New Entries in the CoasterBuzz Top 100

No, he was bitten by a genetically engineered trig. function.

Right...I got him confused with Sinustro.

I don't believe in ranking coasters because how can you compare a wooden coaster to a steel coaster. For example voyage is ranked higher then superman at sfne? Thats a joke, and i've ridden both wicked cyclone and storm chaser and there's no comparison as WC is much more superior and the best rmc i've ridden so far. Lightning rod deserves no spot on any list until its open for longer then a week or two. I just ride the coasters and the ones i like i continue to ride, as long as their fun. I was just at dollywood last week and imo firechaser express is the best coaster in the park and the best family coaster i have ridden so far.

So you don't believe in ranking coasters but you've put enough thought into it to be able to tell everyone else that their rankings are wrong?

gamerguy said:

I don't believe in ranking coasters because how can you compare a wooden coaster to a steel coaster.

Like this, apparently:

For example voyage is ranked higher then superman at sfne? Thats a joke...

Sinistro is the Patron Saint of lefties...

gamerguy said:

Lightning rod deserves no spot on any list until its open for longer then a week or two.

Yeah. Coasters should totally be ranked based on stuff other than people's personal experience with them.

You rank them simply based on how well YOU enjoy each one, or at least that's how I would do it. If you prefer steel over wood, rank accordingly. My ranking would reflect a bias towards wood, but I still give plenty of 5 stars to great steel rides. I would bet I'm one of very few who gave 4 stars to SOB.. but man, that first drop, what a rush...

gamerguy said:

I don't believe in ranking coasters because how can you compare a wooden coaster to a steel coaster.

The same way I can compare a Dodge Caravan to a Mazda Miata to a BMW 5-series. They do the same damn thing with different equipment and different results.

I'll give a quick example of how I go about this: I'd rather go on Mako than Beast, I'd rather go on El Toro than Mako, hence:

1) El Toro

2) Mako

3) Beast

And as I've said many times, the expectation on the CB poll is to not overthink it at all. With any one coaster, use the key:

1 Among the worst roller coasters you've been on
2 Below average
3 Average
4 Above average
5 Among the best roller coasters you've been on

kpjb said:
The same way I can compare a Dodge Caravan to a Mazda Miata to a BMW 5-series. They do the same damn thing with different equipment and different results.

Except they don't always do the same thing. You may want to be in a BMW or a Miata but if you are needing to transport 7 people plus luggage I would think that you would opt for the minivan.

I agree with you that you can definitely rank roller coasters regardless of type but I don't think you can do the same thing with cars because they have different capabilities, unless you define your requirements first.

Shades said:

Except they don't always do the same thing.

For the purposes of the analogy, they in fact do. Cars drive, coasters coast on a track. Which would you rather drive? Ride?

See? Pretty simple.

Sure, you could get in the weeds and start overthinking everything by coming up with all sorts of qualifiers, technicalities, semantics (this is CoasterBuzz, after all). But then the fun gets sucked out of it, and fun is the reason we ride coasters. At least most of us, I think. Perhaps not the enthusiasts who constantly bitch and moan and suck the fun out of everything.

Hmm...fun sucker. I like that. :)

Regardless, even if I have to haul 7 people and luggage I'm going to opt for the Miata. And tell one of the 7 people to follow behind me in the minivan with all the luggage.

I must be too old for this...being 1 of 6 people in a miata doesn't sound fun to me. But there was a time when we got 8 people in my chevette and that seemed pretty fun back then.

Shades said:

...being 1 of 6 people in a miata doesn't sound fun to me.

Only if we're naked...and the ratio is one Gonch to 5 swimsuit models...and I'm not driving.

Shades said:

Except they don't always do the same thing. You may want to be in a BMW or a Miata but if you are needing to transport 7 people plus luggage I would think that you would opt for the minivan.

...but they STILL do the same thing. Your qualifications do nothing but change your personal ranking for your situation, the same as "I don't like rides with loops" or "I'm afraid of heights" might change someone's coaster rankings.

If I need to haul 18 bags of mulch, I rank them Minivan>Bimmer>Miata

If I'm cruising a coastal highway in summer, I rank them Miata>Bimmer>Minivan

If I'm driving my kid to a ball game, I rank them Bimmer>Miata>Minivan

I was with the family at Gilroy Gardens yesterday and my wife (who is not at all an enthusiast) started counting the number of rides we had been on and planning how to make sure we got on all the others. I suggested that we just improvise and not count every single thing. She looked at me blankly and said, "Then how will we know if we're having fun?"

"By measuring the amount of fun we're having, you're affecting the amount of fun we're having."

Now, I can see counting rides if you're looking at it through your pocketbook. There have been a few parks where I've kept track just to figure out the cost per ride at the end of the day. Try it at Disney sometime, then promise yourself to never do it again.

Once at the huge Florida State Fair midway I set a goal of getting myself down to a dollar a ride. It was tougher than I thought, wristbands were 30 bucks I think, and the fact that around the 20th ride or so I felt quite ill helped suck all the fun out of it.

That's too mch math for me.

I look at my day in a park through my watch. Well, through my smartphone, which has replaced my watch. The line for ride x is 73 minutes. Is the enjoyment I anticipate of the ride worth 73 minutes? If it's a Scrambler, no. If it's the Beast, yes.

Too much math?

You ride 24 rides throughout the day. You paid $44.99 to get in.

"Hey Siri? What is forty-five dollars and ninety-nine cents divided by twenty-four?"

"The answer is about 1.87 US dollars."