me at all to see a few more popping up.