Coaster Business: How Manufacturers Shape Our Rides (and the RMC Case)

When contemplating the silhouette of a roller coaster outlined against the sky of a theme park, our attention naturally shifts to the theming, the height of the drop, or the sound of the trains on the tracks. Yet, behind the visitor experience lies a complex industrial reality: theme parks almost never design their own roller coasters.

With a few rare exceptions, parks rely on specialized manufacturers. And while two launch coasters might offer similar thrills, the companies that designed them operate under diametrically opposed business and industrial models.

From the vertical integration of giants like Vekoma or Mack Rides to the agility of design firms like B&M or Intamin, all the way to the textbook case of Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC)—which reinvented the conversion of wooden coasters—this article breaks down the value chain of the roller coaster industry.

Technical Recap: Anatomy of a Roller Coaster Project

To understand the strategic choices of manufacturers, one must grasp the technical complexity behind creating a modern ride layout. A roller coaster is a structure subjected to significant mechanical stress and strict safety standards.

A typical project generally unfolds in six key steps:

• Design and force analysis (G-Forces): In collaboration with the park, engineers design the layout. Computer simulations calculate G-forces to ensure the ride remains safe and tolerable for the human body (banked turns, acceleration, inversions).
• Structural engineering: Engineers calculate the strength of support columns (supports) and foundations to absorb the dynamic loads of high-speed trains.
• Manufacturing: Metal is cut, bent, and welded to form track segments, columns, and train chassis.
• On-site assembly: Delivered by oversized transports or containers, the parts are assembled on-site using cranes, much like a giant building set.
• Testing and accreditation: Prior to opening, the ride undergoes intensive testing using water-filled dummies equipped with sensors. A pull-through test also verifies that a rider cannot reach any part of the surrounding scenery.
• Delivery and maintenance: The manufacturer trains the park's staff and provides spare parts (wheels, sensors, magnetic brakes).

It is in managing and allocating these six steps that manufacturers' business models differ.

Vertical Integration: Mastering Everything Under One Roof

The Principle

A vertically integrated company controls nearly its entire value chain. It has its own design offices, manufacturing plants, assembly crews, and after-sales service.

The Vekoma Example

Dutch manufacturer Vekoma is representative of this model. Historically known for its mass-produced catalog models (including the famous Boomerang, with over 50 installations worldwide), Vekoma brought the entire production process in-house.

For an operator like Disney, working with a fully integrated player offers clear guarantees:

• A single point of contact for design, manufacturing, and testing.
• Industrial control over costs and delivery deadlines.
• Consistent manufacturing standards.

This structure allowed Vekoma to execute highly integrated, constraint-heavy projects like Expedition Everest (Disney's Animal Kingdom), Tron Lightcycle / Run (Magic Kingdom / Shanghai), or F.L.Y. (Phantasialand).

The Mack Rides Ecosystem

In Germany, Mack Rides pushes this model even further. Not only does the company manufacture most of its components at its Waldkirch factory, but its owning family also operates Europa-Park.

Europa-Park serves as a full-scale laboratory. When a new concept is developed (such as the Extreme Spinning Coaster with The Ride to Happiness at Plopsaland De Panne, or the Big Dipper with Voltron Nevera), the prototype can be tested, adjusted, and validated on-site before being marketed internationally.

Model Constraints

Vertical integration requires significant capital investments (CapEx) to maintain factories and skilled workforces. During periods of slow orders, these fixed costs weigh heavily on company profitability.

The Park Trips Take:
While Vekoma's highly standardized model sometimes suffered in the past from a reputation of uneven comfort on older 1980s-1990s models, the brand's shift toward quality over the last decade is remarkable. Thanks to track profiling calculated down to the millimeter and precision cutting facilities, their recent creations are among the smoothest on the market.

Niche Models and Subcontracting: Agility Through Specialization

The Principle

Rather than maintaining heavy manufacturing infrastructure, some companies concentrate their internal resources on engineering, research & development (R&D), design, and sales. For track fabrication and on-site assembly, they rely on a network of specialized subcontractors.

Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M): Pursuing the Standard of Comfort

The Swiss engineers at Bolliger & Mabillard design layout concepts, develop their own patents (Inverted Coaster, Dive Coaster, Wing Coaster), and oversee quality control.

However, B&M does not own a track manufacturing plant. The brand subcontracts this work to a specialized facility in the United States, Clermont Steel Fabricators (Ohio). Similarly, on-site assembly is entrusted to local construction companies selected by the park client. This flexible model allows B&M to avoid heavy infrastructure costs while maintaining an industry-renowned consistency of finish.

Intamin: Pushing Mechanical Limits

Swiss manufacturer Intamin adopts a similar approach, focused on speed and height records (Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, VelociCoaster, or the highly ambitious Falcon's Flight).

To execute these extreme-strain structures, Intamin collaborates with several specialized partners:

• Layout modeling: Historically handled by the German engineering firm Ingenieurbüro Stengel.
• Track and steel fabrication: Handled by Stacotra in Slovakia.
• Launch systems (LSM) and electronic components: Subcontracted to specialized equipment suppliers.

The Wooden Coaster Nuance: GCI vs. The Gravity Group

The wooden coaster segment also illustrates this division:

• Great Coasters International (GCI): Traditional wooden structure specialist (Wodan at Europa-Park, Heidi The Ride at Plopsaland). GCI designs the trains and manages on-site carpentry, but delegates layout design to partner firm Skyline Attractions.
• The Gravity Group: Conversely, this entity handles design and engineering in-house and manufactures its trains through subsidiary GravityCraft, but regularly subcontracts on-site assembly to specialized carpenters like Martin & Vleminckx.

The Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) Case Study: Targeted Innovation as a Market Lever

To illustrate the impact a specialized player can have on the wider industry, the trajectory of Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) is particularly insightful.

Founded by Fred Grubb and driven by designer Alan Schilke's layouts (Ride Centerline), this Idaho-based American company provided a technical answer to a recurring financial headache for parks: aging, deteriorating wooden coasters.

The Starting Point

In the late 2000s, many major parks owned massive wooden structures built during the 1980s and 1990s. Under repeated mechanical stress, wood deforms, causing uncomfortable vibrations for riders and burdening maintenance teams with relentless track-board replacement.

RMC developed an alternative to complete demolition: keep the existing wooden support structure and replace the traditional wooden track with a custom steel track.

Key Innovations

• I-Box Track (Iron Horse Track): Introduced in 2011 on New Texas Giant (Six Flags Over Texas), this extruded rectangular steel track mounts directly onto the original wooden structure. It enables maneuvers previously reserved for steel coasters (inversions, 90°+ drops, overbanked turns) while ensuring a remarkably smooth ride.
• Topper Track: Designed for parks wanting to keep the official wooden coaster classification, this system replaces the top layers of wooden track with a thicker steel plate, enabling inversions while preserving part of the mechanical feel unique to wood (e.g., Wildfire at Kolmården).
• Single-Rail Coaster (Raptor Line): RMC also developed a single-rail technology just 38 cm wide, seating riders in single file. This format delivers nimble layout dynamics within a compact footprint.

Economic Impact: New vs. Hybrid

For a theme park, the financial rationale for an RMC conversion rests on three pillars:

• Infrastructure: A brand-new traditional coaster requires costly manufacturing of new steel columns and new foundations, whereas a hybrid conversion reuses the existing wooden framework.
• Budget: A major new coaster typically costs between 20 and 30 million euros, compared to 10 to 15 million euros for an RMC hybrid overhaul.
• Marketing impact: Instead of simply promoting just another new ride, the park markets the rebirth of an iconic coaster tied to world records.

Once-neglected rides were thus transformed into global headliners: Mean Streak became Steel Vengeance (Cedar Point), Gwazi became Iron Gwazi (Busch Gardens Tampa), and Robin Hood became Untamed (Walibi Holland).

Horizontal Integration: Consolidation and Patent Acquisitions

The Principle

Horizontal integration involves an industrial group acquiring competitors or owners of complementary technologies to expand its product offering and achieve economies of scale.

The Sansei Technologies Group

The most telling example of this acquisition strategy is the Japanese group Sansei Technologies:

• In 2012, Sansei acquired the American firm S&S Worldwide.
• Through this purchase, Sansei obtained the technology portfolio and spare-parts supply chain of legendary manufacturer Arrow Dynamics (which went bankrupt in 2001).
• In 2018, Sansei acquired coaster manufacturer Vekoma.

Thanks to this consolidation, a park group can deal with a single parent entity to order a family roller coaster (Vekoma), a thrill coaster or drop tower (S&S), while securing spare parts for its legacy rides.

Summary: Which Manufacturer for Which Need?

For theme park management, choosing a manufacturer depends on specific financial, operational, and marketing criteria:

• Turnkey Solutions & Industrial Reliability (Vertical Integration): Favored by players like Vekoma or Mack Rides for complex projects requiring a single point of contact and fully controlled manufacturing (e.g., TRON Lightcycle / Run at Disney).
• High Throughput & Operational Reliability (Niche / Structured Engineering): The domain of Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), ideal for parks seeking high capacity and maximum uptime without surprises (e.g., Silver Star at Europa-Park).
• Records & Innovative Concepts (Niche / Specialist Network): Intamin's specialty, sought after by destinations aiming to make headlines with extreme performance and cutting-edge technology (e.g., VelociCoaster at Universal).
• Revitalizing Existing Infrastructure (Custom Hybrid): The expertise developed by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC), perfect for breathing new life into an obsolete coaster while curbing structural costs (e.g., Untamed at Walibi Holland).
• Authentic Traditional Wood (Specialized Craftsmen): The realm of GCI or The Gravity Group, chosen by parks seeking a classic, organic, and warm aesthetic (e.g., Wodan Timburcoaster at Europa-Park).

The Park Trips Take

Ultimately, analyzing the various industrial models shows that no single business structure is absolutely superior to another.

A regional park with a tight budget will prioritize a partner capable of delivering a proven, easy-to-operate ride with predictable maintenance costs. Conversely, major international resort destinations often seek to stand out with unique prototypes or groundbreaking installations, even if it means taking on the development complexity associated with custom technology.

It is precisely this coexistence between integrated manufacturers, niche engineers, and conversion specialists that sustains the momentum of innovation throughout the amusement industry.