MSN Travel authors smoke crack

MSN's travel editors just posted their top 10 amusement parks. As the title of this thread states, they must be smoking something...

Their top 10 - which (hopefully) appears to be alphbetized:

Astroland Amusement Park - Brooklyn, N.Y.
Busch Gardens - Tampa Bay, Fla.
Cedar Point Amusement Park - Sandusky, Ohio
Disneyland - Anaheim, Calif.
Kennywood Park - West Mifflin, Pa.
Knott's Camp Snoopy - Bloomington, Minn.
Magic Kingdom - Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Paramount's Carowinds - Charlotte, N.C.
Santa Cruz Boardwalk - Santa Cruz, Calif.
Six Flags Astroworld - Houston, Texas

I agree with some of them but to call Astroland, SFAW, SCBB and Camp Snoopy "Top 10" it tells me that they have no clue... there are others that are debatable but those four belong nowhere near the list.

I guess IoA did not make the list because they only pay the Travel Channel?

George is just *aiming* for some sort of ARN&R mention with THAT thread title! :)

Yes, the list is definitely alphabetical. No, Astroland is not one of the "parks" I would list - despite Cyclone STILL being absolutely insane, the wildest ride remaining from its era. KCS I'll get to visit in July so I won't comment.

And finally, SFAW is basically the same as Hell on Earth, but with better rides...;)

Is that the same list that gets posted every year? It seems we've had this discussion before. Debating the validity of their list is like debating the validity of someone's personal coaster ranking.

Instead of thinking about the parks think about the GEOGRAPHICAL areas they mention. Seems to me their selecting parks so that the list covers the entire country.

Eastern US: New York, Florida, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina; Midwest/Central US: Minnesota, Texas, and Ohio; Western US: Northern and Southern California.

I'd bet there is also some correlation between the list and the most-visited parks and the biggest centers of population. And I also bet there is a correlation between the list and MSN's advertisers.

Personally I don't think this is a big deal at all. YMMV.

Minneapolis is a big center of population? Even 'Playa wouldn't try to make that claim. ;)

They also list Cleveland OH as a top ten summer vacation spot!

It's the #15 metro area.

Hardly NYC--hell, even Detroit--but they do maintain that KCS-MOA draws 2.5 million visitors. Seeing that VF brings in a million a season and the MN State Fair draws more than that in 10 days, I don't doubt it.

For an indoor, year-round park, it has a lot more to offer than you'd think. A little ambience, a little thrill, a lotta kid stuff. As a family park, I could see someone rating it that high...

-'Playa

As Moosh said, this is the same list that has been posted for the past five years (and maybe longer). It's nothing to get worked up about. :)

-Nate (who loves Camp Snoopy)

^^^ That's crazy, all Northern Ohio has is moose.

*** Edited 4/11/2005 7:19:21 PM UTC by Neuski***

ASTROWORLD?!?!?!?!?!?!?

*again for emphasis*

ASTROWORLD!?!?!?!??!

I mean, sure, Six Flags has some good parks, but saing that Astroworld is the best of Six Flags really makes me wonder, do you think this list is more of an advertisement for the parks than an actual top 10 list? Probably, like saying that the Travel Channel only does those Disney specials because they and everyone likes Disney so much.....

Astroworld rocks, didn't you see the article on Roller Coaster Pro? They are the best Six Flags park! If MSN and RCPro say so, it must be true! Dammit, book a trip!!

reminder: I hate Astroworld. Everything above this paragraph was complete sarcasm. You can return to reading someone else's legitimate post.

To expand on what Mamoosh posted, it also looks like all the "big guns" are represented at least once, and they mixed a few traditional places in with the more "modern" ones.

I don't put much stock in those city guides they post on MSN. They're pretty lame, particularly the restaurant listings where people vote.

I tried using the guides to find info about good restaurants last year when I spent a w/e in Baltimore. But it turns out that most of the highly ranked places are the same old generic chains you find everywhere else.

In most cities, Olive Garden is ranked as one of the top-rated Italian restaurants. It's a good place, but I wouldn't rank it above many restaurants in any city's Italian neighborhood. Even better, a place like Taco Bell will be ranked as one of the best Mexican or "ethnic" resturants. I was afraid to check out the best burgers.

So, consider the source.

Seriously though, I know Houston is a MAJOR metropolitan area, but with SFFT and SFoT *reasonably* nearby....maybe the MSN authors were previously engaged working in R Kelly's *home videos?* ;)

They certainly must enjoy taking SOME abuse, LOL...personally, Sandy Lake was at least friendlier than SFAW...

I think we have this discussion every season. Same list- same reaction.

You'd think after what 5 years? They'd re-write the list, hell maybe even change the order. Talk about hard hitting journalism /sarcasm

It's really all subjective you guys.

So many of you hate Magic Mountain too. I had one of my better SF's trips there.

People say X is ok. I though it was amazing.People say the giant is wonderful. I think it's crap!

Everyone has their own view! So does MSN! *** Edited 4/12/2005 1:20:02 PM UTC by Markieb***

MarkieB,

If MSN had put SFMM in the list instead of SFAW I wouldn't have said anything...

I can look at this list from a non-enthusiast viewpoint. It doesn't make sense.

I can look at this list from a geographical viewpoint. It doesn't make sense.

I can look at this list from an include different types of parks viewpoint. It doesn't make sense.

I can look at this list from the viewpoint of too lazy to do the research so you republish the same old list originally compiled by someone too lazy to do their research. It makes sense.

Great post Jim!

I just kinda expect this stuff out of the media now. Every once in while we do get some good articles though!

Again, people...this list is about 5 years old!