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Europa Park wins Golden Ticket Best Park award

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ECG

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Cedar Point didn't take the Best Park Golden Ticket award for the first time after 16 straight wins in the category. Here are the winners from today's announcement ceremony at SeaWorld Orlando:

CATEGORY - WINNER
Best Amusement Park - Europa-Park, Rust, Germany
Best Waterpark - Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort, New Braunfels, Texas
Best Children’s Park - Idlewild and SoakZone, Ligonier, Pa.
Best Marine Life Park - SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
Best Seaside Park - Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Best Wooden Coaster - Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce, Bristol, Conn.
Best Steel Coaster - Millennium Force at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
Best Kids’ Area - Kings Island, Kings Mills, Ohio
Friendliest Park - Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Cleanest Park - Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.
Best Halloween Event - Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
Best Landscaping - Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Va.
Best Christmas Event - Smoky Mountain Christmas at Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Best Food - Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Best Shows - Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Best Outdoor Night Show Production - IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at Walt Disney World’s Epcot, Orlando, Fla.
Best Water Ride - Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla.
Best Waterpark Ride - Wildebeest at Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.
Best Dark Ride - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla.
Best New Ride of 2014 at an Amusement Park - Flying Turns, Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pa.
Best New Ride of 2014 at a Water Park - Verruckt, Schlitterbahn Kansas City, Kansas City, Mo.
Best Carousel - Grand Carousel at Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pa.
Best Indoor Roller Coaster - Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
Best Indoor Waterpark - Schlitterbahn Galveston Island, Galveston, Texas
Best Funhouse/Walkthrough Attraction - Noah’s Ark at Kennywood, West Mifflin, Pa.

Here's a breakdown of some of the top categories:

Best Park
Europa-Park - Rust, Germany 25%
Cedar Point - Sandusky, Ohio 16%
Dollywood Pigeon Forge, Tenn. 9%
Knoebels Amusement Resort - Elysburg, Pa. 8%
Disneyland - Anaheim, Calif. 8%
Universal’s Islands of Adventure - Orlando, Fla. 5%
Magic Kingdom - Orlando, Fla.Orlando, Fla. (tie) 4%
Tokyo DisneySea - Tokyo, Japan (tie) 4%
Busch Gardens Williamsburg - Williamsburg, Va. 3.50%
Holiday World - Santa Claus, Ind. 3%

Best New Attraction for 2014 (Amusement Park)
Flying Turns - Knoebels Amusement Resort 27%
Banshee - Kings Island 19%
Goliath - Six Flags Great America 11%
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts - Islands of Adventure 10%
Lightning Run - Kentucky Kingdom 9%

Best Indoor Roller Coaster
Revenge of the Mummy - Universal Studios Orlando 21%
Space Mountain - Disneyland 14%
Winjas - Phantasialand 12%
Black Diamond - Knoebels Amusement Resort 9%
Mindbender - Galaxyland 8.5%

Best Dark Ride
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - Universal’s Islands of Adventure 20%
Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - Disney’s Hollywood Studios 10.5%
Radiator Springs Racers - Disney California Adventure 10%
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man - Universal’s Islands of Adventure (tie) 9%
Haunted Mansion - Knoebels Amusement Resort (tie) 9%

Best Seaside Park
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk - Santa Cruz, Calif. 45%
Blackpool Pleasure Beach - Blackpool, England 16%,
Gröna Lund - Stockholm, Sweden 15%
Morey’s Piers - Wildwood, N.J. 12%
Belmont Park - San Diego, Calif. 4%

Top 10 Steel Roller Coasters of 2014
RANK, NAME, PARK, LOCATION, YEAR, FROM, POINTS
1, Millennium Force, Cedar Point, Sandusky Ohio, 2000, Intamin, 1139
2, Bizarro, Six Flags New England, Agawam Mass., 2000, Intamin, 1049
3, Expedition GeForce, Holiday Park, Hassloch Germany, 2001, Intamin, 764
4, Diamondback, Kings Island, Mason Ohio, 2009, B&M, 579
5, Nitro, Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson N.J., 2001, B&M, 563
6, Leviathan, Canada’s Wonderland, Vaughan Ont. Canada, 2012, B&M, 500
7, Apollo’s Chariot, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg Va., 1999, B&M, 484
8, New Texas Giant, Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington Texas, 2011, Rocky Mountain, 465
9, Goliath, Six Flags Over Georgia, Austell Ga., 2006, B&M, 422
10, Intimidator, Carowinds, Charlotte N.C., 2010, B&M, 387

Top 10 Wooden Roller Coasters of 2014
RANK, NAME, PARK, LOCATION, YEAR, FROM, POINTS
1, Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce, Bristol Conn., 2000, CCI, 1480
2, El Toro, Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson N.J., 2006, Intamin, 1291
3, The Voyage, Holiday World, Santa Claus Ind., 2006, Gravity Group, 1129
4, Phoenix, Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg Pa., 1985, Dinn/PTC-Schmeck, 1036
5, Thunderhead, Dollywood, Pigeon Forge Tenn., 2004, GCII, 837
6, Ravine Flyer II, Waldameer, Erie Pa., 2008, Gravity Group, 719
7, Gold Striker, California’s Great America, Santa Clara Calif., 2013, GCI, 619
8, The Beast, Kings Island, Mason Ohio, 1979, KECO, 614
9, Outlaw Run, Silver Dollar City, Branson Mo., 2013, Rocky Mountain, 605
10, Balder, Liseberg, Gothenburg Sweden, 2003, Intamin, 393

Holiday World continues to dominate the All-Time Winners list with 44 Golden Tickets, followed by Cedar Point and Schlitterbahn 36 (tie), Islands of Adventure 31, Busch Gardens Williamsburg 23, Knoebel’s Amusement Resort 21, Dollywood 14, Kings Island 13, Universal Studios Orlando 12 & Six Flags Fiesta Texas 11.
Only three European parks have won Golden Tickets: Blackpool Pleasure Beach 2, Alton Towers 1 & Europa Park 1.

Source: http://www.goldenticketawards.com/
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award,

At least it wasnt Cedar Point again.
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

Yay Europa Park!

Probably going to ruffle some feathers, I look forward to the inevitable hilarity...
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

Lol flying turns best new attraction and MilF still being best steel. Some things never change.
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

Weird how in Golden Ticket awards, Millennium Force comes first, yet in other polls like Mitch Hawker, it doesn't even come tenth!

Less fanboys I suppose!
 
Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

^^ agreed, that steel list is rubbish, and Outlaw Run 9th in wood? Hmm. No Helix at all I see.
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

So Flying Turns is better than Helix, Goliath, Banshee, etc?
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

Yeah, these award are bollocks.

Flying turns, although good, isn't anywhere near as good as Helix, Banshee or Goliath.

Millennium Force isn't even the best coaster in the park, never mind the world. And no Skyrush, Behemoth, Maverick or Helix in the top 10?

And no Goliath in the wooden top 10?
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

Golden Tickets remain a joke. A point-based system means attendance is way more influencing for a ride/park's ranking than anything else. Say Coaster A is ridden by two people, which both give it ten points. Coaster B is ridden by twenty people, 19 of which rate it 1 point and the last one giving it a 2. Coaster B would rank higher in the Golden Tickets because of its higher total score.

They might as well cut all international parks from the ratings, and stop pretending it is international in any form. Non-US parks or rides would need to be ridiculously high-rated and well visited in order to even earn a place in the top rankings.
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

It is interesting how Holiday World has all time most awards with 44 seeing as it is a tiny park in the middle of southern Indiana. What was Splashin' Safari ranked in terms of the water parks?
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

Ugh, whatever, another predictable year.
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

NAPayne31 said:
What was Splashin' Safari ranked in terms of the water parks?
Click to expand...
Too lazy to click the link in the first post? :p
It came in second with 17% of the votes.
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

I am always so intrigued by the Golden Ticket awards, and how out of touch they really are with the world.

For those who instead put stock in the Mitch Hawker Polls, here is a comparison of what the order of the Golden Ticket Top 10s would be if MH rankings are applied:

Top 10 Steel Roller Coasters of 2014
RANK, NAME, PARK, LOCATION, YEAR, FROM, POINTS

1. EGF
2. New Texas Giant
3. Bizarro
4. Leviathan
5. MF
6. Nitro
7. Goliath
8. Apollo's Chariot
9. Diamondback
10. Intimidator

Top 10 Wooden Roller Coasters of 2014
RANK, NAME, PARK, LOCATION, YEAR, FROM, POINTS

1. El Toro
2. Outlaw Run
3. Boulder Dash
4. Phoenix
5. RF II
6. The Voyage
7. Blader
8. Gold Striker
9. Thunderhead
10. The Beast

In general, the wooden listings are much more comparable between GT and MH than the steel listings, which could be a simple result of there being a smaller selection of wooden coasters in the world than steel (average number of wooden coasters ridden in last year's MH polling was 31.4, compared to 58 for steel). Always intriguing to see how each poll favors specific types of rides.
 
Re: Cedar Point loses out on Golden Ticket Best Park award

Instead of highlighting Cedar Point's loss, why not announce the topic with Europa Park's win?

Much more positive approach.
 
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