The Official "TPR Coaster Poll" Thread!

[805Andrew]

The only coaster I noticed that was missing was Drifting Coaster from the traveling circuit.

We originally limited the selection to the largest traveling coasters at the time - Olympia Looping, Alpina Bahn, Spinning Racer, Hollenblitz, Teststrecke, Spinning Coaster XXL, and Wilde Maus XXL. Considering the Drifting Coaster's popularity and uniqueness, we'll consider adding it to the 2018 poll.

 

Thank you. It was one of the surprise hits of my Octoberfest trip last year.

 

On another note has the coaster poll officially closed already? I’ve already ranked over 100 coasters but could add more tonight if it’s still open. If not, no worries.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[robbalvey]

The only coaster I noticed that was missing was Drifting Coaster from the traveling circuit.

We originally limited the selection to the largest traveling coasters at the time - Olympia Looping, Alpina Bahn, Spinning Racer, Hollenblitz, Teststrecke, Spinning Coaster XXL, and Wilde Maus XXL. Considering the Drifting Coaster's popularity and uniqueness, we'll consider adding it to the 2018 poll.

 

Thank you. It was one of the surprise hits of my Octoberfest trip last year.

 

On another note has the coaster poll officially closed already? I’ve already ranked over 100 coasters but could add more tonight if it’s still open. If not, no worries.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, it is closed, sorry.

[Fiorell]

lol! I'm sorry, but I sort of have to laugh that you sign up for our forums the day AFTER the poll closes and we have been discussing the beta test for nearly 4 months only to tell us now what you don't like about it in a "compliment sandwich" format. While we all appreciate the feedback, it sort of makes it hard for us to take it seriously.

 

Hi Robb - yes, I agree, this looks as some kind of bad timing. I have tried the built-in feedback function before and finally signed-up to post the feedback here, because I think such a poll is rather important. I love to know where the important coasters are, when I am planning trips. And somehow I am strangely fascinated by rankings.

 

So please, consider this a serious feedback, especially from someone who knows from its job, how important a good UI is for the success of such a project. Maybe you can think about it in the next iterations...

 

Finally, to introduce me a little bit better, my Top10 in the ranking. I'm a "not too intense with comfort and lots of fun"-guy.

 

1. Fury325

2. Superman The Ride (SFNE)

3. Goliath (SFGA - yup, my no. 1 RMC, because it IS short)

4. Cheetah Hunt

5. Shambhala

6. Balder

7. Wildfire (yes, I placed this behind Balder)

8. Helix

9. Storm Chaser

10. Expedition GeForce (clearly Superman is better, but this is just 1h drive away from where I live)

 

I will also use this forum to post my impressions of some new rides here in Europe, trip starts in June.

[coneyislandchris]

I finalized my ballot late night on Saturday and submitted it... I'd been procrastinating for quite some time but I was glad to get it in under the buzzer, such as it was. My Top 10 and Bottom 5:

 

• 1 - Fury 325 [b&M at Carowinds.]
  2 - Phantom's Revenge [Morgan at KW.]
  3 - Intimidator 305 [intamin at KD.]
  4 - El Toro [intamin at SFGAdv.]
  5 - Skyrush [intamin at Hersheypark.]
  6 - Wicked Cyclone [RMC at SFNE.]
  7 - Lightning Rod [RMC at Dollywood.]
  8 - Full Throttle [Premier at SFMM.]
  9 - Phoenix [PTC at Knoebels.]
  10 - Millennium Force [intamin at CP.]
  -----
  180 - Vortex [b&M at Carowinds.]
  181 - Firehawk [Vekoma at KI.]
  182 - Nighthawk [Vekoma at Carowinds.]
  183 - Soarin' Eagle [Zamperla at ScreamZoneNYC.]
  184 - Green Lantern: First Flight [intamin at SFMM.]

 

I also signed the kiddo up for his own account and we had a fun hour or so going through his personal favorites. It was really interesting to see which ones he rated highly and which ones ended up super low on his list. Here's his top 10 and bottom 5 as well (keep in mind he's not yet 52" so he hasn't been on a lot of the ones with higher height restrictions; the biggest one is Wild Eagle with 50" at Dollywood).

 

• 1 - Lightning Rod [RMC at Dollywood.]
  2 - Wicked Cyclone [RMC at SFNE.]
  3 - Wild One [Dinn at SFA.]
  4 - Goliath [RMC at SFGAm.]
  5 - Phantom's Revenge [Morgan at KW.]
  6 - El Toro [intamin at SFGAdv.]
  7 - Phoenix [PTC at Knoebels.]
  8 - Loch Ness Monster [Arrow at BGW.]
  9 - Verbolten [Zierer at BGW.]
  10 - Millennium Force [intamin at CP.]
  -----
  93 - Crossbow [Zierer at BowcraftNJ.]
  94 - Demon [Arrow at SFGAm.]
  95 - Untamed [Gerstlauer at CanobieLake.]
  96 - Dragon Coaster [Church at RyePlayland.]
  97 - Wildcat [GCI at Hersheypark.]

 

I was really surprised he ranked Wild One so highly to be quite honest, but he was very firm about it. He was also very firm that Wildcat was the second worst coaster he'd ever been on -- the actual worst one closed down a while back. On the plus side, he's looking forward to giving it a second try when it reopens as Steel Vengeance. And I think it's safe to say he's a RMC fanboy in training... three out of the five RMCs he's been on were in his top 5, and a fourth one would have taken the top spot if Twisted Timbers was included in this poll. After riding it over and over again opening weekend, he's declared it his new favorite!

[vertigomkie]

I think I need to start re-evaluate Superman the Ride moving forward b/c the ride experience is close to what the what it was for S:ROS (2000 -2009). That ride was incomparable to anything done with tubular steel track that I've ridden. I really don't know where/how I would rank the 2017 version.

 

My Top 10 List

1 - Superman the Ride - Six Flags New England

2 - Outlaw Run - Silver Dollar City

3 - Maverick - Cedar Point

4 - Voyage - Holiday World

5 - Boulder Dash - Lake Compounce

6 - Phoenix - Knoebels Amusement Park and Resort

7 - Joker - Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

8 - Lightning Rod - Dollywood

9 - Wicked Cyclone - Six Flags New England

10 - Ravine Flyer II - Waldameer Water World

 

My Bottom 10 List

127 - Green Lantern: First Flight - Six Flags Magic Mountain

128 - Boomerang Coast to Coaster - Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

129 - Flashback - Six Flags New England

130 - Zoomerang - Lake Compounce

131 - Pandemonium - Six Flags New England

132 - Pony Express - Knott's Berry Farm

133 - Predator - Darien Lake

134 - Wildcat - Lake Compounce

135 - Grizzly - California's Great America

136 - Wild Beast - Canada's Wonderland

180 - Vortex [b&M at Carowinds.]

181 - Firehawk [Vekoma at KI.]

182 - Nighthawk [Vekoma at Carowinds.]

183 - Soarin' Eagle [Zamperla at ScreamZoneNYC.]

184 - Green Lantern: First Flight [intamin at SFMM.]

 

Thanks, I feel less bad about putting Green Lantern in my bottom 10 now. Also,

[OmnipotentSeal]

Last month I went to Arnold’s park in Iowa and rode Legend for the first time. This prompted me to look for it on coasterpoll to add it to my ranks because it was actually pretty good, but I can’t find it. I assume that it was not added because it was forgotten about because of obscurity. But if this isn’t not the case I would like to know why it was not included.

[A.J.]

Last month I went to Arnold’s park in Iowa and rode Legend for the first time. This prompted me to look for it on coasterpoll to add it to my ranks because it was actually pretty good, but I can’t find it. I assume that it was not added because it was forgotten about because of obscurity. But if this isn’t not the case I would like to know why it was not included.

Hey, this coaster has been added to the poll. Apologies for it not being there, it being left out was not intentional.

[HeartlineCoaster]

Just been back on to update some stuff and noticed Phaethon from Gyeongju World is missing.

[A.J.]

Phaethon has been added, you should see it pop up shortly.

[boldikus]

Do you guys have any idea of when voting for 2018 will open up? Just curious...

[robbalvey]

Do you guys have any idea of when voting for 2018 will open up? Just curious...

We need to discuss it. I would think "soon" would be the correct answer though...

[HeartlineCoaster]

Phaethon has been added, you should see it pop up shortly.

Thank you!

 

Could you also add Happy Valley Chongqing at some point please. https://rcdb.com/12158.htm

[A.J.]

I've gone ahead and made the following changes:

 

Re-named coasters - Incredicoaster (California Screamin'), Apple Zapple (Ricochet), Racer 75 (Rebel Yell), Riddler Revenge (Mind Eraser)

New parks - Fantawild Asian Legends, Colorful Yunnan Paradise, Happy Valley Chongqing, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi

 

New coasters -

 

• Launch Coaster, Colorful Yunnan Paradise
  
• Tiger Leaping Gorge, Colorful Yunnan Paradise
  
• Wing Coaster, Colorful Yunnan Paradise
  
• ASEAN Express, Fantawild Asian Legends
  
• Jungle Trailblazer, Fantawild Asian Legends
  
• Flying Wing Coaster, Happy Valley Chongqing
  
• Jungle Dragon, Happy Valley Chongqing
  
• Fast and Furry-ous, Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi

[A.J.]

Hey everyone!

 

https://coasterpoll.com/

 

We're beginning to make preparations for this year's TPR Coaster Poll! It will no longer be in "beta", and we're hoping that we can get even more ballots than we did last year (which in itself was a pretty great sample size). Look for the poll to "officially" open up right at the turn of 2019. We'll close voting after about a month, and we'll have the results almost instantly!

 

With that in mind, however, we'd like to solicit some feedback about the poll! Here's what we're mainly looking for:

 

• coasterpoll.com website issues
  
• Missing coasters and parks
  
• Coasters and parks with misspelled names
  
• Coasters and parks with inaccurate / out-of-date names (Ricochet > Apple Zapple)
  
• Coasters that closed in 2018 or have been SBNO for an extended period of time

 

We do not intend on adding any more "new for 2018" coasters to this year's poll (such as Hanchang Ocean Park's Steel Dolphin coaster) because coasters that have opened in November or December have not had enough time to be ridden by a lot of people.

 

In addition, this thread will now serve as the ongoing feedback repository for the poll - please use it if you have any questions, feature requests, or anything like that.

 

For those of you who are new to Theme Park Review since we did the Coaster Poll beta, please refer to the first post of this thread for all the info. Remember that you have to create a separate login to add and rank your rides, but we ask that you use the same username as the one you have on the forums.

 

Thanks, and we're looking forward to this year's poll!

[joelwee]

Green Lantern @ SFMM has been SBNO since last year, so it probably shouldn't be included or it might skew the "Bottom 5 Steel" list.

[xVicesAndVirtues]

Xtreme at Blue Bayou Dixie Landin' was apparently removed in 2017, according to RCDB

 

https://rcdb.com/3762.htm

[Fiorell]

Couldn't find 'Super 8er Bahn' from Wiener Prater.

 

https://rcdb.com/1095.htm

[robbalvey]

Do we really need to include every crappy Pinfari coaster out there? I mean, I would really question that anyone could care at all if some of these garbage coasters weren't on the list unless we simply have people with extreme OCD that are going to have some sort of mental breakdown if they can't tick a box on some horrible coaster they've ridden.

Edited December 7, 2018 by robbalvey

[robbalvey]

Here's a question I have for all of you....

 

Do you think there is a breaking point of having so many coasters on the list that fewer people take the poll just because the list is so daunting to sort through?

 

I get that having "as many coasters as possible" gives the best end results, but let's be honest here, is anyone REALLY going to care where the "FC80 Model Pinfari" at Wiener Prater ranks on the overall list?

 

Are we just listing these to satisfy some people's OCD or are we listing them because people REALLY HONESTLY CARE where that Pinfari ranks among all the coasters in the world.

 

Honest question.

 

Please respond.

[JG-77]

Personally I don't see a very good reason to list all the 20,000 mostly crappy pinfaris nobody really cares about. As far as if there is a breaking point, I'd say possibly, as if the list gets to cluttered with crappy pinfaris that could make it annoying when comparing the large coasters people actually care about. I would say that its ok to include some small number of Pinfari-like coasters if they're unique or good enough, but I agree with the policy of ignoring the vast majority of them.

 

Also while we're on the topic of Pinfari's, while obviously this wouldn't qualify for the poll, The zyklon at the Maryland state fair was actually quite good in the back row - smooth, comfortable, nice floater on the 2 drops, lap bar that sits several inches above you with no seatbelt letting you rise up quite a bit, and fun laterals at the end.

[coasterbill]

I don’t care. I feel like you can just list “Standard Vekoma SLC”, “Standard Vekoma Boomerang”, “Best Pinfari” and stuff like that and I don’t see why anyone would care. If there’s one specific clone that’s clearly miles ahead of the others (See: Great Nor Easter with it’s new track or Speed of Sound) then maybe list it separately if you feel like it but I don’t really have any interest in sitting there and trying to figure out which Volare is marginally less of an abomination and an embarrassment to the world and the entire human race than the others.

 

PS: Since everyone comes up with an arbitrary ranking for them anyway I still contend that things like Gringotts, Wonder Mountain Guardian and Journey to Atlantis can be omitted if they aren’t already. There is no rhyme or reason to how people rank them. They come up with an arbitrary penalty for not really being a coaster and stick them wherever they want. If I were to take this poll honestly and play the “Which of these two rides would I rather ride” game then Gringotts might be my favorite coaster but that’s dumb and not in the spirit of anything you’re trying to accomplish.

 

That said, it’s your poll and I know that I don’t speak for everyone. I suppose that the counter-argument would be that you’re more than welcome to only rank the rides that you feel like ranking and I get that argument too.

[Canobie Coaster]

I wouldn't mind seeing best SLC, best boomerang, best wild mouse, etc like the Mitch Hawker poll. I honestly don't look where those coasters rank. I'm far more interested in knowing where the custom designs rank since it helps plan future trips and bucket list coasters.

 

That being said, I'm a nerd and have an Excel spreadsheet of my rankings so I do know what the 5th best SLC or 8th best boomerang that I've ridden is.

[robbalvey]

That said, it’s your poll and I know that I don’t speak for everyone. I suppose that the counter-argument would be that you’re more than welcome to only rank the rides that you feel like ranking and I get that argument too.

This is 100% correct.

 

My question was more about those people, maybe more casual theme park or roller coaster fans that would want to take the poll, but then open up the list and see such a GIANT amount of data that the run away screaming.

 

Or...

 

Is that giant amount of data more welcoming to some people?

Edited December 7, 2018 by robbalvey

[Prof Kaos]

Given that you can search park names, the list isn't insanely daunting. It's pretty simple to add coasters park by park, then refine your list after that.

 

However for people that don't think of that, the huge list of coasters the site presents by default might seem dauntingly large.

 

I have to agree with others above who say that not every pinfari, SLC or (shudder) zamperla volare needs to go on the list. I don't think a "complete" list has to be 100% comprehensive.

[coasterbill]

It's hard to answer the casual fan question because essentially none of them are on this site in early December reading a thread about a coaster poll but maybe the best thing to do is to just use last year's results and then eliminate the bottom few hundred? There's no harm in doing that as obviously they're not going to suddenly jump up to the top spot. If it attracts more casual people then that's great, if not then it's still less work for you guys and everyone taking the poll so it's kind of a win-win.

 

My gut tells me that it's going to be hard to attract casual fans to something like this no matter what you do but hopefully I'm wrong. In the end I just feel like cutting down on the list is a win-win anyway so there's no harm in trying it.

 

PS: Obviously common sense can be used here in one of those rides undergoes a major renovation (something like Ghostrider or Great Nor' Easter) and you want to throw them back into the poll.