Mitch Hawker coaster polls 2012-13

[John]

Warning - long post ahead!

It's time to reveal the results from the TST poll! With 24 ballots, including 1 from TTF and 1 from CPBE it's been rather successful IMO.

Colours indicate change in position from 2010, adjusted for the slight drop in number of rides included in the results (131 last time, 124 this time). The reduced number of coasters was caused by stricter eligibility requirements this time round - a coaster had to have 3 riders take our poll, compared to 2 in 2010, this was an attempt to increase the accuracy of the results. The average number of coasters ridden was 59, up from 47 in 2010.





1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124



iSpeed
Kingda Ka
Nemesis
Expedition GeForce
Favorite Wood Coaster
Katun
Montu
Batman The Ride/Clone
Blue Fire Megacoaster
Silver Star
Monster
OzIris
Black Mamba
Nitro
Superman la Atraccion
Kumba
Fluch von Novgorod
SheiKra
Bizarro
Incredible Hulk
Colorado Adventure
Manta
Expedition Everest
Stealth
Shock
Revenge of the Mummy
Oblivion
Euro-Sat
Goliath
Olympia Looping
Dragon Khan
Alpinabahn (HimlyaBn)
Space Mountain
Chinese Fireball
Knightmare
Raptor
Space Mountain
Cheetah Hunt
Kraken
Hungarian Horntail
The Swarm
Desert Race
Van Helsing's Factory
Speed: No Limits
Winjas - Fear
Rock n Roller Coaster
Rock n Roller Coaster
Mammut
Winjas - Force
Euro-Mir
Superman – Ultimate F
Divertical
Abismo
Krake
Air
Nemesis Inferno
Big Thunder Mountain
Journey to Atlantis
Rita
Schweizer Bobbahn
Tarantula
HeiBe Fahrt
Big Thunder Mountain
Evolution
Vogel Rok
Thirteen
Kumali
Dragon's Fury
Saw - The Ride
Colossus
Hollywood Rip Ride Ro
Poseidon
Ultimate
Fav X SC2000
Vampire
Tornado
Vliegende Hollander
Fav Arrow Shuttle
Fav Loop. Star/S.Arr.
Pepsi Max Big One
Crush's Coaster
Nessie
Sonic Spinball
Fav Mack Supersplash
Trace Du Hourra
Fav Eurofighter 320+
Avalanche
Fav El Loco
Fav Vekoma Boomerang
Fav Jet Star II
Fav Powered `Coaster'
Fav Half Pipe
Fav Intamin Bobsled
Matterhorn Blitz
Fav Mack YoungStar
Indiana Jones et le t
Fav Wild Mouse
Furius Baco
Fav Vek Susp Loop SLC
Shockwave
Olandese Volante
Fav Arrow Mine Train
Fav Loop-Screw
Fav Motocoaster
Schweizer Bobbahn
Skull Mountain
Fav Vek Jr Boomerang
G Force
Sequoia Adventure
Fav Vek Mine Tr. 785m
Fav Wildcat
Fav Spinning Mouse
Fav City Jet/Jumbo V
Fav Vek Susp Family
Fav Vekoma Corkscrew
Temple of Nighthawk
Dream Catcher
Fav Tivoli
Steeplechase
Fav Arrow Corkscrew
Goudurix
X:\No Way Out
Cagliostro
Dizz



Mirabilandia
Six Flags Great Ad
Alton Towers
Holiday Park
Any Park Anywhere
Mirabilandia
Busch Gardens Tamp
SF & Other Parks
Europa Park
Europa-Park
Walygator
Parc Asterix
Phantasialand
Six Flags Great Ad
Parque Warner Madr
Busch Gardens Tamp
Hansa-Park
Busch Gardens Tamp
Six Flags Great Ad
Islands of Adventu
Phantasialand
SeaWorld Orlando
Disney Animal King
Thorpe Park
Rainbow Magicland
Universal Studios
Alton Towers
Europa-Park
Walibi Holland
Traveling
Port Aventura
Traveling
WDW Magic Kingdom
Islands of Adventu
Camelot Theme Park
Gardaland
Disneyland Paris
Busch Gardens Tamp
SeaWorld Orlando
Islands of Adventu
Thorpe Park
Heide Park
Movie Park
Oakwood
Phantasialand
Disney's H Studios
Walt Disney Paris
Gardaland
Phantasialand
Europa-Park
Six Flags Parks
Mirabilandia
Parque de Atraccio
Heide Park
Alton Towers
Thorpe Park
Disneyland Paris
SeaWorld Orlando
Alton Towers
Heide Park
Parque de Atraccio
Freizeitp Klotten
WDW Magic Kingdom
Bobbejaanland
Efteling
Alton Towers
Flamingo Land
Chessington
Thorpe Park
Thorpe Park
Universal Studios
Europa-Park
Lightwater Valley
Any Park Anywhere
Chessington
Parque de Atraccio
Efteling
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Blackpool P.B.
Walt Disney Paris
Hansa-Park
Alton Towers
Any Park Anywhere
Parc Asterix
Any Park Anywhere
Blackpool P.B.
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Europa-Park
Any Park Anywhere
Disneyland Paris
Any Park Anywhere
Port Aventura
Any Park Anywhere
Drayton Manor
Rainbow Magicland
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Europa-Park
Six Flags Great Ad
Any Park Anywhere
Drayton Manor
Gardaland
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Any Park Anywhere
Phantasialand
Bobbejaanland
Any Park Anywhere
Blackpool P.B.
Any Park Anywhere
Parc Asterix
Thorpe Park
Rainbow Magicland
Bobbejaanland


Loc.
IT
NJ
UK
DE
**
IT
FL
**
DE
DE
FR
FR
DE
NJ
ES
FL
DE
FL
NJ
FL
DE
FL
FL
UK
IT
FL
UK
DE
NL
DE
ES
DE
FL
FL
UK
IT
FR
FL
FL
FL
UK
DE
DE
UK
DE
FL
FR
IT
DE
DE
**
IT
ES
DE
UK
UK
FR
FL
UK
DE
ES
DE
FL
BE
NL
UK
UK
UK
UK
UK
FL
DE
UK
**
UK
ES
NL
**
**
UK
FR
DE
UK
**
FR
**
UK
**
**
**
**
**
**
DE
**
FR
**
ES
**
UK
IT
**
**
**
DE
NJ
**
UK
IT
**
**
**
**
**
**
DE
BE
**
UK
**
FR
UK
IT
BE

Riders
7
3
24
12
20
7
10
9
19
20
3
10
14
3
6
10
5
9
3
11
14
9
10
22
7
11
24
20
4
3
6
4
9
11
12
7
16
6
10
11
21
7
9
8
13
11
16
7
13
20
4
7
6
7
24
22
16
9
24
7
6
3
9
3
9
24
15
18
22
22
7
20
18
6
19
6
7
13
4
20
13
5
23
16
11
5
19
11
7
4
16
5
7
20
17
15
18
6
14
19
7
6
7
10
20
4
14
18
7
4
11
13
4
9
13
13
3
7
19
3
11
20
7
3

Comp.
117
77
123
120
123
117
121
121
123
123
112
121
123
93
117
121
114
121
77
121
123
121
121
123
117
121
123
123
112
112
115
114
118
121
123
117
122
101
121
121
123
119
121
122
122
121
122
117
122
123
93
117
117
119
123
123
122
121
123
119
117
112
117
112
117
123
123
123
123
123
116
123
123
120
123
117
115
123
105
123
122
114
123
122
121
118
123
121
113
83
123
92
117
123
123
122
123
116
123
123
117
111
117
123
123
93
123
123
117
114
120
123
99
122
118
122
112
118
123
59
121
123
117
112

Wins:
117
75
120
116
119
112
114
114
114
112
100
106
109
83
102
105
97
102
63
98
99
92
95
95
91
93
94
93
84
81
79
81
85
86
87
83
82
66
80
84
86
74
77
79
78
74
74
72
73
69
47
62
60
60
66
65
63
61
63
56
57
53
52
46
51
54
51
52
49
48
42
48
46
42
47
40
39
43
34
43
42
37
40
37
36
34
37
29
24
18
30
21
29
30
29
27
27
19
24
25
22
16
19
19
19
8
15
13
11
8
10
12
6
11
9
9
7
7
5
1
3
3
2
1

Loss:
0
0
2
2
3
5
5
7
9
10
9
9
11
9
13
13
13
15
11
20
20
19
22
24
25
25
26
27
25
24
22
25
28
31
31
31
30
23
29
33
37
36
40
42
43
40
42
45
46
49
33
48
48
49
55
54
55
53
57
53
55
54
56
54
60
64
65
68
68
68
62
69
67
66
72
66
68
75
63
78
78
71
82
80
79
76
82
83
75
56
87
66
86
91
91
89
90
80
90
95
91
82
92
99
101
73
105
104
101
96
103
109
84
110
105
109
100
107
116
55
115
118
114
110

Ties:
0
2
1
2
1
0
2
0
0
1
3
6
3
1
2
3
4
4
3
3
4
10
4
4
1
3
3
3
3
7
14
8
5
4
5
3
10
12
12
4
0
9
4
1
1
7
6
0
3
5
13
7
9
10
2
4
4
7
3
10
5
5
9
12
6
5
7
3
6
7
12
6
10
12
4
11
8
5
8
2
2
6
1
5
6
8
4
9
14
9
6
5
2
2
3
6
6
17
9
3
4
13
6
5
3
12
3
6
5
10
7
2
9
1
4
4
5
4
2
3
3
2
1
1

winning%
100
98.7
98
97.5
97.2
95.7
95
94.2
92.7
91.5
90.6
90.1
89.8
89.8
88
88
86.8
86
83.8
82.2
82.1
80.2
80.2
78.9
78.2
78.1
77.6
76.8
76.3
75.5
74.8
74.6
74.2
72.7
72.8
72.2
71.3
71.3
71.1
71.1
69.9
66
65.3
65.2
64.3
64.1
63.1
61.5
61.1
58.1
57.5
56
55.1
54.6
54.5
54.5
53.3
53.3
52.4
51.3
50.9
49.6
48.3
46.4
46.2
45.9
44.3
43.5
42.3
41.9
41.4
41.5
41.5
40
39.8
38.9
37.4
37
36.2
35.8
35.3
35.1
32.9
32.4
32.2
32.2
31.7
27.7
27.4
27.1
26.8
25.5
25.6
25.2
24.8
24.6
24.4
23.7
23.2
21.5
20.5
20.3
18.8
17.5
16.7
15.1
13.4
13
11.5
11.4
11.3
10.6
10.6
9.43
9.32
9.02
8.48
7.63
4.88
4.24
3.72
3.25
2.14
1.34

tbk












2
1
2
1





6
3










4
3

3
0
6
4














12
10
4
2












2
1
0











3
1





2
0


















3
1















It’s all change at the top in the TST poll – only 4 of the 2010 top 10 are still up there this year. Of the other 6, 3 have dropped significantly (Black Mamba, Superman and Goliath) and 3 do not have enough riders to be included at all (TTD, Millenium Force and CA Screamin’). Replacing them are 3 coasters that didn’t get enough riders last time and 3 which have moved up substantially. Of the 4 rides remaining in the top 10 from last time, Nemesis, EGF and Blue Fire instil some consistency as all 3 are non-movers, while Montu moves up a single place.

B&M dominate the top 10 despite an Intamin lockout of the top 2, with 5 top 10 spots to Intamin’s 3. Mack are the only other manufacturer with a ride inside the top 10 (I'm ignoring the manufacturer of “fav woodie”). Outside the top 10, B&M domination continues. Fluch Von Novgorod, the top rated Gerstlauer in 17th is the only non B&M to appear between 11-20th.

Colorado Adventure is the top Vekoma in 21st place – a tight 4-3 loss to Incredible Hulk was enough to deny it a place inside the top 20. Maurer, Premier and Schwarzkopf all see their top ranked ride appear between 25th and 30th. S&S and Arrow fare much worse however with neither company managing to break the top 50 (Arrow: Vampire @75, S&S: “Fav El Loco” @88).

B&M domination is apparent throughout the top 50, which features 22 of their rides. Their closest rival, Intamin, managed only 7 top 50 coasters with Vekoma just behind on 6. Gerstlauer, Mack, Maurer and Schwarzkopf managed 3 each.

Winners and losers:

Due to the small sample size of our poll, and the fact that only a few people took part in both 2010 and 2012, many rides have seen a lot of movement.

The following rides have moved up the most places since 2010:

+31 Fav Half Pipe
+30 Tornado, Parque de Attractiones
+26 Space Mountain, WDW Magic Kingdom
+22 Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket, Universal
+18 Big Thunder Mountain, WDW Magic Kingdom

The following rides have lost the most places:

-36 Fav Motocoaster
-29 Ultimate, LWV
-23 Goliath, Walibi Holland
-23 Fav Loop-Screw
-22 Abismo, Parque de Attractiones

Parque de Attractiones was part of the 2012 summer trip, so appeared on a lot more ballots this time round. Walibi World was visited by several TSTers in 2011, similarly boosting ridership numbers there. This could go some way to explaining the large changes on rides at those parks. It seems some of the Ultimate fans who voted it highly in 2010 haven’t taken part this time, meanwhile few amongst its riders voting for the first time could be considers fans of this divisive coaster. The big improvement for WDW coasters is more of a mystery, as both had the same number of riders this time as in 2010.

A note on geographic bias: as all entrants to our poll are Brits, it is natural that most of the rides we have been on are in western Europe. Indeed, the only rides to make the results from beyond the EU are those at Six Flags Great Adventure and the Floridian parks. Expect this to change next year! In the past, California has been fairly well represented, but it appears most of the people who visited the parks there have not posted this time, as no Californian coasters had enough riders this time round.

The full mutual rider table, in excel format, is available here

EDIT: link fixed

 

[CGM]

Yay! Go Shambhala! Fully deserving of its top ten place in my view no matter what TPR might think (even though almost no one there has ridden it). It beat Leviathan as well which I certainly didn't expect.

It's a shame about Nemesis' relatively poor performance, it's the first time it's been out of the top ten in years but we have seen so many good coasters built recently, it was always going to be tough to stay there.

I'm disappointed not to see Skyrush do slightly better as I think it looks awesome but there have been so many complaints about restraints, I suppose it was sort of inevitable. I'm undecided if the restraints are as bad as they say or it's just Americans being a bit soft.

 

[Rob]

You stop taking the results of the poll so seriously when you see that Heiße Fahrt has somehow beaten Oblivion.

 

[Sam]

Re: Re: Mitch Hawker coaster polls 2012-13

It's all relative. You could argue that Heiße Fahrt is a better family coaster than Oblivion is a thrill coaster.

 

[Alastair]

Oh dear. PMBO at the dizzying heights of 235, even below Steeplechase at the same park. Below even Muntanya Russa at Tibidabo.

 

[Plastic Person]

PMBO at the dizzying heights of 235

Closest to 235 it's ever actually going to get at least.

 

[AstroDan]

Shambhala seems to have beaten all other B&M coasters, although Mitch makes a point that many of those riders have limited coaster experience.

Is Shambhala THAT much of an improvement on all other B&M hyper coasters?

Surprised at the list this year. I think it's the year that Alton fans lost their top spot love of our Nemmy.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[James]

Katun higher than Nemesis?

The Swarm second best coaster in the UK?

 

[Benzin]

Re: Re: Mitch Hawker coaster polls 2012-13

It's all relative.

To what coasters TPR have ridden in that year...


Really, Nemesis should be #11, since there are TWO Mega-Lite clones in the top 10 (ish)... As for being better than Katun, it's a very close call between them...

Least Fluch got #51...

 

[mark9]

Shambhala seems to have beaten all other B&M coasters, although Mitch makes a point that many of those riders have limited coaster experience.

Is Shambhala THAT much of an improvement on all other B&M hyper coasters?

Surprised at the list this year. I think it's the year that Alton fans lost their top spot love of our Nemmy.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

- Limited coaster experience. Its almost offending "oh you've only been on 40 coasters. But I have been on 456".. Besides, I thought that with the Mitch Hawker poll that it didn't matter if you've been on four rollercoasters or twenty. Everyones opinion matters. To come out with something like that in regards to Shambhala questions the validity of this poll even more. For me at least.

- I don't think so at all Astro. Nemesis is still the oldest roller coaster in the top 25 (I'm not even bothering discussing New Texas Giant here), is still miles ahead of the nearest UK roller coaster in the poll and in voting terms is only one position below Katun. If anything, its testament to Nemesis that its still in a very strong position, in a poll that is dominated by the opinions of Theme Park Review.

 

[AstroDan]

Well whilst Mitch makes the point about mutual riders, I thought i'd mention it.

I know a lot of people who think Shambhala is the best coaster they've ever been on, and it looks outstanding, but with my own limited experience of B&M hyper coasters, was just somewhat surprised to see it that far ahead of the likes of Nitro etc.

Based on my own experiences, I prefer Nemesis to Katun.

Glad Blue Fire is holding out!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[IanB]

I might have to vote next year, Blue Fire deserves to be a lot higher up than it currently is.

Ian

 

[Rob]

Must admit that I am surprised to see Shambhala so high in the rankings. It looks good, but I certainly wouldn't say it looks the best B&M mega coaster. I'll have to wait til I get to ride is sometime, expectations will be high!

 

[John]

I’m actually very surprised as to how well Blue Fire has performed in this poll. It’s only dropped a few places since 2009 (2009 – 12th, 2010 – 14th), and considering there were 5 new entries inside the top 10 this year it has in effect moved up relative to it’s position in 2010. Blue Fire ‘only’ managed 9th on the TST poll, and we’re probably one of the biggest groups of EP fans taking part.

I'm also surprised by Shambhala, though I guess it's more like the sort of ride that traditionally does well in the MH poll than older B&M hypers. Leviathan also did well, and tied 2-2 with Shambhaha on mutual riders. Interesting, under the stricter 2010 eligibility rules, Shambhala would not have been included in the full results due to the relatively low number of comparisons with other rides.

As for the “experienced riders” comments, unfortunately the nature of the MH poll means that people who’ve been on more coasters have a much larger influence on the results than people who haven’t been on many. Someone who has only been on 2 rides provides 1 data point – ride A is better than ride B. Someone who has been on 4 coasters provides 6 data points: A beats B, C and D; B beats C & D and C beats D. Doubling the number of coasters increases the information contained in the ballot by (roughly) a factor of 4.

In addition, if you happen to have been on a coaster that very few other people have, the power of your ballot increases even more, as you can have a huge impact on where these ‘rare’ coasters end up being ranked - your vote has a much higher chance of changing a win to a tie / tie to a loss in a mutual rider comparison than on coasters loads of people have been on.

All told, the ballot of someone who has been on a very large number of coasters globally, including several rare ones, has a much greater influence on the overall results than someone who’s just been on a few coasters in one region.

Look out for the TST voter awards - coming soon, whenever I can be bothered finalising them.