Mitch Hawker 2010 poll

[Skycoastin Steve]

I still haven't received a confirmation e-mail. Maybe I should re-submit my ballot.

[CoasterLuv]

done. heres the votes i submitted.

 

--Coasterluv@yahoo.com------

Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,2

Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,1

Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,4

Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,3

Positive G's/Loops_________________________,y,y,6

Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,5

COASTER NAME PARK LOC <--Please leave this

My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,n,n,0

Gwazi-Tiger Busch Gardens-Tampa FL,y,y,16

Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL,y,y,17

Grt Am Scrm Mach SFoG GA,y,y,35

Georgia Cyclone SFoG GA,y,y,8

The Legend Holiday World IN,y,n,4

Raven Holiday World IN,y,n,19

The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,n,2

Roar SF America MD,y,n,23

Wild One SF America MD,y,n,7

Hurler Carowinds NC,y,y,26

Fairly Odd Coaster Carowinds NC,y,n,32

Thunder Road Carowinds NC,y,y,29

El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,y,1

Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,y,31

Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,22

Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,34

Big Dipper (SBNO) Geauga Lake OH,y,n,10

Racer Kings Island OH,y,n,21

Fairly Odd Coaster Kings Island OH,y,n,33

The Beast Kings Island OH,y,n,18

Son of Beast (SBNO) Kings Island OH,y,n,28

Thunderhawk Dorney Park PA,y,y,9

Comet Hersheypark PA,y,y,6

Lightning Racer - L Hersheypark PA,y,y,11

Lightning Racer - T Hersheypark PA,y,y,12

Wildcat Hersheypark PA,y,y,20

Jack Rabbit Kennywood PA,y,y,15

Thunderbolt Kennywood PA,y,y,3

Racer Kennywood PA,y,y,25

Swamp Fox Family Kingdom SC,y,n,14

Thunderhead Dollywood TN,y,n,13

Hurler Kings Dominion VA,y,y,27

Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA,y,y,24

Scooby Doo Kings Dominion VA,y,y,30

The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA,y,y,5

Wilde Beast Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,37

M.Can.Mine Buster Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,36

[Nosferatu]

COASTER NAME PARK LOC <--Please leave this

El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,n,1

Balder Liseberg SE,y,n,2

My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,n,3

Thunderbird PowerPark FI,y,n,4

Avalanche Timber Falls WI,y,n,5

Phoenix Knoebel's PA,y,n,6

Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT,y,n,7

Fireball Happy Valley Song CN,y,y,7

Colossos Heide Park DE,y,n,8

Hades Mount Olympus WI,y,n,9

Lightning Racer - L Hersheypark PA,y,n,10

Lightning Racer - T Hersheypark PA,y,n,10

Cyclone Astroland NY,y,n,11

Falken Farup Sommerland DK,y,n,14

Twister Knoebel's PA,y,n,15

Thundercoaster Tusenfryd NO,y,n,15

Robin Hood Walibi World NL,y,y,15

Cyclops Mount Olympus WI,y,n,16

Zeus Mount Olympus WI,y,n,17

Rutschebanen Tivoli Gardens DK,y,n,18

Comet Hersheypark PA,y,n,19

Thunderbolt SF New England MA,y,n,19

Rutschebanen Bakken DK,y,n,20

Vuoristorata Linnamaki Park FI,y,n,21

Wildcat Lake Compounce CT,y,n,22

Dragon Coaster Playland NY,y,n,23

Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,n,24

Pegasus Mount Olympus WI,y,n,25

GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA,y,n,26

Wildcat Hersheypark PA,y,n,28

Sierra Tonante Mirabilandia Park IT,y,n,29

Cyclone SF New England MA,y,n,30

[SharkTums]

I got my confirmation email back yesterday!

[Hilltopper39]

I got my confirmation back the same day i sent in my ballot oddly enough. I still don't entirely understand how this damn poll works but it always seems to have legit results. I rarely disagree with any of the rides in the top 10, where as with the Golden Tickets and several others I disagree with most of the rides in the top 10.

[traincrossin]

I just filled out my ballot for the first time last week using that very helpful and easy ballot generator! I received my confirmation email yesterday. Here's how I ranked my top woodies.

 

RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE THIS LINE AS IS

Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,1

Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,4

Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,6

Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,2

Positive G's/Loops_________________________,y,y,5

Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,3

COASTER NAME PARK LOC <--Please leave this

The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,y,1

Evel Knievel Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,2

Raven Holiday World IN,y,y,3

Shivering Timbers Michigan's Adventure MI,y,n,4

Viper SFGAm IL,y,y,5

American Eagle SFGAm IL,y,y,6

Avalanche Timber Falls WI,y,n,7

The Legend Holiday World IN,y,y,8

Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,9

Wolverine Wildcat Michigan's Adventure MI,y,n,10

Screamin' Eagle Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,11

The Boss Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,12

Little Dipper SFGAm IL,y,y,13

Zach's Zoomer Michigan's Adventure MI,y,n,14

Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,15

[hyyyper]

I got my confirmation back the same day i sent in my ballot oddly enough. I still don't entirely understand how this damn poll works but it always seems to have legit results. I rarely disagree with any of the rides in the top 10, where as with the Golden Tickets and several others I disagree with most of the rides in the top 10.

 

It is hard to explain. It might help to look at it coaster by coaster. If there are a certain amount of people that have ridden coasters A and B, and the majority prefers coaster A over B, coaster A will be ranked higher. If you crosscheck this will all the coasters in the list, you can build up a ranking with the best accuracy.

[robbalvey]

I got my confirmation back the same day i sent in my ballot oddly enough. I still don't entirely understand how this damn poll works but it always seems to have legit results. I rarely disagree with any of the rides in the top 10, where as with the Golden Tickets and several others I disagree with most of the rides in the top 10.

From Mitch's page....

 

The following comparison is intended to highlight the differences between the Internet

Roller Coaster Polls and normal polls that use less sophisticated methods such as favorite-only

polls and total points polls. The respective 2003 Polls are used in this comparison, but all of the

conclusions still apply.

 

Polls in which voters only indicate their favorite will obviously skew towards the coasters

that have been ridden by the most voters.

 

Polls in which the voters indicate their top ten and then total points are accumulated for each

coaster will have the same bias. As an example, here is what the Top 50 of the 2003 Internet

Wood Coaster Poll would have been using a top 10 total points method

(10 points for a 1st place vote...1 point for a 10th place vote):

 

 

RANK COASTER PARK LOC Total Points

1 Raven Holiday World IN 843

2 Phoenix Knoebel's PA 835

3 Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT 724

4 Shivering Timbers Michigan's Adventure MI 713

5 The Legend Holiday World IN 707

6 GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA 618

7 The Beast Kings Island OH 468

8 Lightning Racer - L Hersheypark PA 422

9 Cornball Express Indiana Beach IN 410

10 Viper SFGAm IL 397

11 Lightning Racer - T Hersheypark PA 395

12 The Villain Worlds of Adventure OH 314

13 Twister Knoebel's PA 313

14 Comet Great Escape NY 309

15 Blue Streak Cedar Point OH 299

16 Tremors Silverwood ID 285

17 Georgia Cyclone SFoG GA 272

18 Tonnerre de Zeus Parc Asterix FR 272

19 Cyclone Astroland NY 236

20 Rampage Visionland AL 221

21 Texas Giant SFoT TX 218

22 Thunderbolt Kennywood PA 218

23 Colossos Heide Park DE 216

24 Gwazi-Tiger Busch Gardens-Tampa FL 211

25 Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL 206

26 Grand National Blackpool UK 200

27 The Boss Six Flags St Louis MO 199

28 Son of Beast Kings Island OH 197

29 Wildcat Hersheypark PA 193

30 Jack Rabbit Kennywood PA 173

31 Balder Liseberg SE 167

32 Thunder Run Kentucky Kingdom KY 167

33 Timber Terror Silverwood ID 161

34 Wild One SF America MD 160

35 Megafobia Oakwood UK 159

36 Mean Streak Cedar Point OH 157

37 Riverside Cyclone SF New England MA 154

38 Roar SF America MD 153

39 The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA 151

40 Thunderhawk Dorney Park PA 145

41 Roar Marine World CA 144

42 Big Dipper Worlds of Adventure OH 138

43 Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Bch Bdwk CA 138

44 Coaster Playland BC 136

45 Racer Kings Island OH 134

46 Comet Hersheypark PA 130

47 American Eagle SFGAm IL 124

48 Loup Garou SF Belgium BE 117

49 Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA 112

50 Racer Kennywood PA 110

 

 

The ordering and totals are quite similar to the 2003 Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards

which used the Total Points Method.

 

The top eight coasters are the same eight with #2 & #4 switched as well as #7 and #8 switched.

Total Points of the AT Top 50=11,455 vs. 13,941 here, so the total number of ballots received is

probably also similar (the internet poll's 22 percent greater total could be explained by

internet poll ballots that used the grouping method).

 

What is wrong with the Top 50 above?

 

Better rides that fewer people have ridden often rank below lesser rides that more people have

ridden. As an example, the much ridden Beast and little ridden Tremors rank 7th and 16th respectively

via the total points vs. 51st and 2nd respectively via the mutual rider comparison method.

 

Why should Tremors be rated ahead of The Beast?

 

Because 35 of the mutual riders (voters who had ridden them both) preferred Tremors and only 5 preferred The Beast! (1 mutual rider rated them as equal)

 

That's right, the total points polling method ranked Beast 7th and Tremors 16th despite the fact that 7 out of

every 8 people who had ridden them both preferred Tremors!

 

Here are the Top 50 using the Internet Roller Coaster Poll's mutual rider comparison method:

 

 

RANK COASTER PARK LOC

1 Balder Liseberg SE

2 Tremors Silverwood ID

3 Shivering Timbers Michigan's Adventure MI

4 Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT

5 Raven Holiday World IN

6 Phoenix Knoebel's PA

7 Aska Nara Dreamland JP

8 Rampage Visionland AL

9 Ozark Wildcat Celebration City MO

10 Comet Great Escape NY

11 Colossos Heide Park DE

11 GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA

11 The Legend Holiday World IN

14 Coaster Playland BC

15 Megafobia Oakwood UK

16 Cornball Express Indiana Beach IN

17 Tonnerre de Zeus Parc Asterix FR

18 Timber Terror Silverwood ID

19 Grand National Blackpool UK

20 Georgia Cyclone SFoG GA

21 Cyclone Astroland NY

22 Thundercoaster Tusenfryd NO

23 Lightning Racer - L Hersheypark PA

24 Texas Giant SFoT TX

25 Lightning Racer - T Hersheypark PA

26 Viper SFGAm IL

27 New Mexico Rattler Cliff's NM

28 Loup Garou SF Belgium BE

29 Serpiente de Fuego La Feria MX

30 Screechin' Eagle(S) LeSourdsville Lake OH

31 Dania Bch Hurricane Dania Beach FL

32 Mega Zeph SF New Orleans LA

33 Twister Knoebel's PA

34 Cyclops Big Chief WI

35 Excalibur Funtown USA ME

36 Comet (SBNO) Lincoln Park MA

37 Stampida Port Aventura ES

38 Wild One SF America MD

39 Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Bch Bdwk CA

40 Silver Comet Martin's Fantasy Is. NY

41 Thunder Run Kentucky Kingdom KY

42 The Boss Six Flags St Louis MO

43 The Villain Worlds of Adventure OH

44 Gwazi-Tiger Busch Gardens-Tampa FL

45 White Cyclone Nagashima Spaland JP

46 Cyclone Lakeside CO

47 Zeus Big Chief WI

48 Thunderbolt Kennywood PA

49 Robin Hood Six Flags Holland NL

50 Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL

51 The Beast Kings Island OH

 

 

Of the coasters in either of the above Top 50's, the following would GAIN the most

positions if the total points method were used instead of the mutual rider method

(note the generally HIGH ridership numbers):

 

 

COASTER PARK LOC RIDERS MR RNK TP RNK GAIN

Mean Streak Cedar Point OH 200 167 36 131

Son of Beast Kings Island OH 142 148 28 120

Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA 123 139 49 90

American Eagle SFGAm IL 138 123 47 76

Comet Hersheypark PA 145 102 46 56

Racer Kings Island OH 159 92 45 47

Blue Streak Cedar Point OH 199 60 15 45

The Beast Kings Island OH 159 51 7 44

Big Dipper Worlds of Adventure OH 159 79 42 37

Thunderhawk Dorney Park PA 145 77 40 37

Jack Rabbit Kennywood PA 144 64 30 34

Riverside Cyclone SF New England MA 117 71 37 34

Racer Kennywood PA 147 82 50 32

The Villain Worlds of Adventure OH 156 43 12 31

Wildcat Hersheypark PA 145 58 29 29

Thunderbolt Kennywood PA 138 48 22 26

Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL 120 50 25 25

Gwazi-Tiger Busch Gardens-Tampa FL 120 44 24 20

The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA 134 59 39 20

Twister Knoebel's PA 138 33 13 20

Roar SF America MD 113 55 38 17

Viper SFGAm IL 135 26 10 16

Lightning Racer - L Hersheypark PA 129 23 8 15

The Boss Six Flags St Louis MO 87 42 27 15

Lightning Racer - T Hersheypark PA 130 25 11 14

Roar Marine World CA 61 52 41 11

Thunder Run Kentucky Kingdom KY 127 41 32 9

Cornball Express Indiana Beach IN 99 16 9 7

The Legend Holiday World IN 133 11 5 6

GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA 118 11 6 5

Phoenix Knoebel's PA 142 6 2 4

Raven Holiday World IN 140 5 1 4

Wild One SF America MD 120 38 34 4

Georgia Cyclone SFoG GA 95 20 17 3

Texas Giant SFoT TX 87 24 21 3

 

 

Of the coasters in either of the above Top 50's, the following would LOSE the most

positions if the total points method were used instead of the mutual rider method

(note the generally LOW ridership numbers):

 

 

COASTER PARK LOC RIDERS MR RNK TP RNK LOSS

Aska Nara Dreamland JP 3 7 149 -142

Comet (SBNO) Lincoln Park MA 8 36 157 -121

Serpiente de Fuego La Feria MX 13 29 147 -118

White Cyclone Nagashima Spaland JP 5 45 151 -106

Thundercoaster Tusenfryd NO 16 22 105 -83

Ozark Wildcat Celebration City MO 15 9 76 -67

New Mexico Rattler Cliff's NM 19 27 91 -64

Cyclone Lakeside CO 49 46 98 -52

Mega Zeph SF New Orleans LA 38 32 74 -42

Silver Comet Martin's Fantasy Is. NY 51 40 81 -41

Screechin' Eagle(S) LeSourdsville Lake OH 57 30 66 -36

Zeus Big Chief WI 58 47 80 -33

Balder Liseberg SE 20 1 31 -30

Coaster Playland BC 47 14 44 -30

Stampida Port Aventura ES 26 37 67 -30

Dania Bch Hurricane Dania Beach FL 45 31 60 -29

Excalibur Funtown USA ME 51 35 59 -24

Cyclops Big Chief WI 59 34 57 -23

Loup Garou SF Belgium BE 50 28 48 -20

Megafobia Oakwood UK 54 15 35 -20

Timber Terror Silverwood ID 50 18 33 -15

Tremors Silverwood ID 46 2 16 -14

Colossos Heide Park DE 49 11 23 -12

Rampage Visionland AL 55 8 20 -12

Grand National Blackpool UK 66 19 26 -7

Comet Great Escape NY 80 10 14 -4

Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Bch Bdwk CA 76 39 43 -4

Robin Hood Six Flags Holland NL 51 49 53 -4

 

 

As shown by the Tremors v. Beast example and the gain and loss lists, total points polls

are biased towards the roller coasters that more voters have ridden regardless of whether

those rides are better or not.

 

It should be noted that the Amusement Today poll mentioned above is able to lessen the

bias slightly by selecting their participants from well-traveled enthusiasts.

 

For a full explanation of the tabulation algorithm and much more about this

poll, visit the website BestRollerCoasterPoll.com

[Pirouettes907]

Okay, done and done! Here are my top five:

 

1. Phoenix (Knoebel's)

2. El Toro (SFGAd)

3. The Voyage (Holiday World)

4. Evel Knievel (Six Flags St. Louis)

5. Viper (SFGAm)

[RaptorBoyASU]

I always look forward to this, especially after riding a bunch of new woodies this year.

 

Here's my top 10:

 

1 El Toro

2 Prowler

3 Renegade

4 Phoenix

5 Wild Mouse

6 Viper

7 Tonnerre de Zeus

8 Dania Bch Hurricane

9 Twister

10 Grand National

[The SETGO Guys]

My vote is in!

My Top 5

 

1.Thunderbolt-Kennywood-Amazing is all I can say

2.El Toro-SFGAd-SMOOTH!

3.Gwazi-Tiger-Busch Gardens-Making a comeback!!!! Great Ride now!

4.Jack Rabbit-Kennywood- Can you say AIRTIME!?!

5.Starliner (SBNO)-Cypress Gardens-I miss Starliner....I hope she (yes its a she) finds a good loving home soon. (Maybe in my backyard......)

[larrygator]

My vote is in!

My Top 5

 

1.Thunderbolt-Kennywood-Amazing is all I can say

2.El Toro-SFGAd-SMOOTH!

3.Gwazi-Tiger-Busch Gardens-Making a comeback!!!! Great Ride now!

4.Jack Rabbit-Kennywood- Can you say AIRTIME!?!

5.Starliner (SBNO)-Cypress Gardens-I miss Starliner....I hope she (yes its a she) finds a good loving home soon. (Maybe in my backyard......)

 

^You are supposed the rate it based on your rides in 2010, I know it's confusing being a 2010 poll.

[The SETGO Guys]

Whoops....I didn't check it....thats what the program I said to do....

[coasterer]

Finished mine! I'll say it also - Voyage made me its bitc# and I love it. It throws me around like a rag-doll, and my crazy a$$ loves it. .

 

Spoken like a true gentleman But my thoughts exactly haha. I was fortunate enough to not have ridden it this year, and can thus continue life blissfully unaware. Actually, the majority of the rides in my top 15 were ones I didn't ride this last year. Huh.

 

 

1) The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,n,1

2) Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT,y,y,2

3) El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,y,3

4) My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,n,4

5) Shivering Timbers Michigan's Adventure MI,y,n,5

6) Thunderhead Dollywood TN,y,n,6

7) Hades Mount Olympus WI,y,n,7

8) Prowler Worlds of Fun MO,y,n,8

9) Cornball Express Indiana Beach IN,y,n,9

10) Phoenix Knoebel's PA,y,y,10

11) Avalanche Timber Falls WI,y,n,11

12) Renegade Valleyfair! MN,y,n,12

13) Viper SFGAm IL,y,y,13

14) Outlaw Adventureland IA,y,n,14

15) Cyclops Mount Olympus WI,y,n,15

 

Bottom:

 

59) Wilde Beast Canada's Wonderland ON,y,y,59

60) The Grizzly Great America CA,y,n,60

61) Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,y,61

62) Timber Wolf Worlds of Fun MO,y,n,62

63) Wildcat Lake Compounce CT,y,y,63

[Ryancrash]

Polls in which voters only indicate their favorite will obviously skew towards the coasters

that have been ridden by the most voters.

 

Polls in which the voters indicate their top ten and then total points are accumulated for each

coaster will have the same bias. As an example, here is what the Top 50 of the 2003 Internet

Wood Coaster Poll would have been using a top 10 total points method:

 

RANK COASTER PARK LOC Total Points

 

28 Son of Beast Kings Island OH 197

 

31 Balder Liseberg SE 167

 

A crime against humanity! Though Son Of Beast wasn't quite as abominable in 2003 as it would later become, this comparison alone is a prime example of why Mitch Hawker's polling method is much more effective than others.

[robbalvey]

^ And exactly why we support it!

 

BTW, only a couple of days left now!

[jynx242]

Got my confirmation yesterday. Took about a week.

 

Question - My e-mail from Mitch said they only had 322 ballots. Do you think that meant 322 ballots a week ago when I sent mine, or currently lagging that far behind? Just curious - I always love these polls and hope to see as much information going into them as possible.

 

D.

[robbalvey]

^ He sent me an email a couple of days ago where I believe he said ballots were now in the low 400s. I'd still encourage everyone to submit a ballot!

[SharkTums]

Even KT submitted her ballot! You should all do the same!

[redfoot12]

Even KT submitted her ballot! You should all do the same!

 

She must be a prodigy

I've been using one of those auto-tally apps the last several years

[Big-M]

^ It confused me when I tried it out last year, so I did too. However, I tried using Excel this year and it wasn't that bad.

 

IF YOU HAVEN'T CAST YOUR BALLOT YET, DO IT NOW!

Edited February 14, 2011 by Big-M

[ernierocker]

Last day to vote is TOMORROW! Vote now if you haven't yet!!!

[adamico2]

Excel really makes things easier!

[Divv3k]

Just remembered to do this! Glad I got it in on time!

[tedten]

"Ballots will be accepted through February 15, 2011"

Looks like we have through the end of Tuesday, which I'm thankful for since I've been out of the loop on this!