Mitch Hawker Steel Coaster Poll 2012 - Results!

[rollermonkey]

Ben, your opinions are odd. Despite not being a huge Intamin fanboy, I think the MegaLites are fabulously fun, but I totally agree that Goliath is the best of the lot.

Anyone done the Japanese one?

Yup. Far better than HXLC which suffered from being the prototype, downtime, too small for it's top speed and a fair consensus opinion that it rode like a trashcan. I didn't hate it, but I rode Dodonpa first.

Gavin gives a fair description of the ride, but left out the floater after the launch tunnel and the ridiculous tear-streaking windy throughout the ride.

 

[caffeine_demon]

Did any major theme park groups do trips to Port Aventura? That would further explain shambhala's low ranking.

6 is Low?? really?

 

[Youngster Joey]

Did any major theme park groups do trips to Port Aventura? That would further explain shambhala's low ranking.

6 is Low?? really?

I'd say its low, but its the best steel coaster I've ridden. That ampersand turnaround <3

 

[Ben]

Ben, your opinions are odd. Despite not being a huge Intamin fanboy, I think the MegaLites are fabulously fun, but I totally agree that Goliath is the best of the lot.

I do think they're fun, they're really good, but they ARE over rated. They're not 20% of the 10 best coasters in the World at all.

They all deserve to be, say, too thirty, and they're definitely the best 'clones' or off-the-shelf models there are, but, to say they're better than things like Goliath which are the same just taller, faster, longer and with more thought put into it seems silly.

I think it just upsets me that a park can put in a stock model and have a top five coaster. Are we that easily pleased?

 

[SaiyanHajime]

I'm so skeptical of Shambala's supposed greatness... I just, how? Why? It' just a B&M mega... They are all the same, no?

I do think they're fun, they're really good, but they ARE over rated.

I think you and I do this thing where we make it sound like we think rides are absolutely awful because we exaggerate for comic effect, when really we just mean "I do not think it is AS good as people say" or "it's COMPARATIVELY not very good".

My B&M Mega comment was an exaggeration, they aren't all the same, but they are so similar that discerning one to be extraordinary seems.......... Impossible? I've been on Apollo, Goliath, Diamondback, Intimidator, Silver Star. Apollo is my favourite? Goliath's long, but like, it's at SFOG. :/ And I can't not take that into account. That park is horrid.

Edit: And Nitro, forgot Nitro.

 

[Hyde]

Yeah, mixed up Leviathan and Shambhala in my head on what was ranked where in that last post.

Leviathan coming in 18th was my biggest surprise. Surely it is worth a top 15 finish?

 

[MouseAT]

I think it just upsets me that a park can put in a stock model and have a top five coaster. Are we that easily pleased?

Yes, we can be that easily pleased, provided that said stock model is good. The Mega Lites are damn good. They shouldn't be beating the very best custom rides, but they're just about the best "stock" ride I've ever experienced. They're a hell of a lot better than most custom installs, which says more about the quality of most custom installs than about the Mega Lites to be honest.

That said, they're not a top 10 ride for me any more. I think I've got Piraten at around #12 in my personal rankings. They're good, but not THAT good.

 

[JJLehto]

Nah not all B&M mega's are the same. Some are way more trimmed than others :lol:
Shambhala looks so great because it's not very trimmed, I bet there's much AT on it.
They have floater and never ejector so the forums seem to moan but it's still fun if ya don't over analyze (yeah what am I saying right??)
I will say, this years, while I accept it, raises an eyebrow or two.

I know the mega lites are forceful and full of airtime, and stats are a poor indicator of quality, but wow...just can't believe they are really that good. All riders seem to say it is though.

All the mega lites are the same correct?
If so I kinda think instead of having them hog up the top 15 it should be "favorite Intamin Mega Lite" an get just one spot.

I know this was wood but twister at Grona Land got 16th? Wooden Warrior 23rd? Guess I'm really missing out!

 

[andrus]

I'm so skeptical of Shambala's supposed greatness... I just, how? Why? It' just a B&M mega... They are all the same, no?
My B&M Mega comment was an exaggeration, they aren't all the same, but they are so similar that discerning one to be extraordinary seems.......... Impossible? I've been on Apollo, Goliath, Diamondback, Intimidator, Silver Star. Apollo is my favourite? Goliath's long, but like, it's at SFOG. :/ And I can't not take that into account. That park is horrid.

I've only been on three; Nitro, Silver Star and Apollo's Chariot. But while both Silver Star and Apollo's Chariot were generic experiences I thought Nitro was fantastic! They all got floater but I thought it was more sustained on Nitro and Nitro was the only one providing high positive g's to mix up the layout (which made it a lot better).

 

[SaiyanHajime]

Yeah I forgot Nitro, It was running well when you guys did it and was TERRIBLE when I rode it in 2010. I coudn't believe it was the same ride!

 

[JJLehto]

Saw no difference from old Nitro and new. Seems as fine in 2012 as it did 2002.
Bad day? I've had different AT impact on different days, which isn't a good thing for a steel I reckon.

 

[SaiyanHajime]

I just looked at the poll to check Swarm's placement as I'm writing a Swarm one year on review.

68.

Coasters that ranked higher that I found shocking and have ridden: (they are in reverse order of ranking, lowest first)

Superman ROS America
Hungarian Horntail
Hulk
Chinese Fireball
Alpengeist
Griffon
Intimdator (carowinds)
Phantom's revenge
Diamondback

Am I alone here?

And Wild Eagle ranked significantly lower, yet I THINK it was better. I rode it in winter and it's hard to judge what it's like in the summer when running normally... But given it's performance in near freezing temperatures, it must be pretty damn good.

 

[furie]

Yeah, you're alone

I ranked Alpengeist as my top B&M Invert and Griffon highly as well (I prefer the buzz of Oblivion, but the length of Griffon).

The Swarm came in at 11 for me. I don't think it's a great ride, but I really enjoy it. It's such a fun coaster and really appeals to me as a "form of entertainment" if you like. Kind of like Lightning Racer. I could ride it over and over and still enjoy it each time - it brings a smile to my face.

Alpengeist and Griffon though I enjoy "technically". They have the forces, the drops, the tension and... Alpengeist had the fun ski run bit at the end which I thought was brilliant (and brought a smile to my face). So better "coasters", but maybe not quite as much fun or as reridable. It's one of those really tough head and heart things :lol:

 

[SaiyanHajime]

See, I think if it less as head and heart, and more as enthusiast head and honest head.

Same way that a McD's is better than a dry gourmet burger. Ones an honest opinion, the other burdened with knowledge, expectation from others, shame and standards set by someone else.

Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk 2

 

[furie]

I think it's sometimes the hardest thing ever to work out.

I consider Schindler's List a truly epic and fantastic film. It's incredibly moving, wonderfully acted and work of directing art. It's just an absolutely superb film.

Yet I doubt I'll ever watch it again because it's such a difficult film to watch. You don't watch it to be entertained in the traditional sense. You watch it to be enlightened, to experience it and the fact that such a hard story is so superbly told makes it even more poignant.

I'll watch The Lost Boys a thousand times though. It has no "real" redeeming qualities but is flat out great entertainment. Jurassic Park is the same, always watch that even though it's blockbuster rubbish.

It's that difference between what you find enjoyable or entertaining and what you know is actually good.

It's even more difficult with something like this. I found both Alpengeist and Griffon exhilarating. They had tension, fear, speed, high forces and even some fun in there to make me smile. I came off the rides with heart pounding and a slight wobble to my legs. The Swarm, a big grin on my face. Which is better? Is National Lampoon's Animal House better than Aliens because I laughed? No, it's a better comedy, but it's not a better film for me because I enjoy the action and tension of Aliens over a comedy - but Animal House is still one of the best comedy films ever and one of my favourites of all time.

That's the issue you see. Just because something makes you happy doesn't make it better. I guess that the difference is between joy and satisfaction. I feel more satisfied with Alpengeist than I do The Swarm, even though The Swarm gives me a more transitory joy. I'll remember the rides on Alpengeist for the rest of my life as a an experience to relive in memory, but once I'd left Thorpe Park, The Swarm just because "a good laugh I had once".

I don't know if that helps make sense? I still value that highly (which is why The Swarm is so high in my poll), but I have to look at what I think is an experience that remains with me for life.

 

[JJLehto]

Yup Furie wins as usual. Well said.
It's tough to rank fun/enjoyment, especially when we analyze the crap out of em. What makes a ride "better" is height, speed, airtime, length, smoothness and originality but while MForce or Nitro, or Swarm may fall short in many of these there are just fun. I try to find a balance.

In terms of unbridled enjoyment Grizzly in the back row was the most fun ride at KD but I don't rank it higher than I305.
Also I have no idea but how many can accurately rank all their "middle" coasters esp when you have hundreds? After the top 15 or so, and outside the bottom 10ish I tried my best to rank, but I just went off gut feelings and didn't focus too hard on it. I'd imagine the same happens with many. So wouldn't get too worked up that "this is 57 vs 86" and it is just personal opinion. Unlike some universals everyone loves/hates

 

[furie]

It's really tough to do the rankings at all I find.

I tend to do a very broad sweep of dropping in "good" coasters at the top and "poor" coasters at the bottom.

I then essentially do a "Steadman Sort" (a sort routine I developed in 1990 and named after myself ) which is a very efficient form of bubble sort.

I go down my list from the top and compare coasters. So if Dragon Khan had ended in number 1 after my rough sort and EGF 2, then I would put EGF above Khan. If the next was (for some weird reason, because I'd screwed up my initial sort) X:\NWO, then I would leave it, but if number 4 was Silver Star, it would go above X:\NWO. Once I've hit the bottom of the list, I go back up it doing the reverse and dropping coasters down. If you try to hold comparisons between just two coasters, it makes it much easier than trying to work out a lot of things.

For comparisons, I try to work out which coasters made me feel particularly great, that pushed my buttons and a lot of the time, how likely I am to ride them again, or how upset I would be if they were destroyed tomorrow. It seems a bit arbitrary, but it does help you narrow it down working on how you feel emotionally if a ride vanished. Using The Swarm, I'd not be bothered at all to be honest, but the ride makes me happy. It's just not "special" to me, or in a "special" park, but it does make me happy to ride it. I'll just not go out of my way to ride it. EGF though I'd go back again tomorrow if given the chance (or Bizarro or Khan or Alpengeist), but The Swarm I'd happily drive past Thorpe's front gates and not bother popping in for a quick Swarming.

Anyway, the system should allow you to sort the list in about 8 passes or so and it kind of works :lol:

 

[JJLehto]

Nope that is pretty much what I did.
Didn't know there was any name for it but after the top and bottom I'd just say: Nitro/Alpengeist....Nitro. Alpgengeist/Fahrenheit...Alpengeist, and yeah through the natural process it sorts out pretty well.