Big Leaps and Big Risks

By the 1980s Dutch manufacturer Vekoma had begun manufacturing its own steel coasters. In fact, Arrow had been the one who taught their competitor how to manufacture tubular steel tracks and as their competitor grew, Arrow began to decline. Arrow, known as Arrow-Huss at the time, would face its first bankruptcy in 1984 but would reemerge as Arrow Dynamics Inc. Arrow Dynamics sought to reclaim its power in a big way.

In 1989, Cedar Point would debut the world’s first hypercoaster, Magnum XL-200 manufactured by Arrow Dynamics. Magnum XL-200 would be the tallest full-circuit coaster in the world and would set the stage for a period of immense growth and innovation amongst coaster manufacturers called “The Coaster Wars.”

After manufacturing many more steel looping coasters throughout the 1990s, Arrow would once again face financial difficulties. They sought to create something new and innovative that would bring them back from the brink of bankruptcy. In the early 2000s, Six Flags Magic Mountain sought to add one of the biggest and most ambitious coasters of all time.

Six Flags wanted to purchase Arrow Dynamics’ 4-dimensional coaster model; however, they would ask for the coaster to be much larger than the initial prototype.  Arrow began manufacturing X for the park in 2000. Unfortunately, the coaster would drain all of Arrow’s resources and finances.  The company would lose millions of dollars and ultimately end up filing for bankruptcy before the coaster was completed in 2002. It is said that the coaster ended up costing 45 million dollars.  

Arrow's assets would be sold to S&S Power (now S&S Worldwide). S&S would continue to maintain the Arrow coasters still operating and even use some of Arrow's ideas to create new coasters. S&S would work with Rocky Mountain Construction to improve upon Arrow's initial 4D concept.

The S&S Free Spin coaster is now the most popular 4D coaster on the market. They would also improve upon the concepts used to build X and go on to create Ejanaika and Dinoconda in Asia. 

The impact of Arrow Development on the theme park industry is immeasurable. Their groundbreaking work in tubular steel track technology revolutionized roller coaster design, paving the way for other coaster manufacturers who nearly all use variations of Arrow’s track technology.

The company's legacy lives on not only in the rides that still operate today but also in the inspiration it provided to subsequent generations of ride designers and manufacturers. It is undeniable that many of the attractions we love today would not exist without Arrow’s pioneering innovations.