Golden Ticket Awards 2016

[LiftThrill]

I'm mostly laughing at Switchback being listed as new for 2016.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Best Park

1.) Europa-Park

2.) Cedar Point

3.) Dollywood

4.) Knoebels Amusement Resort

5.) Universal's Islands of Adventure

6.) Blackpool Pleasure Beach

7.) Busch Gardens Williamsburg

8.) Phantasialand

9.) Alton Towers (Tie)

9.) Tokyo DisneySea (Tie)

 

How Silver Dollar City didn't make this list, I'll never know.

[larrygator]

I do think it is funny the after the awards are posted we see the same thing ever year. I'm not just talking about the winners, but the gripes. As Elissa said these awards are not accurate if you are a well traveled, seasoned enthusiast.

 

For me personally, I wouldn't really call anything a gripe because I can't get enough of these awards in their current form.

 

True, "gripe" was the wrong word but I couldn't think of the right word to convey "expressions of wonderment from people about what won and what was excluded".

[Henry M]

Best Park

1.) Europa-Park

2.) Cedar Point

3.) Dollywood

4.) Knoebels Amusement Resort

5.) Universal's Islands of Adventure

6.) Blackpool Pleasure Beach

7.) Busch Gardens Williamsburg

8.) Phantasialand

9.) Alton Towers (Tie)

9.) Tokyo DisneySea (Tie)

 

How Silver Dollar City didn't make this list, I'll never know.

And how the hell Blackpool is there.

[TheoB]

Best Park

1.) Europa-Park

2.) Cedar Point

3.) Dollywood

4.) Knoebels Amusement Resort

5.) Universal's Islands of Adventure

6.) Blackpool Pleasure Beach

7.) Busch Gardens Williamsburg

8.) Phantasialand

9.) Alton Towers (Tie)

9.) Tokyo DisneySea (Tie)

 

How Silver Dollar City didn't make this list, I'll never know.

And how the hell Blackpool is there.

 

Because its a nice, traditional park that has a lot of history and is very well known and liked. I honestly prefer it to Thorpe and Alton at the moment, not because the rides are better or anything but because you can ride everything multiple times even on the busiest days whereas at Thorpe for example you ride like 8 things on an average weekend/school holiday. Alton is kind of on Blackpool's level but it has something that can't be found in large quantities anywhere else in the UK, airtime!

[knaiwear]

I'm mostly laughing at Switchback being listed as new for 2016.

 

Didn't it open in October? aka after the 2015 Golden ticket awards? Seems reasonable that there would be a mid year cutoff point for a mid year awards event.

[sfkk]

And why was Six Flags Great America's carousel on the list of best carousels, but not California's? They are the same carousel right?

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Best Park

1.) Europa-Park

2.) Cedar Point

3.) Dollywood

4.) Knoebels Amusement Resort

5.) Universal's Islands of Adventure

6.) Blackpool Pleasure Beach

7.) Busch Gardens Williamsburg

8.) Phantasialand

9.) Alton Towers (Tie)

9.) Tokyo DisneySea (Tie)

 

How Silver Dollar City didn't make this list, I'll never know.

Likely a lot of the voters haven't been here. It's really in the middle of nowhere, so you'd have to make a special trip for it. A lot of enthusiasts are on the East Coast, so it makes sense that many if them have been to Dollywood and were impressed, but haven't come out to the Ozarks yet.

[GCI Wooden]

Best Park

1.) Europa-Park

2.) Cedar Point

3.) Dollywood

4.) Knoebels Amusement Resort

5.) Universal's Islands of Adventure

6.) Blackpool Pleasure Beach

7.) Busch Gardens Williamsburg

8.) Phantasialand

9.) Alton Towers (Tie)

9.) Tokyo DisneySea (Tie)

 

How Silver Dollar City didn't make this list, I'll never know.

Likely a lot of the voters haven't been here. It's really in the middle of nowhere, so you'd have to make a special trip for it. A lot of enthusiasts are on the East Coast, so it makes sense that many if them have been to Dollywood and were impressed, but haven't come out to the Ozarks yet.

But SDC is mentioned as a runner up for several of the awards. While I'm sure that it's location doesn't help with the amount of voters that go to the park, that can't be the only reason.

 

I think it's just a case of the Golden Tickets being weird.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Best Park

1.) Europa-Park

2.) Cedar Point

3.) Dollywood

4.) Knoebels Amusement Resort

5.) Universal's Islands of Adventure

6.) Blackpool Pleasure Beach

7.) Busch Gardens Williamsburg

8.) Phantasialand

9.) Alton Towers (Tie)

9.) Tokyo DisneySea (Tie)

 

How Silver Dollar City didn't make this list, I'll never know.

Likely a lot of the voters haven't been here. It's really in the middle of nowhere, so you'd have to make a special trip for it. A lot of enthusiasts are on the East Coast, so it makes sense that many if them have been to Dollywood and were impressed, but haven't come out to the Ozarks yet.

But SDC is mentioned as a runner up for several of the awards. While I'm sure that it's location doesn't help with the amount of voters that go to the park, that can't be the only reason.

 

I think it's just a case of the Golden Tickets being weird.

Could be. But a lot of us know SDC is a great park, and that's what matters. I can't speak for Blackpool, as I haven't been there, but a lot of people speak very highly of it. It may be very good too.

[TyRush]

I just love how year after year we make fun of the GTA's. I also love how year after year they become more laughable

[beenagins87]

And why was Six Flags Great America's carousel on the list of best carousels, but not California's? They are the same carousel right?

Maybe it's upkept better?? I've never been to CGA and it's been two years since I've been SFGA, so I'm not in a position to judge, or maybe SFGAM is more well liked than CGA?? There doesn't really seem to be a rhyme or reason to a lot of these choices.

[Angle O. Descent]

My Two Cents

 

Top 50 Wood:

With the exception of El Toro as low as 3rd and Beast as high as 6th, this list is actually not that outlandish. I cannot comment on the so-implied shafting of T-Express or Wildfire because I have not been on either, but common sense tells me they deserved way more votes.

 

Top 50 Steel:

I'll start with that I DO agree with...

- Phantom's Revenge back in the Top 10

- Maverick jumping 10 spots

- Goliath dropping 10 spots

 

Now here's how some of the rest of the steel "awards" should have looked like:

 

Inconsistency Award:

- Intimidator 8th, Diamondback 9th, Behemoth... 24th? (I've been on all three, not THAT much difference folks)

 

Nostalgia Award:

- MagnumXL finishes ahead of NTaG, and I305... and Wicked Cyclone... and Dragster......

 

Diplomatic Immunity Award:

- Nitro and Apollo's Chariot make the Top 10. AGAIN.

 

Size Shouldn't Matter Award:

- Lightning Run finishes 44th

 

Harold Houdini Memorial Award:

- Skyrush, SheiKra, Griffon, Xcelerator, Storm Runner, and Ride of Steel just disappeared??

 

That Awkward Moment Award:

- Europa Park wins best park with Cedar Point as the event host

[CoasterGuy06]

Europa Park has now won three years in a row. I doubt Cedar Point was that shocked.

[Jew]

Take these awards for what they are: marketing tools for the parks. The voting poll is still very much skewered towards "old school" coaster enthusiasts. Plus I doubt it's an accident parks that spend money on advertising for amusement today keep winning...

[MrSum1_55]

^This is where I think GTA goes wrong. There does seem to be too much correlation between parks who spend on advertising and winning.

 

I understand having weird opinions, as I ranked both Verbolten and Manta (SWSD!) in my top 15. That being said, the list makes still no sense in some ways. The thing that stood out the most to me was Skyrush not even making the top fifty. I know that it is a matter of opinion, but this "opinion" makes little sense in many ways. As always, smooth graceful coasters with floater air beat out many intense, ejector air coasters. It is fine to have a preference, but several coasters with plenty of intensity and ejector air as Phantom's Revenge and some RMC's ranked highly as well. You could say that it was rides discomfort, but I have found Maginum XL and X2 to be worse than Skyrush in terms of discomfort. If you think Skyrush is too intense, then that is fine, BUT I also think this indicates that you should not be on the committee ranking these coasters. It is fine to have a limit on intensity, but if your job is to measure which coasters are objectively better, but some particular coasters are too intense for you, then maybe you should not be one of the people making the list. To me, this is kind of like asking someone who is afraid of heights to make a list of the best roller coasters. You would probably see Thunder Mountain rank above Millennium Force in this case. It is perfectly fine for an individual to have that preferance but that is not the opinion you need in a list that is supposed to be for people who want the "best" roller coasters.

 

This is why I trust Mitch Hawker's poll more, even though there are still a few problems with this poll. I know I am getting a more broad picture of enthusiasts, as opposed to a more homogeneous, narrow-minded view.

 

Edit: I read some more comments, and apparently there was an error in the selection, being that Skyrush, as well as Coaster at playland, were not included in the selection. This is still not right, as it is a massive failure when your list of "best" coasters fails to include two of the most beloved coasters in the world.

[A.J.]

It is fine to have a limit on intensity, but if your job is to measure which coasters are objectively better, but some particular coasters are too intense for you, then maybe you should not be one of the people making the list. To me, this is kind of like asking someone who is afraid of heights to make a list of the best roller coasters. You would probably see Thunder Mountain rank above Millennium Force in this case. It is perfectly fine for an individual to have that preferance but that is not the opinion you need in a list that is supposed to be for people who want the "best" roller coasters.

I respectfully disagree. I don't ride coasters because they're intense, I ride them because they're fun. Does that mean that my opinion shouldn't be counted because I happen to rank Phoenix above El Toro for that reason? (Disclaimer: I'm not on the panel.) Likewise, does this mean that someone who ranks Flight Deck or Kumba above Intimidator 305 shouldn't be counted either, because Intimidator 305 is the "obvious" choice for #1? The point of polls like these is to reach and represent the most colorful set of demographics as possible, regardless of how well- or poorly-executed the poll ends up being. You can be the judge of how well-executed the Golden Ticket Awards were, but reading through everyone's posts I get a general consensus.

 

The phrase "coaster enthusiast" reaches far and wide. There are enthusiasts who like Schwarzkopfs. There are some that like classic wooden coasters, some that like fun and re-ride-ability over sheer intensity (like myself), some that want to grey out during every ride, some that like inverted coasters... To say that someone shouldn't be on the panel because they don't fawn over every kind of coaster you like is missing the point. If a coaster is as good as you say it is, then those "outliers" shouldn't even matter in the long run, right?

[Morgan]

The best thing for me in these awards are that Alton Towers & DisneySea are tied at 9th for Best Park.

 

Admittedly I've never been to DisneySea, and as much as I like Alton Towers, I'm under no delusions that they are on equal footing.

[cfc]

I haven't paid much attention to the Golden Tickets for a few years now, but I was amused that they finally chose a great theme park, Europa, as number one over Cedar Point. While I like Cedar Point, it simply isn't in the same league as parks like Europa and DisneySea.

[grsupercity]

Always good for a laugh

[Rill'o'beily]

I still have no clue how millenium force is #2 and used to be #1

[Henry M]

^ It is big, and people like big stuff in whatever form, especially when it has been ridden a lot by lost of people and is know for being smooth and fun.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Henry M

[coasterbill]

I still have no clue how millenium force is #2 and used to be #1

 

I can understand Millennium Force and Fury, it's when you get lower on the list that it gets crazy. Sure some people may disagree but there are a lot of people that would rank those coasters 1 and 2 so I can't argue with that. Personally Millennium Force is still my favorite coaster and Fury isn't far behind.

 

When they start pulling out things like Nitro and Intimidator is when they start to lose me.

[OrlandoGuy]

The funniest thing about these awards is you guys overanalyzing the results and bitching about them lol. It's a poll for people to vote for their favorite rides, not an advanced algorithm. For those of you that think certain rides are getting unfairly under-represented, I have news for you: thr only people looking into the top 50 roller coaster lists are people like you who have your own opinions about the rides anyways . The ONLY stat most people will see is the Number 1 steel/wooden and those seem pretty accurate.

 

Seriously, I think you guys take this more seriously than the people who run it lol.

[coasterbill]

The funniest thing about these awards is you guys overanalyzing the results and bitching about them lol. It's a poll for people to vote for their favorite rides, not an advanced algorithm. For those of you that think certain rides are getting unfairly under-represented, I have news for you: thr only people looking into the top 50 roller coaster lists are people like you who have your own opinions about the rides anyways . The ONLY stat most people will see is the Number 1 steel/wooden and those seem pretty accurate.

 

Seriously, I think you guys take this more seriously than the people who run it lol.

 

I see very few people "bitching" or "taking these awards too seriously". Most of us are laughing about them and pointing out ridiculous things within them because it's fun.