McSalsa Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Uh-Oh. It's a industry poll. TIME magazine has attempted to rate the USA's Top 10 roller coasters. However, instead of just having a fan vote or picking the author's personal favorites, they have instead tried to come up with a formula to rate the country's best roller coasters...and here is their Top 10 list. Well, it's pretty flawed, but worth a look I guess. http://techland.time.com/2013/09/19/the-top-10-roller-coasters-in-the-u-s/ And there's more, they also rated tons of other coasters...the full page, with search, can be found here: http://roller-coasters.findthebest.com/ PERSONAL OPINION While this has potential, and could work, there are big flaws- first up, using the biased Amusement Today poll alone is going to heavily skew the results. I'd add more polls (noteably the Mitch Hawker poll for example, others as well, getting more info will give a better view on how people actually view these coasters) and try to get a decent sample of user ratings for each coaster as well, to try and get a less biased opinion on these rides. Also, while they do try and keep stats being important down, it still seems too strong...Mean Streak at Cedar Point has an 87 rating, which on the 0-100 scale makes it a B or B+ coaster. Now, I have yet to get to Cedar Point myself, but most reviews I've heard from people who HAVE ridden Mean Streak make it out to be far worse than a "B" coaster...I'd bet this 87 rating is largely due to the fact that at 161' tall, 65mph, and over 5400' long Mean Streak has great stats for a wooden coaster. Son of Beast probably would have at least cracked 90+, based on its stats alone...and we know how most people viewed that coaster. Roller Coaster @ NYNY Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is also rated at an 88...and from what I've heard about that ride, that is WWWAAAYYYY too high. Now, the search feature on the site is actually pretty cool. You can compare different coasters, look for coasters close to a certain city or town, compare coaster types, etc etc. They also have some nice pictures. Hopefully, the ratings system can get fixed to better reflect the actual opinions on these coasters, which could make this site very useful. Oh, and for those who don't want to bother to visit the page but want to know how Kings Island's coasters were rated...you can probably get an idea on how the ratings are flawed from this alone: The Beast- 97 Diamondback- 97 Vortex- 88 Firehawk- 86 Flight of Fear- 85 Invertigo- 81 Racer- 70 Flight Deck- 69 Adventure Express- 67 Backlot Stunt Coaster- 55 Flying Ace Aerial Chase- 54 Woodstock Express- 52 Comments welcome. Questions also. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonofBaconator Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Where they on drugs? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordSkippy Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Roller coaster quality is so subjective, any time a definitive list of "the best" is made, it's bound to be flawed. I leave it at what my favourites are. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCrypt Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 *Insert the inevitable YoungStud post about all the Intamins* There. I saved you a post. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoungStud Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 The only flaws I see is apollo's chariot, nitro, & carowinds intimidator. Skyrush should have been in nitro's slot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fanofFirehawk Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 *Insert the inevitable YoungStud post about all the Intamins* There. I saved you a post. We have a psychic among us! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McSalsa Posted September 21, 2013 Author Share Posted September 21, 2013 Roller coaster quality is so subjective, any time a definitive list of "the best" is made, it's bound to be flawed. I leave it at what my favourites are. Very true...I have found my own personal list to be different from what "conventional" thinking is. For example, I liked Legend better than Voyage or Raven at Holiday World, even if nearly every poll says otherwise. Still, I do respect other's opinions, and a balanced poll can show the overall opinions of a coaster. Sadly, this is not it...at least not yet. Too much Amusement Today Poll & Coaster Size influence right now... Also, YoungStud, in case you were wondering or were too lazy to look it up...Skyrush @ Hersheypark was rated a 94. Very far from bad, but it doesn't even make Top 50 in this poll...it shows up on Page 3 in search=all mode. Update: In a WTF discovery, this page thinks Gemini @ Cedar Point is wooden, even though it has steel track. Ironically, New Texas Giant and Iron Rattler are considered steel coasters by it. Uhh...so much for consistency... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Uh-Oh. It's a industry poll. TIME magazine has attempted to rate the USA's Top 10 roller coasters. However, instead of just having a fan vote or picking the author's personal favorites, they have instead tried to come up with a formula to rate the country's best roller coasters...and here is their Top 10 list. Well, it's pretty flawed, but worth a look I guess. http://techland.time.com/2013/09/19/the-top-10-roller-coasters-in-the-u-s/ And there's more, they also rated tons of other coasters...the full page, with search, can be found here: http://roller-coasters.findthebest.com/ PERSONAL OPINION While this has potential, and could work, there are big flaws- first up, using the biased Amusement Today poll alone is going to heavily skew the results. I'd add more polls (noteably the Mitch Hawker poll for example, others as well, getting more info will give a better view on how people actually view these coasters) and try to get a decent sample of user ratings for each coaster as well, to try and get a less biased opinion on these rides. Also, while they do try and keep stats being important down, it still seems too strong...Mean Streak at Cedar Point has an 87 rating, which on the 0-100 scale makes it a B or B+ coaster. Now, I have yet to get to Cedar Point myself, but most reviews I've heard from people who HAVE ridden Mean Streak make it out to be far worse than a "B" coaster...I'd bet this 87 rating is largely due to the fact that at 161' tall, 65mph, and over 5400' long Mean Streak has great stats for a wooden coaster. Son of Beast probably would have at least cracked 90+, based on its stats alone...and we know how most people viewed that coaster. Roller Coaster @ NYNY Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas is also rated at an 88...and from what I've heard about that ride, that is WWWAAAYYYY too high. Now, the search feature on the site is actually pretty cool. You can compare different coasters, look for coasters close to a certain city or town, compare coaster types, etc etc. They also have some nice pictures. Hopefully, the ratings system can get fixed to better reflect the actual opinions on these coasters, which could make this site very useful. Oh, and for those who don't want to bother to visit the page but want to know how Kings Island's coasters were rated...you can probably get an idea on how the ratings are flawed from this alone: The Beast- 97 Diamondback- 97 Vortex- 88 Firehawk- 86 Flight of Fear- 85 Invertigo- 81 Racer- 70 Flight Deck- 69 Adventure Express- 67 Backlot Stunt Coaster- 55 Flying Ace Aerial Chase- 54 Woodstock Express- 52 Comments welcome. Questions also. I think lists like this are great. Gets people talking and interested. Im not so sure whats wrong with the list about KI rids. They have the first 3 rides in about the correct order (beast, diamond back, Vortex). The next 3 rides are good rides in the park not great not horrible. I think Racer is a bit low, but its an opinion poll. I like the idea of adding a few more polls to this poll. Nothing stops anyone of us from doing this. The methodology is there. Any good researcher knows they learn from previous research and add from there. I think the stats are a very solid way to go about these type of lists. I think Stats have to be strong in a poll like this. Where everything is so subjective, you need objective data. Qualitative and quantitative data is what makes the best research. Maybe do the same methodology of their research but instead of 30 % for the 2013 poll what if they split that between 2 or 3 current polls (10% each) or 30% for the average spot on the 2013 poll.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shark6495 Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Double Post sorry: So I attempted to do their methodology and I just cant crack it. I got numbers that were way over 100.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevKenny Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 The lack of an inverted coaster in the top 10 is enough for me to trash it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hank Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Coasters are like pizza - they are personal things and to each they're own. You can have thousands upon thousands of "best" lists and they don't mean a da** thing. I know what I enjoy - you know what you enjoy. Go, ride, and be happy. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB1 Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Before I begin: I don't mean to be a grammar nazi, but please remember to try to spell correctly. Why do they have Intimidator infront of Beast? Better yet why do we have all of the coasters in one category? We need different lists for different kinds of coasters. Please, don't make everything an equation, I like not having math with my coaster ranks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MantisMan Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Before I begin: I don't mean to be a grammar nazi, but please remember to try to spell correctly. .....infront... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcoaster Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 this article shocked me for the most part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Any article that quotes Paul Ruben... http://www.absolutelyreliable.com/2003_06_15_rumorarchive.html (Yes, it's sarcasm. No, it's not far from the truth. Sad.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB1 Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Before I begin: I don't mean to be a grammar nazi, but please remember to try to spell correctly. .....infront... BB1, likes using things he goes against in his posts, making people think of what they post, and vice versa. A very odd use of paradox really. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Uh huh. Sure. They all say that. (making posts think of what they people? WHAT?) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedevariouseffect Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 ^^Need to capitalize the N in Nazi. Tisk tisk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanna Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Granola Eating fuddy duddies. Time Inc., is what made Mad Magazine what it is today, a snarky, hate filled, lowest common denominator appeasing rag, unlike the classic, well done, self mocking gem it was in it's heyday. Mad used to be like- a kid's companion to sixties Playboy, now it's just a poorly drawn bitterfest. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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