Europe Claims Four of the Top Five Steel Roller Coasters in 2006! - Mitch's Steel Coaster Poll
Discuss. :)
Much more "interesting" poll than the wooden coaster poll this year I think but I'll let some talk get going before I put in my two cents...or three cents, or four. *** Edited 1/24/2007 1:29:43 PM UTC by matt.***
*** Edited 1/24/2007 12:52:49 PM UTC by Jason Hammond***
884 Coasters, 34 States, 7 Countries
http://www.rollercoasterfreak.com My YouTube
Because just from pictures I just don't get it. Of course I can see the terrain features and theming from my chair here, I'm wanting more info about how the ride tracks and feels.
Ahhhh, retribution is sweet after enduring Lord Gonchar's 'Nyquil' comments ;)
I am surprised that Space Mountain at Disneyland only ranked 96. I thought the retrofit made it a kick ass ride...
I (like Matt) wonder why Nemesis ranks so highly year after year. It's shorter than Batman, and from the videos doesn't seem like its going that fast at all. I guess the interaction with the terrain and theming adds that much to the experience. *** Edited 1/24/2007 2:25:32 PM UTC by Antuan***
Fate is the path of least resistance.
Chuck, who imagines it kinda like the second half of Montu, Only at full speed and even better themeing.
For a ride that has a huge capacity problem, and has had problems with the water-tanks sometimes (gee, how much fun is it to wait for an hour and have no water? It's happened to me.), I've got to think people are smoking something, or they just really dislike their other choices!:) I mean come on, the off-ride interactive portion is about ten-times more fun than the on-ride!
It was very interesting to me to see the location thing come into play again on this poll. A similar or same ride at two different parks might score much lower than at another park. Sometimes, there seems to be no rhyme or reason. Are people penalizing some parks for being too busy, or too slow when they are busy?
For instance look at the higher positions of Joker's Jinx at SFA to Poltergeist at SFFT, and The Italian Job Turbo Coaster at PKD to The Italian Job Stunt Track at PKI.
The glaring spread though was Top Thrill Dragster to the much lower placed Kingda Ka. I could see that being chalked-up to anyone of the five things I'll mention: 1) enthusiasts not liking the restraints 2) It's Great Adventure 3) breakdowns 4) the complaints of excessive vibration from some riders and 5) capacity was really bad in the fall due to two-train operation
SFoGswim said:Interesting how "Fav Vekoma Corkscrew" placed lower than any single Vekoma Corkscrew on the list.
Not really, because people may have different "favorite Vekoma corkscrews". The *favorite* one in the poll gets a boost by taking the "credit" given to every individual's favorite...does that make sense?
- Aaron K
It ain't just Gonch who thinks Nitro is overrated and boring. I got nice 2-minute naps on my rides! ;)
I am surprised that Space Mountain at Disneyland only ranked 96. I thought the retrofit made it a kick ass ride...
Well, many riders who rank it in their lists may not have been on it post-refurb, so they are ranking the "old" Space, not the "new" Space. The detailed results should say whether this is so or not, IIRC.
Really, this is the only area in which I think Mitch's polls could be improved---considering "recency of ride" somehow. It matters less for steel, because those rides don't change quite as much, but year-to-year changes in wood can be *very* significant.
The site isn't coming up for me at the moment, it will be interesting to see exactly what the head to head comparison was. And also where my #1 Maggie came in this year. Is it just my connection not working or did we crush his bandwith?
Taking note of Brian's "recency of ride" idea...those Premier retrofits were one of the times when the "most recent ride" idea came into play full-force. Wood is definitely MORE variable over time, but steel DOES go through some adjustments...sometimes these adjustments make HUGE differences in ride quality.
V1.5 @ SFDK and DL's Space Mtn. are two rides I'll never get to compare to the "original versions"...
Antuan said:
Ahhhh, retribution is sweet after enduring Lord Gonchar's 'Nyquil' comments
Nitro was running like a mofo when we hit SFGAdv this year. I still wouldn't have put it that high, but it did move up a couple of spots on this years ballot.
I too, never got the highly themed invert thing. Montu and Alpie didn't do as much for me as Talon. Are Black Mamba and Nemisis (and Pyrenees) that much better than Talon?
Fire Dragon combines both a good ride (with some air) and theming. I can't get off that thing.
Hobbes: "What's the point of attaching a number to everything you do?"
Calvin: "If your numbers go up, it means you're having more fun."
EGF definitely is a good coaster, and it probably deserves a place high up on the list - it was one of those rides that all people I saw coming out of had smiles on their faces.
Goliath at Walibi world however - while I loved the way it was run with extreme ejector air right down the first drop, and also loved the Stengel Dive Element, I found the two helixes to be pretty dull and somewhat nausea-inducing. Why it ranks fourth is quite a riddle to me - I was actually feeling sick after riding it.
Black Mamba sure could be said to have one of the best efforts of themeing of any coaster on the planet, but the layout itself ranks about equal to your average "Batman", in fact, and it has a little problem with being so small (riders in the front an the back get a lot of acceleration/decelration forces in the inversions). There are other new B&M inverts that could easily take that cake - what about Patriot, for example?
The poll definitely feels a little Europhile, as much as I would like it to be true - but why would that be?
*** Edited 1/24/2007 5:35:11 PM UTC by superman***
You must be logged in to post
