CoasterCrazy Awards 2008 (CCA) Round 1

My woodie has better pacing than all of yours.

Never been on Voyage, but I got around 15 rides on Boulder Dash one day in August. After the first ride it was instantly my favourite coaster ever.

It's not just the wicked ejector/lateral mixes, but also the unexpected drops, smoothness (yeah, the re-track made it quite smooth but kept the classic woodie roughness), the distance from the trees and just some ridiculous elements..That whole new ending, man. Can't describe it, I don't even think I was breathing for that whole second half. The first half was so fun, having a drop almost the size of the first when you're already going as fast as you thought you'd go, and then the second half that doesn't even give you a chance to inhale.

Basically, I thought everything on Dash was PERFECT. The most fun I've had on any coaster, anywhere, ever. Voyage looks like it'd be right there with it, except I've heard it's been killer rough lately (as in too rough to ride).

^Completely agree.

[Dirk_Ermen]

Uhm... Some comparisons are pretty weird. How the hell can you ever compare a woody with a steel. Both have totally different qualities. It would have been better imo if you would have put the different rollercoaster types head to head.

Um, Voyage never had floater hill when I rode it. Proof? Bruising on my legs. I just find it hard for a ride to be more physically intense than Voyage since it was the first ride when I got off, I felt physically spent. Did I ride 22 more times that day? Yes. Why not? But My legs hurt and thats definitely not floater air. Ive heard constantly now that Voyage is hit or miss. Some days (or entire weeks) its just not running normal. I got pretty lucky the times I went. It was either brand new or totally broken in but also not rough or being trimmed.

As for pacing - thats something obvious that cant be disputed. Yet, I think it sets up the ride for the ridiculous way the in-run is. Sounds like BD is more of a longer, wooden version of TTD that sends you off in a blur and doesn't stop. Is that good or bad? Cant say. I do enjoy rides that kick my ass (like Voyage) but if the elements hit you so fast and with such repetition then the ride turns into one long barrage of elements with no real seperation. Just playing devils advocate, that was the complaint I heard of Voyage is its just too many elements.

Someones gotta do it Anyone want to send me some cash for hotel? I can afford gas, or if you live by LC Let me shack up for a night


BTW BD has ALWAYS been virtually at the top of my "wooden coaster to-do list". It still is even over the Intamins. It always seemed like one of CCI's pinnacle designs. I just cant imagine a ride thats about half as short as Voyage kicking my ass more.

^Well something you said was key...what is good or bad. Coasters are 100% opinion as some people enjoy some qualities of a ride and others don't.

I love Dash so much I really want to fly out there this summer and spend a day on Dash with a side trip to SFNE to check out the new Superman. It's totally worth it, especially if it gets trimmed after '09.

[Oscar]

Originally posted by Real

Um, Voyage never had floater hill when I rode it. Proof? Bruising on my legs. I just find it hard for a ride to be more physically intense than Voyage since it was the first ride when I got off, I felt physically spent. Did I ride 22 more times that day? Yes. Why not? But My legs hurt and thats definitely not floater air. Ive heard constantly now that Voyage is hit or miss. Some days (or entire weeks) its just not running normal. I got pretty lucky the times I went. It was either brand new or totally broken in but also not rough or being trimmed.

I have to agree with you. The time I rode Voyage it was insanely wild. I remember riding in the back car and cjd wa sin the car in front of us with no one sitting next to him. Half the ride you couldn't see him due to the laterals knocking him to his side I have never been on Boulder Dash so I can't comment on it but Voyage, man, wicked woodie! And yes, it does bruise your legs and gets you tired from trying to like hold on

Voyage was all floater when I rode it. The only spot that I'd consider ejector was the double down into the turnaround where there was a sudden pop of air. The rest was gently lifting me into the bar, regardless of how strong it was, not basically standing me up like Dash does. For the record though, I base what floater and ejector are on how they're presented (even the infamous 3rd hill on SROS I really just think of as strong floater because it lifts you into the bar, not throws you violently) and not the strength.

Dash definitely does have separation and progression, but you really can't see it from a video. But the whole ride is based on buildups, it just doesn't let up at all. I guess you could say it's like TTD where it doesn't stop though, except take TTD and add in about 20 <30' hills to it and unbanked turns to it.

I don't know, if they were both right next to each other I'd have a hard time choosing which to ride. I'd actually probably go to Voyage just because I've ridden Dash so many times and I'd give Voyage another chance. But all in all, I know which one I've had more fun on (11pm rides on Dash in the front seat with a one clicked bar......Yeah can't see that being beat).

^ Ugg... I got NO floater when I road Voyage: it was completely ejector. And it HURT. lol.

Plus, I can't believe TTD is beating Kingda Ka. Ka is better in every conceivable way.

^Actually, I strongly disagree with that. Kingda Ka sucked this year, it vibrated so much to the point where you couldn't even see straight. Kingda Ka is only better because it's a little faster and higher; it also has the uncomfortable restraints, roughness (don't know what happened, last year this was fine), real slow line (compared to TTD) and a boring theme in comparison.

Dragster's location makes it a lot more fun, too. Everybody just standing along the path, sitting in the bleachers, clapping, yelling and watching from every single part of the park. The lap bar feels so much more free as well, but I think the atmosphere plays a really, really huge part in the overall enjoyment of the ride.

^I agree with everything you said. I got to finally ride Kingda Ka this year, and now I can officially say that I like TTD a lot better. I think that KK launch is better because it is a little faster, but overall TTD trumps Kingda Ka IMO.

[hyyyper]

The difference in speed and height between KK and TTD is around 6 %.

There's no way anybody could tell the difference between 120 mph and 128 mph.
So if you would compare them in equal size, TTD has lapbars, and IMO that's the biggerst pro over KK

hmmm... ok. Seems I'm outnumbered here. But when I rode it, I really enjoyed it quite a bit. I rode it quite a few times, and I really didn't think the restraints made that much of a difference.

Originally posted by Dirk_Ermen

Uhm... Some comparisons are pretty weird. How the hell can you ever compare a woody with a steel. Both have totally different qualities. It would have been better imo if you would have put the different rollercoaster types head to head.

Yell at Oscar then. That was my original plan.

[Oscar]

Hey now, I said you're in charge, remember?

I Loved Ka...the speed, height, forces, airtime, downward spiral...everything was awesome. I don't have that much of a desire to go to CP for the rides, but will hopefully do a credit run one day !

Man, what is up with all the hate towards CP! I don't really understand how you can love Ka but not want to go to CP for the rides. But that's your opinion; I personally think quite a few coasters there are worthy of a top 10 list.

Cedar Point is awesome! I just think Ka is better than TTD.

Winner gets this:

KK also has the hill at the end which I definitely prefer over brakes very soon after the tophat...more time at a very high speed. Going 85 mph over the top of the hill is still faster than probably 99% of all other coasters. If you're gonna have a ride with a major focus on speed, might as well focus on that as long as possible.

I've gotta throw in another fail vote at the pairings.

This should've been done WAY differently. Look at the brackets in the NCAA... the top seeds get paired in the early rounds with the lower seeds. That assures that *usually* the better teams end up in the finals, where there's excitement as the best of the best fight it out for #1.

With this in mind, El Toro and EGF, two of the world's best coasters, should NEVER have been pitted against each other in round one. You've guaranteed that one of the top-ranked coasters will not even advance to round two, but some good-but-not-THAT-good coaster is going to get a free ride into the later rounds.

Also, the Griffon/Shiekra pairing is one of the very few that makes ANY sense. They are similar enough to compare to each other, but Nitro/Phoenix????? WTF? What the hell could they possibly have in common to deserve to be pitted against each other like that? They both have wheels? They both have hills? Sheesh.

^Yeah, plus Nitro and Phoenix are both two of the worlds best coasters, and are both ranked #2 in my steel and wood polls.

[Dirk_Ermen]

and again we have the weirdest mixes of coasters. Maybe next time we should do it without brackets xD And then just some elimination rounds where you keep getting the similar rides against eachother...

Cause come on, how the hell to compare a G-filled invert with an airtime monster hyper? Or a rocket with a woody?

Imo we really should restart with some proper match-ups

Agreed.

We'll finish this up for one, overall bet coaster winner. Then they will be broken up into well thought up pairs in separate steel and woodie brackets.

This is no contest of what the best ride is, this is an contest of north america, otherwise some good European Rides wouln't be losing right now....