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Golden Ticket Awards 2017


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It's hard to explain to GP why seeing a bunch of "#1 coaster" Golden Tickets in front of Millennium Force doesn't necessarily mean it really was the best coaster in the world all those years.

 

I was happy for Mystic Timbers getting "best new ride" until I realized it won over Flight of Passage. Now I have mixed emotions.

 

Anyway, some rankings I agree with and some I don't and some I'm not travelled enough to really weigh in on. It's still interesting to see but personally, I don't take these too seriously.

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It's hard to explain to GP why seeing a bunch of "#1 coaster" Golden Tickets in front of Millennium Force doesn't necessarily mean it really was the best coaster in the world all those years.

I wouldn't think it's any harder than explaining why Moonlight wasn't the best movie last year. Awards are opinions, when it comes down to it.

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If these awards really meant anything wouldn't Walt Disney World be able to win every single award theoretically? I mean aside from say best sea life park lol.

But seriously almost every catergory you could slide in a Disney ride or park. I think Busch Gardens is a well landscaped park but come on, Animal Kingdom could easily take that claim too.

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If these awards really meant anything wouldn't Walt Disney World be able to win every single award theoretically? I mean aside from say best sea life park lol.

But seriously almost every catergory you could slide in a Disney ride or park. I think Busch Gardens is a well landscaped park but come on, Animal Kingdom could easily take that claim too.

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It's hard to explain to GP why seeing a bunch of "#1 coaster" Golden Tickets in front of Millennium Force doesn't necessarily mean it really was the best coaster in the world all those years.

I wouldn't think it's any harder than explaining why Moonlight wasn't the best movie last year. Awards are opinions, when it comes down to it.

 

That is entirely different, as the Academy is a group of people who are well-acquainted with film. Moonlight won Best Picture, not best "movie," and it really was filmed in a beautiful way. I think you could more easily equate the Golden Ticket Awards with the Kid's Choice Awards...

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I wouldn't think it's any harder than explaining why Moonlight wasn't the best movie last year. Awards are opinions, when it comes down to it.
I suspect the problem with the Golden Ticket Awards is actually one of demographics.

It's neither of those. People have to understand, and I've already explained it and I guess it's gone ignored, that the Golden Tickets are more about rewarding those two reward others. There's a lot of "patting each other on the back" that goes on with them. They are not a *REAL* legitimate poll and the results should absolutely be taken with a grain of salt.

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The only thing that the Golden Ticket Awards are good for is the GP and so parks like Waldameer can put on billboards that Ravine Flyer II is the 7th best wooden coaster.

 

Doesn't really matter much to people who are more involved in this sort of community but the GP gets excited about it and I suppose that can be useful to a small park (like Waldameer)

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If these awards really meant anything wouldn't Walt Disney World be able to win every single award theoretically?

 

Absolutely! If they actually took Disney Parks into consideration, and the awards were grounded in any sort of reality, IMO the results would look much different.

 

Best Amusement Park –Tokyo DisneySea (although I do think Europa Park is still a wonderful choice)

 

Best Water Park – Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon. Hell, you could even through Wild Wadi, Aquaventure, or Siam Park in there, too.

 

Best Children’s Park – Disneyland or Tokyo Disneyland or Hong Kong Disneyland or Magic Kingdom or Disneyland Paris. (Seriously, can you think of a BETTER park to take a child to?!?)

 

Best Kids’ Area – Legoland. Any of them. Seriously the entire park is a "kids area" but if you want to single out an area then "Fantasyland" at any Disney park.

 

Friendliest Park – Oh, no way Dollywood. Not after those HORRIBLE and rude operations we saw on Lightning Rod! WOW! And really, just look at what Disney cast members do even during some of the most difficult times:

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Cleanest Park – Any Disney Park. How often do you see a disgusting bathroom, or even the slightest amount of trash on the ground. Every one of the Disney management team is picking up trash all the time!

 

Best Landscaping – Um, hello? Epcot during Flower & Garden? Sorry BGW...

 

Best Food – Um, hello? Epcot during Food & Wine? Sorry Dollywood...

 

Best Shows – Disney's Animal Kingdom. Finding Nemo, Lion King. Both of these are top notch Broadway caliber shows.

 

Best Dark Ride – Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Disney’s Hollywood Studios (Yay! They got one right!)

 

Best New Ride of 2017 – Amusement Park – Flight of Passage - I mean, this is a ride that takes a genre that everyone is tired of and SHOCKS the world with something they thought they were going to hate due to groundbreaking new technology. Sorry Kings Island. I do like your shed, though.

 

Best New Ride of 2017 – Water Park – Um, how about either ALL of Volcano Bay and if you don't want to give it to Universal for opening up a park that wasn't ready to be opened, how about the new themed attraction at Typhoon Lagoon complete with animatronics?

 

But I get it... the Golden Tickets come from "Amusement" Today meaning "Amusement Parks" and Disney are "Theme" parks. But then why give any nods to Disney at all in your awards? Seriously, Disney is on a whole other level. It's almost unfair and I understand that. But you need to either have them included or not. Because they KILL the competition, and ignoring that when everyone else sees it just proves to me that these awards are not legit.

Edited by robbalvey
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They are not a *REAL* legitimate poll and the results should absolutely be taken with a grain of salt.
Goldstriker should be the salt shaker. I mean...I LOVE it....but how does it go from #7 to #9 and now #10 all of a sudden? What changed this time? Did they only get a free GS keychain and not a shirt? Everyone here raves on LR yet they've had GS beat it in their poll before and now LR is four places ahead of it? There's no real consistency. At its current pace, GoldStriker will be a top 5 coaster next year..or it'll drop to 20.
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Again, here is just more examples of how it's such a joke...

 

BEST KIDS’ AREA:

Kings Island Mason, Ohio

Universal’s Islands of Adventure Orlando, Fla.

Efteling Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands

Europa-Park Rust, Germany

Paultons Park Romsey, England

 

If you are going to list a major theme park like Universal's Islands of Adventure under "Best Kids Area" and I'm assuming they mean Seuss Landing, I'm sorry but where is Fantasyland at any Disney park? You honestly expect people to believe that Paultons Park's kids area deserves to be on the list but FANTASYLAND filled with such incredible kids classic attractions like It's a Small World and Peter Pan isn't?

 

Dear Amusement Today - The public isn't this dumb. Everyone reading your awards list can clearly see that it's not real. Obviously the only people you care about gaining respect from are other industry members who will pay you, contribute to your publication in some way, or pat you on the back. We understand that is important to you. But also understand that to everyone else reading... seriously, Amusement Today. Your awards are a joke.

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When I first started this hobby, these awards meant a lot to me and gave me some direction on where to start first. But after riding nearly 300 coasters now, these awards now mean very little to me. After experiencing a lot of what's listed, I now have my own opinion which a lot of I disagree with. But, even though I disagree with the winners, I still pay attention to the awards every year. I do agree that awards are good for the industry, but maybe the golden tickets aren't the best representation of what the industry deserves. I think we could do better.

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Sorry, I just noticed that Knoebels got 10% of the vote for "Best Halloween Event". We go to Knoebels every fall, I wasn't aware that that was considered a Halloween event.

 

Then again when you have a Haunted Mansion that's been voted a better dark ride than Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, I guess I can see why your Halloween event is so highly regarded. Even if the award was called "Best Dark Ride named "Haunted Mansion", Knoebels shouldn't come close to winning.

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BEST SHOWS

Dollywood Pigeon Forge, Tenn. 46%

Six Flags Fiesta Texas San Antonio, Texas 18%

Silver Dollar City Branson, Mo. 5% (tie)

SeaWorld Orlando Orlando, Fla. 5% (tie)

Disney’s Hollywood Studios 4%

 

I can actually understand how Dollywood can get the award for best shows. But how did ANY Six Flags park make it as number 2?

 

EDIT: Take a look at number 10 on the best steel coasters, Maverick is listed as being a B&M.

Edited by kenban
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Tokyo Disney Sea > Most Every Category.

 

But that's the problem. TDS isn't an amusement park.

None of the Disney Parks really are.

And do any Six Flags Parks call them self an amusement park?

Or Universal? Those are amusement parks, right?

 

It's the meaning of Amusement Park or Theme Park, here.

 

#UselessList

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I wouldn't think it's any harder than explaining why Moonlight wasn't the best movie last year. Awards are opinions, when it comes down to it.
I suspect the problem with the Golden Ticket Awards is actually one of demographics.

It's neither of those. People have to understand, and I've already explained it and I guess it's gone ignored, that the Golden Tickets are more about rewarding those two reward others. There's a lot of "patting each other on the back" that goes on with them. They are not a *REAL* legitimate poll and the results should absolutely be taken with a grain of salt.

I appreciate this. I guess I'm not really understanding the underlying politics of it all. I'm also not about to run out to a park merely because it won an award either, though, so ultimately these awards don't really affect me that much.

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Perhaps due to a slight bias toward coasters, Mystic Timbers handily beat Flight of Passage for best new ride.

I'll bet if you asked most of the people who voted in the Golden Tickets they wouldn't even know what Flight of Passage is. They probably would think it's some B&M Wing Rider at a Happy Valley park. We really need a new "Mitch Hawker" style poll so we don't have to rely on a "best of" list that is a complete fucking joke.

 

 

I rode both this summer and Mystic Timbers is a much better ride.

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People take these awards far too seriously. Whenever there's a major annual awards ceremony for... well, anything really, it's never a true representation of how die-hards and/or the general public feel. Take Oscars, Tonys, Grammys, Golden Globes, Emmys- they're all for entertainment value, not necessarily to try and be the say-all end-all on who's the best of the best. It's just something for winning parks and coasters to use in promotional material to sell their park and rides to more guests. And IMHO, there's nothing wrong with that. The awards are at least amusing, and they don't try to be something they're not.

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Again, here is just more examples of how it's such a joke...

 

BEST KIDS’ AREA:

Kings Island Mason, Ohio

Universal’s Islands of Adventure Orlando, Fla.

Efteling Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands

Europa-Park Rust, Germany

Paultons Park Romsey, England

 

If you are going to list a major theme park like Universal's Islands of Adventure under "Best Kids Area" and I'm assuming they mean Seuss Landing, I'm sorry but where is Fantasyland at any Disney park? You honestly expect people to believe that Paultons Park's kids area deserves to be on the list but FANTASYLAND filled with such incredible kids classic attractions like It's a Small World and Peter Pan isn't?

 

Dear Amusement Today - The public isn't this dumb. Everyone reading your awards list can clearly see that it's not real. Obviously the only people you care about gaining respect from are other industry members who will pay you, contribute to your publication in some way, or pat you on the back. We understand that is important to you. But also understand that to everyone else reading... seriously, Amusement Today. Your awards are a joke.

 

What's really funny is that KI has won this award every year.

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Perhaps due to a slight bias toward coasters, Mystic Timbers handily beat Flight of Passage for best new ride.

I'll bet if you asked most of the people who voted in the Golden Tickets they wouldn't even know what Flight of Passage is. They probably would think it's some B&M Wing Rider at a Happy Valley park. We really need a new "Mitch Hawker" style poll so we don't have to rely on a "best of" list that is a complete fucking joke.

 

 

I rode both this summer and Mystic Timbers is a much better ride.

 

Seriously? I rode both this year as well. Flight of Passage was amazing! Definitely deserved best new ride over a GCI wooden coaster that is similar to several others. I mean, Mystic Timbers is great, but nothing special and not best new ride of the year.

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