Mitch Hawker's Coaster Poll 2009!

[robbalvey]

^ It's so funny because I far, far, FAR prefer your woodie! Those rides we took when TPR was out, OMG. Some of the best coaster rides I'd had in a long time. And Rampage was not running "comfortable" *AT ALL!!!*

 

But it's just more of my kind of ride than Voyage is. I can't explain it. And I don't hate Voyage, it just doesn't do it for me like Rampage or Boulder Dash, Raven, or even other TGG's like Ravine Flyer II or Fireball does.

 

--Robb "Most TPR members came away from Rampage needing serious therapy, mental and physical after that night!" Alvey

[Skycoastin Steve]

^Rampage is most definitely not for the weak.

 

I actually think it's one of the few coasters that I've like more and more as I've ridden it time and time again. Sad thing is, I keep riding better woodies and bumping Rampage down my rankings. How does that work?

 

--Steve "Why couldn't I have ridden it before GCI and TGG started making coasters?" Burant

[Meteornotes]

Those rides we had on Rampage during the Deep South trip this summer were some of the best coaster rides I have ever had. Even if I thought the coaster was going to eat my bones at some point...

 

dt

[Guy T. Koepp]

My steel listing is in.

 

Let the disputes commence!

 

THE TOP 20

 

Favorite Wood Coaster Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,1

Bizarro/ S:RoS SF New England MA,y,n,2

Nitro Six Flags Great Ad NJ,y,n,3

Diamondback Kings Island OH,y,y,4

Apollo's Chariot Busch Gardens Euro VA,y,y,5

Kumba Busch Gardens Afri FL,y,n,6

Alpengeist Busch Gardens Euro VA,y,y,7

Ride of Steel Darien Lake NY,y,n,8

Montu Busch Gardens Afri FL,y,n,9

Griffon Busch Gardens Euro VA,y,y,10

SheiKra Busch Gardens Afri FL,y,n,11

Matterhorn Bobsleds Disneyland CA,y,y,12

Space Mountain Disneyland CA,y,y,13

Goliath Six Flags Magic Mo CA,y,y,14

Tatsu Six Flags Magic Mo CA,y,y,15

X2 Six Flags Magic Mo CA,y,y,16

Revenge of the Mummy Universal Studios FL,y,n,17

Space Mountain WDW Magic Kingdom FL,y,n,18

Goliath Six Flags Over Geo GA,y,n,19

Titan Six Flags Over Tex TX,y,n,20

 

THE BOTTOM

 

Shockwave Kings Dominion VA,y,y,50

Anaconda Kings Dominion VA,y,y,51

Manhattan Express New York New York NV,y,n,52

Trailblazer Hersheypark PA,y,n,53

Nighthawk Carowinds NC,y,y,54

Firehawk Kings Island OH,y,y,55

 

Santa Monica West Coa Pacific Park CA,y,y,60

 

Guy "And I'm sticking to it!" Koepp

[cfc]

For me, Voyage was running a lot better this year than it did when I rode it in 2007. We rode it opening weekend and yes, it did rain a lot the night before. The coaster shot up about 25 places in my listing. Heck, Our rides on The Legend were also very good. Even with that said, Raven is still my favorite coaster in the park.

 

Same here--both Raven and Voyage made my top 10, and I ranked Legend pretty high, too.

[hansrubens]

Top 20:

 

 

Expedition GeForce Holiday Park DE

Goliath Walibi World NL

Blue Fire Megacoaster Europa Park DE

Anubis: The Ride Plopsaland BE

Katun Mirabilandia IT

Griffon Busch Gardens Euro VA

Millennium Force Cedar Point OH

Behemoth Canadas Wonderland ON

California Screamin' Disney CA Adventur CA

Top Thrill Dragster Cedar Point OH

Apollo's Chariot Busch Gardens Euro VA

Dominator Kings Dominion VA

Tatsu Six Flags Magic Mo CA

Storm Runner Hersheypark PA

Goliath Six Flags Magic Mo CA

Talon Dorney Park PA

Flight Deck California's Great CA

XCelerator Knott's Berry Farm CA

Winjas Phantasialand DE

Scream! Six Flags Magic Mo CA

 

Bottom 20:

 

Adventure Express Kings Island OH

Trailblazer Hersheypark PA

Runaway Train Six Flags Great Ad NJ

Cedar Creek Mine Ride Cedar Point OH

Iron Dragon Cedar Point OH

El Diablo Port Aventura ES

Dream Catcher Bobbejaanland BE

Exterminator Kennywood Park PA

Rioolrat Avprk Hellendoorn NL

Temple of Nighthawk Phantasialand DE

Evolution Bobbejaanland BE

Skull Mountain Six Flags Great Ad NJ

Viper Six Flags Magic Mo CA

Gold Rusher Six Flags Magic Mo CA

Scandia Screamer Scandia Family Fun CA

Vortex California's Great CA

Pegasus Europa-Park DE

Indiana Jones et le t Disneyland Paris FR

Shockwave Kings Dominion VA

Space Mountain Disneyland Paris FR

[Skycoastin Steve]

Those rides we had on Rampage during the Deep South trip this summer were some of the best coaster rides I have ever had. Even if I thought the coaster was going to eat my bones at some point...

 

dt

 

Night rides with full trains and the track nice and oiled are a treasure to behold. Especially in the back row.

[cfc]

I sent my steel poll ballot in last night

 

Top Ten (out of 199)

 

1. Favorite Wood Coaster (Balder)

2. Expedition GeForce

3. Goliath (Walibi World)

4. Phantom's Revenge

5. Nemesis

6. SheiKra

7. Griffon

8. Diamondback

9. Piraten

10. Winjas

 

Bottom Five

195. Goudurix

196. G Force

197. Eejanaika

198. Great American Scream Machine (Six Flags Great Adventure)

199. Space Mountain (Disneyland Paris)

 

Some of the other Scandi trip coasters fared pretty well:

20. Fluch von Novgorod

21. Tele2 Insane

42. Jetline

44. Lynet

45. Tornado (Sarkanniemi)

[Moose]

Bumpity bump bump.

 

Steel Polls are due TODAY!

[robbalvey]

Don't forget!

[Jew]

I'm glad this thread was bumped! I almost forgot!

[Moose]

I wrote it on my calendar at work. It's the only way I remembered.

 

I just finished mine and sent it in. I need to come up with a better way to do it than the system I use. It's Ok for wood, but it gets exponentially longer and now that I've ridden over 100 steel, it took far too long.

[haux]

I just voted. Not sure why I waited so long. I only added two new coasters this season.

[robbalvey]

I wrote it on my calendar at work. It's the only way I remembered.

 

I just finished mine and sent it in. I need to come up with a better way to do it than the system I use. It's Ok for wood, but it gets exponentially longer and now that I've ridden over 100 steel, it took far too long.

I know that some people really don't agree with my method, but I just think that as long as you've ranked your top 20 or 25 and your bottom 10 in the correct order, the rest of the list just doesn't seem to matter THAT much.

 

Just group the rest of them.

 

I think my ballot goes something like 1 through 25, and then a 30, 40 & 50 grouping and then a 51 through 60 numbering.

 

And then if you really want to, you can break down your 30's & 40's a bit further.

 

But I just find that when you have a ton of coasters it just gets easier when you get them into groups.

 

--Robb "Does anyone REALLY care about steel coaster #55 versus #60?" Alvey

[OldJJman]

I just spent over an hour doing mine! (827 steel)

 

I agree with Robb. Just group them if you have a lot. Makes it much easier!!

 

 

I have my top 11 (10 steel plus top woodie), then:

 

20's = I'd love too ride again!

 

30's = I'll ride if I'm there and don't have to wait too long.

 

40's = I really don't want to ride, but will if I have to.

 

50's and beyond = Got the credit, tear the stupid thing down!!

 

 

So, with that being said, My top 10 (11):

 

 

1. Favorite wood - (T-Express)

2. Expedition GeForce

3. Bizarro (SFNE)

4. Eagle's Fortress

5. Kawasemi

Fly Over Mediterranean (HV Chegdu)

Mega-Lite (HV Shanghai)

6. Kumba

7. Dragon Kahn

8. Nemesis

9. Montu

10. Pyrenees

11. Atlantis Adventure

 

 

And now, the worst...

 

51. Spinning Batman

52. Manhattan Express

53. Titan (Space World)

54. G Force (Drayton Manor)

55. Ninja (SFoG)

56. Screamin' Squirrel (Mysterious Island)

57. Dragon (Ocean Park)

58. Eejanaika

59. Goudrix

 

 

JJ

[SharkTums]

Spinning Batman can suck my ass!!!!!!!

[DBru]

Just wondering...what makes Goudrix such a bad ride?

[atem122]

What makes Spinning Batman such a bad ride?! That thing looks cool! Lol

[Skycoastin Steve]

^^While I've never ridden Goudurix, it's my understanding from what I've read that it's the most ungodly rough ride on the face of the Earth.

[OldJJman]

Just wondering...what makes Goudrix such a bad ride?

 

It's very rough. I think part of the problem is, there is NO covering for the trains at ANY time. The complete ride is out in the open, as well as the storage track, therefore subject to the elements. IIRC, when we went in 2002, Robb's camera broke IN HIS HANDS from the violent shaking of the ride. It just sucks. I didn't even give riding it a thought, when we went back there last year. I, happily, became the "bag lady", and held everyone's backpacks etc... while they rode.

 

I laughed at everyone of them as they got off too!!

 

What makes Spinning Batman such a bad ride?! That think looks cool! Lol

 

I will admit, it does look cool. But, that's as far as it goes. If you look at the pics closely, almost all of the turns are about 90 degrees, with an 8 ft. radius. That wouldn't be all that bad, BUT, there is a flange running along the top of the track that only permits the cars to swing out about 2-3 feet from vertical before it SLAMS into the flange. So you're just banging L-R-L-R-L-R etc... throughout the ride.

 

There's a POV of it that Robb and Joey shot, as well as coverage of Elissa and Dave HATING their ride as we laughed from the ground.

 

That footage is only available on the DVD - Coaster Expedition v.12.

 

(edited as Robb made the clarification!)

 

JJ

[robbalvey]

^ You'll have to buy the DVD to see that footage!

[Skycoastin Steve]

I hope you all did your civic duty in the wooden poll and voted Rampage nice and high. (OK, that was the last shameless plug of the thread, I promise!)

 

Hopefully it gets back in the top 20 this year, last year was its first year EVER outside the top 20.

[therooboy]

Re Goudurix

I have visited Parc Asterix twice & have avoided that dreaded ride.

My back & neck thank TPR for prior knowledge of this coaster.

I got enough pain from Space Mountain & Rock N Roll Coaster in Paris to give a ride constantly rated even rougher a big miss.

And that new yellow paint job didn't have a hope of swaying me.

 

My hope every year on the poll - Eejanaika doesnt fall below any of the 3 above in the poll.

 

[downunder]

I hope you all did your civic duty in the wooden poll and voted Rampage nice and high. (OK, that was the last shameless plug of the thread, I promise!)

 

Hopefully it gets back in the top 20 this year, last year was its first year EVER outside the top 20.

 

Mate, asides from a couple of potholes, Rampage was righteous in July when TPR was there, definitely right up there for me and I did vote.

 

The TPR Mitch Hawker tour - SFNE, Compounce, SFGAdv, over the Atlantic, Alton, Holiday Park (not World Voyage fanboys), Liseberg, over to Asia, Everland, Tobu Zoo.

[Moose]

I wrote it on my calendar at work. It's the only way I remembered.

 

I just finished mine and sent it in. I need to come up with a better way to do it than the system I use. It's Ok for wood, but it gets exponentially longer and now that I've ridden over 100 steel, it took far too long.

I know that some people really don't agree with my method, but I just think that as long as you've ranked your top 20 or 25 and your bottom 10 in the correct order, the rest of the list just doesn't seem to matter THAT much.

 

It's not that I don't agree with you, but the engineer and OCD in me wanted a more exacting method. After having done an exact method, next year I am using your method (or one similar to it)