Golden Ticket Awards: How Cedar Point can improve

"CP is generally spotless." Only if you ignore the dead lake flies and moths literally everywhere, though I know it can't be controlled. What can be controlled is the ridiculous price gouging and essentially requiring guests to pay per ride with the lockers if they don't want to pass out from heat stroke in July. If they don't want to use ride bins on the major coasters, then free unlimited use lockers or free full size water cups should be provided, otherwise it is functionally a pay per ride coaster.

Price gouging? That's hilarious. Because riding a rolly coaster is the same as needing an EpiPen.

Europa is a combination of everything that one could possibly want in a park, assuming they don't just want to ride coasters. Themeing, Landscaping, Friendly, Clean, Awesome Food and even themed food venues (see food loop), shows, Wonderful Resort lodging, an extensive and varying ride collection, including: plenty of dark rides and walk throughs, transportation rides, water rides, coasters, flats. If you haven't been to the park I don't know how you can say it's unfair or undeserved. We had 2 days at the park in 2011 with ERT on 4 coasters if I recall correctly and we simply didn't have enough time to enjoy the park. Lord only knows when I'll have the opportunity to go again.

As for who votes in the GTA's, I'm fortunate to be a voter. As far as I know Tim Baldwin and Gary Slade are pretty much the 2 people making the decisions for the GTA's. Tim is one of the nicest, most respected ACE members that I know. If there's anything nefarious going on in the voting process, I would be mind-blowingly-shocked.

That's not it. It's ethically problematic to conduct a poll paid for by the winners. It doesn't have to nefarious to be co-back-scratching.

I understand your view point Jeff. I was more aiming my point at other people who think there's actual cheating or ballot stuffing going on. I don't know what it takes to run a magazine. But, for something produced to promote the same people/parks that are honored in said poll, who should advertise? I'm honestly asking.

Exactly. B2B publications exist to cover industry news, but parks are buyers, not sellers. They're buying the awards, regardless of the legitimacy of the process. It's like "best" product manufacturers buying ads in Consumer Reports (they don't). Like I said, it's an unspoken contract... AT gets some money, parks get something to market, but it's not a journalistic endeavor and it's not ethical by any journalistic standard.

Wisco Woody said:

"CP is generally spotless." Only if you ignore the dead lake flies and moths literally everywhere, though I know it can't be controlled. What can be controlled is the ridiculous price gouging and essentially requiring guests to pay per ride with the lockers if they don't want to pass out from heat stroke in July. If they don't want to use ride bins on the major coasters, then free unlimited use lockers or free full size water cups should be provided, otherwise it is functionally a pay per ride coaster.

Ever hear of drinking fountains? At CP there are many and they are FREE.

Jason Hammond said:

I was more aiming my point at other people who think there's actual cheating or ballot stuffing going on.

I'll volunteer myself to be in this camp. If you add up the percentages for best new ride, they total 61%. What? Where are the other 39%? Are they really saying that 39% of the vote for best new ride was not for the 5 rides listed? I mean, Cobra's Curse and Monster I could see, but you'd need at least 5 other rides to have gotten 7+% each.

Then for best overall ride, the tally system uses points. So some winners are based on percentages and some are based on points?

I wouldn't go so far as to say there is ballot stuffing, but it certainly seems like the voting system is so obfuscated that they can manipulate the results. Does the official ballot involve drawing pictures of rides?

I can think of 5 other rides that could've gotten 7%. The joker, the other Joker, Taron, Wildfire, and Lost Gravity. Not that hard to think of.

The "Best New Ride" category also includes non-coasters. Not that those are getting a lot of votes. But, it is a factor. About 500 ballots go out. I assume it's 100 to each region. The only thing that is based on points is the best wood and steel coaster. That's because each voter picks their top 10 wood and top 10 steel coasters. Their #1 pick gets 10 points, their #2 pick gets 9 points, etc. Every other category is a straight up: 1 ballot = 1 vote.

I'm surprised nobody bumped this topic, or created a new topic about this. The Golden tickets awards were announced over the weekend. You can see the results here. I know this topic is about Cedar Point, but how about Kings Island?! Their newest roller coaster Mystic Timbers won best new roller coaster in 2017. Fury beat out Millennium Force this year, but Millennium Force still came in second place. I won't spoil the rest here, but those are the top headlines that I felt like sharing.

Golden Ticket Winner:
2017 Supplier of the Year – Intamin in Wollerau, Switzerland, for its success story of creating a diverse catalog of products and hundreds of rides in all parts of the world spanning the last 50 years;

Perhaps working with the supplier of the year again would up CPs chances on the GTAs.

In all reality though... they've not been 'Best' park for years and having been doing very well without the moniker.

Can't find the full results... Last year Fury 325 beat out Millennium Force by ONE POINT. How close was it this year?

^ http://goldenticketawards.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2017-GTA-Results.pdf

Who exactly are the people who get to vote in the GTAs?

Wow Fury 325 beat Millennium Force by 225 points this year... It's amazing how far ahead those 2 are from everything else. Personally I'm surprised Intimidator 305 isn't higher; I don't know if I prefer it or Fury 325 as #2 behind Millennium Force

Since when was Maverick's supplier B&M? ;)

I'll just assume that was an oversight.

I think Steel Vengeance will give them a shot next year and could be easily be a #1, if not a top 5 coaster.

The award is readily available to the highest bidder.

Being #2 instead of #1 has not yet hampered my ability to enjoy the park.