Will park popularity make a difference?
We always talk about Cedar Point and all the Six Flags chain parks and we see how popular they are. A lot of polls, online and off tend to have their top 5 roller coasters from these big name parks. This is because of the popularity of the park. Even if there are coasters that are better than the ones at Magic Mountain or Cedar Point, people will still vote for them because they are big names.
While I was looking at the Millennium Force or X topic I noticed the people who have ridden both seemed to like X more than Milliennium Force. Now generally coasters from Cedar Point take 1st or 2nd place on polls because they are good rides but also because of the parks popularity (CP is number 1). What I want to know is do you think that if two big parks have these really good coaster but one park is slightly more popular than the other, will the popular park come out on time or will the better ride take number 1.
This is in no way slamming, dissing, putting down ect. Six Flags Magic Mountain, thats just gave me the idea for the topic. It would be the same if Busch Garden's and Magic Mountain went head to head, which roller coaster world come out. Is it all about popularity?
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"The opposite of war isn't peace, its creation," Rent.
Disneyland is more popular then both of those parks, but I don't see any of the coasters getting a lot of votes.
In other words, no. The parks you are mentioning wouldn't be popular in the first place if the rides weren't good.
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If the shoe fits, find another one.
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"The opposite of war isn't peace, its creation," Rent.
*** This post was edited by Jephry on 4/6/2002. ***
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think that some people who really pull for their home parks will have a bias), I do think that they are related. A good park is popular, and a good park enhances the ride experience. When I'm having a fun day at a park, I will have a much better experience on a coaster than when I'm having a bad day at a park.
For example, I like DDFire much better than Montu.
Most people would take Montu first, but I was having a bad day at BGT (bad headache) and was completely blown away by the theming at IOA. I mean if you moved them both into a parking lot somewhere, I might pick Montu first, but the setting and the "joy of being a kid again" really hit at IOA and made me like their coaster better. IOA is popular because it gives you that "joy of being a kid" and that makes the coasters more enjoyable.
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AC?, RB?, MF?, DD?, PR? Who can keep track of it all?
Vertigo, firstly and foremost, Amusement Today, the magazine that publishes the Golden Tickets, is an American publication. It is published for americans.
Orochi is a clone of Raptor, so why should it do any better than Raptor, in reality, the original should be the one rated - would you rate a newer B:TR over the original? No, the original is the one which gains recognition for obvious reasons.
Steel Force is a taller ride than Titan, appears to have a better layout than Titan, and Titan wasn't exactly a smooth ride. Venus is a nice ride, but no where near the force of Taz's Texas Tornado, and with four inversions compared to one, it doesn't seem any competition to me.
I'll give you Pyrenees, but simply, nobody who votes has ridden it. Japan isn't exactly a destination for many Coaster people, Europe and USA seem the places everyone goes, probably for cost and language and cultural reasons.
I haven't ridden Regina, but from the POV, it seems a wild ride. Of the rides you gave as examples, this one seems the only candidate.
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So what if the best coaster in Australia is a second hand Arrow?
http://www.totalthrills.com
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"This time I think ... I think it's ... it's going to work!" - Dr.Bruce Banner
I think you guys are missing what I am asking. We already know that a large park with a good ride will beat a small park with a great ride.
Look at the example. Cedar Point is the number 1 park right now, Magic Mountain is not far behind. Say X is a better ride than Millennium Force, as far as polls go, would X come out on top of would Cedar Point's popularity keep Millennium Force on top.
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"The opposite of war isn't peace, its creation," Rent.
On the subject, I think some coasters at CP are voted as better just because people really do like them better. I'm sure there might be some other factors, such as a lot of enthusiasts from the state/region and a lot of people going to CP and SFMM for their amount of coasters and reputation, but the name probably only has marginal significance IMO. While I personally would rather ride Magnum or Raptor any day before MF, I can seriously see what people would vote it the best. The elements of speed and height really get the fear factor going for people and give them a good ride. And if they even got to SFNE, they would know what a real good ride was. ;)
I'm sure MF would have a lot more competition for "best" coaster if Superman, EGF, and Goliath(SFH) had a larger group of riders that had taken those polls. Now for a real poll, check out Mitch Hawker's. While its not perfect, its the best head-to-head I've seen.
Some coasters at popular parks also rate consistantly low. For example Son Of Beast. A lot of course depends on how the poll is structured.
The Internet Wooden and Steel Coaster Polls are structured so that they eliminate a lot of the effect of the popular park. In their wooden coaster poll #1 is a French coaster and most of the top 10 are at smaller parks. The best ranking that a Cedar Point woodie could manage last year was 66th.
*** This post was edited by Jim Fisher on 4/6/2002. ***
Look at Boulder Dash, its the best wooden coaster in the Northeast and nobody even knows it exists. Everyone says the Cyclone is "the best ride ever" but it can't compare at all with Boulder Dash.
auscoasterman said:
Vertigo, firstly and foremost, Amusement Today, the magazine that publishes the Golden Tickets, is an American publication. It is published for americans.
Orochi is a clone of Raptor, so why should it do any better than Raptor, in reality, the original should be the one rated - would you rate a newer B:TR over the original? No, the original is the one which gains recognition for obvious reasons.
Steel Force is a taller ride than Titan, appears to have a better layout than Titan, and Titan wasn't exactly a smooth ride. Venus is a nice ride, but no where near the force of Taz's Texas Tornado, and with four inversions compared to one, it doesn't seem any competition to me.
I'll give you Pyrenees, but simply, nobody who votes has ridden it. Japan isn't exactly a destination for many Coaster people, Europe and USA seem the places everyone goes, probably for cost and language and cultural reasons.
I haven't ridden Regina, but from the POV, it seems a wild ride. Of the rides you gave as examples, this one seems the only candidate.
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So what if the best coaster in Australia is a second hand Arrow?
http://www.totalthrills.com
Dude, by what you just posted I know you haven't been on both of those from all your comments. Also, Venus is a much wilder ride than Texas Tornado and doesn't have multiple sets of brakes. Locations doesn't factor in how good a coaster is and by saying that you just agreed to the popularity theory. How could you say Japan is not a coaster destation, it host the most extreme collection of coasters on the planet, there are no rules over there. Last, judging a coaster from a POV is just low, do like I did and try actually riding it. Orochi actually isn't an exact clone by the way, that's the same mistake that people make with Roar East and West.
P.S.**I didn't say Golden Ticket after every sentence did I? I was talking in general (NAPHA, IAPPA, ICA who all range globally ;)) LOL From the POV he thought it was a good ride**
Bottom line:
Its pointless to vote for a coaster you haven't ridden, so the most ridden coasters will get the most votes.
Is this that hard to figure out?
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If the shoe fits, find another one.
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