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KI Best Kids Area Golden Ticket 2012


The Interpreter
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For Millie to get number one, and Diamondback to get number 10 (a ranking that NEITHER deserve by a long shot), and I305 to not even be IN the top 10 is absolute proof beyond shadow of a doubt these awards are skewed at best. As if that wasnt clear enough evidence.... Wild Eagle best new amusement park attraction for 2012? REALLY?? The only two I agree with, are Holiday World getting Cleanest park, and El Toro blasting Voyage for best Wooden Coaster. That ride hasnt deserved number 1 status for at least 2 years, and its retracking this year doesnt redeem it to that status in my opinion. Now, for as someone as Pro Holiday World as I am to say that, says something. Terpy said it best in the previous few days when discussing something related to the GT Awards when he mentioned the amount of advertising dollars spent in Amusement Today magazine. To look at this list, and say the amount of money a company spends in that rag DOESNT mean anything, would be nothing less than foolish. What baffles me is that, with CF being the conglomerate that SPENDS said money, they didnt "persuade" the GT Committee to place I305 in the Number 1 category as opposed to Millie.

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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...

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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!?!?

The Voyage should finally have its long-delayed new trains in 2013, so perhaps they will give it a bump next year. Perhaps they'll even smoothen out some bumps. For me, it's almost intolerable in the back seats of its cars and towards the back of the train.

It's not surprising that a poll of enthusiasts prefers the water coaster filled with lots of airtime and more intense launches. Mammoth's lack of being in the top 5 could simply be that they didn't want to crowd the category with two similar rides at the same park. (It did win best new waterpark ride)

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^ Except Magnum is better than them... ;) Just teasin' (though I do think so, but that's just a matter of opinion.)

It's disappointing that something as big a deal as the Golden Tickets is just a competition to see who can purchase the most advertising space. It'd be nice if a system as balanced as Mitch Hawker's poll got the attention the Golden Tickets gets, but that's life.

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I don't have a problem with most of the selections personally. There were four things that caught my attention this year:

(1) El Toro overtaking Voyage for best wood. I would agree that El Toro is giving better rides than The Voyage this year. I think the top 10 wood rankings (outside of The Beast selection at 7) are all fair.

(2) I'm a little surprised about the best new ride category. I thought Wild Eagle would finish second or third but it won. I thought Skyrush hardly registering on the best new ride radar was a bit surprising as the layout is awesome. Perhaps the restraints and capacity issues weighed more heavily than I thought they might.

(3) Every North American B&M hyper placed in the top 25. Outside of the Raging Bull selection at 19 I'd agree that they are all top 25 rides (though in full disclosure I haven't ridden Goliath at La Ronde). I still think the best of the bunch is Goliath at SFOG, however.

(4) Intimidator 305 is one of the few really big coasters that opinions tend to sway all over the place. It's a coaster you either really like or isn't really your cup of tea with very little middle ground. I've had the pleasure of riding with three close friends of mine since it opened and they've all said it's good but not great and didn't have any real interest in immediately re-riding. Some people have it as their #1. Some people don't have it in their top 25. I agree with the ranking at 12 but realize that everyones opinion will vary here.

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More info showing how the polls are weighted too heavily on the rides that the most people have been on:

45

Mean Streak

Cedar Point

46

T Express

Everland

Mean Streak, which is considered one of the worst wooden coasters, comes ahead of the Korean equivalent of El Toro.

The full report has been put out, complete with multiple full page ads by Cedar Fair.

goldenticketawards.com/pdfs/at_goldenticket_2012_web.pdf

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The Beast being ranked seventh is very generous. If it were up to me, it wouldn't even be in the top 10. The Beast is nothing more than a really long Adventure Express with a good ending.

IMO Magnum being ranked eighth I think is very generous. I personally wouldn't even put it in the top 25. To me it's nothing more than a really tall, really fast, REALLY PAINFUL Adventure Express.

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More info showing how the polls are weighted too heavily on the rides that the most people have been on:

45

Mean Streak

Cedar Point

46

T Express

Everland

Mean Streak, which is considered one of the worst wooden coasters, comes ahead of the Korean equivalent of El Toro.

The full report has been put out, complete with multiple full page ads by Cedar Fair.

goldenticketawards.com/pdfs/at_goldenticket_2012_web.pdf

well they did retrack it this year and add new wheels to the trains. Its been running alot better than it has latley but i agree why would a dinn woodie be ranked above intamin woodie? I geus Cedar Point is having the "best amusment park" effect
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