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Mitch Hawker's 2008 Wood & Steel Coaster Poll Results


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I think Maverick should be up a little higher as well as Griffon.

 

^ No, no. I meant what I said. Most of these parks only open the coasters one day out of the year and we always schedule our visits on that day. In fact, I believe Everland has ONLY opened Eagle's Fortress on the day we are there and in fact closed it to the general public on our day, so for the year of 2008, the ONLY riders were the TPR members!

 

Same thing with Atlantis Adventure and Kawasemi. Korea and Japan have some very strict maintenance laws and each of those coasters has to be totally demolished and re-built from scratch every year so there are only about 6 operating days (if you're lucky) which you can ride each one.

 

I'm pretty sure there not many more people than the ones who have taken the Mitch Hawker poll have ridden these coasters.

 

I absoultely meant what I said. No need to try to correct me.

 

--Robb

 

That's really interesting. How can you possible make money off operating a park like that? It sounds like maintenance over there costs a lot more than the ride actually draws people into the park and it's just not worth the effort.

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^I was thinking the same thing, why bother putting up a coaster if it's only going to be up 6 days a year. I know the Japanese are a very rich nation (or were) but $20 million lawn ornaments would be a bit much.

 

I'm going to keep saying it, more megalite.

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Same thing with Atlantis Adventure and Kawasemi. Korea and Japan have some very strict maintenance laws and each of those coasters has to be totally demolished and re-built from scratch every year so there are only about 6 operating days (if you're lucky) which you can ride each one.

 

That just seems mad, all that money for hardly any operating days

I guess you learn something new every day though! If I had heard this off any of my non enthusiast friend (wait, thats all of them) there's no way I would have believed them.

 

As for the poll, I'm not really well travelled in coaster terms, but its nice to see Nemesis in the top 10, as its my favourite ride. I don't get why people moan so much also about where rides get ranked though, unless theres been some obvious sabotage attempt by a group of people. It doesnt really take away your enjoyment of a coaster if other people dont like it as much as you =]

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^I was thinking the same thing, why bother putting up a coaster if it's only going to be up 6 days a year. I know the Japanese are a very rich nation (or were) but $20 million lawn ornaments would be a bit much.

 

It's true dude. Didn't you hear about the accident on Fujin Raijin II at Expoland? Well, the Japanese changed the maintenance laws on coasters after that. Except the situation is even worse than Robb describes. The coasters are only open about 6 days every two years. It is true that they have to tear the coasters down and rebuild them after every 6 days of operation, but what Robb neglected to mention is the strict union rules involved in roller coaster construction in Japan.

 

They have to give a minimum of 3 months off for every 2 weeks that they work. So, it takes about two years to fully tear down and rebuild that coaster for those 6 days of operation.

 

Also, you're really only going to get about 1 day open to the public, if you're lucky, because they usually rent the coasters out to clubs for about 5 days straight. Even then, they're only allowed to run those coasters for about an hour per day. And to do that, they have to install new trains and test them for each day of operation.

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Wow, do you guys believe everything posted on the internet? I know people who have gone to Japan on different days than TPR and have seen/been on these coasters. Mostly Fuji-Q WHICH IS in Japan. And well, I hate to go back to the one week where I visited 4-chan, but I believe their statement sums it up the best; "Pics or didn't happen"

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woah you reply fast, I was about to delete my post, because I think i realized it was an on-going joke to those that didn't get it, and wanted to see how many more people didn't get it. I feel dumb now, I see this stuff happen all the time on TPR, but this one, I for some reason thought, that people were being on honest and not silly.

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Wow, how depressing...I have not been on a single top 10 woodie! To top that I have been on about 1/2 of the 10 worst. Then...to top that...I haven't been on any of the top 10 steelies either! I've been on I think like 250 coasters...man.

 

I didn't vote this year...I got the email because I voted last year. I put a star next to the email and figured I would come back to it later. I personally find the voting to be a pain which is why I didn't vote right away. Any poll that starts off with "Copy the ballot form into Notepad" j just seems like a pain- I had to submit three times last year. I know a bunch of people that don't vote because they think the system is too much of a hassle.

 

The only reason I bring this up is that means that this poll is turning into the same basically as the ACE poll or similar ones which are complained about wherein only a certain group of people vote and the results are predictable.

 

From coasters I have been on I am only surprised that Maverick is ranked so high- my ears are still bleeding. Then again I have a large frame and smaller framed people do seem to like it more than me.

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The only reason I bring this up is that means that this poll is turning into the same basically as the ACE poll or similar ones which are complained about wherein only a certain group of people vote and the results are predictable.

But that's not the case. This poll doens't just add up a score for each coaster like a traditional poll would it actually matches and compares against each person's ballot and ranks the coasters accordinly even if you've only been on 5 coasters.

 

IMO, I didn't think the results were predictable at all! I really though that Voyage would be #1 again and if anything would beat it out it might have been El Toro.

 

And as for steel coasters go, S:ROS is a hard to beat #1 although it didn't run as good as it normally does this year.

 

I personally think that EGF is still the better Intamin steel coaster, but I feel that Mitch's method is the most fair out there and if he says enough people ranked S:ROS as #1 then it deserves it even if I personally disagree.

 

--Robb

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The only reason I bring this up is that means that this poll is turning into the same basically as the ACE poll or similar ones which are complained about wherein only a certain group of people vote and the results are predictable.

 

Special thanks to the 629 people who took the time to participate in the 2008 poll (all 629 ballots)

and more than two dozen great roller coaster sites that linked to the poll.

I think 629 people across more than two dozen coaster sites, at least to me, seems hardly like "a certain group of people." Instead, it sounds like a fair amount of enthusiasts. To those who want to whine about the suggested influence of TPR on the top ten results, go ride 'em yourself, then maybe your opinion will be slightly more valid - and perhaps you might start to agree with those who've actually experienced what else is out there in the world. In other words, quality member trips to foreign coasters > building a mythical museum. I'm just sayin'.

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^Love ya!

 

Seriously though, I don't understand how people can question our rankings when they haven't been on it themselves? And then they're bitching because they haven't been on it! Come on one of our trips and make your mind up for yourself!

 

We're going to ride Piraten next year, I'm sure we'll then qualify it to be a valid top 5! (As it should be since Kawasemi is a clone and was amazing!)

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I didn't vote this year...I got the email because I voted last year. I put a star next to the email and figured I would come back to it later. I personally find the voting to be a pain which is why I didn't vote right away. Any poll that starts off with "Copy the ballot form into Notepad" j just seems like a pain- I had to submit three times last year. I know a bunch of people that don't vote because they think the system is too much of a hassle.

 

The only reason I bring this up is that means that this poll is turning into the same basically as the ACE poll or similar ones which are complained about wherein only a certain group of people vote and the results are predictable.

 

I can only speak for myself, but my rankings are not static. I force myself to create an entirely new ballot each year. My rankings change a lot as I ride new stuff.

 

I also change them based on re-rides. For example, Voyage was my #2 in the woodie poll in 2006, but this year it was ranked in my #20 group because I think that coaster is getting rougher than I like. Montu was my #1 steel in 2006 and #2 in 2007. But I wasn't as impressed with Montu this year. So, I dropped it to my #15 grouping.

 

Right now my #1 steel and overall is Expedition GeForce. The rides we got on that this summer were spectacular. Some of the best rides I've ever had. And I'm probably going to get out to Holiday Park to ride it again next summer before the Scandi trip. If EGF doesn't perform as well next year, I'll drop it down a bit if I wind up liking something like Piraten more.

 

In a sense, I think it's good that the poll takes some effort to participate in. People just might be forced to slow down and think about things instead of just mindlessly clicking away.

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I'm pretty happy with the top 10. Four of my top rides made it (haven't ridden Voyage, T Express, Ravine Flyer, Boulder Dash, or Aska).

 

Intamin's domination of the poll doesn't surprise me one bit--their rides kick butt.

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Just to play it safe I like to go by Gary Kyriazi list of top 10 Wood

 

1. Coney Island Cyclone

2. Mister Twister

3. Santa Cruz Giant Dipper

4. Beast

5. Colossus

6. Screamin Eagle

7. Great American Scream Machine

8. Racer Kings Island

9. Rolling Thunder

10. Gemini

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**Got beat to it.

 

 

I'm happy with Voyage's spot. I personally didn't think it would rank that high, with the pre-fab's rising popularity...

 

Interesting to see that only one GCI made the Top Ten. Will this make the company realize they need to step it up a notch, or will they really give a sh...?

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Random things:

 

SheiKra (17) is better then Griffon (21)

 

X2 (28) is SFMM best ride, with Tatsu (30) right behind.

 

Eejanaika is 218 places behind X2.

 

Rita - Queen of Speed (123) and Desert Race (124), are as far as I can tell, the only "clones" that are ranked side-by-side. Joker's Jinx (143), Flight Of Fear (145), and Poltergeist (147) are all one coaster apart. (The other Flight of Fear is 156.)

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Interesting to see that only one GCI made the Top Ten. Will this make the company realize they need to step it up a notch, or will they really give a sh...?

GCI makes a VERY solid product that parks and GP absolutely *LOVE*

 

I'm not sure you'll see GCI trying to push the envelope when they don't need to. There is always going to be room for a really solid medium-sized, low maintenance woodie that a high percentage of park patrons can enjoy.

 

And that is pretty much what GCI's product is!

 

--Robb

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