McSalsa

Well, Amusement Today has released their 2012 Golden Ticket Awards and once again, it's just the same old stuff! So, here's another "annual" poll from McSalsa (I did this same poll last year and in 2010). Enjoy. What are YOUR picks for the following suggested categories? Or, you may also create your own if you feel I did not include one you'd want, but keep it realistic please (IE: No giving Kings Island an award for "Best Trash Cans", etc.) Some Suggested Categories...(just a suggestion, of course ) Best Amusement Park Best Theme Park Best Value Park (New for 2011!) Best Wood Coaster(s) (You can name just one, or make a "Top X" list) Best Steel Coaster(s) (Same thing as Wood) Best Flatride Best "New" Ride (New for you, does not have to be a brand-new ride) Best New Ride (Has to be a real, brand-new for 2012 ride) Best Park Food Most Beautiful Park Best Water Ride (Includes river rapids, splash rides, and waterslides etc etc) Best Waterpark Best Park Staff Best Kids Area Best Park Show Cleanest Park Best Halloween Event (like KI's haunt, etc etc) Enjoy the poll. If you dislike, click back. A SUGGESTION http://www.KICentral...__fromsearch__1 (for 2011 poll) http://www.KICentral...et&fromsearch=1 (for 2010 poll) If you did this poll last year or in 2010 (link above), click that and see your results from then. Then, for your steel/wood coaster rankings, you can "mark" if they have improved or gone down. Optional but would be nice.

Wow, El Toro actually won best wood coaster. That one's a shocker- after Voyage won last year (and based on the rides I took on it in 2011, it did not seem like it was still a #1 coaster anymore) I was expecting the same this year...wonder if the fact Holiday World was hosting last year had anything to do with that...probably did...also, Raven returns to being a Top-10 wooden coaster at #8...it seems to flip-flop for some reason in these rankings. Also, Wildebeest beat out Mammoth for best waterpark ride...in fact Mammoth did not even make Top 5! Hmm...bigger may not be better after all. And they also lost friendliest park to Dollywood...did Holiday World not buy as many AT ads this year or something!?!? Also spotted: Almost all of the Top 10 steel coasters are super-smooth hyper/giga coasters with large, gentle curves and airtime hills and no inversions. If I was New Texas Giant, I'd feel very alone on this list...the fact it's even on there says to me that this is probably a great ride. Magnum XL-200 should also be grateful it's on there, as from what I've heard (and felt from other Arrow rides), it's not super-smooth...and ditto on Maverick & I305 getting dissed. Never ridden either of them, but from POVs and No-Limits recreations, as well as online rating sites, these probably should be at least Top 10 coasters...and they aren't. Just a few things I spotted. Most of the other stuff is more of the same...

And even steel coasters "wobble" a bit when those heavy trains go across their tracks, for example, here is a music video of our own B&M Hypercoaster, Diamondback... Watch the track closely during the "yellow-ish" scene around the 1:30 mark...it isn't much, but it does "wobble" a bit there.

Hmm...interesting topic: The Beast Of course I'm saving the one-of-a-kind classic wooden coaster that no one else can possibly build again... The Racer It's a historical classic, and historical classics must not be demolished! Sadly, in real life, some historic classics have been demo'ed... And for no good reason, too. Once re-located, I'd give it back the old paint job to boot. Flight Deck All right, it's pretty clear by now- I'm saving and getting rides that are rare and cannot have any chance of being re-built, so add Flight Deck to the list of rides I'm "saving" here. These old suspended coasters are no longer around, so having Flight Deck saved would be wonderful. Vortex ...there are other multi-looping coasters, but Vortex is unique in its layout. Yet another classic that should not be demolished, as only World's of Fun's now-defunct Orient Express was similar to Vortex...and it's gone now. But, I would get Vortex some new trains, with lap bars. Adventure Express Another one-of-a-kind ride at KI, this mine train has a unique layout and cool theming. And it's a great family ride. A must-keep! Monster These just aren't getting built anymore, and are even being torn down quite frequently, so I'm saving this one! Grand Carousel 1926. Classic Carousel. Another must save. Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown! Would, if saved, be restored to its classic status and become The Kings Mills Log Flume again. This old log flume is a key part of KI's history, and thus I would save it. Oh, and I'm saving this one in spite of the fact I have never actually rode it- take that for what it's worth. The Kings Island & Miami Valley Railroad This ride may have lost some of its luster in recent years, but it remains a key part of KI's history, and should be kept. Eiffel Tower Intamin still makes these, but they are so pricey, and it's a huge part of KI's history...better save it. And that's the 10 I'd save. You'll notice these are not even all of my 10 favorite rides at KI, but these are rare/unique/un-replaceable. You could always call B&M again and build another Diamondback, call Intamin for another Drop Tower, etc etc. But these are more unique, rides KI has that most other parks don't, or are rarer rides that would be hard/impossible to re-build if demolished. And that's why I'd save them, even if I like other rides a bit more. Not that I actually WANT any of the other rides to be demolished...heck, if I came into huge money and Kings Island closed, I would probably just buy the entire park and save everything I could. I'd have to find a new theme for PS though, since that is a Cedar Fair licsence...and re-name a few rides...etc etc.

Wow...such shocking and sad news to learn. I didn't know the man, but like so many others, I had seen his posts here on KIC. I do know what it's like to lose a father to Cancer (that's how my dad died back in 2006), so I give my best wishes to his friends and family through what are sure to be tough times...

Wow, hate to go off-topic or anything, but the Waterslide complex shown on that page looks awesome...

I'd say about 1 in 2,937...since that's how many coasters RCDB has listed on their page.

(Imagines a Rhino in a massive hamster cage running in the wheel)...umm...(I know, not what Terpy was were talking about, but that did pop up in my head and I thought it was funny so I posted it)... The guideline I was using for the selection above basically goes like this, to sum it up... -Brand New Coasters (most of them) -Relocated Coasters (Boomerang, Speed: The Ride, etc etc) -Major overhauls (Iron Rattler, which will probably have some of Rattler still in it, such as the structure, but will still mostly be new) -Flying Turns (Built several years ago, but has not opened due to some major problems and hence will still be new for Knoebels when it finally does...if it does...) All of the above qualify. Coasters that are being re-painted or just getting minor work/new trains (ex: Timberliners for The Voyage @ Holiday World, which could happen next year, or a coaster getting a bit of Rocky Mountain Topper Track) do NOT qualify.

^ I do too. I knew very, very little about roller coasters before joining KIC. And I have learned quite a bit since, a lot of it from other users...like the best seat on Vortex, for example...

Yes, it will be...alas, it is also being built with parts from an old ride, and it does have one or two of the old ride's features and some of its layout...granted, they did change quite a bit of it, similar to "New Texas Giant"...(PS: I'm glad they took out the helix, from the POV's I have seen of Rattler, that part looked super-boring)... RCDB didn't even list Iron Rattler as a "New for 2013" ride, though, which is where I made the above list from (sorting to show only North American rides, however, since most people on KIC live in North America, I'd assume!). I had to add it myself, which I did...because RCBD also listed "New Texas Giant" as a "old" ride in 2011, which it was not. And what won 2011's best new ride when Amusement Today's polls came out (granted, that poll isn't very accurate whatsoever)...New Texas Giant.

Hmm...well, if they don't give it the new trains, then I seriously must question Six Flags re-location strategy...I mean, come on, Cedar Fair gave their Boomerang (Carolina Cobra/Head Spin) new trains when it got moved...why can't Six Flags? Then again, we don't know for sure...

I know, I'm counting re-located coasters...I would have counted Stinger @ Dorney Park had I done this last year, too. Hence the "new" in the title, which also applies to Iron Rattler as it is also not 100% brand-new...

Ohh...so it's just a re-location...ok, my bad...I hope Six Flags AT LEAST gives it the new boomerang trains, which I am told are so much better than the old ones. It supposedly worked well for Carolina Cobra (re-location of Head Spin from Geauga Lake).

Well, Six Flags has announced their new-for-2013 attractions, including 3 coasters. And so, I'm guessing all the new roller coasters for '13 have either been announced by now, or will be soon (if anything new comes up, I will add it to the poll). And so, here's a poll... This one is super-simple: which ride opening next year looks the best to you, the "best new coaster" for 2013? It's that simple. Aren't these easy polls awesome? Enjoy the poll. If, for some reason you dislike, click back...or else.

Wow, Six Flags, keep it up...many of these rides & attractions look awesome... IRON RATTLER @ SF Fiesta Texas Iron Rattler looks epic, and while it only has 1 inversion to Outlaw Run's 3, it's also longer and I see great use of terrain with that coaster. Sad that Kings Island could have done something like this with Son of Beast, but decided not to (perhaps because of the price tag- I recall Kinzel saying at Coastermania 2011 at Cedar Point that they looked into it for Son of Beast and while RMC would do it, they would need $20 million dollars to do so). My pick for best new ride 2013! FULL THROTTLE @ SF Magic Mountain People here seem "dissapointed" at this one...I think it looks fun, although not the best coaster overall next year. The massive loop and numerous launches look cool, and while the backwards launch throws off the pace a bit, it isn't a bad feature whatsoever...and it's from Premier Rides, the company who built Flight of Fear here at KI (which is a ride I enjoy), so it should be good. SAFARI OFF ROAD ADVENTURE @ SF Great Adventure Kings Island used to have something like this, only it had a monorail instead of trucks, and the trucks seem like a "step up" from the monorail. Regardless, Paramount came in and ripped that attraction out, and later put Son of Beast there...how did that go again? Hmm...perhaps, if Cedar Fair is willing to change its policy and have animal areas in its parks, the Wild Animal Safari at Kings Island could make a triumphant comeback...anyhow, this one looks awesome. BOOMERANG @ SF St. Louis THEY STILL BUILD THESE!?!? I'm a bit confused by this one...why not an Invertigo? Well, at least the newer boomerangs, I'm told, have better trains and are far more "ride-able" than the older ones. But this will probably not be 2013's best new coaster, unless something horrible goes wrong with ALL the others...not a bad ride for the park, but not the epic steel coaster that isn't a clone that compliments their excellent-looking wood coaster lineup... THE SKY-SCREAMERS @ Various Six Flags WindSeekers vs. Sky Screamers...there is indeed a war in the sky over Cedar Fair and Six Flags parks. Wonder if/when Busch Gardens, Disney, Universal, Various Smaller Parks, etc etc. decides to build a swing ride what they might do... And those are the ones that stood out to me...

As for Star Trek...I give you what I saw on Halloween Haunt in 2010... OH, THE HUMANITY!!!

To further complicate the matter: In the early Paramount-Era Park Maps (I checked '93 and am pretty sure the '94-'96 maps are the same on this), Adventure Express is listed as a ride in the Wild Animal Habitat/Adventure Village section, NOT Oktoberfest, even though its actual entrance would indicate otherwise. If this logic is still used, AE would be considered an Action Zone attraction, as would Sling Shot, and while that makes more sense for the rides (both fit Action Zone more than Oktoberfest), it does create a small problem: Oktoberfest is now an INCREDIBLY small section of the park, with ONE ride- Viking Fury, which does not fit the theme either!

Oktoberfest...the German-Themed area of Kings Island featuring an Indiana-Jones themed mine train coaster (there are ancient lost temples in GERMANY!?!?), ride a Viking Ship (what do Vikings have to do with Germany, either?), get launched 275 feet into the air on a unthemed Sling Shot ride, watch a BRITISH INVASION show in the Festhaus (the look of this building is pretty much all that Oktoberfest has left going for it, but on the inside even it is the "wrong" theme!), and eat Burritos. Well, at least they still have beer... Poor Oktoberfest sure isn't what it used to be, eh? And it was like this BEFORE Cedar Fair even came into the picture, too...and some of it even came pre-Paramount! (Viking Fury, which did not match Oktoberfest, opened in 1982, 10 years before Paramount bought the Park!)

Well, might as well add a picture my sister took of Son of Beast during our trip to the park on May 5th, 2012... Not the greatest quality, but it is a Son of Beast pic...enjoy.

^ (On how a Giga might look if placed where SOB now sits) Driving up to Kings Island from Indy, the way we usually come up to it, Diamondback, when the park first comes into view, while not quite as big as the Eiffel Tower, clearly "challenges" it for dominance in the skyline... While it doesn't appear taller than the Eiffel Tower, you can see that Diamondback DOES come close. Son of Beast is also clearly visible in this picture as well as Drop Tower. Not sure in WindSeeker would show up in a modern version of this photo due to its location. If a B&M Giga were built where SOB now stands, it would appear, from this angle to be about the same size as Diamondback...because it's further away...(Drop Tower would actually be closer, so unless we are talking a 350-foot giga coaster or something...) At least, from this direction...from the other side, a B&M Giga might actually look bigger than the Eiffel Tower...

UGH! I just remembered something- during my 2009 visit to the park, Diamondback was NOT on the "Fear The Four" souvineer cup! There were 2 cups- 1 was the Diamondback cup. The other was the "Fear The Four" cup which had Beast, SOB, Firehawk, and Vortex...Diamondback was added in 2010 after Son of Beast was shut down. Sorry for my mis-information earlier.

Here's my Top 10 List. Remember, I have only been to Kings Island, Indiana Beach (back in 1999),and Holiday World so far, so I don't have tons and tons to choose from... #1-The Beast @ Kings Island #2-The Voyage @ Holiday World #3-Diamondback @ Kings Island #4-The Legend @ Holiday World #5-The Raven @ Holiday World #6-Flight of Fear @ Kings Island #7-Vortex @ Kings Island #8-The Racer @ Kings Island (Red Racer>Blue Racer BTW) #9-Flight Deck @ Kings Island #10-Hoosier Hurricane @ Indiana Beach Honorable Mentions (Ride's I've really liked but they missed the list): Backlot Stunt Coaster, Firehawk, Adventure Express, and Invertigo. Very likely to start changing as I visit more parks, but as of right now, that's my list. If I could count Water Coasters, Wildebeest @ Holiday World would take the #3 spot, and knock off the Hoosier Hurricane.

In 2009, I remember it being: Diamondback, Beast, Son of Beast, and Vortex. Then, when SOB was shut down, Firehawk was added in its place.

I've only been to Kings Island and Holiday World, and never got the chance to ride Son of Beast, and have enjoyed every roller coaster I've ever been on, and even all the flat rides...except for ONE: The Crypt @ Kings Island. It gave me two good flips, and then suddenly and abruptly it was over. I don't miss it, although I've heard it was once a far superior ride. Even though I've enjoyed every coaster I have been on, if I must pick a ride to be "worst" from the coasters, it's Invertigo. It's not a bad ride, but I just found it inferior to the other coasters I have ridden at Kings Island and Holiday World. Firehawk isn't super-high on my "short" list, either...so things don't look good for the Vekomas at Kings Island once I start going to other parks with great coasters like Cedar Point, Busch Gardens (both of them), the bigger Six Flags parks, etc etc.

^ Yeah, sorry about that...I actually used to be afraid of spiders too. What got me over it? I did a LOT of research about them. Studied them. Realized 99% of them are harmless to humans (most of the big ones, including Tarantulas, fall into this category). While I'm still just a bit afraid, it's now more "curiosity" than fear for most spiders. Of course, if I spot a species that is poisonous...(Black Widow, Brown Recluse, etc etc...)...I might have no choice but to kill it. (Granted, I've actually never seen any of either of those spiders...thankfully)...but, I leave the non-deadly kinds alone...unless my sister, who is still freakishly afraid of spiders, demands I kill it. Again, I cannot believe a topic about Beast Backstage Tours on KIC became about spiders...