Shivering Timbers takes top spot in popular wood coaster poll

That was a great moment, Bass ;) Don't think I've laughed so hard on a coaster since.

Moosh - definitely mental!

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Mixed Metaphor Man (I'm the *real* Emineminem, lol) says: "Revenge is a dish best served SWEET"....

...and yes, 'MOOSH is the *mental-est*

While I of course disagree with the results of this poll, (How dare anyone rate coasters differently from me!) this is the one poll with real credibility. When I look at other polls rankings I just laugh. When I look at the rankings in this poll, I have to stop and think, "Why did others rank this coaster differently from me?" "What did they see (feel) in it that I didn't?" *** This post was edited by Jim Fisher on 12/3/2002. ***

It's nice to see one win close to home! :)

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I'd just like to point out that the Hoosier Hurricane jumped up 18 spots since last year. The retracking really payed off on that one and you can certainly tell when riding it. This is the first time that it has climbed and not fallen.

The only top 15 rides I was on were Legend, Cornball, Raven, & Timbers and I rate them in that order.

I think SOB is were it should be in respect to the coasters I"ve actually ridden in this list which is few.

While I don't agree with many enthusiast's inflated view of Timbers, I still have nothing but respect for the Hawker poll. The math behind it is dead-on, and it gives a very accurate picture of the "average" view of a well-ridden enthusiast.

I think the thing I liked best about the poll this year was the inclusion of the top 20 for each riding sensation at the end, being an out of control fan (interestingly, the division that looked on Timbers the least favourably, putting it at 10...), the poll has excited me even more about my visit to Vancouver and Idaho next year, and is further convincing me that a visit to northern New York is definitely in order :-)

CB, when were you planning on your trip....we were going to push for CAC (late August)...etc....

The sad part IMO is that there are some really good coasters hidden inside of quite a few of the lower-rated rides. With some TLC, there is no legitimate reason that parks couldn't make it worthwhile financially to put the effort into fixing some of the rides up. Sure, you can say that the marketing dept. will have a tough time *selling* the ride, and I'd tend to agree....except that word-of-mouth DOES get around, and it takes a while for many people to get to the park (not EVERYONE is like us, as if you haven't noticed, lol), and then to tell the neighbors and co-workers what a great time they had. WOODEN coasters are the heartbeat of the park (as always, YMMW), and I think it's what often defines a park. "Everyone" had gotten caught up in the ridiculously long expansion in the economy, and was spending *wildly* on big new STEEL coasters. Perhaps the recent downturn can have *beneficial* effects on many of the more *neglected* wooden coasters, since the money won't be available for as many parks to get big new steel.....time will tell.

I think this is the best most accurate poll out there. I don't even know the guys name and i think he's pretty darn good. I traditionally HATE polls and the like. But when someone goes the extra mile to put out all possible combinations... well it's a man after my own heart ;)

First funny thing i noticed. When the lists were broken down into ride element preferances, it really didn't matter. People looking for air or looking for lats or whatever, the same rides kept appearing again and again. It shows me that it doesn't matter what a ride is strong in, if it's good it will get recognition among coaster enthusiasts.

Second was the the placement of the tradional BAAAD Ohio coasters RWB, Mean Streak and SOB. (Well at least they get the most bad press ok?) I think all three took a beating, and rightly so :)

Finally i lets keep the coaster ballot count going up. Perhaps in the future he can look at only those votes with a certain level track record. If the sample gets big enough. Then we'd really start to see some accurate polls.

I am surprised that High Roller @ VF climbed 3 notched to 111 from a low of 114 from last year. Still a long ways from its peak of 65 in the mid 1990s and WAY TOO OVERRATED with the extremely heavy braking. The ride is so slow in spots that I am suprised it hasn't valleyed yet!! BTW I agree 100% with the rankings of #1 in this poll! ST IS my #1 ride ridden until I can ever get to Heide Park and Liesberg if I ever get lucky enough to have enough money to travel there!

I was thrilled to see the Vancouver PNE/Playland Coaster in the top 10,#9 to be exact.I also noticed that 3 of the 4 woodies in the Pacific Northwest(yes,I count the PNE Coaster because of its close proximity to Washington & Oregon)made it to the top 20.At least what we lack in quantity in the PNW we aren't lacking in quality!

Can you guess the coaster in my personal photo?

*** This post was edited by Ronald S. Anderson on 12/3/2002. ***

RSA - Oooh, ooh, I think I know!

I have a picture just like that at home. I've got one of Rob and his kids, as well. Now if I'd only get that film developed, we'd be able to share them with you. ;)

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'I want to be a statistic. I want to be masochistic. I want to be a clone.' - Descendents 'Suburban Home'

The only surprise regarding High Roller (VF) was that it took PFF so long to get in a caps-laden rant.

I gotta admit though--if it ran brakeless through the first leg of its return run with those IAD trains it would jump 15 spots. Lose the seatbelts (I know, I'm dreaming) and it would jump another 25.

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

Playa - I SO agree with you on High Roller, that is one ride that just screams to be let loose.

I mean it's got everything - classic layout, classic station, classic name, classic trains, it just provides a real uninteresting ride. It's not even nostalgicly interesting......

Yeah, the train finally breaks free around the end of the return leg and delivers some good air on the last hill or two, and perhaps some floats on the way out, but the real crime here is that the train navigates the turnaround curve with LOTS of speed, you see the bunny hills coming and before you can say "Here comes Airtime" the brakes cruelly grab hold of the train, bring it to a near dead stop, then let it go to limp back to the station.

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David Bowers
Mayor, Coasterville

Jeez, you guys. That sounds so Valley (un)Fair. :(

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'I want to be a statistic. I want to be masochistic. I want to be a clone.' - Descendents 'Suburban Home'

I just want to say that i think this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen in my entire life. The Roller Coaster at Lagoon ranked #85? Lagoon is my home park and that ride SUCKS!! It's one of the worst rides I've ever been on. Son Of Beast and The Beast are two of the best wooden roller coasters ever built and look where they ranked. I must say that I am VERY dissapointed in this poll and with everyone that voted.

CORRECTIONS

The 9 year chart originally posted was calculated using the old accounting (1-0 comparisons counted).
This did not affect any of the top 20, but many of the ranks below that were affected slightly.

Also, the ride forces were erroneously counted as wood coasters ridden. The corrected averages for
number of coasters ridden and ridden this year are 40.2 and 17.2

These corrections have been made to the results posted at the website
http://www.geocities.com/wcoasterpoll/

My apologies for any inconvenience these errors may have caused.

Mitch Hawker

PS Re: MeanGene's suggestion of requiring a certain level of track record.....that is not necessary and would be counter-productive. Every rider who has ridden each pair gets a vote in the comparison of that pair and I might argue that someone who has ridden only 10 wooden coasters may have an easier time comparing two of those coasters than someone who has to remember those two out of 100 they have ridden.

Also, extra credit for anyone who can prove to themselves that a person who distinctly rates their 100 ridden wood coasters gets a vote in 4950 coaster pair comparisons, or 110 times as many as the 45 coaster pair comparisons that a person who distinctly ranks their 10 ridden wood coasters gets a vote in.

PPS High Roller was an AIRTIME MACHINE in the late 1970's and early 1980's (before the heavy braking).

*** This post was edited by Mitch Hawker on 12/3/2002. ***

Mitch, people are GOING to complain....don't sweat it...

MY favorite coaster, YOUR favorite coaster, blah....bottom line: Mitch's is the "respected" poll for a number of reasons....number of voters, the experience of those voting, and the methods of calculation. I personally do NOT agree with the results....

But I'm not gonna say that the poll is *inaccurate* or that the voters are stupid, just because THEY got better rides on Timbers than I did. Talk about counter-productive. If you don't agree with the results, that's fine....but crying about the results, that's just plain ridiculous...

The wise man once said: YMMV....he was RIGHT....

If this pool is so "respected," then what's the formula? I really don't agree with the results.

Mitch's poll is so "respected" because it is the best poll of computer-using-slightly-obsessed-enthusiasts in the known world. It is the BEST reflection of this above-named group that you will find. Now, does that in and of itself make it a "definitive" source? Not Remotely! But I'm sure that Mitch himself would agree that the results of this methodical, yet still "unscientific" poll are "For Entertainment Purposes Only!"

Besides, the person that counts, IMO, got every one of the rankings *exactly* right. :)

lata, jeremy

Hercules ROCKS!

Just because the general consensus of the voting populous disagrees with you doesn't mean the poll is wrong. It could mean you've got bad taste. :) Perhaps the coasters gods are denying some of us 'good' rides and should try to appease them.

The above is not directed at anyone in particular.

The dead are speaking to me, do the letters 's' or 'r' mean anything to anybody? How about the number '2'?
*** This post was edited by boblogone on 12/3/2002. ***