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USA Today and 10 Best Readers Choice poll


PhantomTheater
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Get your votes in and help bring Kings Island to the top!

All of these are fine choices.

Maybe when these things are voted on by actual people we'll see who the "greatest amusement park in the world" really is rather than having it based on which park gave away the most stuff at their enthusiast events or who had the best Blue Ice Cream eating contest.

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Still more credible than the other thing.

One is an online poll. Not a perfect sample, but still relatively random.

The other is voted on by 7,000 coaster enthusiasts who subscribe to a magazine that has no merit in the industry. Just look at the results of the Golden Tickets and you'll see that the results are just kind of generically typical for that demographic. Cedar Point's the greatest amusement park in the world? Really? I think there are a few parks in Florida with a couple dozen MILLION patrons who may feel otherwise, but hey... no giga no Golden Ticket, right?

Plus, look at who actually shows up to the awards. All of these little seasonal parks who need to pump out one last press release claiming that they've won an award for their landscaping or whatever flock to them. Disney wins best night show ever year. Where's the Disney rep? They "couldn't be there that night" so the host accepts the award on their behalf. Why couldn't they be there? Because they see no credibility in the awards. It's not even a blip on the radar for them. Do you see a series of Golden Tickets around the World Showcase Lagoon talking about Illuminations being the "best night show"? Of course not. Their product speaks for itself. They don't need a bunch of ACE/TPR/GOCC/whatever people to 'vote' on it. It is what it is, and what you're the best it's a no brainer.

/End Rant

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^
It'll probably be either Banshee or Goliath @ SFGam...since the RMC Coasters that have been built so far (New Texas Giant, Iron Rattler, Outlaw Run, etc etc.) have done very well in the Golden Ticket Awards...then you have the Mitch Hawker poll, where I assume Lightning Run could be a major player based on the reviews I have read of it- though the restraints it has could hold it back. One other thing that could limit Banshee in the GTA's- they seem to HEAVILY perfer airtime-centric rides without inversions.

Then I also remembered- Harry Potter Expansion at Universal Florida. Last time they did this, it won out over a Intamin Giga Coaster and B&M Hyper both with Intimidator in their names. Banshee's awesome, but I don't know how well it'll fare against this competition.

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^

It'll probably be either Banshee or Goliath @ SFGam...since the RMC Coasters that have been built so far (New Texas Giant, Iron Rattler, Outlaw Run, etc etc.) have done very well in the Golden Ticket Awards...then you have the Mitch Hawker poll, where I assume Lightning Run could be a major player based on the reviews I have read of it- though the restraints it has could hold it back. One other thing that could limit Banshee in the GTA's- they seem to HEAVILY perfer airtime-centric rides without inversions.

Then I also remembered- Harry Potter Expansion at Universal Florida. Last time they did this, it won out over a Intamin Giga Coaster and B&M Hyper both with Intimidator in their names. Banshee's awesome, but I don't know how well it'll fare against this competition.

The biggest threat to Banshee is the new Harry Potter. It's apples and oranges. Diagon Alley is a $100 million + attraction. Clearly it's better on most regards. However, Banshee is probably more thrilling.

So that poses the question: what constitutes the "best new ride?"

the most thrilling?

the most money spent?

the best themeing?

the best looking ride?

the best capacity?

Of course, this is coming from the same people that ranked Gatekeeper much higher than Expedition Everest.

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I always considered the Cedar Fair parks (KI and Cedar Point) to be amusement parks and not theme parks. Don't you need theming to be theme parks? I always thought that there was a difference between "Theme Parks" and "Amusement Parks" and would consider Disney and Universal to be theme parks considering the level of theming they have. I don't know, perhaps I'm understanding it wrong.

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I don't ever let polls sway my opinions. Pretty much anyone on here will tell you that it is exceptionally rare for my most beloved coasters to be on the top of any major poll, with perhaps the exception of The Beast.

Homestar92, perennial lover of Vortex, Mean Streak, and Hurler (of the Carowinds variety).

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I don't ever let polls sway my opinions. Pretty much anyone on here will tell you that it is exceptionally rare for my most beloved coasters to be on the top of any major poll, with perhaps the exception of The Beast.

Homestar92, perennial lover of Vortex, Mean Streak, and Hurler (of the Carowinds variety).

It's okay.

Terp, proud member of The Rolling Thunder Fan Club.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Agreed. I'd probably have gone with either Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom before but Universal has really stepped up their game the past few years. And Simpsons is my favorite show ever so having an entire land for it helps haha. Plus they have a great mix and range of rides now that look great.

I can't believe some of the other parks on the list aren't in the top five currently. All the CP fanboys are who to thank.

I'm really not surprised. The seasonal parks have these forums where people talk about these things or the parks tell people to go vote. But as Bodda pointed out Disney, Universal, etc. (the real theme parks) don't care about the results of a random poll. So their sites aren't focused on it or telling people to go vote to get them to the top, and most of their die hard fans don't care as much about it either. I'm a huge Disney and Universal fan but I voted for Kings Island still since its my home park too. I go to the others once every couple years but Kings Island is multiple times a year. So feel more compelled to vote for my home park as well.

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I always considered the Cedar Fair parks (KI and Cedar Point) to be amusement parks and not theme parks. Don't you need theming to be theme parks? I always thought that there was a difference between "Theme Parks" and "Amusement Parks" and would consider Disney and Universal to be theme parks considering the level of theming they have. I don't know, perhaps I'm understanding it wrong.

"Amusement park" vs. "theme park." It's sort of a useless distinction because where is the line?

Kings Island has more theme than Cedar Point, but less than Busch Gardens Tampa, which in turn has less than Disney's Hollywood Studios, which has significantly less than Disney's Animal Kingdom and Universal's Islands of Adventure. It's not a dichotomy. It's a scale. Even then, a lot of it is subjective. Here, we'd probably say that Kings Island has better theming than Six Flags America. Fans of that park would probably disagree.

I think a better classification system might be "local" "regional" and "destination" parks. Even "seasonal" vs. "year-round operation." A park like Kennywood would never be recognized fairly alongside Magic Kingdom. It's not a "theme park" vs. "amusement park" problem... It's a status problem. Even those classifications aren't black and white (Cedar Point might be a "destination" park but that doesn't mean it can be compared to Disneyland... It's also "seasonal," but can't be compared to Camden Park). But it's easier than quibbling over which parks have enough theming to be classified as "themed."

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I agree with that. I always consider the more regional parks as amusement parks since they aren't too focused on theming and it is usually minimal. But they do still have some so they would technically count as theme parks. You're right it is mostly about levels versus one or the other. Especially with ones like Busch Gardens that sit right in the middle of the line, with heavy theming but nothing as extensive as Disney or Universal.

Think that regional versus destination parks are a better division but even that has some gray area as people do travel from around the world to parks like King Island and Cedar Point, and again where do parks like Busch Gardens fit into that.

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Six Flags Magic Mountain: The Best Theme Park in the U.S.

Oh my. *Shudder*

I just don't get all the hatred for...Magic Mountain.

I agree about how the hatred towards Magic Mountain is unwarranted, but the shuddering might be in regards to calling the park a 'Theme' Park.

(At least from what I remember from reading that poster's posts.)

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