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Golden Ticket Awards 2013

Hyde

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
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Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk served as host for this year's 2013 Golden Ticket Awards. The Golden Ticket Awards are presented by Amusement Today, and cover a variety of genres in the amusement park industry. A team of judges is asked to rate their favorite attractions and parks, with the greatest overall score earning the award. Listed below are the announced winners:

Top 10 Steel Coasters:

1. Millennium Force, Cedar Point

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To3jujFzwHg[/youtube]

2. Bizarro, Six Flags New England

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shR5kucghcY[/youtube]

3. Expedition GeForce, Holiday Park

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0FwscPjC3s[/youtube]

4. Nitro, Six Flags Great Adventure

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmZ8jDCVIwc[/youtube]

5. Apollo's Chariot, Busch Gardens Williamsburg

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQZXPdZbOtM[/youtube]

6. New Texas Giant, Six Flags Over Texas

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKOmxOsTx2g[/youtube]

7. Goliath, Six Flags Over Georgia

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shDZQL6X6fU[/youtube]

8. Intimidator, Carowinds

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOGUZmW8atI[/youtube]

9. Magnum XL-200, Cedar Point

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nPG4l9-LkM[/youtube]

10. Intimidator-305, Kings Dominion

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSSGgNWnOpk[/youtube]

Top 10 Wooden Coasters:

1. Boulder Dash, Lake Compounce

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0pF75xFPqs[/youtube]

2. El Toro, Six Flags Great Adventure

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocekc_o9HPc[/youtube]

3. Phoenix, Knoebels Amusement Resort

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qUNo6KnPLo[/youtube]

4. The Voyage, Holiday World

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtUj-sEq3JE[/youtube]

5. Thunderhead, Dollywood

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUm4_F2cXJk[/youtube]

6. Ravine Flyer II, Waldameer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkoM48Zck6w[/youtube]

7. Outlaw Run, Silver Dollar City

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ015rF7WRU[/youtube]

8. The Beast, Kings Island

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgdXxuqoNt8[/youtube]

9. Lightning Racer, Hersheypark

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHp9sFGwek0[/youtube]

10. Shivering Timbers, Michigan's Adventure

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxTBwSqEn3s[/youtube]

Best New Ride for 2013 (Amusement Park) - Outlaw Run, Silver Dollar City

Best New Ride for 2013 (Waterpark) - River Rush, Dollywood's Splash Country

Best Park - Cedar Point

Best Waterpark - Schlitterbahn

Best Children's Park - Idlewild & SoakZone

Best Marine Life Park - SeaWorld Orlando

Best Seaside Park - Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

Best Kids' Area - Kings Island

Cleanest Park - Holiday World

Friendliest Park - Dollywood

Best Shows - Dollywood

Best Outdoor Show Production - Epcot

Best Landscaping - Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Best Food - Dollywood

Best Carousel - Knoebels Amusement Resort

Best Water Ride - Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls, Universal's Islands of Adventure

Best Waterpark Ride - Wildebeest, Splashin' Safari

Best Dark Ride - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Universal's Islands of Adventure

Best Indoor Waterpark - Schlitterbahn Galveston Island

Best Indoor Roller Coaster - Revenge of the Mummy, Universal Studios Orlando

Best Funhouse/Walk-Through - Noah's Ark, Kennywood

Best Halloween Event - Universal Studios Orlando

Best Christmas Event - Dollywood

The complete official rankings for this year's Golden Ticket Awards can be found here. http://www.goldenticketawards.com
 
Bwahahahahaha, so much fail.

Well, at least they have one international park represented this year. If I recall correctly, that's an improvement over the recent years.
 
Those judges really need to get their ass out of the US. And why only hyper/giga coasters in the steel list (with NTG as a single exception)? No love for loopers, inverts, launched coasters, etc.?
 
The wooden coaster rankings are actually pretty on par. 5 of those top 10 are also in my own top 10 count.
 
In Golden Ticket world, Magnum XL-200 is better than Leviathan and Behemoth and Phoenix and Lightning Racer are better than Prowler.

I always forget that top 10 roller coasters are literally only built in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Silly me.
 
^ I have Lightning Racer as better than Prowler as well. :wink:
 
Ive seen a trend in these as of late. They are getting a bigger audience (seeing as how BD is number 1, voyage is 4, EGF is on here and Bizarro is coming up), but these are still a main ACE-centric polling group.

At least there is some change happening in these (finally).
 
They top 10 usually rotate out between the Hyper/Giga of the month.

They really should have an American list and a "Rest of World" list. Of course, the Point has been voted best park how many years in a row, with so many other better parks out there?
 
rtotheizzo17 said:
Of course, the Point has been voted best park how many years in a row, with so many other better parks out there?
Click to expand...
This

Isn't the Golden Ticket ranking system terribly biased towards popularity? It's based on a pure points system rather than comparisons, correct?
 
Only one entry (EGF) across the board outside of the US? yeah alright then. **** geniuses at work here!
 
Hobbes said:
Isn't the Golden Ticket ranking system terribly biased towards popularity? It's based on a pure points system rather than comparisons, correct?
Click to expand...
It is based on a points system, with certified coaster enthusiasts submitting their votes. No idea on the amount of voters or their own individual qualifications - it would be interesting to learn that to compare to the average submitter for the Mitch Hawker Polls.

Here are some segments from Amusement Today's FAQ on the Golden Ticket Awards concerning the voting process:

How does Amusement Today choose the winners?

- Amusement Today relies on a panel of voters from all over the world consisting of experienced park enthusiasts. The U.S. ballots are divided into four geographical regions, with approximately the same number of voters in each region. In addition to the American voters, Amusement Today invites a number of international voters to participate.

How do I become a voter?

- Amusement Today is always looking for new voters, particularly those who live overseas. We prefer that our voters make numerous visits to amusement parks and waterparks each year and have visited at least 50 different parks in their lifetime. A strong qualification is if voters have travelled and visited amusement parks overseas. If you think you qualify, feel free to contact us for consideration.

How are winners chosen?

- Amusement Today asks its voters to submit one choice in each of the categories (except best coaster). The results are tallied and the park or attraction with the most votes is awarded the Golden Ticket for that category. For roller coasters, we ask that each voter submit a list of their top ten coasters — wood and steel — in order from one to ten, taking into consideration the overall experience including capacity, operations, reliability and re-rideability.

http://www.goldenticketawards.com/gta-faqs
 
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