The other two races were not as close, with BGE's Griffon taking out USF's Jaws and Animal Kingdom's Kilimanjaro Safaris blowing out Legoland California's Knights Tournament.
Tonight, we wrap up round one with our last four match-ups:
It's Disneyland against neighbor California Adventure with (2) Indiana Jones Adventure vs. (63) Monsters, Inc: Mike and Sulley to the Rescue.
Busch Gardens Africa's SheiKra seems to have lost a lot of support on the site since I seeded the tournament. Will it retain enough support to avoid being the latest coaster upset by a family dark ride? (10) SheiKra vs. (55) High In The Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride
Two roller coasters with devoted followings battle in (18) Thunderhead vs. (47) The Riddler's Revenge
Finally, it is another classic Disney vs. Universal match-up, with (26) Dueling Dragons - Ice vs. (39) Mission: Space
Let's keep the great comments coming. Tomorrow: Round two begins!
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With all these Disney-philes keeping minor attractions as highly rated as headliners, the berating just keeps coming from both sides.
You must stop this contest at once, Robert. Can't you see it's tearing America apart??!!
As for Thunderhead, it is a Great Coasters, International masterpiece (they also made Gwazi at BGA, in case you need a reference). If you have not ridden a coaster made by them, you really need to...the way their tracks circle back on themselves, over and over again is just amazing. Everything they do seems to be patterned after old time coaster designer Harry Traver who built the Crystal Beach Cyclone back in 1927...a coaster that kept a nurse on hand just to revive riders who fainted!
If you are a wooden coaster fan you owe to yourself to vote for Thunderhead!
Glad to see SheiKra making an appearance. I have her in my final 4 along with Hulk, Spiderman, and EE.
As far as the Fan boys go, Disney fan boys are like the rich kids from the private school. They feel entitled to everything and if you say something negative about them they get upset. Cedar Point fan boys are a whole different animal. They are more like the kids that didn't have anything going up and now that they have made it in life have a huge chip on there shoulder. Both annoy the hell out of me since they can't see past the nose on there own face.
I had the same issue. But then I realized on my last visit to Florida I used my hopper pass to ride Mission: Space and that was the only thing I did at Epcot that day. I also felt compelled to pick it because it was in my final four.
And Mission: Space vs. Ice Dragon!?!? Robert - you're giving me heartburn with these decisions!! Mission Space is so inventive, I went with it for my vote - saving my Dragons vote for Fire. But that was a tough decision because Dueling Dragons is such a spectacular coaster.
Sheikra made to round 2 for me only because of it's opponent. Seuss just didn't cut it for me, even if Sheikra is another vertical dive coaster that's too short of a ride, it got my vote.
Mission Space also got my vote. Even though it's a glorified gravitron with a lot of bells and whistles, they are Disney bells and whistles. They do a great job of creating a extraordinary experience out of an old carnival ride. and I stand by my opinion that both Dueling Dragons coasters are the 6th and 7th best B&M inverted coasters in America. The Indy Jones/Monsters Inc isn't even close.
The fanboy thing is bound to happen. Such happens when contests like this take place. The thing about people voting when they haven't ridden is going to happen too. It's kind of like the presidential election, when uninformed, uneducated people blindly vote along party lines. I don't agree with it, but what can you do. One thing you can say about Disney and Cedar Point, they have loyal fans. Some are blind it's true, but both places must be doing something right. My only issue is the overabundance of Disney/Universal rides present in the tournament at the expense of worthy rides from other parks.
For Thunderhead I broke my vow and voted for it despite not having ridden the Riddler. Dollywood needs some props as it is probably the best of the smaller, but true theme parks in America (Silver Dollar City is another good one).
As for Mission:SPACE, it really is a Disney masterpiece, and embodies everything that makes them great: theming, story, and technology. I would pick it over either Dueling Dragons track, even though I am a huge Dueling Dragons/IOA fanboy. If there truly is a Disney contingent out there lurking in the wings, I hope they log on and vote soon!
Three other inverted coasters along with Montu and Alpengeist that are better rides in my opinion, than either of the Dueling Dragons rides. I count Dueling Dragons as two rides because that is what this tournament is doing. I think it's a bit strange to separate the attraction into two coasters, but the "fire" side won a couple of days ago over El Toro (another shame), so I'm playing ball a little bit on that one. How can you give the ride two spots on the bracket, yet call it one ride in another sentence? Aside from that though, even with the couple of near "misses" with the other track, it doesn't do enough for me to hold it over the other rides. I've ridden them all, and other than the queue, there is nothing that either DD track...combined or not, has over the other five.
By the way, this tournament was a great idea. It is revealing some things about the demographics and geographic regions that are represented on the site. It's also probably generating more traffic and acknowledgement from other websites. I've been hanging around TPI for a while now, and there hasn't really been spirited debate around here for a while. Nothing like a theme vs thrill ride to fix that, even if the odds are stacked in Orlando's favor.
All variables aside (and there aren't many), DD is just another inverted coaster, and it pales in comparison to, say, Montu. It loads slowly, has a horrendously long and only mildly interesting queue, and features the most unenthusiastic loading staff at any theme park I've ever seen. Think of the pimply faced teenager from The Simpsons.
Mission: Space, by contrast, is innovative (yes, it's similar to a gravitron in nature, but way more intricate), exciting, enthralling, and, best of all, features Gary Sinise.
Gary Sinise > burnt out teens
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