2012 Best Attraction Tournament: Prowler vs. Montu

March 8, 2012 at 3:43 PM · Prowler. Smooth as silk, fast as lightning, one of a kind layout, intense from beginning to end, and even better when darkness comes. A vote for Prowler is a vote for greatness.

March 8, 2012 at 3:45 PM · I voted Montu.

March 8, 2012 at 3:46 PM · You're killing me Robert. My home state crown jewel vs. my favorite inverted B&M. Apples and oranges. While arguably Montu may be a better ride, that fact that such a great GCI woodie is in my local* Cedar Fair owned park forces me to give Prowler my endorsement this round.

*local for me is about two hours away - but then that's how far away a decent airport is too.

March 8, 2012 at 3:51 PM · Montu...coz it's awesome!

March 8, 2012 at 4:54 PM · Montu's the better experience.

March 8, 2012 at 5:46 PM · Montu, for me, is a perfect ride. So I vote for that.

March 8, 2012 at 5:48 PM · I've only been on one of these, but I voted for the one I HAVEN'T been on, oddly enough. I liked Montu a lot, but it's not even the best ride in its own park, and I'm not sure it would make my top 5 inverts. Prowler, however, has been beckoning me since its debut. Several people I trust have told me it's better than El Toro. I'll believe THAT when I ride it and form my own opinion. Based on the voting, it looks like Rao may not work his magic again, but Prowler got my vote. Seems to have everything I like in a coaster. Too bad it's so far away. Maybe this summer...

March 8, 2012 at 9:46 PM · Mike, if El Toro rivals the Voyage, than Prowler is not in its league. Think of Prowler more along the lines of the Raven, American Thunder, and Renegade: compact, but relentless throughout its course. What it does really well is sit tight against the terrain, weaving back and forth like a wild cat chasing its prey. Furthermore, after night falls there are no lights on the track after the main drop. So once the coaster gets going, it takes a blind race back into the woods before returning its exhilarated riders safely back to the station amid laughing, cheering, and clapping. Great ride... one of my favorites.

As for the current status of the vote, Robert accidentally picked a bad time for this contest as KC loves its local NCAA teams. Still, we have 20+ hours to go and the KC contingent has to leave the Big 12 Tournament sometime. We'll see what happens....

March 8, 2012 at 6:38 PM · I haven't been on either of these but...

I've been on four GCIs (American Thunder, Apocalypse, Roar, and Thunderhead). All four are really good rides, and three are in my top ten wooden coasters. I have also been on nine B&M inverts (Afterburn, Alpengeist, Flight Deck, Raptor, Silver Bullet, and four Batman clones). Most of them are pretty good, but none make it into my top ten steel coaster list (4 of the five non-Batmans are in my top 25, however). I prefer my favorite GCI (Thunderhead) to my favorite Invert (Silver Bullet), and I definitely prefer my least favorite GCI (Roar) to my least favorite Invert (SFGAdv's Batman). So, naturally, I voted for Montu.

WHAT? Well, Prowler is considered one of the top ten wooden coasters in the US, and Montu is considered one of the top 25 steel coasters in the US. However, Thunderhead is considered one of the top five wooden coasters in the US, and I have already been on it. I basically thought, "If I was offered the choice to ride one of these two rides tomorrow, independent of their respective parks, which would I pick?" and voted based on that. Plus, we've already got a wooden coaster in the next round (Voyage).

March 8, 2012 at 7:07 PM · Well explained, AJ, but I don't like the outcome. You should have gone with your heart not your head. ;)

March 8, 2012 at 8:36 PM · Montu shattered my preconceptions of inverted coasters. It's fast, smooth, beautiful, and leaves no trace of nausea. It could very well be the best coaster in Florida.

Montu, baby.

March 8, 2012 at 9:18 PM · It pleases me so much to see Prowler losing this badly. It shouldn't have even been in the quarterfinals. Go Montu! Avenge the Beast!

March 8, 2012 at 10:36 PM · Will there be any Magic Mountain coasters in the roller coaster bracket? I was there last December, and it has some of the top coasters anywhere. X-2 should be in this contest.

March 9, 2012 at 4:35 AM · A new day dawns... let's see if the KC Contingent can make a dent in this lead and bring some respectability to the vote. I guess I can accept that Montu may be a better coaster than Prowler, but it is not THAT much better!

March 9, 2012 at 9:59 AM · As a big fan of Montu (it's my favorite coaster anywhere), I was hoping it would get through this. I have heard far too many good things about Prowler for Montu to crush it this easily. The margin here is a bit surprising (I thought Montu would win with 55-60% of the vote, close but not too close.) But, hey, if that means Montu moves forward in it's path of world domination, I am for it.

Yeah, it won't win the tournament, but hey, I can dream.

March 9, 2012 at 12:35 PM · Prowler is surging... too little too late? At this point we're just aiming for respectability. Prowler is a kick butt coaster in a small town park with big time aspirations! Come on KC fans, GOTV!!!

Go Prowler!

March 9, 2012 at 1:19 PM · Montu is a good coaster, but Prowler gets my vote hands down. It is just an excellent woodie, and all of the many times I've ridden it, I've stepped off amazed at what an incredible job they've done in working the coaster into the landscape. It's really an outstanding coaster, and I'm glad we have it so close to home!

March 9, 2012 at 1:35 PM · Prowler breaks through the 30% barrier! Montu is buckling... Still 2.5 hours to go... we can do this!!!!

March 9, 2012 at 6:40 PM · Heading off to see JOHN CARTER. Fingers crossed for Prowler. Whatever happens, I am proud of the KC contingent for showing up and supporting one of the top wooden coasters in the world. Prowler soundly thumped The Beast, and advanced farther than I thought it would. Sadly it faced an upward climb against Florida bias which it could not overcome. Kudos, KC!

And for the rest of you, stop by Worlds of Fun and ride Prowler... you'll love it!

Edit: JOHN CARTER was terrific. Go see it.

March 10, 2012 at 7:45 AM · Tough loss James. Blame the percentages on demographics. Not enough Worlds of Fun fans on the site to stand up to the Florida contingent. Montu really probably isn't that much better than Prowler, but it's still good, it's been around longer, and has more fans because of it's location. I suppose you could blame August Busch for this one in a couple of ways. One because Montu is in Busch Gardens, and the other...for offending Walt Disney so much on the eve of the contract signing, that he completely abandoned St. Louis as the city where Disney World would be located. A lot of people have no idea just how close that was to happening.

Anyway, this is what happens to upset seeds. They get in by sneaking a win in against better opponents (cough..The Beast..cough) and then lose. Hopefully though people will pay a little more attention to that park. I look for the new Cedar Fair management to make some real changes in the coming years.

March 10, 2012 at 1:01 PM · The real killer, Derek, was my WoF contact was indisposed and unable to ignite the local fanbase in time. Thankfully, Paula at Holiday World won't make the same mistake! Voyage, baby!!!

But I hope you're right about the notoriety. Maybe when folks drive through KC there is a better chance they'll stop by and ride Prowler.