Internet Wood Coaster Poll?

BD has more of a Jekyl/Hyde personality than any coaster I've ridden. It's either disappointing or awesome and unfortunately Gator we got the short end of the stick on our visit. But man when its running great its awesome!

*** Edited 12/1/2004 9:11:22 PM UTC by Mamoosh***

---

Jeffrey Seifert said:
Imagine Phoenix and Thunderhead sitting side by side on a perfect day with no one in line. If you had to choose one, which would it be?

---

Thats why I put a 1 in front of both of their names. :)

Come on, Dan...you have to put a "1" next to Thunderhead or Chris, Mike, or Jeff will kick your @ss! ;)

And if I want to have a job next year! ;)

---

rollergator said:
Funny, the LAST thing I would consider when rating a COASTER are the things I liked or disliked about the PARK they're in....

---

What about the day overall? You may not be thinking about it directly, but I find it hard to associate good times with a park that I wasn't in the most pleasant mood at therefore leaving a lackluster memory of the coaster. On the other end of the spectrum, a kiddie coaster, i.e. HSTC, ranks right in the middle because of the good times that can be had on it. To each his own...

Well, I am a bit on the opposite side I suppose, like, when I visited Visionland, I was really quite disappointed, but I think that helped me to like and appreciate Rampage even more, though a good experience can make coasters seem better as well, but I think it works both ways.

Now that the voting is over does anyone want to share the top end and bottom of their ballot? I'll start:

1- Phoenix, Knoebels
2- Tremors, Silverwood
3- Raven, Holiday World
4- Cornball Express, Indiand Beach
5- The Legend, Holiday World
6- Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce
7- Cyclone, Astroland
8- Legend, Arnold's Park
9- GhostRider, Knott's Berry Farm
10- Timber Terror, Silverwood

The bottom 5:

87- Colossus, SFMM
88- Twister II, SFEG
89- Rolling Thunder, SFGAdv
90- Psyclone, SFMM
91- Son of Beast, PKI

I've defended and praised this poll in the past, but this year I've noticed a couple of problems with it that, unfortunately, skew the results.

1) People who rate large numbers of rides "0". According to the poll's instructions, rating a ride a "0" will put rank that ride under every other ride you gave a numerical value. That means if I've ridden 80 wooden coasters but only rank the thirty I remember best and leave the rest "0", all of those rides are ranked lower than the 30 I did rank. Why even bother including a ride on your ballot if you're going to rank it a "0"? Why not just leave it off completely?

2) The poll seems to favor coasters overseas, mainly those that don't have high ridership. I'm not sure this is because people rate those higher on purpose for bragging purposes, or if it's because the minimum number of votes required for a ride to earn a place is (I believe) only five, or if it's some combination of the two.

3) People who rank the Great Escape Comet last on their ballot simply because of a minor reprofile. Honestly, the parks couldn't care less what ranking their ride gets in the poll. This only results in the poll being less accurate for those who voted in it and follow it. It all comes down to honesty, and I have a hard time believing anyone would really rank the Comet between Son of Beast and PGA's Grizzly.

Anyone else have thoughts on these or other issues? If anyone cares enough to want to know my personal rankings, they're welcome to find them in the ballots. :)

-Nate

^I agree about #2. I have a hard time believing that Balder is actually the best wooden coaster on this planet. It is probably one of the best, but in all honesty, I feel it ranks too high.

Of course, I've yet to ride Balder (and basically all top woodies), but still.

If Balder actually is the world's best woodie, I have no objections to it as Sweden is basically next door.

Neuski...I'll bite.

SFAW, one of my least-favorite parks on the planet...*barely* better than a day at work, LOL...and yet TX Cyclone ran RIGHT up near the top of my ballot. Being a "train enthusiast", I hated the Morgan trains....why'd the Cyclone shoot SO far up my ballot? Pure and simple, I thought it was a phenomenal ride...one of the best-maintained wooden coasters in the chain.

I can't say that I'm *perfect* at removing the surroundings from my appraisal of the ride, but it sure is a GOAL of mine. And likely, I think my rankings of wooden coasters reflect my opinion of the *maintenance team* first and foremost, layout second, then trains...is that on purpose? Nah, just that I understand how I am....insane...:)

The Texas Cyclone is a very, very good wooden roller coaster, and was in the top half of my list, though I'd argue that a trip to Astroworld isn't better than work -- at least you get paid at work through the torture.

Thunderhead was my number 1, followed by Rampage, and the Giant Dipper to round out the top 3. I mage sure to give Psyclone a 4-digit number though, as it was far and beyond my worse coaster.

---

coasterdude318 said:

People who rank the Great Escape Comet last on their ballot simply because of a minor reprofile.

---

I didn't check out all of the ballots... how many people did that? While it's no secret that I'm skeptical about the ride because of what I've heard, I was only able to rank the ride based on what I remember from years ago. As of now, Comet still sits slightly below my top ten, a position relative to where it started on my list many years ago.

One. And maybe that won't have too much of an effect (depending on what that person's count is), but my point is there will at least be some effect. And so that one person throws the entire poll off to make some sort of bizarre statement nobody cares about. Really, it's up to those who participate in the poll to police it because it really can be thrown off by dishonesty. It's frustrating when that happens.

I appreciate your honesty in your rankings, though. :)

-Nate

I have actually spoken with a few enthusiasts that were going to do just that (because of their negative feelings in regard to the changes that were made) even though they didn't ride the Comet after the changes were made and I tried to talk them out of it. It's no secret how I feel about this whole situation but I refuse to rank the ride lower just because of what I anticipate when I finally get my butt back up to Lake George. I just wish I had more recent memories of the ride!

Up until a few years ago, Mean Streak was in my top 10. When I rode the thing back in 1993, it was still a great coaster- great drops, great speed, great out-of-control feeling... especially after a nice early morning downpour that left us the coaster pretty much all to ourselves. Since I didn't get a chance to ride Mean Streak again until 2002, I had no choice but to rank it up with Phoenix and Boulder Dash even though I strongly suspected that it didn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as those coasters.

All I can remember is Swamp Fox being my #1, and Raging Wolf Bobs being last, I think. Villian, Roar East, Beast, Viper @ SFGAm, and Thunder Run got good scores.

I only rank a ride based on the times that I rode it, not anything that has been changed/modified/added to/taken away prevously or after the ride.

I rank rides on the actual ride exp., with no thought given to ops, park, environment. And for me, Themeing is not something that I take into consideration first. If I like a Ride, I'll like it without the themeing or with. Themeing only adds enough for maybe one point if it was good. An example would be in Steel coasters-Both Flights of Fear (tied in my rankings) are, for me, better than Jokers Jinx for 2 reasons.

I rode JJ before the lap bars, and both FoFs after. The FoF coasters are going to be ranked higher. The themeing on them adds another point because I enjoyed it on PKDs, but, I'd almost rank PKI's lower because the music was off on my ride. Petty, but thats just me.

And rides do get better rankings if I have a better ride later, but don't go down in rankings unless I have more than a few bad rides after a great one. One good ride far outweighs the ranking if I've had 1 good, and 2 bad. Examples of this year were Adventure Express, Top Gun @ PKI, and Hurler @ PCar going up, but Vortex @ PCar going down after the past few times I've been there getting a bad ride on it. *** Edited 12/2/2004 7:00:20 PM UTC by TeknoScorpion***

---

Rob Ascough said:

---

coasterdude318 said:

People who rank the Great Escape Comet last on their ballot simply because of a minor reprofile.

---

I didn't check out all of the ballots... how many people did that?

---

---

coasterdud318 said:

one

---

I noticed that too, and that person has ridden a lot of coasters. There was also another ballot that had all the coasters ranked from 1 to 10, and Comet was ranked 9. I find it hard to believe it was ruined that much.

I also like the guy who rated Mean Streak 10000000, but then did not indicate that he had ever ridden it.

I'm pretty certain it wasn't ruined that much. I can understand why some people are compelled to make a stand but I would rather do that in another way and instead be truthful with my rankings. Unless of course the person really does feel the ride was ruined that much... in which case I am a little nervous!

And wouldn't it figure that all the international observers are over in Kiev.

I wonder if there were busloads of enthusiasts who went around and voted more than once... maybe people were "told" how to vote... and just what is Putin's favorite coaster?

If the poll doesn't turn out the way you like, you could always demonstrate in the streets and blockade the entrance to a park-- all 400-some people who voted. Hmmm, which park should it be?

Just offering some perspective, folks. Democracy is not at stake here.

And who said it was?

So...no one else wants to share their ballot? FINE!

--stomps off--

mOOSH ;)