GCI Wooden

So, Switchback at ZDT's got #5 for "Best New Ride of 2016". Didn't it open last year? I remember it opened late in the season, but it still opened in 2015, right?

What about both of those and Whizzer beating Raptor?

Amusement Today held their annual golden ticket awards event this year at Cedar Point, and here's a list of all the recipients! Official Page complete with articles and images Best Steel Coaster 1.) Fury 325 at Carowinds 2.) Millennium Force at Cedar Point 3.) Superman at Six Flags New England 4.) Expedition Geforce at Holiday Park 5.) Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure 6.) Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Willamsburg 7.) Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland 8.) Intimidator at Carowinds 9.) Diamondback at Kings Island 10.) Phantom's Revenge at Kennywood 11.) Nemesis at Alton Towers 12.) Maverick at Cedar Point 13.) Banshee at Kings Island 14.) Blue Fire at Europa-Park 15.) Magnum XL-200 at Cedar Point 16.) New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas 17.) Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion 18.) Wicked Cyclone at Six Flags New England 19.) Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point 20.) Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia 21.) Iron Rattler at Six Flags Fiesta Texas 22.) Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa 23.) X2 at Six Flags Magic Mountain 24.) Behemoth at Canada's Wonderland 25.) Black Mamba at Phantasialand 26.) Twisted Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain 27.) Mind Bender at Six Flags Over Georgia 28.) Storm Chaser at Kentucky Kingdom 29.) Helix at Liseberg 30.) Alpengeist at Busch Gardens Williamsburg 31.) Goliath at La Ronde 32.) Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America (Tie) 32.) Taron at Phantasialand (Tie) 34.) Thunderbird at Holiday World 35.) Mako at Seaworld Orlando 36.) Wild Eagle at Dollywood 37.) Steel Force at Dorney Park 38.) Lisebergbanan at Liseberg 39.) Cheetah Hunt at Busch Gardens Tampa 40.) Euro-Mir at Europa-Park (Tie) 40.) Medusa Steel Coaster at Six Flags Mexico (Tie) 42.) Cannibal at Lagoon (Tie) 42.) Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa (Tie) 44.) Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom 45.) Whizzer at Six Flags Great America 46.) Olympia Looping at Weiner Prater 47.) Raptor at Cedar Point 48.) Bizarro at Six Flags Great Adventure 49.) Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom (Tie) 49.) Gatekeeper at Cedar Point (Tie) Best Wooden Coaster 1.) Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce 2.) Phoenix at Knoebels Amusement Resort 3.) El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure 4.) The Voyage at Holiday World 5.) Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer 6.) The Beast at Kings Island 7.) Thunderhead at Dollywood 8.) Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City 9.) Gold Striker at California's Great Adventure 10.) Lightning Racer at Hersheypark 11.) Lightning Rod at Dollywood 12.) Balder at Liseberg 13.) Goliath at Six Flags Great America 14.) Prowler at Worlds of Fun 15.) The Raven at Holiday World 16.) The Legend at Holiday World 17.) Giant Dipper at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk 18.) Colossus at Heide Park 19.) Shivering Timbers at Michigan's Adventure 20.) Jack Rabbit at Kennywood 21.) Thunderbolt at Kennywood 22.) Cú Chulainn at Tayto Park 23.) Wodan at Europa Park 24.) Troy at Toverland 25.) Comet at The Great Escape (Tie) 25.) El Toro at Freitzeitpark Plohn (Tie) 27.) Cyclone at Luna Park 28.) Wildfire at Kolmården 29.) Ghostrider at Knott's Berry Farm 30.) Playland Wooden Coaster at Playland 31.) The Boss at Six Flags St. Louis 32.) Wild Mouse at Blackpool Pleasure Beach 33.) American Thunder at Six Flags St. Louis 34.) White Lightning at Fun Spot America 35.) Megafobia at Oakwood Leisure Park 36.) Hades 360 at Mount Olympus 37.) Rampage at Alabama Splash Adventure 38.) Blue Streak at Conneaut Lake Park 39.) Screamin' Eagle at Six Flags St. Louis 40.) Tremors at Silverwood 41.) Flying Turns at Knoebels Amusement Resort 42.) Blue Streak at Cedar Point 43.) Racer at Kennywood 44.) T Express at Everland 45.) Twister at Gröna Lund 46.) Wooden Warrior at Quassy Amusement Park 47.) Twister at Knoebels Amusement Resort 48.) Kentucky Rumbler at Beech Bend 49.) Wood Coaster at Knight Valley Best New Attraction for 2016 (Amusement Park) 1.) Lightning Rod at Dollywood 2.) Storm Chaser at Kentucky Kingdom 3.) Mako at Seaworld Orlando 4.) Valravn at Cedar Point 5.) Switchback at ZDT's Best New Ride for 2016 (Water Park) 1.) Massiv at Schlitterbahn Galveston Island 2.) Blackbeard's Revenge at Carowinds 3.) Cyclone Saucers at Beech Bend (Tie) 3.) Tropical Plunge at Kings Island (Tie) 5.) Wonambi at Raging Waves Best Park 1.) Europa-Park 2.) Cedar Point 3.) Dollywood 4.) Knoebels Amusement Resort 5.) Universal's Islands of Adventure 6.) Blackpool Pleasure Beach 7.) Busch Gardens Williamsburg 8.) Phantasialand 9.) Alton Towers (Tie) 9.) Tokyo DisneySea (Tie) Best Water Park 1.) Schlitterbahn New Braunfels 2.) Splashin' Safari 3.) Dollywood's Splash Country 4.) Blizzard Beach 5.) Aquatica Best Children’s Park 1.) Idlewild & SoakZone 2.) Storybook Land 3.) Legoland California (Tie) 3.) Storyland (Tie) 5.) Paulton's Park Best Marine Life Park 1.) SeaWorld Orlando 2.) Seaworld San Diego 3.) Seaworld San Antonio 4.) Six Flags Discovery Kingdom 5.) Discovery Cove (Tie) 5.) Ocean Park (Tie) Best Seaside Park 1.) Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk 2.) Blackpool Pleasure Beach 3.) Morey's Piers 4.) Gröna Lund 5.) Luna Park Best Kids’ Area 1.) Kings Island 2.) Efteling 3.) Paultons Park 4.) Knott's Berry Farm 5.) Kings Dominion (Tie) 5.) Nickelodeon Universe (Tie) Cleanest Park 1.) Holiday World & Splashin' Safari 2.) Dollywood 3.) Europa-Park 4.) Disneyland 5.) Busch Gardens Williamsburg Friendliest Park 1.) Dollywood 2.) Holiday World 3.) Silver Dollar City 4.) Knoebels Amusement Resort 5.) Adventure Island Best Shows 1.) Dollywood 2.) Six Flags Fiesta Texas 3.) Silver Dollar City 4.) Disney's California Adventure 5.) Europa-Park Best Landscaping 1.) Busch Gardens Williamsburg 2.) Gilroy Gardens 3.) Efteling 4.) Dollywood 5.) Epcot Best Food 1.) Knoebels Amusement Resort 2.) Dollywood 3.) Epcot 4.) Silver Dollar City 5.) Europa-Park Best Carousel 1.) Knoebels Amusement Resort 2.) Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk 3.) Six Flags Great America 4.) Efteling 5.) Six Flags Over Georgia Best Water Ride (Park) 1.) Valhalla at Blackpool Pleasure Beach 2.) Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls at Universal's Islands of Adventure 3.) Chiapas at Phantasialand (Tie) 3.) Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-rat Barges at Universal's Islands of Adventure (Tie) 3.) Splash Mountain at Magic Kingdom (Tie) 3.) Timber Mountain Log Ride at Knott's Berry Farm (Tie) Best Water Park Ride 1.) Wildebeest at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari 2.) Mammoth at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari 3.) Master Blaster at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels 4.) The Falls at Schlitterbahn New Braunfels Best Dark Ride 1.) Tower of Terror at Walt Disney World 2.) Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal's Islands of Adventure 3.) Harry Potter / Escape from Gringotts at Universal's Orlando 4.) Haunted Mansion at Knoebel's Amusement Resort 5.) Radiator Springs Racers at Disney California Adventure Best Indoor Roller Coaster 1.) Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Orlando Resort 2.) Space Mountain at Disneyland 3.) Winja's Fear and Force at Phantasialand 4.) Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom 5.) Black Diamond at Knoebels Amusement Resort Best Funhouse/Walk-Through 1.) Noah's Ark at Kennywood Park 2.) Ghost Ship at Morey's Piers 3.) Gasten Ghost Hotel at Liseberg 4.) Frankenstein's Castle at Indiana Beach 5.) Lustiga Huset at Gröna Lund Best Halloween Event 1.) Universal Orlando Resort 2.) Knott's Berry Farm 3.) Knoebels Amusement Resort 4.) Kennywood 5.) Busch Gardens Tampa Best Christmas Event 1.) Dollywood 2.) Disneyland 3.) Silver Dollar City 4.) Magic Kingdom 5.) Kennywood Publisher's Pick Awards: Supplier of the Year Bolliger & Mabillard Person of the Year Raffi Kaprelyan, VP & General Manager (currently Regional VP, Cedar Fair) at Knott's Berry Farm Renaissance Award Ed Hart, General Manager at Kentucky Kingdom Park of the Year Cedar Point 2016 AIMS International Safety Award Harold Hudson

Yep, Eastern time Like last year, I plan on making a thread for the Golden Ticket Awards once the list is published. You'd better buckle up for this one. Oh, I'm excited. The live stream wasn't working for me, so I have pretty much no idea what to expect, but knowing these particular awards, it'll be interesting (And confusing) to see what gets chosen.

Yep, Eastern time Like last year, I plan on making a thread for the Golden Ticket Awards once the list is published.

Yep, that's really the only reason I go to Haunt events, the extremely late closings (Either 1AM or midnight). I mean, the fog and lighting the these events are really cool, but night rides are simply amazing!

Bill never fails to just make my day

^ Some people need to learn to control their temper.

You're pictures are incredible, Andy! Loved all the sunset shots and I'm always a fan of long exposures at theme parks at night. Thanks for posting!

Nice report! I've been meaning to get to this park for a while, but have never made the drive down to Lake Okoboji (Being north of the metro makes that a pretty long drive). I'm glad to see that they retracked Legend and are still operating their log flume! I remember hearing that Legend had gotten pretty rough, and log flumes keep disappearing unfortunately.

QFT I read your comment before reading the article, so I expected a strong CF presence, but good Lord! Same here, I was expecting a large majority, not 100% Cedar Fair parks. And if I'm not mistaken, that's all the Cedar Fair parks that have Halloween events.

I may have some home park bias but I actually think it's a pretty nice park, and most complaints are unwarranted (Like most enthusiast complaints). If you can, get some night rides on Renegade, I have to say this to everyone that goes because it is visibly faster at night. And Charlie Brown Wind-Up is interesting because it feels like you're going to slide out the back of the seat. Have fun!

People should never go in the haunted houses with the No-Boo necklaces. That is the dumbest thing ever. I totally understand them in the Midway scare-zones, because you need to go through them to reach certain attractions. But they should never be taken into a maze.

I assume they're painting it in between dispatches. Yes, Vortex closed for good a couple days ago. I also have to say that the new paint looks great!

^Huh, that's really interesting. It's truly amazing how many different types of flat rides there are.

What was wrong with Enterprise's exit? It was 2 exit gates, on either side of the control panel/booth. The paths merged behind the control booth and to a single exit gate. I don't understand what's wrong with that setup. It gets people out of the ride area quickly. I would guess he means how it exited back into the main park and nowhere near the entrance to the ride What PhantomPoster32 said. It was very inconvenient. Especially for re-rides or for those that wanted to go into Route 76 afterwards. Because why hit it on the way back when it's right there? Gotcha. That part is pretty strange. I don't spend much time back in Route 76 so this was actually a convenience (Maybe that's why they did it, to give people a shortcut back to the park, because I don't think anything existed down Route 76 for quite some time after Enterprise. Don't quote me on that, though.).

What was wrong with Enterprise's exit? It was 2 exit gates, on either side of the control panel/booth. The paths merged behind the control booth and to a single exit gate. I don't understand what's wrong with that setup. It gets people out of the ride area quickly.

They're running the train right now, so nope! At least not yet.

We now have a North Star webcam.

Agreed, that thing is awesome, and one of the smoothest rides out there. By the way, if you haven't done it already, try to get a seat way out on the edge.

It was running 2 the entire time we were there, but I'm pretty sure that they have a third. It was also pretty empty the day we were there. We walked on to most rides, except for Monster and Underground (For some reason). Thanks! Small parks are awesome, and if you're on a trip they really help breaking up drive times between the huge parks. I also didn't know that Moser made Top Spins. Thanks for pointing that out.

... it's too early for this. I really don't get what everybody's problem with these things are. It seems that everybody that has actually ridden one really likes the 4D's. Seriously, has anyone heard anything negative about them from people who have actually ridden them? I have ridden one. It's good, not great. When you've been starved of steel for several years and there isn't a steel coaster that's unique, it's a big let down. That's all. And there are other 4ds around to ride, so it's a huge letdown if that's what we get a bone thrown to SFStL in the form of "steel". Except the nearest 4D to Six Flags St. Louis is nearly 14 hours away in Texas. You have to realize that 90% of the people that go to Six Flags St. Louis wouldn't even know that the others exists. This seems kinda like the Batman situation, where people pass of a good ride because it's a clone.

Yes. I predict that many enthusiasts will feel entitled and butt hurt at the same time. But really, how is that different from most other days?

... it's too early for this. I really don't get what everybody's problem with these things are. It seems that everybody that has actually ridden one really likes the 4D's. Seriously, has anyone heard anything negative about them from people who have actually ridden them?

Thanks for reading! The atmosphere of the park is quite "quaint", and a nice change after visiting all corporate parks this year.