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Sorry for Double Post, but: Diamondback jumped up to the #4 spot on best steel coaster list. It was running great earlier this year when I rode it. Oh, and ofcourse Millennium Force won that one yet again. And Leviathan shot up to #6...that's great for a non-American ride.

Boulder Dash won wood, with Beast ranking at #8.

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Wow- this GT Awards started off so predictable. I guessed most of the winners easily early on. But then you have...

#1: Diamondback jumping to #4- I'll bet Banshee had something to do with this, by bringing more guests in to try the hot-new B&M coaster, Diamondback may have gotten a boost itself. Leviathan rising to #6 in spite of being a foreign ride is also huge and indicates good things could be very possible for Fury 325 next year.

#2: Flying Turns wins best new ride- The 2nd biggest "WTF" of the day, this small unassuming ride I have honestly not heard too much about beat Banshee, Escape from Gringott's, and Goliath...heck, even Lightning Run. I've heard WAY more about those other rides than Flying Turns (and Banshee is awesome), so this was a shock. But...

#1: Cedar Point DEFEATED- by a European park! I didn't know this was even possible- especially for a foreign park in an awards ceremony that heavily favors the USA. Europa Park must be pretty darn good to do this- and from what I've seen of it, it may well be. The Mack Rides testing ground can do some major boasting now, and Cedar Point has to be like "Ahh crud...we have to change our marketing next year now." :P (Granted they will likely have a Mantis make-over or something...though waiting until now to market that could have possibly hurt their chances at the Golden Ticket...)

Anyhow, I'll still be more interested in the Mitch Hawker polls when they come out, but this was kind of noteworthy for some of those later awards...

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#2: Flying Turns wins best new ride- The 2nd biggest "WTF" of the day, this small unassuming ride I have honestly not heard too much about beat Banshee, Escape from Gringott's, and Goliath...heck, even Lightning Run. I've heard WAY more about those other rides than Flying Turns (and Banshee is awesome), so this was a shock. But...

Plus, didn't Flying Turns open in 2013?

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Flying Turns actually is appreciable as a candidate for Best New Ride in a coaster "awards" show, considering how unique of a ride it is and how long it took to get right. That's not saying the rest are unimportant, but none of the rest involved literally reinventing and modernizing a coaster style that hasn't been seen for a very long time. I'm very surprised the GTA's actually acknowledged it, though, considering the skewing we've all been discussing up till now.

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^^^
It did- a soft opening very late in the 2013 season, I'm 90% sure. But it was only for like a week or something if I recall, and it was not a a canidate for the 2013 GTA's, so it was open for that award here.

Where that ride places in the Mitch Hawker polls will be interesting- especially since that one is open for PUBLIC voting. As well as all the other new-for-2014 coasters.

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Knoebel's has always been a fanboy favorite.

Then again, so has Cedar Point.

Perhaps it was time to strive for legitimacy.

Even little AMC sometimes got a Motor Trend Car of the Year (COTY) award.

Touché. Hopefully I'm not coming across too fanboyish in my post. I do love Knoebels a lot, but I actually do find Flying Turns genuinely impressive from an engineering standpoint. That was the context behind my post.
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The Flying Turns thing kind of reminds me of 2009's GTAs. A lot of us were all so sure Diamondback was going to CLINCH that year, as it was at a huge park and was getting rave reviews, and is the type of ride the GTA's seem to favor. If there was a challenger, most thought it would be Manta @ Seaworld Orlando...which was also at a popular park and was also getting rave reviews.

Then Prowler, a fairly small GCI at a lesser-known park in Missouri, goes on and beats both of them. Granted based on POV's and reviews I have read of it, Prowler is awesome, but it's victory was a bit of a shock. Though with Flying Turns, Knoebels is a well-known park in spite of its small size and it has a seemingly large fanbase among coaster junkies...but it seems like a small (ish) ride has come out of nowhere and trumped Kings Island's fancy new coaster, as well as the other new-for-2014 rides, AGAIN.

Then again, not winning the 2009 GTA's didn't hurt Diamondback (10+ million riders and still getting mostly solid reviews 5+ years later) one bit, so Banshee will more than likely be fine. Though this does make me want to try Flying Turns pretty badly, to be honest, to see what this "little" ride that beat out Banshee can do...

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Honestly, I'm ecstatic that Banshee didn't win Best New Ride, and here's why: way back on Media Day in April, I distinctly remember the Banshee FunTVs running one of their trivia games that asked what the best new ride for 2014 was going to be and all of the four options being Banshee. Needless to say, it really rubbed me the wrong way.

Also glad to see Cedar Point isn't Best Amusement Park any longer, the Voyage is continuing its descent down the Top Wooden Coasters list, and Ravine Flyer II is still sitting pretty at #6.

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I wouldn't be surprised if Cedar Point is still marketed as being "named the best amusement park in the world X years in a row." Doesn't have to be "years running," does it? The fact was, it WAS voted as such for X years.

Same way Mythos still has banners that advertise it as being "voted best amusement park food three consecutive years." Never mind that those years were a decade ago...

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