We've got one more Disney vs. Disney match-up today, as well:
(2) Indiana Jones Adventure vs.
(15) Kilimanjaro Safaris
Disney goes against Busch as two of Orlando's more popular thrill rides face off:
(38) Test Track vs.
(11) Kraken
And, we finish with a Busch vs. Busch match-up of underdogs which fought their way into the final 16:
(25) Journey to Atlantis (SeaWorld Orlando) vs.
(41) Montu
We've updated the tournament bracket (hit reload if you don't see the fresh version), too. Let's proceed with the Pirates vs. Mansion holy war in the comments, please... ;-)
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Kilimanjaro holds a special place in my heart as it was my first Disney attraction, and I felt Jones was pretty overrated. I know Jones will win, but the safari gets my vote.
Kraken takes the track, no questions asked. It's a damn good coaster, and Test Track just falls short of being a good ride (by Disney's standards).
I'm taking Montu over Atlantis. It's the best inverted coaster I've ridden, and it's one of the few that is long enough to really throw you around.
This is one of the few rounds where I chose mostly thrills over theme. This round seems like a toss-up.
Kraken got my vote over Test Track. I'm just not a fan of Test Track, and I'll take a good coaster over a so-so themed ride every time. Montu got my vote over Atlantis for the same reason.
Here are some other numbers to chew on. Breakdown of the park chain participation in the tournament went like this.
Disney- 30 rides (47%)
Universal- 13 rides (20%)
Busch/Seaworld- 9 rides (14%)
Cedar Fair- 4 rides (6%)
Six Flags- 4 rides (6%)
Dollywood- 3 rides (5%)
Legoland- 1 ride (1%)
You can decide for yourself what that means to you. Disney has a lot of rides in this tournament, many deserved, some not. There were a few other rides whose selection was questionable.
Loch Ness Monster- 30 year old Arrow looper (ouch). The ride doesn't totally suck, but it's well past it's prime. In a few lists of the 50 best coasters, it's not even number 50. I think Busch got a freebie there.
Tennessee Tornado- Another aging Arrow looper. Sorry guys but in the age of B&M and Intamin, the older Arrow stuff just isn't on the level anymore.
Dueling Dragons- Don't stone me for blasphemy. I realize that one of the tracks is still in the tourney, but the ride got 2 spots in the tournament. Personally I think that one spot is good enough...maybe even generous, given that the tracks rely on each other for the one unique stunt that they do. There are still 5 B&M inverted coasters better than either DD, and 3 of them aren't in the tournament. The fact that this ride resides in Universal is more than helping it along.
Some other jokers
Dumbo- carnival ride that happens to be inside Disney
Dr Seuss- train ride that happens to be in IOA
Winnie The Pooh- are we trying to throw in every Disney ride here?
Dr. Doom's Fearfall- If this ride is in a Six Flags park, it doesn't make it into the tournament.
Mr. Toad- This ride did win in the first round...in a vote for the school spaz for prom king as a joke kind of way.
There are some other rides that I think deserved entry into the tournament in lieu of giving another entry away to Disney or Universal. And now, Derek's tournament snubs.
Voyage (Holiday World)-Obviously nobody here has ridden it, but believe me you should
Scooby Doo and The Haunted Castle (Kings Island)- A cross between Cat in The Hat and Men in Black.
Fire in The Hole (Silver Dollar City)- One of this site's greatest mysteries is this. Why isn't Silver Dollar City featured on this site? Great themed dark ride, no exposure.
X (Magic Mountain)-???
Volcano The Blast Coaster (Kings Dominion)-Theme park fans should appreciate this one a lot more than they do.
Superman Krypton (SF Fiesta Texas)- Everyone around here has heard of Kraken, but few around here have ridden it's superior.
I can't say that any of these rides would have won, but I can say that they deserved to be in the best ride tournament, at the very least more than some that got in. Anyone else got any snubs?
Totally agree on X and Volcano missing. When people ask me what my favorite coaster is that I've ever ridden...surprisingly, my answer is Volcano: The Blast Coaster. It's extreme joy packed into what looks like a run-down, super-sized version of Peter Brady's volcano science project (or was it Bobby?) on the Brady Bunch.
And Scooby Doo's castle dark rides are quite inventive.
This contest is tough. Everything left is completely worth it.
But there are two other rides that I wished I had put in the tournament, and two that I wished I'd pulled out. And I could think of about 10 more that could have gone either way.
That said, none of them would be around at this point. And, I'm pretty impressed with how well the seedings have held up so far. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if all four of the top four seeds make it to the semifinals.
And, Robert, I think for a first time event, this tournament has been an excellent time sink for most of us. I am looking forward with anticipation to your post mortem....and to your ideas for the next one. There's been a lot of activity on this site over the past few weeks, and a lot of retrospective thought on just how we rate attractions at TPI. Only good things will come of this tournament in the long run.
For today's voting:
DL's Pirates, as I stated in a previous post, is yesterday's Spider-Man. It was, and maybe still is, the best themed attraction of all time.
Almost pulled the trigger for Kilimanjaro Safaris just because you never know what animals you will see each time, but the "Jungle Cruise-like" commentary just grates on your nerves after a few visits. So, the loud and rugged Indy wins by default.
Test Track is fun and in many ways unique, but Kraken, with almost no theming, just happens to be my favorite coaster. Smooth and graceful, it is worth the price of admission to Sea World, Orlando (can't wait to see what their new coaster is going to be!).
Lastly, I am still shocked to see Journey To Atlantis still in the tournament. A decent ride with a unique combination of flume and coaster elements that just didn't quite work for me. I'd give it a vote just for effort, but I gotta go with the mildly themed, but immensely fun Montu instead.
There you have it, just like Joshua, this traditional theme park junkie goes with almost all thrills today!
This tournament was a great idea. Robert put a lot of effort into doing it, and Tim Strickland deserves props for thinking of it. And you think Superman: Ride of Steel is the greatest coaster of all time? HA. This tournament isn't the biggest joke of all time, you are.
You're saying Amusement Today and the Golden Tickets are laughing their "azzes" off? Well, good thing they're a credible source. Not like they're biased in favor of Cedar Point, or anything. They also gave Knoebels the "Best Food" award last year. Yeah, gotta love that Pennsylvanian palette. Delicious... BARF.
Go take out your anger on YouTube, bud. I've heard it helps.
Oh, and Derek - I love your analogy of Mr. Toad being the high school spaz who gets voted prom king. Easily my favorite comment in the tourney, so far.
Sorry, judging by your posts, you likely can't drink beer, yet. Don't worry - I heard kids don't like it, anyway.
And I do know what the Golden Tickets are. I have a subscription to Amusement Today.
Oh, and you're right - I am four years old. Sad that you can't beat a four-year-old in an argument.
Anyways, I got an exam to write in a few. I'm out. But feel free to keep berating me, it's hilarious.
If you find this site to be so boring and weak, then I don't understand why you seem to spend so much time on it. Go back to the other places you keep comparing TPI to and you'll be much happier. This tournament is based on the public's VOTE as in a COLLECTIVE opinion. Just because someone votes against a ride that YOU love, say something at CP, it doesn't mean that they are saying that it's not a great ride (ALL of these rides have strong points). No one's stopping you from voting for and enjoying the rides that you love. In addition, if the rides that you're supporting are truly worth the trouble that you seem to be trying to cause, then get your other CP fans on here and have them vote! Or, better yet, pay for everyone voting on this website to fly to every park where you deem the rides deserving and let them decide for themselves. I don't agree with every winner of every match-up in this tournament, but I respect others' opinions, likes and dislikes. You should probably think about that. Also, try to remember that some people probably put a lot of time into setting up this tournament, so if you have such a problem with it, just do the respectful voters here a favor and go back to Amusement Today.
That's it.
Again, I'd like to say that I think this tournament is a great idea andlots of fun!
P.S. I LOVE coasters and think this guy makes coaster enthusiasts look bad.
How the heck can Everest beat Hulk or Sheikra Lose….
I can see the point some are making that some really good rides are being left off the voting list, but when it gets right down to it more people experience the Orlando attractions than do other great rides.
I have been to King's Island many times on a summer night and could walk right up to the chute on the Beast. That's not something you see often in Orlando even in the off season. There's just way too much traffic.
The matchup to watch will be EE vs. Pirates/HM that will be a brawl.
I think DD Ice and there Cinderella run will come to an end after they face Indian Jones/ Safari
Finally I'm pretty sure TOT will hold off either TT or the kraken.
It's going to be some good matchups next round and some but kicks, but we all know after watching the voting you never know what's going to happen.
Cedar Point 4-ever!!!!
Since X is getting a new name and (at least promised) new effects, I close the old listing and created a new one. And it's just a bad coincidence in timing that the gap between the old and new X hit just as we were doing the tournament.
That was definitely one of the issues I wanted to address in the post-mortem. But I did agonize over that bad timing for a bit.
Didn't mean to open a can of worms with my previous post Robert. I could have waited to bring up some of those things later. I was attempting to stir up discussion other than reading a giant lovefest for all of the rides left. Call it trying to expand the minds of readers outside the boundaries of Florida and California. I figured you probably left X out on a technicality, not that I agree mind you, but I see why you did so.
PS
I've been to Cedar Point, it's a great place....
As long as you don't go on the weekend...
During the rat race...
There's a fine art to waiting in line...
It's called waiting less
By planning your time
If you spend too much money at the point, that's your harm
Because unlike Disney, CP doesn't charge an arm.
I just got some crackers to go with that cheese.
PS. James agreed with me? Hath hell frozen over?
And Pirates/Mansion voters - don't forget that the Mansion can be dressed up for the holidays with a bit 'o Jack Skellington - can Pirates do that!?
Robert - agree with your exclusion on X. If it's going to be a new ride, then the ratings need to start fresh.
Theme park or amusement park. Doesn't matter to me. I'm just thankful to live in a nation that has so many options. When I'm in the mood to drop from 400 feet up, I'll head to CP. When I'm in the mood for some total immersion attractions with varying amounts of thrills - it's Universal or Disneyworld. We've got it all...and it's all truly amazing!!
Thanks for doing this Robert! This is a total blast!!!
And we are not far off, you and I. We both like thrilling attractions and well kept up parks. The only difference is that when push comes to shove (like in a tournament like this one) I'll take an Everest over a Millennium Force, and you would do the opposite. Thankfully, push does not come to shove when on vacation, so I get to enjoy both!
What I can't stand is that my local park, Worlds of Fun, has 43 attractions (shoot, at WOF they are simply "rides"), with only 5 of them being decent. Cedar Fair owns WOF, and any disdain I have for Cedar Fair stems from the lack of love they give my local park as opposed to any issues at Cedar Point.
CP is the best COASTER PARK in the world!
There I said it. Even Jake is smiling.
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