Coaster Game

Shades said:

Again, this game has nothing to do with ridership.

Exactly. Again, that is my point. Enthusiasts, in my opinion, are in general not great at understanding what makes a "good" attraction. This game is evidence of that. A few dozen enthusiasts reach a conclusion that is starkly different from the conclusion of literally millions of the park's guests.

Why do you insist on comparing the results and saying that the enthusiasts are stupid because the results of this game are not in line with ridership?

Not stupid, just out of touch with the general public. I'm sure the same is true for enthusiasts of anything, not just roller coasters. The film mother! is probably more popular among movie buffs than The Last Jedi, but with the general public? There's no question which was more popular.

Or ask the general public to play the +1/-1 game. Then you could compare those results with the enthusiast game results.

Ridership is the general public "playing" the game.

In this thread, the top coasters are all based on the subjective opinions of about 15-20 people. The park doesn't give a damn what you think about the rides and where they rank on your favorites. What matters to them is their bottom line, selling tickets, souvenirs, food and filling hotel rooms. They really don't even need to give out ridership numbers. That's more of a courtesy than anything. The park could keep the numbers to themselves and I would still feel whole. The numbers really only matter to them as a gauge to see the cost per rider ratio is worth keeping an attraction around.

I voted based on everything else being equal, which do I enjoy more? If the options were, for example, “Maverick with a 2hr line” or “GateKeeper with a 15min line” I would have voted differently.

^ This. TTD is probably my family’s favorite “most popular” ride at CP, but would likely rank far down the list on ride count, for obvious reasons. Same would apply to the family raft ride at CPS.

You're dismissing a critical, negative characteristic (capacity) when voting? To me that's just as logical as changing MS so that it's smooth as glass, or changing Valravn so that it includes a few more bunny hills. You're taking a feature/characteristic you don't like and pretending it doesn't exist.

We’re literally judging which ride we prefer over another... capacity has nothing to do with it. If you were to ask a random person if they like Maverick more than Magnum, the overwhelming majority would say yes. It’s based on preference. This game doesn’t take capacity into the equation at all.

Go Intamin said:
This game doesn’t take capacity into the equation at all.

Agreed. And yet the millions of people who visit the park clearly do take capacity into account. Which was and is my point - this game is a poor barometer for what guests like.

Help: The Last Jedi

Hurt: mother!

Help: Kevinj

Hurt: The ridership v. Popularity pissing match

Help: Disaster Transport
Hurt: Jumbo Jets

I forgot to vote, what did I miss?!

Ok let’s restart the entire game and make it clear whether we take capacity into account.

Older rides get a 3 point advantage. 2 points for non coaster, 1 point for cool lights. Giant Wheel will have an advantage for sure in the next round.

I’d add: Rides with a FL queue automatically start with -3 Points, rides that open at Early Entry get -2 points, rides repainted in the last three seasons get -1 point.

All Intamins -2 points for reasons.

I knew I could count on you guys to turn this thing around...hahaha.

That’s too complicated. Why not play a game with an all defunct ride/attraction list.

Hurt: Shoot the Rapids
Help: Shoot the Rapids

Hurt: Wildcat
Help: Wildcat

How about all the members?

Help: Jeff
Hurt: Walt

Shades said:

Why do you insist on comparing the results and saying that the enthusiasts are stupid because the results of this game are not in line with ridership?

Because this is what he does, which is argue about absolutely anything in direct opposition to whatever facts or opinions are stated. You could make the statement "water is wet" and he'd spend all day at work trying to prove you wrong.

Ridership <> popularity. If a ride spit $100 bills at you but had very low capacity, would that ride not be more "popular" with every human being than one that didn't but had great capacity?

I would venture to say people think Maverick is a better ride than Gatekeeper (this is just a guess based on my own observations) but the ridership numbers show otherwise. The reason? Capacity.