Mitch Hawker's 2007 Steel Coaster Poll Results

[Shockwave]

Let the debating begin.

 

 

For the seventh year in a row, the same two steel roller coasters are in the top two of the poll.

Six Flags New England's Superman: Ride of Steel lost no mutual rider comparisons to other steel coasters, winning the comparison

to #2 Expedition GeForce 13 to 9 (EGF's only mutual rider loss). SRoS did lose it's comparison to "Favorite Wood Coaster" 51 to 46.

 

Eagle's Fortress is included as a perhaps controversial #3 with an asterisk. Only six of the fifteen year old Korean ride's riders

participated in the poll but they are all well travelled enthusiasts and all rated it in their top ten.

 

Three coasters finished tied with six mutual rider comparison losses and one tie and were ordered based on the mutual rider comparisons

between the three of them. Millennium Force is placed at #4 as it was preferred by mutual riders to both #5 Katun and to #6 Nemesis.

 

Georgia's version of Goliath finished #7, while Holland's Goliath came in at #8, edging #9 Nitro among mutual riders. Maverick was tops

among 'new for 2007' rides, debuting at #10. Griffon also debuted well, at #13 it is the only other 'new for 2007' ride among the top 50.

 

"Favorite Wood Coaster" would have finished 4th this year, losing only its comparisons to 5 of the top European Steel Coasters. It would

appear that the wooden roller coasters being compared to those European steel roller coasters are not quite as beloved as those wooden

roller coasters being compared to the North American Steel coasters.

 

Goudurix reclaimed its spot this year at the bottom of the poll.

 

Participation was up this year to 592 ballots, easily surpassing last year's record of 415.

 

Big surprise to see Eagle's Fortress that high up, but I have to say it thoroughly deserves it. It was an awesome ride.

 

Full list here:

 

http://www.ushsho.com/detailedsteelrollercoasterpollresults2007.htm

[alpengeist04]

It's nice to see Florida well represented as usual, but I'm a little disappointed with ROTM's placement. Still, not many surprises at first glance.

[RIP Psyclone]

X: 57

Eejanaika: 286

 

[ginzo]

Everything looks pretty good, except MF is vastly overrated again.

 

Gonna be funny to see the reaction to Eagle Fortress's ranking. I fully expect groans of "not statistically significant" from people who wouldn't know a Chi square test from T'ai Chi.

[Absimilliard]

Oh my... there's going to be some violent reactions (on certain websites to Eagle's Fortress ranking). TPR is again going to be blamed for messing up the poll!

[ginzo]

Oh my... there's going to be some violent reactions (on certain websites to Eagle's Fortress ranking). TPR is again going to be blamed for messing up the poll!

 

Yeah, God forbid that a coaster off the beaten path would have a chance in the poll. Everyone knows that if it's not at Cedar Point then it must automatically suck.

[Shockwave]

Oh my... there's going to be some violent reactions (on certain websites to Eagle's Fortress ranking). TPR is again going to be blamed for messing up the poll!

 

Yep. Damn our worldwide travelling for putting Eagle Fortress up there and giving all the idiot fanboys something to cry about!

 

That ride went like a bastard from the moment you left the lift hill. Everyone's face was shocked after the first run in the morning!

[haux]

I've never even heard of Eagle Fortress. Wow. I need to find more pictures of it if it's really that good.

 

Maverick is No. 10. I'm pretty impressed. And Blue Flash would have been No. 180, but it had fewer than six riders. Thanks in part to me! Haha.

[Loefet]

^Pictures are hard to get, but here is a POV:

 

 

Yeah, Eagle Fortress Is one of the best coasters I have ever been on. I didn't have any ideas how the ride would be, but it really blew me away.

Even if we got a few good rides in the morning, the one I got later in the day was a lot better, just want to ride at night.

[Absimilliard]

Same for me! I liked it so much I ranked it number 1! Yep, ahead of Superman at SFNE.

[Meteornotes]

Eagle Fortress is insane. I did not vote in the poll (I've been on way too many steel coasters, and there's no easy way to get around that), but it would have been in my top 10. And it's almost impossible to take pictures of it, at least without getting permission to go into some backstage area, as it's totally invisible from the park.

 

It totally deserves its place in the poll. More people need to travel out of Ohio and experience new things...

 

dt

[nemesis-storm]

That ride went like a bastard from the moment you left the lift hill. Everyone's face was shocked after the first run in the morning!

 

Tom, that's a understatement & a half !!.

 

Definitely, the best Arrow ever made.

But ... without hopefully starting a 'war of words' IMHO it's not a top 10 coaster for me.

 

I agree with Dave, it was a very hard coaster to take pictures of .

[XII]

Just a question. What exactly makes Eagle Fortress so great that it became #3 on the list? I haven't read a review of the ride so I have no idea what it does that convinces TPR Members to rank it so high.

Anyways, it's good to see MAverick in the Top 10

[alpengeist04]

Everything looks pretty good, except MF is vastly overrated again.

 

Gonna be funny to see the reaction to Eagle Fortress's ranking.

 

LOL, this shoud be very entertaining. The fanboys still can't let go of the fact that S:ROS and EGF get ranked ahead of MF every year, and now this. Oh, the humanity.

 

 

...and wait till next year with T-Express.

[the sound]

My top rated coaster came 6th. Woo.

 

Funniest thing in this poll: Mick Doohan's motcoaster came second last!

[mightypotato]

I just saw the POV of Eagle Fortress...

 

O

M

G

 

That thing is friggin' INSANE. I can see why it was ranked so high.

[XII]

^^^T Express is a woodie and won't be in the poll. So they don't have to worry about that.

[Shockwave]

Just a question. What exactly makes Eagle Fortress so great that it became #3 on the list? I haven't read a review of the ride so I have no idea what it does that convinces TPR Members to rank it so high.

Anyways, it's good to see MAverick in the Top 10

 

Well here's your answer staring you straight in the face.

 

Yeah, Eagle Fortress Is one of the best coasters I have ever been on. I didn't have any ideas how the ride would be, but it really blew me away.

Even if we got a few good rides in the morning, the one I got later in the day was a lot better, just want to ride at night.

 

Same for me! I liked it so much I ranked it number 1! Yep, ahead of Superman at SFNE.

 

That ride went like a bastard from the moment you left the lift hill. Everyone's face was shocked after the first run in the morning!

 

Tom, that's a understatement & a half !!.

 

Definitely, the best Arrow ever made.

 

Eagle Fortress is insane. I did not vote in the poll (I've been on way too many steel coasters, and there's no easy way to get around that), but it would have been in my top 10. And it's almost impossible to take pictures of it, at least without getting permission to go into some backstage area, as it's totally invisible from the park.

 

It totally deserves its place in the poll. More people need to travel out of Ohio and experience new things...

 

dt

 

Everyone who voted Eagle Fortress had a big coaster count, a lot of years experience and know exactly what they're talking about when they say it's a world class ride. It really is that good. And even Dave and myself who didn't vote because we didn't have time agree with them.

[Force 310]

Eagle Fortress was a very nice surprise appearing in the top 5. I may never get the chance to ride it, but from the POV, it looks like an easy top 10. It's one of the most relentless, disorienting coasters that I have ever seen. If only it weren't trapped in a permanent position of semi-obscurity...

 

Millennium Force is a few places higher than it reasonably should be. Never mind the username.

[steel]

Glad to see that Patriot is in the top 50 this year (and that Talon is not - goes to show just how different the two rides are). People seem to be giving that ride a chance now that it's been in place for a year.

 

Mamba is WAY too low.

 

Eagle Fortress looks insane. From the video, it looks like a cross between Big Bad Wolf and Beast. Where on earth could you go wrong with that?

[itsme102]

Darn, that video link isn't working for me, I can't find any good videos of Eagle Fortress, I never even heard of it before...Damn me for not being well traveled!

[Carnage]

Darn, that video link isn't working for me, I can't find any good videos of Eagle Fortress, I never even heard of it before...Damn me for not being well traveled!

 

You just need to remove the extra http that he included with the link. Try this one:

 

[itsme102]

^ Thanks, I didn't even bother to look at the link, I just clicked it.

 

Wow! That looks insane! I want to go to Korea and ride that NOW!!

[yankees15]

I am pretty happy with the poll results this year, but I think a few coasters should have been a little higher. I feel Storm Runner should be in the top 15 and Talon should be in the top 50. This is just my opinion though.

[OldJJman]

I, too, COMPLETELY agree with Eagle Fortress's placement in the poll.

 

I, like a couple others, didn't vote in the poll due to the sheer numbers involved.

 

However, Eagle Fortress really deserves it's place in the poll. Personally, I have it ranked at #4 (out of 670 steel).

 

Here's the story from my perspective, of the TPR trip there last September.

 

It was kind of cool and damp when we got there in the morning. We had ERT on Eagle Fortress. An Arrow suspended. Oh effen joy. Who cares. As we walked up, the little bit of the ride you can actually see, seemed rusted and dilapidated. Fine. Let's get the credit and move on.

 

With massive amounts of apprehension on everyone's part, we slowly filled the seats of the train. The lift hill was a bit steep, still not revealing much of the ride. At the top where we disengaged from the chain, we were near the outskirts of the parks' perimeter. The turnaround was maybe 8-10 feet off the ground. As the last car came off the chain and we started going downhill, everything that followed was bat-out-of-hell, WTF was that!!!

 

It just kept getting faster and faster, swinging wider and wider to both sides! Extremely smooth! We got back to the station and we were cheering. NOT a faux cheer, to please the host park (Everland) as can be common in many events, but a real cheer. The TPR people in the station who didn't make the first train, thought we were giving them the biggest BS of our lives.

 

Yet, from that moment on, everyone tried to get as many rides as possible (myself included). The train never went out with an empty seat after that. The thing was absolutely amazing!!

 

T-Express may be a large part of the draw for me to head back with TPR to Korea in September, but T-Express is still an unknown. Seriously, I could go back just for Eagle Fortress and be just as happy. It IS that good.

 

Think Big Bad Wolf's drop over the Rhine river. With NO trim brakes. No shuffling. Side to side, past vertical. For a full minute. It is amazing.

 

 

And, it's an Arrow! W-T-F???

 

 

 

JJ