Mitch Hawker 2009 Coaster Poll

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Nightfall
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I would have agreed about SW6 being around Air and Oblivions position but after noticing how well the Mega-lite’s are doing it might surprise people. Remember that SW6 is a lot like a very small Mega-lite on the forest section so maybe the designers have noticed the popularity of air time in polls like this and designed it accordingly.

Bizarro was re-themed this year so I’m not surprised it jumped to the top spot.
By "Jumped" I didn't mean that it wasn't already at the top, woops.
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John
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Bizarro was #1 before the retheme as Superman:ROS

A few observations:

Tele2 Insane only had 16 riders, so its position is probably quite vague

Quite a jump for the ultimate this year: up 44 places. I'd like to think I helped a bit here.

Great result for nemesis, up a place from the provisional standings.

Also, looking at mutual rider comparisons for nemesis: it had a winning score against favourite wooden coaster by a huge majority. The only other steel coasters to beat the top woodies were Katun, Blue fire, Oblivion and Air!

The coasters Nemesis lost out to were: the top 3, the mega lites, Goliath SFOG (?), Katun and (most interestingly) Blue fire by a single voter, one person changing their mind would have put nemesis up to 6th (blue fire would remain 12th). There was also a tie with Goliath (Walibi World).
AstroDan

An interesting idea, here are the coasters I have done that are eligible for the Steel poll:

1. Expedition Ge Force
2. Nemesis
3. Blue Fire
4. Dragon Khan
5. Black Mamba
6. Winjas
7. Stealth
8. Silver Star
9. Oblivion
10. Nemesis Inferno
11. Furius Baco
12. Air
13. Big Thunder Mountain (Paris)
14. Saw
15. Knightmare
16. Euro-Mir
17. Rita
18. Crush's Coaster
19. Colossus
20. Rock n Roller Coaster (Paris)
21. Colorado Adventure
22. Mumbo Jumbo
23. Steeplechase
24. Eurosat
25. Kumali
26. Spinball/Whirlwind/Dragons Fury
27. Velocity
28. Vampire
29. Booster Bike
30. Trace du Hourra
31. Poseidon
32. Pepsi Max Big One
33. Matterhorn Blitz
34. Avalanche
35. Schweizer Bob Bahn (EP)
36. Rattlesnake/Wild Mouse
37. Space Mountain Mission 2
38. Pegasus (EP)
39. Atlantica Super Splash
40. Shock Wave
41. Space Invader 2
42. Temple of the Night Hawk
43. Vol d'Icare
44. Corkscrew (FL)
45. El Diablo
46. G Force
47. Indiana Jones et le Temple de Peril
48. X:/ No Way Out
49. Goudurix

The above really shows much I disagree... The idea that Steeplechase is better than Eurosat is laughable, and the same goes for how low Space Mountain Mission 2 is... it's way better than Crush's Coaster! Also, Colorado is lower than BTM - year right! As for the top end, EGF is not my favourite coaster, albeit one of the best - I prefer Nemesis, Mamba and Blue Fire. Baco is also considerably worse than Rita, too... Winjas also, they're cool... but the 6th best coaster(s) I have done? I think not!

:D
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[quote=""Disco Ball""]
Last. Tornado[/quote]

Is it wrong that I feel just a little bit proud? Scotland finally has a coaster worthy of note. The world's worst :mrgreen:

Champions! Champions! Champions!

A little part of me wants to get on the first train to Motherwell and ride that. It's so rough, that pov looks like something out of the Blair Witch Project. I like how the (now removed, fact fans) corkscrew is so horrendous, it basically breaks that person's camera.
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That looks awful! :P
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Johno
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Bizarro looks pretty immense. But I presume thats what they pick for, rather than quality of the overall experience?
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furie
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Bizarro is indeed immense (I'm sitting on the next to the camera on the POV Disco Ball posted :lol: ).

It's just something else, it really is. It's so incredibly fast, has so much air time. Then the back end pummels you with massively high g's that make the Nemesis helix feel like a snuggly puppy.

It deserves its top place, but for me, the spread between the top steel coasters (in ride quality) isn't actually that massive. If you had to give them scores out of 10, then Bizarro would get a 10, but Nemesis would be on a 9.93. I know that's just using its position in the charts, but you really do need to rate these things that closely in my opinion.
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Haha I can't believe that Tornado is offically the worst coaster in the world. I live 5 minutes from m&ds and I can understand why, though it has to be said that their suspended coaster Tsunami is even worse than Tornado.

So proud of Nemesis, it says a lot that its still up in the top ten after 15 years. :)
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[quote=""laura87""]Haha I can't believe that Tornado is offically the worst coaster in the world. I live 5 minutes from m&ds and I can understand why, though it has to be said that their suspended coaster Tsunami is even worse than Tornado.[/quote]
Heyyyyyyy... Tsunami isn't THAT bad, in fact it's quite good! Certainly not the worst steel coaster in the world. :P

Edit: Also AstroDan, the idea that Air comes out so high in that list is absolutely laughable. It surely can't be better than Euro Mir/Sat and TdH and it certainly isn't as good as Knightmare, Steeplechase, Velocity or even PMBO. Why do people rate it so high?! :roll:
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Some interesting choices there, Bizarro looks nothing special really how it got to Number one I don't know, it has some cool effects but it looks no different to most other similar coasters. Same with Diamondback. When will something original win?

Eagles Fortress, Now that looks like serious fun and deserved of the top ten, I know I would adore that ride.
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AstroDan

[quote=""Sam!""][quote=""laura87""]Haha I can't believe that Tornado is offically the worst coaster in the world. I live 5 minutes from m&ds and I can understand why, though it has to be said that their suspended coaster Tsunami is even worse than Tornado.[/quote]
Heyyyyyyy... Tsunami isn't THAT bad, in fact it's quite good! Certainly not the worst steel coaster in the world. :P

Edit: Also AstroDan, the idea that Air comes out so high in that list is absolutely laughable. It surely can't be better than Euro Mir/Sat and TdH and it certainly isn't as good as Knightmare, Steeplechase, Velocity or even PMBO. Why do people rate it so high?! :roll:[/quote]

I don't know. I know Air is very popular with the public, but not so much with enthusiasts. Odd. I would say it's better than Trace du Hourra though, and Steeplechase and PMBO.

I must say Eurosat is stupidly low. It's a really rated ride with enthusiasts - hence popular ERT choices on it for coaster groups. It's a lot better than Euro Mir and many of the coasters above it in my view.
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[quote=""Spike""]Some interesting choices there, Bizarro looks nothing special really how it got to Number one I don't know, it has some cool effects but it looks no different to most other similar coasters. Same with Diamondback. When will something original win?[/quote]

LOL! Ride it and you'd know :D It's just SO fast, and has SO much ejector air. Then it's got SO many twists and dives and high g's. It's everything a coaster nut looks for in a single, ride.

You know when you're enjoying a ride, then it ends and you want more? Bizzaro gives you that more, and it just keeps on giving. It's just a simple out and back with some twists at the end - but there isn't a single coaster in this country which gives anywhere near the airtime, and even the helix on Nemesis is a puppy next to the high g's on the ride.

It does deserve it :lol:

[quote=""Spike""]
Eagles Fortress, Now that looks like serious fun and deserved of the top ten, I know I would adore that ride.[/quote]

Very true, I think you do need fun, but the fun has to be delivered in an amazing way. EF seems to do that. The fact it needs a complete refurb each year because it's so powerful it rips itself apart probably helps.

The problem is, that fun rides are rides like Saw, Dragon's Fury, etc. They tend to be a laugh - but it's rare you get fun backed up by a "wow, that was an amazing experience". So yeah, I think that's why it's a bit bland.

I always find the steel poll to be much more out of touch though than the wooden poll. I don't know why, but it always confuses me much more than the rankings on the wooden poll.

To be honest, I still have no idea why Nemesis ranks in the top ten. It's a great coaster, I don't deny it, but in world terms it's behind the times now. I think it's because other coasters split opinions. Some people love Alpengeist, others think it's naff. So it gets a very split vote. Nemesis though has a lot of people (like me) who still rate it pretty highly. While I have Alpengeist above it, equally as many people will have Nemesis high, but maybe Talon or Katun higher again.

So Nemesis sits in that "good" spot on most people's polls. The rest are divided and therefore conquered :)
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Spike
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I'll take your word for it about Bizarro Phil having never ridden it. ;) It just appears to be no different than many others of it's type. When coasters like Walibi World's Goliath enter the top ten it seems to validate my point, maybe Bizarro has that little bit more bite to it. I mean Goliath is 7 years old now and yet still creeps in there. Intamin do seem to have layouts down to a tee as there are two of the same ride layouts in the top ten.

Regards to Nemmie being in there, I think it's only fair that it is in there. The fact it fends off competition from supposed better US coasters is a great accolade. It still is highly regarded by all those who ride it because it's timeless, relentless and was way ahead of it's time when constructed. Like a fine wine it has matured with age and having seen and read comment from forums across the world it's still rated top ten by many people who have ridden it. I for one am happy it's still stop ten, not because I'm obsessed with it, but because it is a world class ride in my book.

One thing I did notice and wet myself is that Zipper Dipper rated higher than PMBO. :evillaugh: :chuckel:
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furie
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I've not been on the Mega-lites, so can't comment. I hear quite mixed reviews though. Then again, I hear very mixed reviews about EGF too. The Mega-lites are like the back half of Bizarro. So imagine those, then add on a 200+ foot first drop and several high air time, very high hills to start the ride. It sets the pace at the start, then finishes with a real bam. If it was just the latter half, then it would be "good", but not "fantastic".

Still not convinced by Nemesis though :lol: As I say, it does transcend boundaries though. The others people love or hate and it's very divided in opinion. As you say, Nemesis is a superb bit of design and it's enjoyed by most people. It's this consistent nature which makes it rank so high - so maybe it does deserve it, but I'm not 100% convinced :lol:
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Sam
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What makes Nemesis unique (and pure brilliant) is it's layout. I'd say it has probably the most original, innovative layout of any major steel coaster in the world - it's certainly the most unique B&M. Everything about it is unconventional, especially compared to pretty much every single other invert, even Mamba. Starting with such a tiny drop and with a corkscrew as the first inversion is risky, but then instead of counterbalancing that with an upward helix... to go into a downward helix is inspirational design.

The fact that the loop comes halfway through the layout is also very unique. Even Mamba starts with the traditional drop-loop formula. It's Nemesis's way of constantly gaining speed through most of the layout, instead of being fastest and having it's climax on the first drop, is what makes it so special. Like Knightmare at Camelot too, as the ride goes on it maintains or even increases the pace, right into the final inversion. That possibly gives a clue to Eagle's Fortress's high placing too, a very similar ride. :)
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Nightfall
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It's interesting how similar so many rides are. Although both B&M and Intamin appear to be designing new rides each year the standard formula remain reasonably constant. As furie said: "The Mega-lites are like the back half of Bizarro". If SW6 was being built elsewhere I’m willing to bet that the outside section would be like any other mega-lite, no matter what happens inside.

When I watched Eagles Fortress the layout instantly reminded me of Nemesis. They are both in the top 10 because they offer something you can only get on a few rides in the world.
Although Arrow created some very unstable rides, they have to be congratulated for the huge differences in layout. Unfortunately that’s probably why they went bust.

I suppose that's answered the question of "why the Steel polls always have strange results". There are so many different designs for steel coasters: Inversions, Launching (or just faster), higher, steeper and weirder.
Most people will find one ride that performs best in its category and make sure it high on their list. As a result the top of the rankings are revelled to have a good mixture of designs that are all the best in their categories. Everyone’s going to disagree with one of the top rides simply because it’s not there type of ride.
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AstroDan

Blue Fire has also been voted the worlds best launched coaster, based on the poll.

A healthy accolade for a manufacturer who had never made a loop, let alone even a launch, pre-2009!

:D
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I do not see how the heck Montu has made it into the top 20...

In my opinion it's forceless and not even close to Kumba which has been rated lower than it.
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