Broke height record by: 101.7 feet (steel dragon 318.3')

Broke speed record by: 13.1mph (Dodonpa 106.9)

Got me interested in Coasters.

What exactly did it influence?

No. It didn't influence anything except for Kingda Ka.

What exactly did it influence?

Record Breaker

Why is this in the KI polls forum? This is a thread about "Other Parks."

Its a poll, it can be moved.

Wow, look at the animation and how terrible that was. Big difference going from 2002-current

I am shocked that other people don't think breaking the height record by over a 100' is not the most influential coaster of all time.

IMO it was a huge announcement, it led to alot of publicity & whatnot. It's somewhat how Virtualmidway/pointbuzz/ect got alot of traffic. However I still regard Magnum as groundbreaking at the time. To me breaking 400/100mph was huge, but I think everyone thought it would happen in time. Magnum though, that was just, there, that idea came to be, and led others to follow suite.

Magnum only set the record by around 36' though.

Doesn't matter. The amount of media frenzy and public buzz about it has not been and probably never will be topped.

I agree with deviarous- Magnum XL200 was, for what it's worth, a more influental coaster to Cedar Point than TTD, in spite of being only around half as tall, as it was what put Cedar Point itself on most coaster fans maps for the first time, and the style of coaster it was (200'+, no inversions, lots of airtime hills) paved the way for the modern hypercoasters and gigas from Intamin, B&M, and various other manufacturers. Magnum is credited as a major factor in the coaster wars of the 1990's and 2000's as parks tried to one-up it by building even larger steel coasters, which eventually led to the Giga coasters and finally the Stratas like TTD and Kingda Ka- where ironically the coaster wars for height ended for now, as major issues started to come up with the height and speed the coasters were reaching. Magnum only broke the record by 36', but what it started was unreal- and the particular style it created, the hypercoaster, is now one of the most popular types out there even today.

I can think of several other coasters that were more important to the coaster world than TTD as well...Racer @ Kings Island saved wooden coasters from certain death and started the coaster battles of the 1970's. Early modern coasters with inversions like Revolution & Corkscrew's got us infatuated with going upside down. Beast shattered tons of world records and created a huge buzz, kicking the the coaster wars into high gear for the 1980's. Batman: The Ride gave us the first inverted roller coaster, which has turned out to be another very popular style today. Millennium Force's hype was unreal when it first opened. All of these rides seem more important to how modern coasters ended up than TTD...at least in my book.

Only thing I hyped with TTD, slight theming, the speed & launch, and wow straight up and down..Notice the height wasn't a huge factor in my desire to ride the ride

Gatta look at the history bro, look back and you'll see alot of stuff that really paved the way more than TTD

It looks like somebody used Microsoft Paint to make this video

I still don't understand why a poll with a maufacturer-slanted agenda behind it was placed in a KI forum... oh yes I do... because it has a manufacturer-slanted agenda behind it.

But to burst your bubble...

Most are too young to recall KI's announcement of "The Beast." Quite frankly, the media blitz that followed the opening of that coaster has yet to be matched... even by today's equivelents.

I recall, at the ripe age of 8, seeing "The Beast" in newspapers, on countless nationwide news programs across all 3 networks, as well as on TV specials such as "Real People", "That's Incredible", "PM Magazine" and more. I lived in Virgina and hadnt even heard of Kings Island until "The Beast" made national news. It was everywhere.

What made Beast's announcement so monumental, is that it was really the first time ANY coaster garnered such media attention. Any subsequent coaster (no matter what manufacturer) announcement really owes a lot to the inital path that was paved by The Beast 35 years ago...

Shaggy

Are you sure it's not just because it is a Intamin product that you made this poll?

See I agree with Shaggy, as my parents aren't even into coasters and they knew about it. For me I can only know what I see, read, and watch. I could see it happening however, as that coaster even to this day still impresses me. I'd love to have that many coasters in the world hitting the 4 min mark and doing things like it does, it has everything I want in a coaster honestly. The only thing I would maybe like to see, dodging tomatoes now..a possible train upgrade. I love PTC trains, but I'm also curious to see how a millenium flyer would run on the course. I'd like to see this but I know it won't, and I do still enjoy the nostalgia of a PTC on the track.

I still don't understand why a poll with a maufacturer-slanted agenda behind it was placed in a KI forum... oh yes I do... because it has a manufacturer-slanted agenda behind it.

But to burst your bubble...

Most are too young to recall KI's announcement of "The Beast." Quite frankly, the media blitz that followed the opening of that coaster has yet to be matched... even by today's equivelents.

I recall, at the ripe age of 8, seeing "The Beast" in newspapers, on countless nationwide news programs across all 3 networks, as well as on TV specials such as "Real People", "That's Incredible", "PM Magazine" and more. I lived in Virgina and hadnt even heard of Kings Island until "The Beast" made national news. It was everywhere.

What made Beast's announcement so monumental, is that it was really the first time ANY coaster garnered such media attention. Any subsequent coaster (no matter what manufacturer) announcement really owes a lot to the inital path that was paved by The Beast 35 years ago...

Shaggy

again:

Its a poll, it can be moved.

This is more influential

Influential announcement, technology, industry changer? No.

I would call something like the Matterhorn one of the most influential rides ever. Why you might ask? Because it was the first tubular steel continuous circuit coaster ever build. Influential game changer without a doubt. Still my favorite ride with a Yeti...

Well for starters, you can't rip on the video for its graphical quality. The games I see promoted on TV today look amazing, makes Mario Brothers by comparision looks terrible. That doesn't meant that Super Mario Brothers wasn't incredible when it was released.

with that said, here is how I know TTD wasn't all that influential. It was made in 2003 and held the record for about 10 seconds before Kingda Ka went up. If it was the most influential announcement in the history of roller coasters, we would have seen several more coasters top the 400' mark. Even if they didn't reach 420 or the 456' that Kingda Ka reaches, there would have been several reaching 400' range. You'd see several manufacturers trying to their hand at a 400' coaster. Yet only those 2 reach the mark. It would appeard that TTD has influenced no one but 6 flags to make one nearly 10% taller.

Shoot, I think the viral marketing in The Smiler was fantastic in and of itself...in how to market a coaster.