We're a step away from our final four contestants in this bracket, and your vote today will put one of these popular coasters there. Which will it be?
The Voyage - at Holiday World
Apollo's Chariot - at Busch Gardens Williamsburg
Voting is open for 24 hours. You can recruit more voters to your cause by sharing this post on Facebook and via Twitter.
Tomorrow: Universal's Horror Make-Up Show and the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular face off in the Best Show bracket.
Is there a list of rides in the tournament? Like a masterpost of the competition?
Apollo's Chariot for me is lower tier when it comes to B&M hypers. I like the color scheme, the visuals ain't bad..it's a nice ride. But I don't want "nice" when it comes to these machines that are my real passion in life. I don't get off Apollo feeling like I've been given a thrilling experience. I'll ride it again if there's a short line, but I don't get off with a strong desire to ride again as I do with others that I rank higher.
My vote goes to Voyage.
And they won't! They continue to test new Timberliner trains which may be a better complement to the twists, turns, and amazing 90 degree testosterone boosters offered by the Voyage's one-of-a-kind layout. Last I heard, Paula Werne (HW PR and TPI contributor) said that the park is still planning to get Timberliner trains on the Voyage in 2012.
Help us, Paula Werne, you're our only hope!
Beth, if Raven was about 30-45 seconds longer, it'd be in my Top Ten. Even as it is, it's a great ride. To me, Legend is the "weakest link" among HW's woodies.
As for the three woodies at HW, I felt they could all be headliners at other parks, but at HW they got progressively better as you headed from the front to the back of the park. So, I thought Legend was better (and definitely longer) than Raven. But Voyage was head and shoulders above the fray. Just an absolute monster. And no, I have not been to SFNJ to ride El Toro, so you don't have to ask....however, I feel it can only be "as good as" Voyage, I just don't see how it can be better. ;)
Your post made me check out their Web site. It looks a lot different than I remember and the new coaster looks very cool. If I'm ever up that way again, I'll have to check it out again for old time's sake :-)
Melanie, the coaster you're referring to at Quassy might have been the Mad Mouse. Don't be misled by the website..it's a few steps up from a dump. But Wooden Warrior is worth the stop if you're ever in the neighborhood.
Somewhere on this site is my trip report from last year. Maybe I'll see if I can find it, although I don't understand how links work on this site.
http://www.themeparkinsider.com/news/response.cfm?ID=945508207
http://www.themeparkinsider.com/news/response.cfm?ID=945508208
And Mike, I was on a business trip visiting The Hartford and it was about 25 mins from my meeting to the park. Did not realize I had left the state! My bad.
A lot of those coasters that James mentioned also use the Philadelphia Toboggan style trains that just don't seem built to do some of the things that these coasters do. The wheels are small, the trains aren't articulated, there's little leg room, and there isn't a lot of padding. It all has to do with rider comfort. As the coaster ages, the ride on those trains gets worse...which is why a coaster like Mean Streak now has trim brakes on the first drop, and why parks have spent lots of money trying to "fix" these problems. It seems they are always spending money on the track, but I think the solution to reviving these coasters lies within using better trains. Gravity Group and GCI trains could bring a lot of aging, riderless machines back to life.
Back to the contest though, we really should just declare Voyage the winner of this bracket. It's clearly the best coaster in the bunch...albeit partly because it's real competition never made it to the tournament. I'm glad that a ride like this does reside at Holiday World, because I know they will take care of it.
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