Arrow Dynamics at one time was the go-to Roller Coaster Manufacturer. Most famous now for their Arrow Looper design, they dominated the theme park industry for decades. Sadly they filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and were purchased by S&S.
Arrow Dynamics : History
Walt Disney was looking for collaborators in helping build the rides that would make up Disneyland. He hired Arrow Dynamics to build the cars for Mr. Toads Wild Ride. The scope of work expanded. Eventually, they built their first coaster for Disney called Matterhorn Bobsleds. Their popularity grew which led to them installing some of the most famous coasters ever built. Space Mountain for Disneyland, Big Bad Wolf, and Loch Ness Monster for Busch Gardens, and X for Six Flags Magic Mountain. If you have ever been to a theme park chances are you have ridden a ride built by Arrow Dynamics.
Arrow Dynamics: Classic Models
- Six Flags Over Texas was looking for a ride to help make a name for them in their 3rd year of operation. This led to working with Arrow Dynamic’s to build the very first Log Flume ride. El Aserradero opened in 1963. The Log Flume ride is still a popular model and is a staple of theme parks.
- Six Flags must have been impressed with Arrow. Since they again came asking for innovation three years later. Runaway Mine Train at Six Flags Over Texas opened in 1966. Just like Log Flume the Mine Train became very popular. Almost every theme park had to open with one of these. Today you will find an Arrow Mine Train in most major theme parks.
- They were the first to build a hypercoaster. The legendary Magnum XL-200 for Cedar Point smashed just about every record imaginable when it made its debut in 1989.
- They were the first to build a 4th dimension coaster. X opened at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 2002. This project became so complicated and expensive that it eventually led to Arrow having to Declare Bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy
It is never easy to just summarize why a company went bankrupt. Here I think three things can be pointed to as integral in why it happened. The first big thing was that they began collaborating with another manufacturer named Vekoma. What was originally designed to be a business relationship but then turned sour. Vekoma began using the trade secrets that Arrow had developed. A lot of Vekoma’s coasters look and feel an awful lot like Arrow’s.
Not only were they losing projects that would have normally gone to them, but also another manufacturer had begun taking the Roller Coaster world by storm. Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) were using new techniques that Arrow just couldn’t compete with.
The business with Vekoma left them vulnerable. Then with B&M also getting the lion’s share of new major projects left them financially vulnerable as the year 2000 approached.
The event that finally broke them was building a legendary coaster for Six Flags Magic Mountain Called X. It was an extremely ambitious project. So Ambitious that it ended with Arrow Dynamic’s having to declare Bankruptcy.
S&S continuing the Legacy
S&S-Sansei Technologies came to the rescue and purchased Arrow. They have taken what Arrow Dynamics started and have been continuing the legacy. In 2007 Six Flags asked them to do some new work on X. Under the new name of S&S Arrow, they fixed it and the ride was relaunched as X2.
Thanks for Reading
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The following sites were very helpful in the writing of this article.
https://coasterpedia.net/wiki/Arrow_Dynamics
Lastly is this incredible documentary by The American Coaster Enthuisiast (ACE). It’s a little long but I highly recommend it.