The Mitch Hawker 2013 Wood Coaster Poll Thread!

[Ryan P.]

Yeah I need to go on more woodies... I forgot the Cyclone from SFNE but it would have been last anyway. I'm a steel kinda person and usually don't go on wooden coasters unless I know it is good like El Toro or my friends really want to go on it.

 

RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE

Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,1

Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,2

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

Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,4

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

Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,6

COASTER NAME PARK LOC <-LEAVE

El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,y,1

Phoenix Knoebel's PA,y,n,2

Comet Great Escape NY,y,n,3

Wildcat Hersheypark PA,y,n,4

Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,n,5

[rcdude]

Did my ballot today. New woodies for me this year are Gold Striker and Timberhawk. Apocalypse also took a bit of a drop due to the current state of the coaster.

 

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

Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,1

Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,2

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

Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,4

Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,5

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

COASTER NAME PARK LOC <--Please leave this

My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,n,1

El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,n,2

The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,n,3

Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT,y,n,4

Thunderhead Dollywood TN,y,n,5

Ravine Flyer II Waldameer PA,y,n,6

Gold Striker Great America CA,y,y,7

American Thunder Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,8

The Legend Holiday World IN,y,n,9

Raven Holiday World IN,y,n,10

Apocalypse S. F. Magic Mountain CA,y,y,11

Comet Great Escape NY,y,n,12

Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Bch Bdwk CA,y,y,13

The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA,y,n,14

Thunder Road Carowinds NC,y,n,15

Roar SF Discovery Kingdom CA,y,y,16

Excalibur Funtown USA ME,y,n,17

Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA,y,n,18

Silver Comet Martin's Fantasy Is. NY,y,n,19

Blue Streak Conneaut Lake Park PA,y,n,20

The Boss Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,21

M.Can.Mine Buster Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,22

GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA,y,y,23

Screamin' Eagle Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,24

Yankee Cannonball Canobie Lake Park NH,y,n,25

Cyclone SF New England MA,y,n,26

Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA,y,y,27

Le Monstre La Ronde QU,y,n,28

Jack Rabbit Seabreeze NY,y,n,29

Thunderbolt SF New England MA,y,n,30

Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,31

Hurler Carowinds NC,y,n,32

Timberhawk Enchanted Village WA,y,y,33

Giant Dipper Belmont Park CA,y,n,34

Ghoster Coaster Kings Dominion VA,y,n,35

Hurler Kings Dominion VA,y,n,36

Wooden Warrior Quassy CT,y,n,37

Ghoster Coaster Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,38

Woodstock Express Carowinds NC,y,n,39

Predator Darien Lake NY,y,n,40

Wild Beast Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,41

Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,n,42

Wildcat Lake Compounce CT,y,n,43

Comet Waldameer PA,y,n,44

Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,45

The Grizzly Great America CA,y,y,46

[robbalvey]

Apocalypse also took a bit of a drop due to the current state of the coaster.

That's really disappointing consider that it seems to take quite a bit of work to mess up a GCI coaster, especially one of the newer ones that were designed with the Millennium Flyers in mind.

 

At this rate, will it just be Son of Psyclone in a couple of years?

[cfc]

That is too bad. I enjoyed Apocalypse back when it was new.

[JJLehto]

Seeing these lists makes me feel really bad, I only was able to check off 5 coasters... oh well, the steel list has like 20 more than that, still though...

 

Yeah I was pretty shocked how few I had! Well there were some more I've ridden that have been torn down but yeah, crazy how steel dominant my list is!

 

 

I was pretty let down by Apocalypse. It seemed like a fun ass ride, and while I liked it...I can't believe a 5 year old GCI was that rough already (lightning racer has barely worsened at all) and the one train operation didn't help

[gerstlaueringvar]

I think Apocalypse gave me a bad impression of GCII due to the roughness, which was even worse than Colossus. But luckily, American Thunder made me like GCII again.

[JJLehto]

I think Apocalypse gave me a bad impression of GCII due to the roughness, which was even worse than Colossus. But luckily, American Thunder made me like GCII again.

 

The older ones are rough. I've never ridden Gwazi but I hear it's a death machine. Wildcat at Hershey was known for it's roughness but it used to be just right....in recent years it's gotten a bit gnarly. The newer ones though are beautiful things and now they seem to breaking out of their old mold which is nice to see!

[Randomman295]

Apocalypse also took a bit of a drop due to the current state of the coaster.

That's really disappointing consider that it seems to take quite a bit of work to mess up a GCI coaster, especially one of the newer ones that were designed with the Millennium Flyers in mind.

 

At this rate, will it just be Son of Psyclone in a couple of years?

Nah. Give it at least another ten years and then we'll see.

Besides, am I really the only one here who thinks that a bit rattle adds to a wooden coaster? I still really like Ghostrider, Boss, and Renegade.

 

Also Rattler is still on the list.

 

Here's my list:

Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,1

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

Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,3

Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,4

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

Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,6

COASTER NAME PARK LOC <-LEAVE

Apocalypse S. F. Magic Mountain CA,y,y,1

El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,y,2

Outlaw Run Silver Dollar City MO,y,y,3

GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA,y,y,4

Screamin' Eagle Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,5

Renegade Valleyfair! MN,y,y,6

Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,7

White Lightning Fun Spot America FL,y,y,8

Prowler Worlds of Fun MO,y,n,9

American Thunder Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,10

Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Bch Bdwk CA,y,y,11

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

Judge Roy Scream SFoT TX,y,y,13

Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA,y,n,14

Twister II Elitch Gardens CO,y,n,15

Timber Wolf Worlds of Fun MO,y,n,16

Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,17

Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,n,18

High Roller Valleyfair! MN,y,y,19

Rattler Fiesta Texas TX,y,n,20

 

Even though I rode Outlaw Run and El Toro for the first time this year, nothing is going to beat out the ridiculous loads of kickass that Apocalypse offers in the back two rows.

 

I feel so alone putting a GCI on top of my list and floating airtime over abrupt.

Edited December 27, 2013 by Randomman295

[rcdude]

Apocalypse also took a bit of a drop due to the current state of the coaster.

That's really disappointing consider that it seems to take quite a bit of work to mess up a GCI coaster, especially one of the newer ones that were designed with the Millennium Flyers in mind.

 

At this rate, will it just be Son of Psyclone in a couple of years?

 

Here's the thing about Apocalypse (at least for me): Back when it opened, Apocalypse was my favorite wooden coaster. Even though I had little experience outside of California at the time, the ride remained in my top five up until last year despite getting on some truly great wooden coasters elsewhere. This year, however, it dropped out of my wood top ten. It is not a terrible ride, but it is almost as rough as SFDK's Roar yet is less than 5 years old. I get the feeling SFMM doesn't take care of the ride and defers maintenance until absolutely necessary (as evidenced by the sudden closure in the middle of summer this year for emergency trackwork, regular one train operations, and loose boards in the support structure) and that is what has caused the coaster to deteriorate so quickly. My dad noticed a large increase in the roughness of the ride between WCB 2012 and WCB 2013, and on my most recent visit to the park my cousin and her husband (both of which had never ridden the ride before) thought it was rougher than a "new" wooden coaster should be, though not unbearably rough. I now consider the coaster a second tier ride at the park, and although it is still a good ride I think it will become California's worst GCI in a few years if the park doesn't start taking care of it.

[ZeroGravity55]

Dry-hot weather, bad maintenance and wooden roller coasters do not mix well at all. If you're going to build a wooden roller coaster in that type of climate (especially Southern California), you better be prepared to meet the maintenance costs. If Apocalypse is as bad as it sounds, could it be the first GCI to get RMC topper track?

[Randomman295]

Dry-hot weather, bad maintenance and wooden roller coasters do not mix well at all. If you're going to build a wooden roller coaster in that type of climate (especially Southern California), you better be prepared to meet the maintenance costs. If Apocalypse is as bad as it sounds, could it be the first GCI to get RMC topper track?

Hell no.

Wildcat, Gwazi, and both of the Roar twins are way more likely.

 

Apocalypse isn't a bad ride. Not by a longshot. It's still the best of the GCIs that I've ridden.

[Nyteowl]

All done!

 

RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE

Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,1

Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,2

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

Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,4

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

Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,6

COASTER NAME PARK LOC <-LEAVE

Ravine Flyer II Waldameer PA,y,n,1

Apocalypse S. F. Magic Mountain CA,y,y,2

Silver Comet Martin's Fantasy Is. NY,y,n,3

Blue Streak Conneaut Lake Park PA,y,n,4

GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA,y,y,5

M.Can.Mine Buster Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,6

Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,7

Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA,y,y,8

Ghoster Coaster Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,9

Comet Waldameer PA,y,n,10

Giant Dipper Belmont Park CA,y,n,11

Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,12

Wild Beast Canada's Wonderland ON,y,n,13

Predator Darien Lake NY,y,n,14

The Grizzly Great America CA,y,n,15

[coasterbill]

When I rode Apocalypse for the first time this February I thought it was great. It was easily the best coaster in the park after Tatsu and Batman (X2 sucks, sorry). I rode it in the back and actually got a nice pop of air in the back row on the first drop. I'm really disappointed to hear that it's become so rough, it was really a great ride.

[robbalvey]

I get the feeling SFMM doesn't take care of the ride and defers maintenance until absolutely necessary (as evidenced by the sudden closure in the middle of summer this year for emergency trackwork, regular one train operations, and loose boards in the support structure) and that is what has caused the coaster to deteriorate so quickly. My dad noticed a large increase in the roughness of the ride between WCB 2012 and WCB 2013, and on my most recent visit to the park my cousin and her husband (both of which had never ridden the ride before) thought it was rougher than a "new" wooden coaster should be, though not unbearably rough. I now consider the coaster a second tier ride at the park, and although it is still a good ride I think it will become California's worst GCI in a few years if the park doesn't start taking care of it.

That's just so pathetic. And speaks volumes for the park.

[alilstronger]

And submitted. I am excited to see the results this year.

[Hockeydad]

It may be controversial to some, but I let Raven, Legend, Voyage and Thunderhead drop substantially this year. I looked so forward to getting back to DW this season, and TH was one of those reasons. It was downright violent to me this time around.

 

I don't know what was up this year with HW's three, but they also were a lot more than I could handle personally. Legend was the most rideable, followed by Raven, then Voyage. Voyage was down for repairs most of the day, plus rain. Maybe it was the still wet track that made it so different...I don't know.

 

I'm not a waterpark person, but I really enjoyed Splashin' Safari a lot...and it poured rain almost all day long. But my ten year old was who I really felt bad for since he waited forever to ride Voyage, and then came off crying from being beaten around. It hasn't broken his spirit though...he still talks about coasters constantly.

[coasterbill]

It may be controversial to some, but I let Raven, Legend, Voyage and Thunderhead drop substantially this year. I looked so forward to getting back to DW this season, and TH was one of those reasons. It was downright violent to me this time around.

 

We rode Thunderhead less than a month ago in the front and in the back and it was running great. I wouldn't consider it rough at all. Maybe you either caught it on a bad day or they've done some work to it since you rode it but make sure you give it another chance because it's an awesome ride.

[Philrad71]

While I didn't ride Thunderhead this year, we really enjoyed our winter rides on it the year before. Definitely a top ten wooden coaster for me so I sure hope that this coaster isn't going the way of some of the other older GCI's on the list which people have said have gotten rough.

 

Raven, Legend and Voyage were new coasters for me this year, however none of them came close to cracking my top 20. We personally thought they were brutal...not bottom feeder worthy, but pretty darn close.

 

The reason I didn't rank them at the bottom is because I know that they have a lot of potential (and were at one time) great coasters with interestingly unique layouts. The park just needs to put some TLC into them to make them worth a trip back for me.

 

The bottom feeders for me were one's that not only were rough, but had somewhat boring layouts to where even topper track or RMC most likely wouldn't save them. My one exception might be Le Monstre only because I do remember that one being somewhat unique.

[jynx242]

Well - I posted this year - must have missed this last year.

 

for anyone interested:

 

--Generator: Jordan's Ballot Helper 2013 (wood)--

--Ballot: 0e0beef89da--

--david.mccollum@wellsfargoadvisors.com------

LOCATION IN NEXT LINE (Please LEAVE THIS LINE IN BALLOT)

~"Orlando, FL"

NAME IN NEXT LINE (Please LEAVE THIS LINE IN THE BALLOT)

~"David McCollum"

RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE

Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,1

Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,2

Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,3

Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,4

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

Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,6

COASTER NAME PARK LOC <-LEAVE

El Toro SFGAd NJ,y,n,1

The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,n,2

Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT,y,n,3

Phoenix Knoebel's PA,y,n,4

Viper SFGAm IL,y,n,5

Thunderhead Dollywood TN,y,n,6

Prowler Worlds of Fun MO,y,n,7

Lightning Racer - T Hersheypark PA,y,n,8

Lightning Racer - L Hersheypark PA,y,n,9

Kentucky Rumbler Beech Bend KY,y,n,10

My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,n,11

Renegade Valleyfair! MN,y,n,12

Raven Holiday World IN,y,n,13

Grt Am Scrm Mach SFoG GA,y,y,14

Cyclops Mount Olympus WI,y,n,15

White Lightning Fun Spot America FL,y,n,16

Cheetah Wild Adventures GA,y,n,17

Georgia Cyclone SFoG GA,y,y,18

Wooden Warrior Quassy CT,y,n,19

Cyclone Luna Park NY,y,n,20

The Beast Kings Island OH,y,n,21

HellCat Timber Falls WI,y,n,22

Great White Wild Wheels Pier NJ,y,n,23

Cornball Express Indiana Beach IN,y,n,24

Lost Coaster of SM Indiana Beach IN,y,n,25

Outlaw Adventureland IA,y,n,26

American Eagle SFGAm IL,y,n,27

Jack Rabbit Kennywood PA,y,n,28

Wildcat Lake Compounce CT,y,n,29

Twister Knoebel's PA,y,n,30

Hades Mount Olympus WI,y,n,31

Hell Cat Clementon Lake NJ,y,n,32

Tornado Adventureland IA,y,n,33

Racer Kennywood PA,y,n,34

Thunder Run (SBNO) Kentucky Kingdom KY,y,n,35

Hoosier Hurricane Indiana Beach IN,y,n,36

Excalibur Funtown USA ME,y,n,37

Twisted Twins-L (S) Kentucky Kingdom KY,y,n,38

Twisted Twins-S (S) Kentucky Kingdom KY,y,n,39

Comet Hersheypark PA,y,n,40

The Legend Holiday World IN,y,n,41

Cannonball Lake Winnepesaukah GA,y,n,42

Comet Great Escape NY,y,n,43

Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,44

Racer Kings Island OH,y,n,45

Underground Adventureland IA,y,n,46

Thunderbolt Kennywood PA,y,n,47

Roller Coaster Lagoon UT,y,n,48

High Roller Valleyfair! MN,y,n,49

Wildcat Hersheypark PA,y,n,50

Zeus Mount Olympus WI,y,n,51

Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA,y,n,52

Screamin' Eagle Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,53

Thunderbolt SF New England MA,y,n,54

Thunder Road Carowinds NC,y,n,55

Yankee Cannonball Canobie Lake Park NH,y,n,56

Timber Wolf Worlds of Fun MO,y,n,57

The Boss Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,58

American Thunder Six Flags St Louis MO,y,n,59

Cyclone SF New England MA,y,n,60

Judge Roy Scream SFoT TX,y,n,61

Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ,y,n,62

Teddy Bear Stricker's Grove OH,y,n,63

Thunderhawk Dorney Park PA,y,n,64

Gwazi-Tiger Busch Gardens-Tampa FL,y,y,65

Dragon Coaster Playland NY,y,n,66

Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL,y,y,67

Tornado Stricker's Grove OH,y,n,68

Woodstock Express Kings Island OH,y,n,69

Woodstock Express Carowinds NC,y,n,70

Meteor Little Amerricka WI,y,n,71

Kiddie Coaster Playland NY,y,n,72

Pegasus Mount Olympus WI,y,n,73

Ghoster Coaster Kings Dominion VA,y,n,74

Le Monstre La Ronde QU,y,n,75

Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,76

Hurler Carowinds NC,y,n,77

The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA,y,n,78

Hurler Kings Dominion VA,y,n,79

[Meteornotes]

I find it almost more interesting to see what people are putting at the bottom of the lists than at the top. Hades 360 really must be the biggest waste of wood ever!

 

I haven't done my list yet, but as I rode no new wood coasters this year (just like last year) and only rode one wood coaster all year (Phoenix), I don't think it's going to take me very long...

 

dt

[simon8899]

Woodies not being my favs here is my short list. If only at a park for a day I tend to skip the wooden coasters on busy days and try to get all steel credits...

 

--Generator: Jordan's Ballot Helper 2013 (wood)--

--Ballot: 1f238ffb659--

XXXX

LOCATION IN NEXT LINE (Please LEAVE THIS LINE IN BALLOT)

~"hamburg, germany"

NAME IN NEXT LINE (Please LEAVE THIS LINE IN THE BALLOT)

XXXX

RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE

Positive G's/Loops_________________________,y,y,1

Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,2

Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,3

Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,4

Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,5

Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,6

COASTER NAME PARK LOC <-LEAVE

Colossos Heide Park DE,y,y,1

Twister Grona Lund SE,y,n,2

Joris en de Draak V de Efteling NL,y,n,3

Joris en de Draak W de Efteling NL,y,n,4

Balder Liseberg SE,y,n,5

Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Bch Bdwk CA,y,n,6

Giant Dipper Belmont Park CA,y,n,7

Wodan TimburCoaster Europa Park DE,y,y,8

Mammut Tripsdrill DE,y,y,9

Rutschebanen Bakken DK,y,n,10

Rutschebanen Tivoli Gardens DK,y,n,11

Vuoristorata Linnamaki Park FI,y,n,12

Hochschaubahn Prater Park AT,y,n,13

Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA,y,n,14

GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA,y,n,15

Robin Hood Walibi Holland NL,y,n,16

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

[SharkTums]

Kristen was working on her ballot with me today. At 21 woodies now she's got a more respectable list than most Californians!

 

She is adamant that Phoenix is number one by far.

[Mrlittle]

^aww, more reason why the add-on needs to happen

 

Hades 360 really must be the biggest waste of wood ever!

FACT!

[downunder]

^^Kristen has ridden Phoenix, OMG that's impressive. That's a crazy enough ride for adults.

[booink]

I find it almost more interesting to see what people are putting at the bottom of the lists than at the top. Hades 360 really must be the biggest waste of wood ever!

Totally agree with the first part of your post ! However, I think Son of Beast was an even worst waste, especially as Hades is a hybrid with steel, SOB was entirely made out of wood including the support structure, which was massive !!!