Best Theme Park record in trouble?

CP has been voted Best Amusement Park in the world for 16 years in a row! It's common that things don't last forever, not that I'm downing on CP or saying that a voting system declares something that comes solely from one's opinion, but with other theme parks now in the war for best theme park rather than tallest/fastest coaster, the stakes are high. And lately CP has had a few more hiccups than normal (both intentional and not)...

When do you think CP may not receive the crown, and which park will take it?

And I was voting for CP in the USA Today 10 Best and just overnight, SFMM & SFGA jumps into the top 5 and straight to the first two spots...uhm that's too suspicious, I feel like they're cheating!

Pretty sure Six Flags has other things to do than cheat on an Internet popularity contest.

I'm pretty sure that it is the Golden Ticket awards that Cedar Point has won 16 years in a row and not this competition to see which parks Twitter handle is best at getting people to vote for them.

I've actually thought about this before. I think Europa Park may surpass CP for the first time in the Golden Ticket Awards. Here's what the last three years have looked like:

......................2011............2012............2013
Cedar Point --------23%-------------21%------------23%..............#1 park
Europa Park -------12%-------------14%------------22%...............#2 park

I've never been to Germany (nor visited Europa Park) but CP looks a lot better, and I agree that CP is the #1 park. Still, though, last year CP only won by 1%. I'm pretty confident that none of the Six Flags parks will even make the top 10.....again.

You've never been to Europa Park, but Cedar Point looks "a lot better" than the park you have never been to...

...and why, exactly, should I take your opinion seriously?

noggin said:
You've never been to Europa Park, but Cedar Point looks "a lot better" than the park you have never been to...

...and why, exactly, should I take your opinion seriously?

I don't believe he asked you to.

His post was pretty well thought out, and he actually acknowledged that Europa could surpass Cedar Point. A vast majority of the voters probably haven't been to both parks. Maybe he thinks Cedar Point looks better because he prefers Intamin and B&M over Mack? I certainly do.

If a "vast majority" of voters haven't been to both parks, well, their vote .... is meaningless.

If someone looks at pictures on the Internet and then determines one park is better than another because of pictures... well... their opinion doesn't really mean much.

If you think B&M and Intamin coasters are superior to Mack coasters, but you haven't ridden the coasters in question...well....

The Golden Tickets are a joke. It's a "poll" designed to sell advertising for the publication, and to the winners no less! It's an ugly "you help me I'll help you" arrangement, and not unique to any particular market and its trade magazines.

And honestly, who cares? Are people in Cleveland going to be sitting around thinking, "Oh, I'm not going to Cedar Point this year, they didn't win some poll from some magazine I've never even seen?"

Sure its a joke but it provides advertising for the park. Being able to say that you are the #1 park for "X" years running is better than not being able to make that claim. Especially when the average person does not know how the awards are determined.

Yawn.

noggin said:
If a "vast majority" of voters haven't been to both parks, well, their vote .... is meaningless.

If someone looks at pictures on the Internet and then determines one park is better than another because of pictures... well... their opinion doesn't really mean much.

If you think B&M and Intamin coasters are superior to Mack coasters, but you haven't ridden the coasters in question...well....

Meaningless to you, perhaps. I couldn't care less about the poll now, but it was a decent talking point when I was less versed in the Amusement industry. More importantly, Cedar Point doesn't think it's meaningless.

Have you been to both parks? I'm waiting on you to give a comparison between the two.

Cedar Point thinks it's great PR. That's different from thinking it's meaningful.

I mean, you say you could not care less about the poll.

Oh, my. Apparently you missed the part of the post that you quoted where I noted that people who haven't been to two parks but compare those two parks have opinions that don't really mean much. Which is why I am not going to compare Cedar Point (been there) to Europa Park (never been there).

^ CP thinks that it is meaningful *as great PR*.

Kinda just what I said. It's great PR. It's actually a meaningless rubric.

noggin said:
...and why, exactly, should I take your opinion seriously?

I didn't ask my opinion to be taken. Your opinion is just as meaningless as the Golden Tickets. All I did was point out Europa Park's standings.

Do you want me go and make a dossier for every amusement park in the world so you can give one the "Noggin Award" and I can whine and complain about how "meaningless" YOUR opinion is?

My. Over-sensitive much?

Unlike some, I know how meaningless my opinion is. Which is why I don't go look at pictures of amusement parks on the Internet and then compare them to parks I've been to.

noggin said:
My. Over-sensitive much?

Unlike some, I know how meaningless my opinion is. Which is why I don't go look at pictures of amusement parks on the Internet and then compare them to parks I've been to.

No, you just post snarky comments on a Cedar Point fan-site at those who do.

Making inferences based on research is not a negative.

Very true. Making inferences based on research is not a negative.

Declaring one thing superior to another thing based on looking at pictures of the one thing and actually experiencing the other thing is not making inferences.

I did not "declare" anything "superior". Read my post 100 times if you want.

Who said anything about "looking at pictures" (besides you, twice)? Maybe I read reviews; maybe I've seen videos, or discussed it with someone else; maybe I just flipped a coin; maybe I DID look at pictures. Are you "making inferences" on how I formed my opinion? No matter how you rationalize it, it's still my own opinion based on what I know...which I did not ask anyone to "take seriously" (nor did I ask for feedback from the peanut gallery).

Even if I did visit EP, my opinion would be just as "meaningless" to everyone except me. What if my opinion was in favor of EP having never been to CP?

For the sake of the other Pointbuzz users, I'm going to stop bickering with you about something that has almost nothing to do with this thread.

This is all over that golden ticket thing?