Mitch Hawker Poll

Mitch Hawker's coaster poll has been released. This is widely considered to be the best and most accurate coaster poll, and anyone can vote in it unlike the Golden Ticket Awards. Participation is encouraged because the more turn out, the more "accurate" the results among the current coaster community.

There are a few different ways to do this poll. One would be using The Coaster Fanatics Helper which is a simple check-list wizard which generates your ballot already formatted.

You can also do your ballot the traditional way by downloading the ballot, and copy/pasting into a word document and setting it up manually. This way takes a bit more time and is a little bit harder because it's very important to not mess with the formatting.

There are various ways to rank your favorite and not so favorite coasters, probably best covered in Robb Alvey's Guide.

Some simple instructions to do it the traditional way:

Start by copying the ballot into a word document and cutting out all the coasters you HAVE NOT ridden. This will leave you with a clean ballot of everything you've ridden.

The poll is grouped like this: The Voyage Holiday World IN,n,n,0

The first n indicates you riding it at all. By cutting out everything you haven't ridden, you should change all of the first ns to a y, indicating that you have ridden.

The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,n,0

Second n is if you've ridden this year. If not, leave it alone. If so, change to a y.

The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,y,0

The number is simply rank. I like to rank based on the best ride the coaster has ever given me.

The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,y,3

the Favorite Steel Coaster Any Park Anywhere **,y,y,3 indicates how your favorite steel coaster stands up to your favorite wood. By me putting a 3, it means that I as much as my third favorite steel. However your favorite wood should still be ranked with a 1.

The ranking of sensations are pretty straight forward; just change the ns to ys rank in what order you like best.

Now get voting!

My wood ballot:

--Boulderdashcci@verizon.net------
LOCATION FOLLOWS THIS LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE)_____
~"Canton, Massachusetts"
NAME FOLLOWS THIS LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE)_____
~"Freddie Ross"
RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE
THIS LINE AS IS
Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,3
Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,3
Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,3
Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,1
Positive G's/Loops_________________________,y,y,4
Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,2
COASTER NAME PARK LOC <--Please leave this
Boulder Dash Lake Compounce CT,y,y,1
The Legend Holiday World IN,y,n,2
The Voyage Holiday World IN,y,n,3
My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere **,y,y,3
Kentucky Rumbler Beech Bend KY,y,n,4
Hell Cat Clementon Lake NJ,y,n,5
Cornball Express Indiana Beach IN,y,n,6
Yankee Cannonball Canobie Lake Park NH,y,y,7
Cyclops Mount Olympus WI,y,n,8
Cyclone Astroland NY,y,y,9
Raven Holiday World IN,y,n,10
Cyclone SF New England MA,y,y,11
The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA,y,n,12
Thunderbolt Kennywood PA,y,n,13
Avalanche Timber Falls WI,y,n,14
Lost Coaster of SM Indiana Beach IN,y,n,15
Hades Mount Olympus WI,y,n,16
Viper SFGAm IL,y,n,17
Tornado Stricker's Grove OH,y,n,18
Zeus Mount Olympus WI,y,n,19
Twisted Twins-Lola Kentucky Kingdom KY,y,n,20
Racer Kennywood PA,y,n,21
Wildcat Hersheypark PA,y,n,22
Jack Rabbit Kennywood PA,y,n,23
Dragon Coaster Playland NY,y,y,24
Blue Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,25
Twisted Twins-StellaKentucky Kingdom KY,y,n,26
Hoosier Hurricane Indiana Beach IN,y,n,27
Thunderbolt SF New England MA,y,y,28
Comet Hersheypark PA,y,n,29
The Beast Kings Island OH,y,n,30
Hurler Kings Dominion VA,y,n,31
American Eagle SFGAm IL,y,n,32
Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA,y,n,33
Pegasus Mount Olympus WI,y,n,34
Scooby Doo Kings Dominion VA,y,n,35
Meteor Little Amerricka WI,y,n,36
Teddy Bear Stricker's Grove OH,y,n,37
Mean Streak Cedar Point OH,y,n,38
Wildcat Lake Compounce CT,y,y,39
Fairly Odd Coaster Kings Island OH,y,n,41
Son of Beast Kings Island OH,y,n,42
Racer Kings Island OH,y,n,43

Steel ballot:
--Boulderdashcci@verizon.net------
LOCATION IN NEXT LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE)_____
~"Canton, MA"
NAME IN NEXT LINE (LEAVE THIS LINE)_____
~"Freddie Ross"
RANK THE FOLLOWING RIDING SENSATIONS <-LEAVE
Abrupt Airtime_____________________________,y,y,1
Floating Airtime___________________________,y,y,2
Lateral Forces_____________________________,y,y,5
Out of Control Feeling/Directional Changes_,y,y,4
Positive G's/Loops_________________________,y,y,4
Sensation of Speed_________________________,y,y,3
COASTER NAME PARK LOC <-LEAVE
Favorite Wood Coaster Any Park Anywhere **,y,y,1
Superman - Ride of St SF New England MA,y,y,1
Apollo's Chariot Busch Gardens Euro VA,y,n,2
Phantom's Revenge Kennywood Park PA,y,n,3
Raptor Cedar Point OH,y,n,4
Maverick Cedar Point OH,y,n,5
Volcano: The Blast Co Kings Dominion VA,y,n,10
Chang Six Flags Kentucky KY,y,n,10
Magnum XL-200 Cedar Point OH,y,n,10
Batman The Ride/Clone SF & Other Parks **,y,n,10
Fav Vekoma Invertigo Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,10
Flight Deck Kings Island OH,y,n,10
Loch Ness Monster Busch Gardens Euro VA,y,n,10
Anaconda Kings Dominion VA,y,n,20
Millennium Force Cedar Point OH,y,n,20
Mantis Cedar Point OH,y,n,20
Big Bad Wolf Busch Gardens Euro VA,y,n,20
Wicked Twister Cedar Point OH,y,n,20
Vortex Kings Island OH,y,n,20
Greezed Lightnin' Six Flags Kentucky KY,y,n,20
Alpengeist Busch Gardens Euro VA,y,n,30
Batman - Dark Knight SF New England MA,y,y,30
Fav Wildcat Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,30
Fav Spinning Mouse Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,30
Fav Galaxi Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,30
Fav Vekoma Boomerang Any Park Anywhere **,y,y,30
Iron Wolf Six Flags Great Am IL,y,n,30
Top Thrill Dragster Cedar Point OH,y,n,30
Gemini Cedar Point OH,y,n,30
Fav Gerstlauer Spinn. Any Park Anywhere **,y,y,30
Fav Zyklon Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,30
Flight of Fear Kings Dominion VA,y,n,30
Shockwave Kings Dominion VA,y,n,30
Great Bear Hersheypark PA,y,n,30
Big Thunder Mountain WDW Magic Kingdom FL,y,n,30
Adventure Express Kings Island OH,y,n,30
Firehawk Kings Island OH,y,n,30
Sooperdooperlooper Hersheypark PA,y,n,30
Exterminator Kennywood Park PA,y,n,30
Fav Jet Star Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,30
Fav Tivoli Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,40
Fav Wild Mouse Any Park Anywhere **,y,y,40
Fav Arrow Corkscrew Any Park Anywhere **,y,y,40
Fav Zamperla Volare Any Park Anywhere **,y,y,40
Fav Vek Susp Loop SLC Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,40
Fav Intamin Bobsled Any Park Anywhere **,n,n,40
Backlot Stunt Coaster Kings Dominion VA,y,n,40
Trailblazer Hersheypark PA,y,n,40
Flight of Fear Kings Island OH,y,n,40
Raging Bull Six Flags Great Am IL,y,n,40
Superman - Ultimate F Six Flags Great Am IL,y,n,40
Avalanche Kings Dominion VA,y,n,40
Vertical Velocity Six Flags Great Am IL,y,n,50
Cedar Creek Mine Ride Cedar Point OH,y,n,50
Iron Dragon Cedar Point OH,y,n,50
Backlot Stunt Coaster Kings Island OH,y,n,50
Fav Vek Susp Family Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,56
Fav Chance Toboggan Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,57
Fav Zyklon Loop Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,58
Fav Powered `Coaster' Any Park Anywhere **,y,n,59
HyperSonic XLC Kings Dominion VA,y,n,60


------------------------------------------------0 <-LEAVE THIS LINE

You really should do one of these if you haven't yet. The more votes, the more accurate the poll. It really isn't hard and should only take a few minutes if you have a general idea of your ranking.

Only an hour left to get your ballots in if you care but haven't done it yet.

Edit: Thought midnight last night was the cutoff, but apparently it's midnight tonight, so you've got a little extra time to do this.

I voted in it for the first time last week... Rob Alvey always sent me e-mails about doing it in the past, but this was the first year I finally got around to it. Awesome poll, much better than the GTA's.

The 2009 wood poll is up: http://www.ushsho.com/bestrollercoasterpoll.htm

My ballot is pretty much the same as last year's, other than Comet (Great Escape) and Excalibur making their way into the teens. Didn't really get on much new stuff this year. SFNE Thunderbolt bumped up a bit though, it was running really good this year despite getting new lapbars which severely restrict the airtime.

dang,thats cool.

[Oscar]

So... who is Mitch Hawker? Pardon the ignorance. [:)]

The person running the poll. Bestrollercoasterpoll is his site and I guess the official name of it...But it's been called the Hawker poll all the way back to the 90s when it started from what I've seen.

[Oscar]

oh ok, thank you.

Steel poll is out. Doing my ballot now (from scratch).

http://www.ushsho.com/bestrollercoasterpoll.htm

I just did sent both of my steel and wood polls for the first time. Interesting stuff. Cant wait for the results.