Best Ride in America Tournament: Round two, day four

I've always found Indiana to be overrated. I finally got to go to DisneyLand a few years back and ride this phenomenon, and I was a little disappointed. I mean, it was still a great ride, but after all the hype I was definitely expecting better. I rode a few more times to make sure I wasn't just crazy, but it didn't blow me away. Indiana may make it to the final four (or come close), but I voted against it this round because Men In Black is exceptional and addictive.

Revenge of the Mummy takes Dragster. I was a little disappointed in Mummy, similar to how I felt about Indiana, because of all the hype. A lot of the effects are quite tacky, but it's still better than Dragster, namely because Dragster disappointed me even more (for its size).

Splash Mountain easily takes Test Track. I'm surprised TT even made it to Round 2.

Dinosaur is a shoe-in over Sheikra, in my opinion. Some of the effects are cheap, like the pterodactyl, but it's an exceptional dark ride, and Sheikra is ... a standard coaster.

It'll be a sad day when it's over, as it will inevitably be.

Indy and Dinosaur are virtually the same ride with different theming, and both work well, imho. I like loud, bumpy attractions, and they both satisfy in that regard. MIB is a lot of fun, but since I suck at it, it has to go down!

Splash Mt, in a way, is the grand daddy of all flume attractions. There may be others more thrilling, but none come close in theming. While I very much enjoy Test Track, it doesn't stand a chance against this Disney masterpiece.

Revenge of the Mummy is a no brainer. It is a truly great attraction, one that hits you in all the right places on every level of the entertainment scale. Themed to perfection, the ride is equal parts chilling, thrilling, funny, and unique. This is the type of ride that puts the "THEME" in theme park. (That last comment was for you, Jake, cause I know how you love it when I talk about theming!).

Thanks for giving us the weekend off, Mr. Niles, I could use the break, and I am sure you can as well!

Coasters are like Women, Millennium Force, Dragster, there like a really hot blonde. She's great to look at but there isn't a lot of depth. Sheikra, DD, they may not be 5'10 smokin hot models but they look good and there's more to them than just looks. Then you have the Milfs like Beast or Magnum, they may be old but they can still give you a thrill.

My Final 4 is still intact and looking like the right picks. EE, Hulk, Spiderman, Sheikra.

I picked Mummy over Dragster due to Mummy's unique special effects and stuff like that. I really felt like I was "riding the movies." :)

I hated having to pick between Splash Mountain and Test Track. I had a hard time deciding between one of Disney's most classic rides and one of my Disney faves. But, in the end, my vote went to Test Track.

I also had trouble with Sheikra vs. Dinosaur. I am definitely a coaster person, but I gave the nod to Dino simply for its themeing.

Good match-ups today! This is so much fun!'

Neither Sheikra nor Dinosaur deserve to make it past this round, one of them is just going to get lucky and then crushed in the next round. I voted for Dinosaur for its theming over an unthemed coaster... the first word in this site's domain is "theme" so theme should carry the day when in doubt.

Mummy was an easy choice to advance. The Indy and MIB choice was more difficult but Indy gets the nod since it's a far better movie series and milieu IMO.

Everest is a themed coaster, Mummy is a themed coaster. In fact, they are more theme than coaster (hence my problem with them, all show and no go). The rest in this field are great thrill rides....some with more visual aide than others.

Anyway, my votes today were for

Indiana Jones- MIB is ok, Indy is a little better. We could have thrown in Kings Islands Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle just the same as MIB. It's the same thing, different theme.

Dragster- Mummy is a great ride for what it is. Good FX, some surprise elements and such. Good immersion, at least for the first couple rides until I know what's coming. I prefer blistering speed and a much higher reride value.

Splash Mountain- Just not that big on test track. Splash Mountain is a great themed flume ride. Not as adventurous as I would like, but still good.

Dinosaur-I have no idea why Shiekra is rated so high here. It's a great ride, but when I see it still in the competition while much better coasters have fallen by the wayside, I can't bring myself to vote for it. Dinosaur is a better attraction.

It absolutely floored me. The LA version is missing huge chunks of the Orlando ride, as well as much of the premise. The LA Mummy is to Orlando's as Orlando's Pirates of the Caribbean is to Anaheim's. It's an abridged version of a classic.

Narrative coasters: Mummy, Everest. Hybrids of coasters and dark rides, with a narrative in addition to a themed environment.

Themed coasters: Dragster. Coasters with a themed environment, but without character-driven narratives.

Then you've got everything else, the unthemed coasters.

Thoughts?

However, as thrilling as TTD was, ROTM was the complete package for me. It was a very unique experience that combined coaster fun with movie magic. For that reason I gave it the nod over TTD.

And Robert, I like your clarification on narrative vs decorative. My local park, Worlds of Fun, has a B&M coaster called the Patriot that they think is expertly themed just because it has a bunch of US flags around the ride and patriotic tunes blasting out of some speakers. I call that window dressing. A nice ride, but definitely not a themed attraction.

And if nothing else, Jake, you do keep me laughing.

And I hated to vote out the Mummy (as I ride this 15x + every time I'm in Orlando), but Top Thrill's sheer "thrill" got my vote. Going over that crest and looking down on Millenium Force just takes my breath away.

And the Orlando version of the Mummy is far superior to its Hollywood counterpart. Robert's comparison description is dead-on. Hollywood got the "abridged" version.

Anybody got any Tums??

The argument always comes up that such ride is better than another one because it is "themed". Hence, the argument that Mummy is better than Dragster because it is themed doesn't hold water, because both are themed. One is better than the other because that's how the person likes their rides. If they like the super visual experience and a milder coaster with a bit of a storyline (narrative is a decent adjective by the way Robert), than Mummy is their ride. If they like a coaster that takes them higher and faster than they have ever been in a well put together environment that is themed to a raceway, than Dragster is their choice. Perhaps people who've never seen nor ridden Dragster voted for Mummy by default because they know that Mummy is themed, and they didn't know that Dragster actually does a pretty darn good job of both theming and thrilling as well, but perhaps assumed it was a track in the middle of a parking lot because it was at Cedar Point? Just playing devil's advocate....throwing another log on the fire so to speak.

This tournament has been fun, and also educational. A great social experiment in the park industry is in the making. After it's all said and done, I would love to see a survey of those who participated. Where they are from, their age, the extent and frequency of their park travels, gender, their favorite rides, and other factors would be a most interesting thing to look at.

Robert - I actually like the California Mummy better than the Florida one. Can't remember the exact differences, but I thought the ending of the Cali one was much better (I believe it was a solar eclipse, or something). But good points about the new vocab, as under the previous definitions, I would hardly call Hulk or Dragster themed coasters (though they're both great rides).

Jake - TTD is themed to perfection? It's pretty difficult to theme a ride that is over 400 feet in height. Sure, it has bleachers and a stop-&-go light, but those hardly qualify as theming. I don't feel like I'm in a dragster race because of those things. The ride is still great and very eye-appealing, but definitely not immersive. Under Robert's definitions, though, maybe it could be considered themed. How far does that definition go, though? I mean, is Riddler's Revenge considered themed because it's named after a Batman character and its green?

And I can't believe Splash actually lost to Test Track. How is that possible, especially with all the classic attraction-loving Disney-philes?

I loved TT back in the day, but the more I ride it, the worse it seems. I like the premise, but the ride has many problems. The thrilling component is barely thrilling (60 mph on curved banks - I drive faster than that through country roads!), the educational component fails to amaze (especially the hokey ABS brakes section), and the ride breaks down so often that lines build and stay idle for periods of time.

Splash Mountain is like a fine wine. Every time I ride it, I find something new, and the final drop really is quite good.

Test Track should be updated (maybe to a hybrid car ride) and sponsored by a reliable company (like Toyota). It's good, but could be great.