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Wood Coaster Madness


Guest harrycalder

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Hello all,

 

It's been a while since I last posted here, but I came up with something that I thought you all might enjoy -- a sort of different spin on coaster polls ripped right from current happenings in the sports world.

 

Inspired by http://www.bandmadness.net (a pretty cool diversion in and of itself, but alas, not coaster-related), which in turn was inspired by that college basketball tournament thingy, I present Wood Coaster Madness. 128 wood coasters will compete for bragging rights for best in their region and best on Earth!

 

To learn more about how this "tournament" came to be; how it works; and the "wheres, whens, and hows" of voting in it, visit http://woodcoastermadness.blogspot.com/. I hope you enjoy it!

 

 

-Jason

 

P.S.: Please note that I am only posting this message to RRC and Theme Park Review. Feel free to pass it on to other sites/boards on which this might be considered worthwhile rather than a waste of bandwidth.

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Hey there Jason,

 

I really like this idea. I also very much like the "I am not qualified to vote in this category" option. Really makes the poll that much more accurate.

 

Hope you get good results!

 

--Robb

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I can't vote in a single match-up across any of the categories. Sweet.

 

Yeah, having only ridden 5 wooden coasters (2 at CP, 3 at PCW) doesn't help with that. If this was run later in the season then I would be able to vote on the majority of the mid-west match-ups. Oh well, that life.

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I can see it being annoying for people who can't vote in many of the match ups, but for those that CAN, I think it could be a very good poll and a nice alternative option from Mitch's poll. (Not that I would discourage ANYONE from Mitch's poll!)

 

--Robb

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I like the idea but the match-ups make me wonder if you know anything at all about geography or coaster builders. Since I've only ridden two wooden coasters in the U.S. I only looked at INTERNATIONAL but I noticed you only matched coasters that are on opposite sides of the world and can barely even be compared. This way, you don't just make it hard to pick one, but you also make sure hardly anyone has ridden both coasters. IMO it would be better if you match up similar coasters that aren't that far apart. For example: "Robin Hood - Weerwolf" (both Vekoma and in neighbouring countries), "Stampida - Tonnerre de Zeus" (CCI and neighbouring countries) or "Colossos - Balder" (both Intamin Prefab)

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^^ I agree 100%. It's an awesome idea that's easier for people to vote on if they qualify. It's just unfortunate that at the moment I myself can not vote on any matchups. Who knows, if any of my 5 current coasters somehow make it past the first round (incredibly doubtful, none of the 5 are overly great) then I may still get to vote in the future.

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I voted too. There was only one match up I couldn't vote on.

 

I think it's a great idea, and IMO it sounds like the only people who don't like it are the people who haven't traveled that much and that's not the poll's fault!

 

--Robb

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What's funny is that I can only vote in the international one, as three quarters of my coasters I have been on are all over in the UK, Sweden and Norway!!

 

I really think this is a great idea!

 

Casey"Sweet can't wait till after the midwest so I can vote"Childers

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I like the idea but the match-ups make me wonder if you know anything at all about geography or coaster builders. Since I've only ridden two wooden coasters in the U.S. I only looked at INTERNATIONAL but I noticed you only matched coasters that are on opposite sides of the world and can barely even be compared. This way, you don't just make it hard to pick one, but you also make sure hardly anyone has ridden both coasters. IMO it would be better if you match up similar coasters that aren't that far apart. For example: "Robin Hood - Weerwolf" (both Vekoma and in neighbouring countries), "Stampida - Tonnerre de Zeus" (CCI and neighbouring countries) or "Colossos - Balder" (both Intamin Prefab)

 

You raise some good points. I personally feel that all wood coasters can be fairly compared with each other (though I'm increasingly of the opinion that Intamin pre-fabs aren't "true" woodies, but I left them in the mix so as not to ruffle any feathers). The geographical problem, however, is something that can be addressed, albeit in a stopgap fashion. Earlier today, I posted the following to the tournament blog:

 

"I could rearrange the International bracket and throw out the seeding, but I suspect that sooner or later, there will be no way of getting around the fact that, by definition, this bracket will be a geographical challenge for many. So the question is should I just leave it alone and hope that the voting makes for better match-ups down the road or should I juggle it around knowing full well that it'll get complicated again as we get towards the final rounds of voting in this bracket?"

 

The revised version of the International bracket would end up looking something like this:

 

1. Balder, Liseberg, Sweden

23. Vuoristorata, Linnamaki Park, Finland

 

9. Falken, Farup Sommerland, Denmark

15. Rutschebanen, Bakken, Denmark

 

8. Thundercoaster, Tusenfryd, Norway

17. Rutschebanen, Tivoli Gardens, Denmark

 

4. Megafobia, Oakwood, Wales

29. Scenic Railway, Dreamland, England

 

16. King Solomons Mines, Pleasureland Southport, England

20. Roller Coaster, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, England

 

5. Grand National, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, England

31. Runaway Coaster, Rotunda, England

 

11. Wild Mouse, Blackpool Pleaure Beach, England

22. Roller Coaster, Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, England

 

18. Big Dipper, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, England

25. Cyclone, Pleasureland Southport, England

 

6. Colossos, Heide Park, Germany

32. Sierra Tonante, Mirabilandia Park, Italy

 

10. Loup Garou, Walibi Belgium, Belgium

13. Robin Hood, Walibi World, Netherlands

 

7. Tonnerre de Zeus, Parc Asterix, France

30. Hochschaubahn, Prater Park, Austria

 

12. Stampida, Port Aventura, Spain

21. Le Monstre, La Ronde, Canada

 

3. Coaster, PNE Fairgrounds/Playland, Canada

27. Mighty Canadian Mine Buster, Canada's Wonderland, Canada

 

19. Serpiente de Fuego, La Feria, Mexico

24. Wilde Beast, Canada's Wonderland, Canada

 

14. Regina, Tobu Zoo, Japan

26. Elf, Hirakata Park, Japan

 

2. Aska, Nara Dreamland, Japan

28. White Cyclone, Nagashima Spaland, Japan

 

...Still not perfect, I know, but I suspect it could boost participation in the first and second round (by round three, we'll probably be pretty geographically diverse again).

 

So what does everyone think? Leave it as originally arranged or implement the above bracket?

 

-Jason

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changes allow the non-UKers that were on the UK Trip the ability to vote on 5 International matchups versus 2 International matchups. So that's good in my opinion.

 

5>2>Buffalo

 

I filled in my votes, but was not qualified for 4 match-ups.

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The only real suggestion that I've got for this would be to re-classify the Canadian coasters into the American groups for sheer geographic purposes. It is much more likely that a Canadian will have visited some parks in atleast the northern US than they would Europe or Japan. It would probobly help to get a few more matchups voted on...totally your call though.

 

Again, great idea, I can't wait to vote next year after I've done the TPR Mid-West trip.

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The only real suggestion that I've got for this would be to re-classify the Canadian coasters into the American groups for sheer geographic purposes. It is much more likely that a Canadian will have visited some parks in atleast the northern US than they would Europe or Japan. It would probobly help to get a few more matchups voted on...totally your call though.

 

Too late for this year, but I'll consider lumping Canada in with the U.S. entries next year. I considered it this year, but wasn't sure what would be most fair, and thus just left it in the International grouping. Of course, next year I might do a lot of things differently (perhaps a steel coaster tournament, wood/steel mixed tournament, or favorite amusement park tournament)...or perhaps by the time it's over this year, it might feel so much like it was work that I won't want to undertake it again. But yeah, all constructive feedback is worthwhile and I'll definitely take all reasonable suggestions into account going forward. Thanks!

 

-Jason

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Voting is now open in the West bracket and will remain open until at least 11:59pm EDT on April 10. For the link to the West bracket ballot (and information about this whole venture), visit the official tournament blog at http://www.woodcoastermadness.blogspot.com.

 

Things started very strong with 60 votes in the first 24 hours that the Midwest / South bracket was open, but since then, there have been just five additional votes for a total of 65. Let's double (or better yet, triple!) that number by the time the Midwest / South bracket closes on (or a little after) 4/9. If you haven't voted and you're qualified to do so (even if only in one match-up), please do. If you post to other relevant forums in which this tournament hasn't been mentioned, spreading the word would be appreciated! To those who have already participated, thanks! To those who haven't, now's the time to hop on the bandwagon.

 

-Jason

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This is a good idea, I've done this sort of thing with hot babes before =P

 

I think it might be a little more fun for people with less experience if it was only 64 coasters total, instead of a whole 128, but I was still able to vote on a couple.

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