La Times: Best New Ride or Attraction of 2011

Vote Here

Knoebels and Lagoon must have got the word out to their facebook fans because they are leading the pack by a landslide. Not to say those attractions don't deserve it, but so far the results are not what I expected at all.

Especially since BD didn't even OPEN until October...right?

I've only been on three of the candidates, and it was VERY easy for me to cast my ballot for Wooden Warrior.

Wooden Warrior might have gotten my vote - but I've already started a write-in campaign for Zippin Pippin. ;)

I've only been on 3 of them, and neither qualify as "ride o' the year" to me. That includes Black Diamond (sorry, Kozmo, please don't defriend me!)

It's so incredibly fitting that when I went to the page, there was an ad for a casino resort asking "Do you have your Golden Ticket?"

:)

Seriously. I can't imagine how this will be anything other than a giant LA-centric popularity contest. I would bet that the median number of candidates experienced by a voter is 1. (I think I've been on 2 and one is at my home park).

You guys make me feel exceptionally well-travelled (and I've yet to ride a Windseeker!).

Coney's Steeplechase was prety sweet, but they lost points by including the Volare in their one selection. Barnstormer at Dollywood would've ranked higher if both swings had been operational. Starlight Spectaculars are really cool, and I like the fact that they're "displays" and not shows. LegoLand really didn't stand out as having that much new and exciting from the days as Cypress...but I did get 2 new credits due to major track changes and a dark-ride section added to the Vekoma junior. Green Lantern at GAdv did seem to ride MUCH better than it did as Chang (IMHO)....train rehab maybe - did only get one ride in the front row, but it was solid instead of shaky, and fun. The only real note of interest re: SFNE's new mouse is that the cars were REALLY cool. Dare Devil Dive was a VAST improvement over the pre-existing Eurofighters...lapbars FTW. Cheetah Hunt - good, solid ride, excellent theming, well-received. Basically, the 2011 Busch entrant sets the precedent for the 2012 Dollywood addition in my eyes. Black Diamond was an *excellent* dark ride, but still needed twaeking to become more of a coaster....I'm sure Knoebels will work on that before Spring.

No laps on New Texas Giant - biggest *miss* of the year. Also heard excellent things about SFMM's Green lantern, and that Bombora was a big surprise in terms of ride intensity.

Note: Apparently my pleas did *not* fall on deaf ears....Zippin Pippin is now available as an option! :)

Bombora is fun, to be sure, but not worth any kind of best of 2012 award, unless the category is "Short, Family-Sized Attraction." On a side note, Lagoon really is park worthy of visit, even with the hard-to-reach-status.

DDD is the only other one on the list I rode, and having liked it better than I was expecting (the walk-on status may have influenced my judgement, lol), it gets my vote.

No Zippin Pippin? Redunkulous. No vote from me. That article gets 2 thumbs down ;)

^Billy, I returned later, found ZP (with 30-some votes, as I recall) - then it disappeared again. I think someone in LA hates Green Bay for some reason...maybe worried SFMM's Green Lantern wouldn't win in a fair match with the amazing TGG ride. ;)

I didn't vote because

A. I didn't ride any of the new-for-2011 rides and/or attractions.
B. It's a stupid poll.
C. I'm a lousy enthusiast (see A).
D. All of the above.

Vater said:
I didn't vote because

A. I didn't ride any of the new-for-2011 rides and/or attractions.
B. It's a stupid poll.
C. I'm a lousy enthusiast (see A).
D. All of the above.

E. Maverick

Josh wins a bran muffin.