The Loch Ness Monster
- Thread starter Zachary
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I didn't have a question. My point is that the way the question was phrased to BGW was poor. The question was "Why is Nessie still allowed to operate." As a journalist, they could have rephrased the question to elicit a more interesting response and thus, a more interesting article. Then again, good journalism is a dying breed.
Just because millions of people have seen something doesn't mean that thing is famous. I think that's the mistake many people make when talking about Loch Ness Monster. Countless people have seen LNM's interlocking loops over the decades—in print, in video, and in person. Those loops have also been photographed countless times by what is almost certainly a truly astounding number of people. That said, something can be visually iconic while still not being even remotely famous.
Here's an example. How many people out there have seen this building before?
I'd imagine that most of you recognize having seen the building before and a handful of you may even know its name or where it's located. Do you know anything else about it though? Probably not.
I think Loch Ness Monster is in a similar situation. Many people are visually familiar with the interlocking loops. Far fewer can tell you what the name of the structure is or where it's located. Even fewer than that have any actual knowledge regarding the ride itself beyond that it has two interlocking loops. Contrast this with a coaster like Space Mountain, Matterhorn, or even something like Kingda Ka and you'll start to see the difference. Many people are familiar with those rides from a visual standpoint as well as from an experience standpoint. Random people on the street know that Kingda Ka is the tallest coaster in the world with a super fast launch and a vertical drop from 400+ feet and they know that Space Mountain is an old, entirely enclosed coaster in the dark where you fly through stairfields and whatnot.
Loch Ness Monster is, unquestionably, a visually iconic structure, I don't think it's a legitimately famous roller coaster though.
Here's an example. How many people out there have seen this building before?
I'd imagine that most of you recognize having seen the building before and a handful of you may even know its name or where it's located. Do you know anything else about it though? Probably not.
I think Loch Ness Monster is in a similar situation. Many people are visually familiar with the interlocking loops. Far fewer can tell you what the name of the structure is or where it's located. Even fewer than that have any actual knowledge regarding the ride itself beyond that it has two interlocking loops. Contrast this with a coaster like Space Mountain, Matterhorn, or even something like Kingda Ka and you'll start to see the difference. Many people are familiar with those rides from a visual standpoint as well as from an experience standpoint. Random people on the street know that Kingda Ka is the tallest coaster in the world with a super fast launch and a vertical drop from 400+ feet and they know that Space Mountain is an old, entirely enclosed coaster in the dark where you fly through stairfields and whatnot.
Loch Ness Monster is, unquestionably, a visually iconic structure, I don't think it's a legitimately famous roller coaster though.
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The Gherkin in London. ??
I may be the rare breed that knows that .
I may be the rare breed that knows that .
I think something can be famous even if you don't know the name of something. I think the image of LNM's interlocking loops is iconic and most people will at least have seen the image. I think this is the same with Revolution. A lot of people have seen it either in film or pictures but couldn't tell you it's name or where it is. I would still call both famous.
I think that for the majority of the public the only coasters that have name recognition are rides like Space Mountain, Cyclone and Matterhorn bobsleds. I think that rides like Kingda Ka, Fury 325 and such are not really well known and don't have them name recognition outside of the theme park enthusiast community. And I would definitely argue that more people have seen pictures of the iconic interlocking loops on LNM than just about any other coaster.
I think that for the majority of the public the only coasters that have name recognition are rides like Space Mountain, Cyclone and Matterhorn bobsleds. I think that rides like Kingda Ka, Fury 325 and such are not really well known and don't have them name recognition outside of the theme park enthusiast community. And I would definitely argue that more people have seen pictures of the iconic interlocking loops on LNM than just about any other coaster.
I would just to point out that that's prolly not true, and rather large overstatement, given the fact that I know of Kingda Ka's name and I think it's at a Six Flags park, but nothing else about it.
People are more likely to know Disney rides because Disney is far more wide spread, and the fact that they have many parks with rides that have, at the very least, similar names, if not similar looks. It's easier for people to recongnize Disney rides or name them, because Disney reaches more people. Space Mountain exists in some capacity every main Disney park except Shanghai. That's pretty big reach. Meanwhile Kingda Ka exists in one park.
I would equate LNM to like a song you hear on the radio, you've prolly heard it before. But you may not be able to name the song or band.
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Of course, the most seen coaster in popular culture is Westcoaster. TV shows, commercials, movies, I've even seen it represented in cartoons and stop motion!
This is the issue. People have a hard time figuring out the names of the rides at the park let alone months later at home. Coasters aren’t really featured in pop culture in a non fictional way. Except for the cyclone, westcoaster, and to some extent Disney rides the only exposure they get is advertising and the odd discovery channel special.
It might be hard to imagine living in va, but in Tampa, where I currently live and is home to the other BG, id say that only 40-60 percent of people around here are completely aware of the existence of BGW. For context, how many people in va do you think know of SDC? While BGW is on the heavily populated east coast, both parks are in moderately popular tourist areas and feature what I would say is a comparable scope in terms of local prolificality.
So out of those people who know of bgw, how many know of or can recognize anything about the Loch Ness monster? It’s hard as enthusiasts but frankly, I don’t think people care. But everyone goes to Disney and space mountain has been one of the big kid rides for ages, so it gets by on that clout.
As an engineer though, those loops are beautiful. I love the aches especially.
Re: Kingda Ka. I was only speaking from my own experience. I've had MANY people who are most certainly not even close to being enthusiasts ask me if I've ridden Kingda Ka when they've learned I travel around riding coasters for fun. In my own anecdotal experience, far more people I speak to seem to know about highly-marketable, often-featured-in-the-media, record-breakers like Ka, Dragster, etc. than older, less Travel-Channel-special-or-Guinness-World-Records-friendly rides like Loch Ness Monster.
I didn't reply to your post for a reason. I was speaking much more broadly.
I didn't reply to your post for a reason. I was speaking much more broadly.
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I think that ka might be due partially to geography. Down here in Florida I think cedar point is more popular in general than any of the coasters up the east coast. Probably due to Orlando.
It's in tons of movies and tv due to it's location.
Ah, that makes sense. I guess I've never seen any of those movies. Or if I did I didn't take notice of the coaster.