[JShafer]

Well. Just checked out the Results of the 2010 Golden Ticket Awards.
Allot of people consider them controversial and biased, other swear by their results.
For those of you that don't know, it's the biggest award ceremony in the Amusement Park world.

Long story short, Intimidator won 4th for Best New Coaster of 2010.
It also came in 21st overall, for Top Steel Coaster. This is tied with Maverick at Cedar Point.

Thoughts?

If you'd like more info, the official site is Here.

And you can download the PDF about the 2010 Awards Here

[jsz1002]

Wasn't it "4th best new ride?" Anyway, i don't think much of any awards, let alone this one.

[arby]

Well, I'm new here and some day I hope to know as much as some of the posters here. Right now I'm just reading, researching, and learning...

With that being said, my initial opinion was that these awards were very valid. That is when I thought they were taken by a random poll of the general public. While the GP is not an expert on coasters and amusement rides, they do form the foundation of the revenue that all parks need to stay profitable and in business. So a poll from them would result in 'fan awards' which should hold some value to the parks.

This series of awards, however, is not from the GP. Their site infers that it is a hand-picked panel of enthusiasts, but they don't publicly list any criteria that they use to pick these enthusiasts or any of the qualifications of the enthusiasts. They also go on to say that fair and balanced means dividing ballots between regions that they defined. (and there is also a typo on that same page)

So while I haven't talked to anybody in this forum or any other forum personally to sway my opinion, I personally can't see where these awards can hold much weight at all. They either need to be a true random sample with a publicized standard deviation to help give them validity, or the experts' qualifications need to be made public as well as the criteria that is used to pick them so that can be weighted accordingly. 'Closed and secret' awards like this may hold some validity, but you really don't know so it's better to be skeptical.

That's my take on the Golden Ticket Awards.

[Edwardo]

All the Golden Tickets are is a way for that particular trade publication to sell ads to the winners. Most of the coasters and a lot of the other winners are well known and liked by enthusiasts, but as far as a true poll to rank coasters, I think Mitch's poll is the best. The Golden Tickets really don't look much outside the US.

And I'm sick of Holiday World winning so much stuff. Don't get me wrong, it's a great park, but the people aren't more friendly than Dollywood.

That, and I just feel that, while I personally love the ride, there are much better steel coasters out there than Millennium Force.

[Jay]

Their site infers that it is a hand-picked panel of enthusiasts, but they don't publicly list any criteria that they use to pick these enthusiasts or any of the qualifications of the enthusiasts.

The only criteria is that you are a subscriber to Amusement Today.

[arby]

Nice. That's more or less what I was guessing...

[coasterdave]

I am not a subscriber to Amusement Today or ever have been a subscriber to that but I get a Ballot each year.

[Edwardo]

Some ACE Members and people AT feels are 'well traveled enthusiasts' get them too.

[arby]

Maybe I should apply.

I would tend to give them more credibility if their coaster awards, in particular, kept some sort of consistent ranking over the years. It seems kind of screwy that a coaster can be #1, #4, #7, #2, then back to #1 when no changes were made to it. (Those are facetious numbers)

Oh well. I'll just enjoy the rides and not be concerned about their ranking. I have my own list...

[Edwardo]

Yeah, I'm definitely more concerned about my own ranking than any other list.

I like Mitch's poll because I feel it gives the best results overall, and I can look at it and plan for what parks I need to hit up in the future.

As for Mitch's poll, I've only ridden 2 in the top ten, but the rest of the coasters in the top ten are more of the same type of coasters that I like. I can definitely see why Bizarro is #1 on there (It's in my top 5 favorite steel coasters). Everything else on there but Millennium Force is out of the US, and from people who I know that have ridden them, who have similiar taste as I do, say the rest of those were great.

AT is very US-centric, so I think it is very skewed and don't give it much weight.

[coasterdave]

If you want to vote for them in 2011 then just drop an e-mail to Amusement Today. You will be added to the list. It is just that simple to get a ballot. Then you can help change the result so to speak.

[arby]

Thanks, I'll have to look into that some day and also check out Mitchs Poll.

[arby]

I heard back from AT and it appears that they at least attempt to find highly qualified people to vote for the awards. They are looking for well-traveled people who have been on at least 250 coasters and look at all aspects of a park when they visit.

Since I'm an honest person, I let them know I don't qualify based on their criteria but I'll volunteer in the future when I get there. I would hope that nobody answered dishonestly.

[justin872]

To me, it doesn't make me a difference what intimidator's score is. Intimidator is number one to me regardless. It was still nice to see the golden ticket results however.

[Edwardo]

Wow, you only have to get 250 to participate? That's kind of surprising. Maybe I'll email them next year if I go on the ACE Scandanavia trip.