Golden Ticket Awards 2003

[Andy_q69]

It is here, the Golden Ticket Awards for 2003 has arrived! http://amusementtoday.com/GoldenTicket/the_list.html <-- Click there to visit the page. The reign of Millennium Force @ #1 has finished with Superman: Ride Of Steel @ Six FLags New England taking it's place. Fortunately, Magnum XL-200 is still in the Top 5 after 14 years of operating. It holds the #4 spot! Also Nemesis is still roaming round in the Top 10 holding the #7 spot. The all new Top Thrill Dragster has arrived @ the 11th spot, followed by Raptor, Cedar Point's other major coaster. In the Woodies, well nothing much has changed.. Raven and the Legend @ Holiday World still hold the #1 & #5 placing!

[Richard]

I've never really agreed with the placement of Magnum-XL in the past few years. Granted, I've never ridden it (July 2004 - Cedar Point, here I come!), and I'm sure it's a quality ride, but I'm sure the thrills on it really don't come anywhere near those of newer rides. Surely Kennywood's Phantom's Revenge or SFA's Superman: Ride of Steel hold up as better hypercoasters, and deserve placements above it. The results are always pretty uneven and skewed anyway, so it's no big deal. The wooden coasters, from all reports, seem pretty accurate (again, July 2004 - Holiday World, here I come! ). Though the fact that the infamous Mean Streak just creeps in at 49 really is a testament to the somewhat inaccuracy of the system.

[Ian]

I dont really listen to these results as everyone has there own opion. But the best themed coaster in the world is Jounrey to the centre of the earth at Tokyo Disneyseas, as a matter of fact thats the best themed park as well.

[DJKostya]

IMO the best themed roller coaster is Space Mountain at Euro Disney. The fact that your following the journey to the moon, shot out of a cannon just, for me, spell awesome fun

[Richard]

I think rabid said it all right there. Numbers can prove what they want. It sure shows that the parks and companies have produced rides or attractions that are universally accepted as good, but I don't think it's a good idea to condemn the poll, or be let down by rides based on what a survey said. Hey, my favourite Aussie looper is Sea World's Corkscrew. Eureka Mountain does it better for me than Scooby-Doo. Sea World's water ride duo to me are the best water rides in Australia. Toboggans beat out any other rides for sheer thrill quality for me. Sea World is also my favourite theme park in Australia. I know that there are people out there that will disagree with every point I made there (thunder? :twisted:), but like other people's opinions should matter to you. Thanks for tuning into Total Thrills: Lessons in Life. :bert:

[Ian]

just to show people what I meant by theming this is a photo I took last month of Journey to centre of earth at disneysea.

[Richard]

Damn... that truly is quality. I remember photos from a few years ago of DisneySea. I think I'll agree with you in that it's the best themed park in the world - having never been there. As with everything, they always look better in real life than they do in photos, and that's just amazing in the photo. When are your photos, videos and other miscellaneous items from the trip going up? I think I mentioned to you before you left that if you're after some space to set up a little site for all that stuff, I'm happy to give you some (I know that the space you get with your ISP, or from Geocities or whatever is never enough, and always slow loading). Just catch me some time when I'm online if you wanna chat about this. Of course, the reason that parks like DisneySea and others similar don't get as much of a look in as the American parks is the obvious fact that the voters are largely Americans, and certainly westerners. If you want an unskewed poll, check out The Internet Roller Coaster Poll - he uses some nifty mathematics to mean that regardless of how many votes a ride gets, it won't do well unless all the votes on it are positive. It's a lot more complicated than that, but that simplifies it enough.

[Andy_q69]

I happened to notice in the link that you gave us Richard, Thunderbolt @ Dreamworld is ranked the #203rd Best Steel Coaster!!! :shock: Plus it says that Tower of Terror and Cyclone have "Not enough riders to take the poll to be ranked". Now how did Thunderbolt get up there? :shock:

[DJKostya]

I think in general Disney does a pretty good job themeing their parks. They've been in the business for quite a while. Walking into a Disney park is like being transported to another world. If you have a look at the book Imagineering which is availible at Disneyland to buy it shows how much detail and effort goes into their parks. From models to 3d graphics everything is detailed and well palnned. Well thats my opinion anyway feel freee to disagree.

[Ian]

you are right about the disney magic, but Disneysea is something special when it comes to theming as its partly owned by disney but the major owner is a Japanese business company who have a lot of money.

[Richard]

Yeah, I don't think it takes much more than a look at Disney's latest efforts, in the form of Disney's California Adventure. I'm by no means suggesting it's bad - heck, it beats every park in Australia for quality, and it's one of the most anticipated parks of my trip (Busch Gardens Tampa is also very high). The theming is great, but it's certainly not to the extent that DisneySea appears. I like your point about the Japanese ownership. I'm pretty sure this is also the case with the two mainland Asia parks that are planned or under construction. Straying off for a second, this is also why there's no Disney here - Disney aren't in a position to build new parks, and I doubt there's many companies in Australia that could cough up the sorts of money we're talking about, for something that's not overly lucrative. The USA Disney parks are certainly realising that some real effort needs to go into the future rides, and with Tower of Terror at DCA coming, and many seriously awesome looking rides planned for the next five years or so, you can see that they're back into their original ways. I've not read Imagineers, and I'll indeed look for a copy when I'm in that part of the world. I've read another book, which is a more general look at Walt Disney's life, with only a chapter on the theme parks, but it is amazing the vision he showed, and his amazing perfectionist attitude. If you've read anywhere about his plans for Walt Disney World, you'll know that what currently exists is almost insulting (compared to what he had planned), and only a fraction of what his mind concieved. It was so fantastic yet fully achievable (with the right amounts of money). One thing I really regret about my forthcoming trip is not being able to afford to stay at a Disney resort in Florida (unless they've opened a new resort that's $40/night for a double ) - the infrastructure really does have to be experienced from 'within' to be truly appreciated. We're getting further and further from the original topic, but this is just getting more and more interesting.

[joz]

Yeah, I don't think it takes much more than a look at Disney's latest efforts, in the form of Disney's California Adventure. I'm by no means suggesting it's bad - heck, it beats every park in Australia for quality

Richard, I was fortunate enough to get a one day hopper ticket (from a cast member) which allowed one day access to both parks. I spent all of an hour and a half in the park, and was able to get 2 rides one Cali. Screaming (Good ride I might add), a few on Maliboomer (SS tower Ride), a few on their MACK Mouse and a ride on Grissly River. The only reason I spent that much time in the park was to wait around for the electric light parade. The park was poor, very poor. Movieworld beats it for quality, and probably on quantity as well. If you really wanna see what I mean, take this random but excellant example; compare Scooby Doo too Muholland Madness. DCA has some problems, and its not just the hard to please Disney fans like I might have thought.

[Richard]

You're probably right there - I'll be honest and say, although it looks like an interesting park, which certainly does have a lot of potential, it's got a while to go. California Screamin' - Lethal Weapon Mulholland Madness - Scooby-Doo Spooky Coaster Grizzly River Rapids - Wild Wild West Maliboomer - ?? Soarin' Over California - Batman the "Ride" Naturally, you've experienced both, so anything I say may well be a little one-sided to you (or anyone), but to me it seems that most of their major attractions are in most ways better than ours. From the pictures I've seen, the theming is better quality and better executed, their rides seem to at least attempt to add some atmosphere. Maybe you got the park done in 90 minutes because their staff are so efficient and the rides are high capacity for a change, so it was an easier park to "complete". Granted, the park certainly does appear to lack a lot - certainly when Universal have proven that it is very possible to mix thrills with theming and atmosphere. Let's hope that Tower of Terror kickstarts the park's true potential (and let's also hope that they finish that ride a few months ahead of schedule, and it is open when I'm out that way). Also, good to hear from you and that everything's all good. It's been very quiet around here lately.

[rappa]

Okay as someone who visited DCA only a short time ago I really must come to its defence here. I quite easily spent an entire day and night at DCA without running out of things to do (is there a rule that you can't ride something more than once??). The park works extremely well because unlike Disney Land the paths and walkways a nice and wide and can carry a lot of people without bottle-necking. You have to remember how young this park is, name another park that opening with this many attractions, none of which is a dud???? The addition of Tower of Terror soon will only re-enforce this. BTW that thing is HUGE! California Screaming isn't even close to the same category as lethal weapon...a stock standard SMALL vekoma SLC 'vs' a custom Intamin monster than packs a punch from go to stop. Grisley is easily the best themed most exciting Rapids ride I've come across. Then you've got the other attractions like Millionaire, Sorin` and Muppets. Did any of you even bother to look at these since they weren’t coasters? Sorin' over Ca is amazing, really cool technology. And lastly is the Aladdin show, as someone who works in the business I can tell you that the show would be amazing if it was on broadway let alone as a FREE show that runs every day several times a day in a theme park. Come on guys...stop playing sheep and bashing a park because everyone else does. I will keep the opinion that I always have that you can't judge a park/ride/whatever until you've actually been there. Same goes for certain people who keep bashing Vekoma and praising Intamin or B&M when they haven't even been on one of their coasters. ::end of rant

[Richard]

If I were following everyone else with regards to my opinion on DCA, I probably wouldn't have set aside three days for the Disneyland Resort - that's going to work out to being at least a day at DCA. It is a very nice looking park, and I am looking forward to it. And, you must admit, Disney's California Adventure's number of attractions is low. As I always say, I'm all for seeing shows or general non-ride attractions at parks, and I'm well aware that they are an integral part of a park, however this site is Total Thrills - I'm here for thrills, just as I'm at parks for thrills. If I can fill an entire day just riding rides, then I'm having fun. It's when you start looking for the shows etc. to fill in some time that you know the park is a bit short. And every other Disney park to date could be considered to have opened with the "full package" - with more than enough entertainment for at least a day (or the case of Walt Disney World, a week or two). And you need not look any further than Islands of Adventure (whose budget wasn't terribly much more than DCA's) to see that a park can be built from scratch into a thrill ride paradise, of which I haven't heard a single complaint ever. I don't see any need to defend a park. If there are problems, (and certainly in your post you by no means consider the park perfect ) I know I'll come out and say what they are. I know I've kicked up some fuss here because of my frankness about some of our parks. I'll also gladly say what I think is good about a given park. For any Australian park, I could give you a genuine good thing I like about it, as well as a genuine bad point.

[rappa]

Just to clarify I wasn't specificaly replying to you Richard, just yours happend to be the post before mine, no attack or anything :-) I wouldn't say the number of attractions is low, perhaps the RIDE count could be considered low but there are definately a lot of attractions there. I admit I thought it quite low on the count and pretty poor before I actualy went there, but the actual park changed my mind a lot. Also I think you'd agree that if you looking for pure thrills then Disney isn't for you. Their parks a something different with some thrills thrown in but not the only piece of the pie. Just look at Disney Land, you can't really get a better 'theme' park than that and its certainly no thrill land. DCA has got a 'full package' IMO, I don't think its really intended solely as thrill park. My take on it was that it is just something with more variety than its heavily Disney themed neighbour, where as IOA is a ride park... IMO the layout of the park is not so much as incomplete but just well laid out as to alow for much future expansion and additions. I hope you enjoy it...I certainly look forward to getting over to IOA in 2005.

[Ian]

Okay as someone who visited DCA only a short time ago I really must come to its defence here.   I quite easily spent an entire day and night at DCA without running out of things to do (is there a rule that you can't ride something more than once??).   The park works extremely well because unlike Disney Land the paths and walkways a nice and wide and can carry a lot of people without bottle-necking.   You have to remember how young this park is, name another park that opening with this many attractions, none of which is a dud???? The addition of Tower of Terror soon will only re-enforce this. BTW that thing is HUGE!   California Screaming isn't even close to the same category as lethal weapon...a stock standard SMALL vekoma SLC 'vs' a custom Intamin monster than packs a punch from go to stop.   Grisley is easily the best themed most exciting Rapids ride I've come across.   Then you've got the other attractions like Millionaire, Sorin` and Muppets. Did any of you even bother to look at these since they weren’t coasters?   Sorin' over Ca is amazing, really cool technology.   And lastly is the Aladdin show, as someone who works in the business I can tell you that the show would be amazing if it was on broadway let alone as a FREE show that runs every day several times a day in a theme park.   Come on guys...stop playing sheep and bashing a park because everyone else does. I will keep the opinion that I always have that you can't judge a park/ride/whatever until you've actually been there.   Same goes for certain people who keep bashing Vekoma and praising Intamin or B&M when they haven't even been on one of their coasters.  

amen to that I just got back from DCA and I love the place sure its doesnt have loads of rides right now but its new. and Joz did you do the good attractions like muppets, bug lifes and california screamin thats where the disney magic happens. this was the 3rd time I had been to DCA and have to say to anyone out there who visits a park for the 1st time make sure you do every ride and attraction in the park before judging the park. I love Disney and this comes for someone who works at movieworld loves movieworld and IMO things Movieworld still has alot to do before it can even be considered anything like DCA. I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip Joz but please go on anything in the parks before making judgements on them. And for all other members here remember there is more to a park then coaster make sure you guys enjoy attractions as well.

[Richard]

As someone who not only sat through, but also enjoyed (call me a masochist): Superstars: Live in Concert (Movie World) and Outback Celebration (Dreamworld), I can't agree with you more. Still, if you want interesting entertainment, nothing goes past Luna Park in Melbourne, who hired The Happy Sideshow over Summer - that was genuinely interesting, unique and amazing. I find it amazing that a group that toured with Machine Gun Fellatio, who themselves would have to be the Australian music scene's biggest freaks (and are 10x more insane live), find themselves performing for an audience whose average age would be all of 10 years old.

[rappa]

Wow Richard as someone who did so also I can't sypathise with you more... It was just soo painful to sit through those things doing what I do :-) However if you see this show at DCA I'm sure you'll see what I'm talking about!

[joz]

Cool, I've started a fight 8) Thing is, I'm not a thrill person, and I'm normally the first to reccomend seeing the shows, sideshows and the like. Perhaps it was because it was eating into my time at DL, but nothing at DCA seemed to shout out to me. As for those who defend the park by saying its young: I didn't pay full price to find the park not finished. I will however praise the park on a few things to show I'm not completly one sided on this. 1. Most of the rides are of a very high capaticy. I've never seen a roller coaster queue move so fast as on Cali. Screaming. 2. The park is in areas, quite well themed. 3. The park was clean, the staff were friendly, and the food which I had was ok. 4. The Electric Light Parade (ripped from Disney Land) was probably the highlight of the trip. It was true Disney Magic at its best, and certaintly, was worth the time to wait for a good spot. Like I say, the park wasn't all bad, but weighing it all up, in my opinion (and remember, it is my opinion), I didn't like the park. It was ok, but I found myself wanting to go back to DL as soon as I could.