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Your Top Ten Coasters

Can I just ask you guys a quick question, as I've seen it in a fair few top 10s in here; what do you guys see in Manta at SeaWorld Orlando that I clearly don't, out of interest?

While Manta was admittedly a fun ride, and it does sit in my #20 spot, I didn't actually find it to be an awful lot better than Galactica, to tell you the truth. It might be partially because I found that pretzel loop to almost be too much to handle in terms of positive g-forces, it might be partially because I only had one back row ride on Manta or it might be partially down to my expectations of Manta to be a top 5 or top 10 ride for me, but something about Manta just left me a little underwhelmed when I rode it. Come to think of it, it might even have been Mako overshadowing it in the same park, because as many of you might know, I think the world of that ride!

Manta is definitely a coaster I would like to reride, because I personally reckon that I might possibly find it a little better if I were to reride it, as I might ride it in a more optimal seat or I might simply like it more!
 
Presumably has everything to do with the Pretzel Loop, I don't like Tatsu but that's highly rated in general circles purely because my body did not agree with that inversion...

Would guess that I'll have similar feelings towards Manta...
 
Ash84 said:
You know one thing that never fails to boil my p**s about members of the coaster 'community' is this refusal to accept anyone else's opinion when it differs in any way to their own.

Rob, you don't like Baco, you have made that very clear on more occasions than I care to count. I however do, get over it.

Now when we are talking about being launched at speeds of around 80mph at a slight incline, followed by a drop, it doesn't take a genius to work out that negative G's will be involved.

As for your final sentence, go back and read the list. Mako, Shambhala, Nash, Streak.....I think it's fair to say I know what airtime is.
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Where did I not accept your opinion? I challenged it as I strongly disagree with it and made a little joke (hence the wink emoticon which I thought made it obvious) but you have every right to your opinion.

I've never noticed any airtime on Baco. I will try and notice said airtime when I'm there after Christmas and am happy to be proven wrong. I still think it is an utterly crap coaster mind. Forget any roughness and/or vibrations, the layout is rather mediocre.
 
Matt N said:
Can I just ask you guys a quick question, as I've seen it in a fair few top 10s in here; what do you guys see in Manta at SeaWorld Orlando that I clearly don't, out of interest?

While Manta was admittedly a fun ride, and it does sit in my #20 spot, I didn't actually find it to be an awful lot better than Galactica, to tell you the truth. It might be partially because I found that pretzel loop to almost be too much to handle in terms of positive g-forces, it might be partially because I only had one back row ride on Manta or it might be partially down to my expectations of Manta to be a top 5 or top 10 ride for me, but something about Manta just left me a little underwhelmed when I rode it. Come to think of it, it might even have been Mako overshadowing it in the same park, because as many of you might know, I think the world of that ride!

Manta is definitely a coaster I would like to reride, because I personally reckon that I might possibly find it a little better if I were to reride it, as I might ride it in a more optimal seat or I might simply like it more!
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Manta is a good coaster for me, but not one of my top coasters. I suppose if you really like flying coasters then Manta & Tatsu will probably be the best two rides of that type in the western world though, maybe that's why it gets ranked so highly. Queue line theming and general landscaping is on point with Manta as well.
 
If you come in with a niche opinion it's normal for people to react, there's a difference between "what, really?" and "haha you are wrong".

Fwiw I think Baco is very pretty and has a great launch and drop after it, the rest is greatly unpleasant nothingness. I don't think the hypothesis that if you were raised on BPB you may be more inclined to like Baco is unreasonable either.
 
Benzin said:
Presumably has everything to do with the Pretzel Loop, I don't like Tatsu but that's highly rated in general circles purely because my body did not agree with that inversion...

Would guess that I'll have similar feelings towards Manta...
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MakoMania said:
Manta is a good coaster for me, but not one of my top coasters. I suppose if you really like flying coasters then Manta & Tatsu will probably be the best two rides of that type in the western world though, maybe that's why it gets ranked so highly. Queue line theming and general landscaping is on point with Manta as well.
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Ah right. Thanks guys!
 
As with dive coasters, there's only 1 genuinely great flyer and that's Flying Dinosaur.

Tatsu is very good though, not having the pretzel right at the start is a huge bonus plus the hilltop location gives it loads of height to play with.

Manta/Acrobat are both OK but I don't really rate either (I prefer the two Flying Dutchmen I've done but I think I'm in a pretty small minority there).
 
Hi guys. Sorry to bump the thread, but a member on CoasterForce recently calculated that forum's favourite coasters of 2018, so I was inspired to do a similar thing, but with TowersStreet's favourite coasters of 2018! I'm currently crunching the numbers, but I'll show you all the results when I'm done!

Basically, I'm using all of the top 10 lists posted in this thread between 1st January 2018 and 31st December 2018 to get some form of idea. I'll be calculating a few means and whatnot, but I'll put the results in when I'm done, along with a geeky spreadsheet!
P.S. Here is the CoasterForce thread, so that you can get some idea of how I will be working this out: http://forums.coasterforce.com/threads/coasterforces-favourite-coasters-2018.43168/
 
It is coming eventually, it's just taking a longer time than I predicted! I'm in the middle of it, and while some of the results are unsurprising, others are... interesting, to say the least.
 
I've had a look at the CF thread and I don't see how it's possible to create a meaningful overall top 10. How can we distinguish between rides that everyone who rides them likes and rides that divide opinion?

By way of example: Steel Vengeance is near the top for everyone who rides it. Some people put Baco in their top 10, but a lot of people hate it. Both are only on a small number of lists.
 
Well, guys, I've compiled the results! And they are... certainly an interesting set of results. In total, 33 different TowersStreet members ranked 108 different roller coasters during 2018, so the sample size wasn't quite as wide as CF's was, but the results were certainly a fun and interesting set of results to compile! Before I show you guys the top 25, I'll tell you all how I did the rankings...
How I did the rankings
To start off with, I rifled through this topic and took out all of the top 10s posted between 1st January 2018 and 31st December 2018. If one member posted multiple top 10s, I only used their latest list. If a member posted less than 10 coasters, I still used their list, but if a member posted more than 10, I only used the top 10. Some of the lists only have 9 coasters as the 10th ranking was too vague for use e.g. "the Blackpool woodies", "something at Universal".

I then put all of the top 10s into a spreadsheet and worked out the mean ranking for each coaster by:
  • working out how many members utilised a certain coaster in their top 10 and what place they ranked it at.
  • adding together all of the rankings to make a cumulative ranking.
  • dividing the cumulative ranking by the number of members to come out with a mean ranking.
Finally, I divided the mean ranking by the number of members again to come out with the final score. The reason I divided the mean ranking by the number of members again is because if I was to have used the mean ranking, it may not have been a fair representation of the community. For example, Cyclone at Southport Pleasureland had a mean ranking of 2, so if I had worked this out based on means alone, it would likely have ranked very highly. However, this mean was worked out using only 1 member, who ranked Cyclone #2 in their top 10. Therefore, it wouldn't have been a fair representation of the whole community, if that makes sense.

Anyway, enough about how I did the maths, let's reveal the top 25! If that didn't make any sense, a look at my whole spreadsheet might help things make a little more sense. So, without further ado, here are TowersStreet's top 25 favourite roller coasters of 2018! As this is coaster rankings, bear in mind that lower is better:
TowersStreet's Top 25 Favourite Coasters of 2018:

  1. Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point (RMC, 2018, Final Ranking 0.125)
  2. Nemesis at Alton Towers (B&M, 1994, Final Ranking 0.2575)
  3. Maverick at Cedar Point (Intamin, 2007, Final Ranking 0.28125)
  4. Helix at Liseberg (Mack Rides, 2014, Final Ranking 0.35)
  5. Taron at Phantasialand (Intamin, 2016, Final Ranking 0.36 recurring)
  6. Wodan at Europa Park (GCI, 2012, Final Ranking 0.4305 recurring)
  7. Mako at SeaWorld Orlando (B&M, 2016, Final Ranking 0.48)
  8. Icon at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Mack Rides, 2018, Final Ranking 0.5694 recurring)
  9. El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure (Intamin, 2006, Final Ranking 0.61 recurring)
  10. Wicker Man at Alton Towers (GCI, 2018, Final Ranking 0.629 recurring)
  11. Montu at Busch Gardens Tampa (B&M, 1996, Final Ranking 0.65625)
  12. Shambhala at PortAventura Park (B&M, 2012, Final Ranking 0.679012345 recurring)
  13. Wild Mouse at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Frank Wright, 1958, Final Ranking 0.8125)
  14. Oblivion at Alton Towers (B&M, 1998, Final Ranking 0.816326530612244897959183673469387755102040 recurring)
  15. Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Arrow Dynamics, 1994, Final Ranking 0.84)
  16. The Swarm at Thorpe Park (B&M, 2012, Final Ranking 0.857142 recurring)
  17. Monster at Walygator Parc (B&M, 1996/2010, Final Ranking 0.8 recurring)
  18. Eejanaika at Fuji-Q Highland (S&S, 2006, Final Ranking 0.92)
  19. Intimidator 305 at Kings Dominion (Intamin, 2010, Final Ranking 0.96)
  20. Kumba at Busch Gardens Tampa (B&M, 1993, Final Ranking 1)
  21. Manta at SeaWorld Orlando (B&M, 2009, Final Ranking 1)
  22. Skyrush at Hersheypark (Intamin, 2012, Final Ranking 1.2)
  23. Troy at Toverland (GCI, 2007, Final Ranking 1.2 recurring)
  24. Grand National at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (Charles Paige, 1935, Final Ranking 1.25)
  25. SheiKra at Busch Gardens Tampa (B&M, 2005, Final Ranking 1.25)
And here is my Google Sheet showing the ranking of all 108 roller coasters used and how I did it, if you wish to have a look:

I hope you guys like my attempt at this whole top coaster ranking thing! I hope to do it again next year, so if you post in the top 10 topic this year, your rankings will likely contribute to TowersStreet's favourite coasters of 2019!
P.S. I apologise for the small writing on the spreadsheet and the absurdly long recurring decimal that is Oblivion's final ranking. Also, sorry if this post is too long, and please tell me if I've made any errors in calculation.
 
Most amusing Matt...you obviously have too much time on your hands before back to school.
Now you just need to do a Spearman rank coefficient formula of the results to see if they have real world relevance!
As I haven't done one in four decades I might be a little rusty!
 
TPC said:
1. Shambhala
2. Stealth
3. Th13teen
4. Furius Baco
5. Dragon's Fury
6. THE SWARM
7. Saw: the Ride
8. Nemesis Inferno
9. Stampida (blue side)
10. Red Force
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Updated list, and yes I have ridden nemesis and Munich looping now but neither really impressed me. As you can probably see, I value smoothness, airtime and theming over intensity (high positive g forces). I apologise for doing 15 coasters instead of 10, and ibe now done 40 coasters (I know it's tiny) :)

1. Shambhala - PortAventura
2. Wicker Man - Alton Towers
3. Stealth - Thorpe Park
4. Th13teen - Alton Towers
5. Saw: the Ride - Thorpe Park
6. Furius Baco - PortAventura
7. Oblivion - Alton Towers
8. Nemesis Inferno - Thorpe Park
9. THE SWARM - Thorpe Park
10. Dragon's Fury - Chessington
11. Nemesis - Alton Towers
12. Munich Looping - Winter Wonderland
13. Red Force - Ferrari Land
14. Stampida (Blue side) - PortAventura
15. Mammut - Gardaland
 
TPC said:
Updated list, and yes I have ridden nemesis and Olympia looping now but neither reallt impressed me. As you can probably see, I value smoothness, airtime and theming over intensity (high positive g forces). I apologise for doing 15 coasters instead of 10 :)

1. Shambhala - PortAventura
2. Wicker Man - Alton Towers
3. Stealth - Thorpe Park
4. Th13teen - Alton Towers
5. Saw: the Ride - Thorpe Park
6. Furius Baco - PortAventura
7. Oblivion - Alton Towers
8. Nemesis Inferno - Thorpe Park
9. THE SWARM - Thorpe Park
10. Dragon's Fury - Chessington
11. Nemesis - Alton Towers
12. Munich Looping - Winter Wonderland
13. Red Force - Ferrari Land
14. Stampida (Blue side) - PortAventura
15. Mammut - Gardaland
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It's all right @TPC; no one said that you had to do less than 10 coasters! It's just that I will only use your top 10 in my spreadsheet! In fact, I myself do 30 coasters in my list, with descriptions for the top 10! Well, I've actually ranked all 56 of the coasters I've ridden, but I only say my top 30 on forums.
 
TPC said:
Mine is all the coasters I have done - 40 :D
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I also ranked everything I've done, which is currently 56 coasters! And seeing Shambhala at the top of your list really makes me want to ride it; I've ridden Mako at SeaWorld Orlando, another B&M hyper, and that's currently my top coaster, so I'm excited to try Shambhala one day!
 
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