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Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards 2014


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No suprise to me that the GTA is screwed up (as always). I mean, was there ever a year when GTA made sense?

 

Which makes it all the more remarkable that Europa unseated Cedar Point for Best Park.

 

Which shows us that even GTA can't neglect Europa park's awesomeness

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I voted this year for the first time. Some random thoughts;

I picked CP over Europa Park. The wood list is pretty solid. New coasters like Goliath, usually don't rank high in their first year on the GTA's. Diamondback is a little high, but it is my favorite hyper. I voted Behemoth higher than Leviathan. I voted SkyRush #1. Disappointed about IRat and I305.

 

If you really want to make a difference, contact Tim Baldwin at Amusement Today. Explain why you would make a good voter and if your selected, help them make better results.

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It looks like the GP weighed in heavily this year.

 

Voters selected by Amusement Today are enthusiasts or in the industry. But as I mentioned earlier there are different levels of enthusiasts and well traveled they are.

 

It's one thing for someone who never left the US to look at DisneySea or Europa Park and vote for either as best park. However, when it comes to ranking their Top 10 coasters, voters are unlikely to select a coasters they never rode. Unless every voter has been on the same all coasters there will be bias.

 

Noah's Ark is a fun walkthrough, but is nothing like the quality fun houses in Scandinavia.

Edited by larrygator
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As I was reading down through the webpage.

 

I read that Jeff Pike of Skyline Attractions gave his former mentor Mike Boodley his Kidney during a transplant in 2013.

 

Wow!! that just is awesome that he was able to give the gift of life to a Friend and Mentor of his!!!! I am speechless.

 

 

This the quote

Personally chosen by Gary Slade, publisher and editor-in-chief of Amusement Today, this year’s Publisher’s Pick Awards were presented in the categories of (Co)-Person of the Year, and the Turnstile Award. Respectively, the 2014 recipients are:

 

Jeff Pike of Skyline Attractions, LLC in Orlando, Fla.,for offering the ultimate gift, that of life, to his mentor and friend (Michael Boodley) by donating one of his kidneys during a transplant in December of 2013, and for helping to keep the traditional wooden roller coaster alive and well in the 21st century;

 

Source: www.goldenticketawards.com/#

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I love The Beast, it's a great ride but Outlaw Run blows it outta the water. Who in the hell votes The Beast better than Outlaw Run? Wow!

 

Sad to see CP lose the crown, bound to happen sometime though.

 

Still would like to see Goliath at SFGA on the list, great ride for sure.

 

Since I rode The Voyage that has moved to the top of the wooden list. The Voyage vs Outlaw run is a tough one though. I feel like they are 2 different rides all together. Both are amazing, but different. Really want to ride Outlaw Run at night. Wonder if it's better than The Voyage at night?

 

List does seem akward as hell though. Then again, i'm from the Midwest so I haven't ridden most of the coasters.

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Really Really confused by the intimidators. I232 is no where as good as I305. I232 doesnt even come close to the other B&M hypers or any intimin hypers for that matter.

 

How is Balder behind all other other wooden coasters! I would've thought it would be right behind or right before El toro!

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Best Steel Coasters:

#1 - Millennium Force at Cedar Point

#2 - Bizarro at Six Flags New England

#3 - Expedition GeForce at Holiday Park

#4 - Diamondback at Kings Island

#5 - Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure

#6 - Leviathan at Canada's Wonderland

#7 - Apollo's Chariot at Busch Gardens Williamsburg

#8 - New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas

#9 - Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia

#10 - Intimidator [232] at Carowinds

 

Really, 5 B&M hypers in the top 10???

 

... Maybe Goliath and Nitro in the top 15-20, maybe. The rest of them, um no.

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It's one thing for someone who never left the US to look at DisneySea or Europa Park and vote for either as best park. However, when it comes to ranking their Top 10 coasters, voters are unlikely to select a coasters they never rode. Unless every voter has been on the same all coasters there will be bias.

I can't help but wonder how much more or less accurate (?) the poll would be if it was just restricted to US parks and attractions, having the winners crowned as "best in the US". If very few people are going to vote for the international attractions, why even include them on the poll in the first place?

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As Larry stated, AT has been trying harder to include more well traveled enthusiasts in the voting. For a long time, it was skewered by the fact that international coaster trips rarely happened prior to TPR making them a yearly tradition accessible to all (Robb and Elissa really were the trailblazers in that regard).

 

Before that, most enthusiasts did trips/event within their regions---and since Amusement Today is based in the U.S., they had to turn to ACE to provide the "experts." Which in turn skews the data to whatever parks held the best events.

 

The results are still very FAR from perfect, but they are at least starting to get a little bit better. Europa has a solid argument for being the best park, something that would never even be possible just 5 years ago...

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MF doesn't surprise me. Although not ranked as high among enthusiasts, GP loves it.

 

That's the thing a lot of people are missing here. The world doesn't revolve around enthusiasts and it's hard to deny that Millennium Force is one of the most popular coasters in the world. Last year the coaster gave 1,680,269 rides... second in the park only to Gatekeeper which has a higher capacity and was new for last year.

 

While ridership data isn't everything it's hard to deny this coaster's incredible staying power and popularity. It still pulls hour plus waits almost every day even though there are 15 other coasters in the park and the ride is now 15 years old. For a regional park with a large coaster lineup that's pretty amazing.

 

Again... I'm not defending the Golden Ticket awards and I'm not saying that it should be awarded best coaster just because of the numbers that it does but when you look at those numbers it gives you an idea of where that #1 ranking comes from. I think it's safe to say that most people who visit the park would list Millennium Force as their favorite coaster. Enthusiasts make up a very small percentage of the population and even though they've generally ridden more coasters and could make better comparisons the Golden Tickets don't seem to be very concerned with that. They're more of a popularity contest than a scientific poll.

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^I hear what you're saying, but this isn't exactly a "GP" poll. They pull on enthusiasts and people in the industry, for the most part.

 

Again, I think it's remarkable (and excellent) that Europa finally unseated Cedar Point. Although I like CP, it isn't in the same class as parks like Europa, Disney, or Universal.

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Outlaw Run and Goliath probably didn't place higher in this poll because of their short length, and rightfully so. Especially Goliath. It was a "record setter" built on a budget. If Goliath had been built with a longer layout like Balder, it would probably rate higher.

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^ I severely doubt it. Honestly, Outlaw Run is such an intense coaster, it kind of needs to be short. Just watch people on the brake run, they are always either all smiles or out of breath (or both). I would take Outlaw Run as it is instead of it being less intense or having a slow finish.

 

As for why it only ranks ninth, it's because of the methodology of the poll. It's a simple poll where voters are asked to give their top ten. (I think it's ten.) If a voter has not personally experienced a coaster, they will not rank it on their list. Branson is a relatively remote place, I'm sure there are a number of voters who haven't made it out there yet. Every voter has probably been to Kings Island, which is why the Beast sticks around on the poll (in addition to its historical significance).

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The top 4 wooden coasters are my top 4, in the same order. Which in one sense makes me feel better about the winners, but not as much as I feel like the GTA probably shouldn't have the same rankings as somebody with a sub-100 coaster count...

 

And I don't even know what's going on with the steel results, it's like they're stuck in 2005.

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Yes, Millennium Force is, has been, and always will be, the best steel coaster in the world. Everyone should spend all of their free time at Cedar Point waiting in line and riding it. Me? Sorry, I have a, umm... *ahem* business trip to attend to in Hershey Pennsylvania. Don't mind me. There's no need to go to these other parks. Don't look at the man behind the curtain.

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As much as I love Noah's Ark, it's in horrible shape right now. I honestly don't think it's received any maintenance since Parques Reunidos (or as I like to call them Park Ruiners) took over the place. I don't understand how it's the number one walk through anymore.

 

Also, glad to see Idlewild is the number one kids park again. It's an excellent "starting ground" for kids!

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