Have it out in the comments.
Update: Allow me to make another pitch for Facebook readers to join Theme Park Insider's Facebook page. We'll be dumping much in-park and on-ride video there this summer.
Update 2: Two o'clock's come and gone on the west coast, so voting is closed. We've moved on to the other set of quarterfinals, with Spider-Man vs. Hulk and Millennium Force vs. Everest.
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Me...Apollo and Griffon should move on...but thats not posssible... I vote Griffon and Mummy
The second matchup is tough for me. I really like Mummy, the theme and immersion makes it the best ride on the Universal Studios side of the park. Both rides provide thrills, but just differently. Mummy uses themes, effects and a mildly interesting coaster track really well, Maverick uses a 95 degree drop, a well designed layout with inversions and high banked turns, and a well timed launch at the end, and it delivers with a height of only a hundred feet. It's not totally without theme either...the station and queue have the western flavor.
While Mummy is a top notch theme ride that's worth the wait, I prefer to travel fast on a roller coaster. I hate to vote against Mummy, but Maverick has my vote.
It appears that a CP fansite that has been highly involved in the tournament is having some technical issues right now. As of 11:00 eastern time, the Cedar Point blog has not posted a link to the matchup. Are the theme park gods prevailing today?
Update - The word is out now... here come the Anonymous Voters! Just waiting for the official CP blog to link in...
Mark it: Mummy had a 30% lead before the Anonymous Vote started. Let's see what happens now.
Anyway, I did vote for Maverick, especially since I have been looking at the Blog and no post. As for the other one, I'm not sure since I've ridden neither, and they both seem like good rides with people singing the praises of both. Kind of going to close my eyes and click I think! :)
Edit: Ok my scientific voting mode (since I have to vote before I go to work and the polls close) is I'm picking Griffon, because I voted for Apollo before and not Griffon. Highly scientific, eh? :)
Adam... you might be going insane... watch out... it happens to all of us during tournament time! ;)
I love them both.
However, there is no real competition between a themed attraction and a thrilling roller coaster.
True, the Mummy has a fantastic feel, but it lacks the WOW! factor of the Maverick.
The Maverick is the highest caliber roller coaster that I have ever ridden. When I think thrill, I think Maverick, not a pusillanimous theme ride that, although well put together, lacks the blaze of enjoyment of a true roller coaster.
I have ridden both ROTM and Maverick. So I can fairly vote on those. From the previous comment in the parenthesis you probably know which way my vote is going. But hear me out, I absolutely love the themeing for ROTM. All the little nuances make it a great ride. I love it and hate to have to vote against it. I voted for Maverick because of what I look for in a ride. I want something that makes my stomach drop, I want speed and surprises. Yes, ROTM has surprises and yes it's a great ride and it's one of the best in the Orlando area. But it's not thrilling in the way I want thrilling. It's hard to compare the two since they bring different things to the table. Both are great rides and I really enjoy them both!
Sorry you guys feel all the CP fans and roller coaster/anonymous fans mess up the voting for this competition. Just because we like roller coasters doesn't mean we can't enjoy theme parks too. I like both!!!
As for Mummy and Maverick, I'll give it to Mummy just to make the margin slightly more even.
Griffon Vs. Apollo's Chariot: I had to go for Griffon, I enjoyed SheiKra and loved Griffon, it's a Dive Machine where you're looking forward to the coaster post-dive as much as you are the initial drop.
Maverick Vs. Revenge of the Mummy: I love thrill rides, I really do, same goes for themed attractions. So, taking that into consideration I had to go with Mummy. Maverick is better for thrills, but has no considerable themeing. Revenge, although less thrilling has an amazing storyline and still packs a punch.
Mummy should win hands down, no mistake. Maverick is just another roller coaster in a mix of roller coasters at CP. In fact, its not even CPs top roller coaster. The Mummy is theming to its finest.
I went with Apollo Chariot in the first one because it will always be known as the one that broke Fabio's nose!
The official CP Blog has not linked in as far as I can tell.
Griffon vs. A's Chariot=Griffon....Love it
Before the Anonymous Vote hit, Mummy had a 30% lead with about 170 votes cast. That means the vote was more than 2 to 1 against Maverick from registered voters.
It just proves that the CP Forums pack a mighty punch. Kudos to them.
We'll just go with it... next year's tournament will not have these issues.
Besides, we're splitting hairs... all of these rides are worthy.
I'm going to agree with James on Apollo vs. Griffon. Although Griffon is exhilarating - as others have mentioned, it is a one trick pony. Apollo gives you that fantastic airtime and a smooth, long ride every time. Apollo gets it.
And it's time to stop bashing the Cedar Point fans! I am one of them! I think Cedar Point is one of the absolute best destinations in the entire world! When I'm asked to name my favorite ride park I always must clarify. My favorite AMUSEMENT park is Cedar Point. My favorite THEME park is Universal Orlando.
And thus...two of my absolute favorites are going head to head. I thought long and hard about this.
I'm going with the Mummy...
Mummy: 9
Maverick: 4
Revange of the Mummy is the best themed attraction out there and Maverick gives a great ride. Tough vote.
I'm all for Maverick winning, but in a fair race. Or, it could be a CP hater trying to make everyone mad at the CP fans... Conspiracy?
I would agree that Mummy is the best ride at Universal Studios Orlando not including IOA and well deserves a place.
Although I don't like to vote when I haven't experienced both rides I will in this case.
I won’t be voting for Apollo's Chariot or Griffon as although I have experience of dive coasters and love them I do not think I can fully appreciate the smoothness of AC without riding it.
Tom
Maverick v. Mummy - A great coaster with fairly good theming (no, really, for a coaster at CP it's pretty good) against a mediocre coaster hidden in a building with great theming. If you haven't been on Maverick, it's truly unique and you can't get a feel for it through a written description and a YouTube video alone. I'm going with Maverick but I could see others voting contrary (particularly Universal fans who haven't been to CP very recently).
We can vote multiple times?! If I'd known that Haunted Mansion would never have gone down! I'm sure there's some sort of IP address check to prevent that.
I will say this about the tournament-I was on Universal's web site last night checking out the (excellent) deals they have available right now-$100 for five days. I can see me taking a trip there in the next couple of weeks between spring break and summer vacation. Sounds like I need to check out a few rides again and re-evaluate! :)
Traffic from fan sites has had no effect on the voting in the tournament. The number of visits coming from all other fan sites, together, doesn't amount to more than a tiny fraction of the traffic that's coming to Theme Park Insider from Facebook, our e-mails and our Twitter feed.
FWIW, Universal Orlando has 113,280 fans, so if it could be bothered to link to the tournament, Mummy would make quick work of Maverick, I suspect.
Now, does that make this unfair? Heck no! I reply. This is an interactive tournament - mobilizing support through getting links from the right sources is part of the game. This is all opinion here - there is no objective way to measure whether one ride is better than another at this stage. All of these are delightful attractions, that thousands of people love.
Love Mummy? Then flood the U.O. Facebook site and urge the people who maintain it to message their fans.
I think this contest is going to be real interesting when it comes down to CP VS Busch in the next round...
Mummy: 10
Maverick: 5
Joe, Tom, Andre, Don, and Robert...can you give a hint as to which way you went?
Five more votes for Maverick would make this contest a tie and everyone can go back to work and be happy! We'd prove we are a well-rounded group of theme park fans!
I have never ridden Griffon, but my experience with Apollo's Chariot was so unbelievable that I know I'd like it better. I'm an airtime person, not an inversion/vertical drop junkie and the airtime I received from Apollo's Chariot was just ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I love to go upside down too but floating above my seat is way more fun than being plastered in it!
"I personally enjoy the fact that Mummy gets voted over Maverick by some people simply because of the theme. So, a mediocre ride that has a great theme wins out over a great ride that has a mediocre theme? Since that would cancel both rides out on paper, wouldn't you have to lean towards the more thrilling of the two?"
This from a member who has been on both, is well traveled around the parks, and voted against Millennium Force in the past.
No link from the CP website...guess fans do care enough to come back and support Maverick, which is actually just ablut as popular with Cedar Point fans as Millennium Force. The Busch/Cedar Point matchup will be interesting, but not as interesting as a Maverick/Millennium Force matchup if it happens.
The question about the Universal facebook page would be this. Are their fans frenzied enough like many Cedar Point fans are to keep up with the park's every move? Link it up Universal fans. Lets have a 5000..nah make it 10,000 vote showdown. I don't really care who wins, I just want to see the polls blow up...short of crashing the website of course. The point has been made about Cedar Point, now I'll sit back, vote, and be entertained.
Now, that....that JUST happened! ;)
Maverick has some neat elements, but nothing compares to the rear left seat on Mummy at the top of that launch hill. Crikey! Airtime and laterals like you've never experienced. Add to that some awesome effects, on-board audio, and a fake fiery ending with a surprise second launch, and a regular ol' coaster, no matter how good, just doesn't compare.
Mummy vs. Maverick. Maverick is a great coaster, and I don't think it is being fully appreciated by the commentors so far. That said, Mummy offers it all, with a good coaster portion and a great themed portion. Maverick is good, but I'll take Mummy over Maverick for my home park. Thus, Mummy got my vote, but I won't be sad if Maverick wins, because, in general (though not in this tournament with all the CP blind votes), I feel it is a very underappreciated ride.
Now that....well you know the rest.
I'm submitting links to this site on the Universal fan clubs.
Hopefully it's not too late.
As for Mummy and Maverick; there's no contest. The Mummy has some amazing theming and is good for some laughs, but Maverick makes a person reconsider his/her values for rating a coaster. If it weren't for its reliability issues and the restraints that can tend to crush your thighs if you hold them wrong (small issues considering the whole), Maverick would be the perfect coaster experience. It's 33 seed was simply preposterous.
I put AC over Griffon because it has more to it, more substance.
I also put Mummy over Maverick - whilst Maverick is my favorite roller coaster, Mummy offers an extraordinary experience, I love it to death!
We have to throw the money out, because the only way Disney pulls that cash is they pack in more people at all their parks than the rest of the industry combined. If they only had the Magic Kingdom and its 17 million visitors, they probably wouldn't be spending $100 mill an attraction. Maybe $50, but not $100.
Okay, so let's tackle the other argument: the open year 'round excuse.
Let's take Knotts Berry Farm and Magic Mountain for example. One Cedar Fair park (their flagship in attendance, by the way), and one Six Flags park. Both are coaster heavy (MM will soon be the coaster capital of the world if Cedar Point doesn't start building soon!), both are in sunny southern California, and both pull a combined attendance that is less than Disney's California Adventure, arguably the worst Disney park outside of Hong Kong. So the year round argument is not supported by facts.
However, let's presume that Cedar Point is better than Knotts and Magic Mountain. Let's also presume it had moved to sunny Orlando with its 15 adult coasters and extreme thrills. Do you really think that a family of four with 30-something parents and under 48" kids is going anywhere near your park when The Mouse House is just around the corner? Puh-lease...
Cedar Point is right where it needs to be, hanging its hat on the only thing it can: a handful of world class coasters supported by a series of average thrill rides, and a huge collection of standard midway attractions. Cedar Point is - without a doubt - the best stationary carnival in North America! PWND!
Oh yeah...them's fightin' words now!!! :D
And, Derek... just so you know... I am going home to be a daddy for a while... so I give up. You win! Kudos on your victory. Cedar Point Rules... and whatever else you want me to type to show you are the better man with the better park!
See you all in the next round!
The thing that bothers me the most(by the way, I chose Apollo and Mummy if anyone cares.) about the state of the tournament now, is the vote disparity between Cedar pairings and non-Cedar pairings. That disparity proves either a lack of well-roundedness for many people voting or a sense of just voting for a singular ride without proper analysis. These final rounds should be very close contests since these should all be first-class attractions. The BGE pairing proves that out.
I'll start by saying this. Cedar Point has the park and its coasters, and yes...a few generic flat rides. Think about it though, are all the non coaster rides really as worthless as you say they are? I really don't think so, and I'm sure that there are plenty who share my view. Maybe the problem is that Cedar Point has become too well known for coasters, because if you look around, there's a lot more to do inside and outside the park. The park is surrounded by waterparks, restaurants, mini golf, hotels, a beach, marina, cabins, and campgrounds of its own. While not nearly the size or scale of Disney's property, CP still offers a vacations worth of things to do.
Second, Disney wouldn't have 25 million visitors if they didn't spend the kind of money that they do, so you can't throw money out of the argument. They also inconveniently split their attractions into several parks, charging out the wazoo for each of them. If I'm at MGM and I would like to ride the river rapids, I would say "Gee, now I have to pay another $250 for my family of four to go to Animal Kingdom" The log flume? That will be another $250. With Cedar Point, it's all in one park for one price, even if that price was $70, which it probably wouldn't be anyway. Money is very much part of the equation.
Another question, how are you so sure that people would choose the "mouse around the corner"? They haven't really chosen them in this tournament. I'll give you the fact that a family with young children would likely go to Disney instead, if they can afford it. What I will give my side of the argument, is the high probability that CP would have the same kind of loyal passholder/fan base it has now, in a market much larger than their current one, and would also expand their primary marketing range outside of 250 miles and advertise to the world like Disney. Cedar Point would probably not have 25 million visitors in Florida, but to say that it wouldn't have a significant portion of the market is once again...an underestimation. Hasn't the lesson of underestimation been learned yet?
It's all speculation anyway. You can have Disney. I'm glad that Cedar Point is where it is...just a couple of hours away from my house : )
I see the voting has really picked up and the matchup is close. Now things are getting interesting and I love it. Congrats on another big turnout Robert.
Good match, one of the best yet!
Now, as far as the whole CP for family thing goes, I have been going with my family there for the last 4 years. My daughter is now 8 and 51" tall and my son is almost 6 and 45" tall but keep in mind four years ago they were younger and much smaller, but they were allowed to ride A LOT of rides. If you actually look at the number of kids rides they have you will be amazed. With 3 large kids areas coupled with the ability for some kids to ride "big people flats" like the Super Himalaya, Tilt, Calypso, Monster(all these are "accompanied by rides" therefore as long as you are with your 28 inch tall kid they can ride) it's actually pretty impressive the amount of rides a toddler can get on there without having to wait in gigantic lines like the coasters get or some of the Disney attractions. Heck, my son's first log flume ride was White Water Landing back in 2005 and he was only TWO at the time and less than 36". This is Cedar Points best kept secret, it is a PHENOMENAL family park, in addition to being one of the best thrill parks there is.
Josh, whatever you did on the Universal boards... wow. (And do it again for Spider-Man, please).
Robert, I think another comment from you is in order. How did this happen?
My kids need me... I am too stunned to function. Someone call 9-1-1, I think I need a defibrillator.
Either way, I'm hated. Such is life.
Many discrepancies throughout this entire tournament. First four polls are posted for 24 hours. Next two polls posted in 'morning' and 'evening' sections, without any notice of the change of defined information. Now, two polls are posted, then two more polls are started, then the first two are closed. What's next?
Universal linking on Facebook to this is great. But how is this tournament being operated? Open up the next round then early because two Uni rides are going head to head and trying to take advantage of the visitor influx. Come on, the polls should have been shut down to 'investigate' the influx. Ha!
Now...no more whining and crying about "fixes", "blind voters", and "linking up to the tournament" I'm sure that some of those voters were every bit as uninformed as some of the Cedar Point ones are. After all, several tried to bump Maverick with Snorin last round.
Kudos to Robert and Kudos to Universal Orlandos Facebook, and hey, CP, kudos for trying.
More Kudos to Robert for sticking to his guns and not extending it (Although iit woulda been fun to see CP get whooped)
Roll on the final!
I didn't mean for Mummy to sweep Maverick. I just wanted the voting margin to be a little closer.
I've gotten many replies from the sites I've posted on for Uni fan boys. I feel like Joe Ismay when he told the Titanic's captain Smith to go faster for good press.
Oh, well. Maverick knocked out my Tower. All is fair in love and war. Right, Robert?
Think of all the great traffic for this site and how many new people might just sign up and share their thoughts and opinions about all the great parks out there.
And also, think of all the CP fans that might consider checking out Universal and all the Universal fans that might make the trip to CP. Both parks are great and have different things to offer.
;-)
Look, I am just as upset with Universal fanboys ganging-up to vote for their ride as I am with Cedar Point fanboys doing the same. Hopefully, now that there is some balance, people will begin voting for overall quality instead of their home park or favorite park. Great rides are all over the country and need to be acknowledged.
P.S. All the anonymous voters are welcome to register. We would love to have you. :)
If this is the way the voting is going to go from here on out though, I can easily see Everest taking this tourney, backed by a rabid bunch of linked in Disneyana fans looking to claim they're park(s) of preference once again have the top ride in america. Broken Yeti or not, they'll be out for blood, especially after the way TOT got trounced out of contention.
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"Hello Ben, welcome back to the land of the living." Sorry, I am having a LOST moment...
On with the contests...
Mummy vs Maverick:
A thrilling narrative attraction (Revenge of the Mummy) versus an uber coaster with minimal theming (Maverick). I will say this: I have not ridden Maverick yet, so I am torn about voting at all, but to offset Anonymous Voters who have never ridden Orlando’s version of ROTM, I will go ahead and hedge my bets on what I consider to be one of the best themed coasters in North America. I will let the comments of registered TPI users make the argument in favor of ROTM:
I am not a fan of the Mummy films, but thought this ride was fantastic! This is an indoor roller coaster with great special effects and pyrotechnics. The walk to board the ride is also creepy as you pass catacombs and Egyptian artifacts. Definitely scared me and might be too much for some children. The story and theming of the ride are amazing. - Emily G
Revenge of the Mummy is a GREAT ride and certainly one of (if not THE) best attractions at Universal Studios. The special effects and theming are superb and there are some fun surprises. This is just a fun ride all around. - Lindsay Murray
In my opinion, this is the best ride at USF. The depth of the theme makes it outstanding. - Carl Stovall
The best ride at Universal Studios Florida. - Chris K
10/10 Total Perfection. My sister and I rode this almost 7x in a row! Great ride. - Molly R
The Mummy is the best themed coaster I have ever ridden… the sights and thrills and great fake-out ending make it tops in my book. - Raul Araoz
Revenge of the Mummy at USF is one of my most favorite attractions that I have ever ridden. When it first opened, I rode it 15 times in one day! Everytime I'm at Universal Orlando I ride it over and over and over again. - Scottland Jacobson
ROTM at USF is a truly great attraction, one that hits you in all the right places on every level of the entertainment scale. Themed to near perfection (story + decorations), the ride is equal parts chilling, thrilling, funny, and unique. ROTM is the type of attraction that puts the "THEME" in theme park. Outstanding! – James Rao
Griffon vs Apollo’s Chariot:
Having vacationed in Williamsburg last summer, the memories of both rides are still fresh in my mind. I loved the Griffon, especially in the front row, hanging for what seemed an eternity, waiting to fall. It was an awesome experience, and contrary to the opinions of some others, very unique. However, Apollo’s Chariot is the smoothest airtime machine I have ever ridden. And when I rode in the front row, the experience was the closest I have ever come to flying without an airplane. I gotta pick Apollo’s Chariot, it is the superior ride.
ALT-TABBING back to work... Later!