Best Ride in America Tournament: The quarterfinals, day two

Which leaves three Disney attractions (two DisneyLand, one WDW) and one Universal attraction in the finals. Good for Busch, however, for having two attractions in the quarterfinals.

Anybody find it interesting that the most visited theme park in the world only had ONE attraction in the competition (Winnie The Pooh), and it was eliminated in the first round by a 93% margin? Epcot, the third most popular, only had Mission: Space, and it lost to a standard inverted coaster in the first round. I think that really says something about why people go to the parks. It's not solely for the attractions, but for the overall experience. I don't go to Epcot for the rides, myself. Sure, there are a few whoppers, but I like the live entertainment, the music, the food, and the architecture.

Anybody else pick up on anything interesting? One other notable stat that threw me for a loop was that while DisneyLand Resort had a total of 20 rides in the tournament, the ever-popular Walt Disney World only had 10, outnumbered 2:1. To be fair, though, 13 of DisneyLand's attractions have/are clones of those at Walt Disney World (if you count Tower as a clone, etc.)

On the other hand, I absolutely love the Kraken. It is maybe the smoothest and most thrilling coaster I have ridden, and is definitely my favorite B&M floorless. But at the end of the day, a coaster is still just a coaster, even when it is a great thrill ride. I hate to let Kraken go, but TOT gets my vote.

Dueling Dragons - Ice has to be the Davidson of this tournament, especially since DD - Fire is a better track (imho) and has been out of the tournament for days!

As for Indy, I would take about ten other attractions in this tournament over Indy, including Dinosaur, but not including DD - Ice. What a lucky bracket for Indy, I guess no one saw that coming!

Incidentally, I had expected at least one strongly themed coaster (Everest) to make it to the final four. Furthermore, with the upcoming demise of Kraken, not one coaster will be represented. I find that a bit surprising. Having said that, every attraction in the upcoming final four (presuming TOT and Indy win today) deserves to be part of the action. They are all great attractions and not to be missed at their respective parks.

And Kraken vs. TOT? Hard one...but I find myself leaning to Kraken for the same reason I leaned toward Indy. I'll ride it over and over again. TOT is amazingly themed (and I agree that they cut corners on the DCA version), but I still love my Kraken.

As for Disneyland vs. Magic Kingdom - I find Disneyland to be the better park. Disneyland's versions of POTC, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, It's a Small World, Autopia and the Haunted Mansion are superior (although I have not ridden the new MK version of Mansion) + Disneyland has the Matterhorn, Indy and RRCS. However, MK does have a superior Jungle Cruise, Thunder Mountain and Winnie the Pooh.

But...if I had to choose between DisneyWORLD and Disney's California resort (DL and DCA combined), the WORLD wins hands down.

They've got a TOT there now too, but I havent been and tbh think it'll be similar to DCA's as opposed to WDW's and all the other rides are pretty similar as there North American counterparts. The TWO things that let this park down is the lack of an Indiana Jones Ride (instead they got sum sortve mine coaster, which is good - but not as good!) and the staff, they just dont seem to be as enthusiastic or as helpful as the Americans do. But as far as attractions go, i'd say its alot better!

Anyway, could be thinking a TOT - Spidey final..

I mean, they bash us, but I can't take them seriously since their names are "MiceChat" and "BGEscape", and the forum threads are "Vote Pirates and Indy" and "Vote For BGE Rides", respectively. We're Theme Park Insider, and for the most part, I think this is the best kept and best commentated theme park website around.

The MiceChat folks were bitter that Test Track beat Big Tunder and Splash, but even more bitter that it finally lost to Kraken, "an ordinary ... steel on concrete coaster". That's saying something. Also, the fact that the Busch supporters called our site and polls "jokes", yet Busch Gardens Europe has won Best Theme Park two years in a row on this site, also puts to rest any bias we have.

If you look at the 2007 awards, they not only come from four different parks, but four different chains. The previous years are pretty varied, as well.

You can't limit yourself to one park...if you do, you should limit yourself to one site...MiceAge for disney fans, BGEscape for busch fans. If you are both and like good rides, no matter what...TPI is for you, if not...well hit up another board, you blognoramuses

Although I do lean more towards Disney, I have been to many a coaster park on both coasts, and I have tried both of the sites mentioned...but I like the type of people on this site better.

Its not all mommies with too many concerns about their infants on vacation that will remember nothing of the thousands they spent on "baby's first disney trip" alwasy asking where the best change stations are or gheezer coaster buffs who rally in groups with self-printed tee-shirts that say "we loop for looping" sneering at anything that isn't 150 feet high.

TPI readers and other board users hear me now...

This site is for the folks who are just as happy screeeeming with hands up as they are with hands in their laps, taking in the scenery on slower theme rides. Its about the entertainment folks...I have said my peace

well, for today : )

The only thing that dampens my enjoyment is that it seems other motivations besides evaluating the rides have come into play, especially on several of the hotly-contested matchups. It appeared several times pro- or anti- park factions were perhaps more interested in keeping their park alive or downing a rival than in truly casting their votes for the better ride.

I wonder if maybe it would be better in future tournaments to NOT list the vote percentages and number of votes until AFTER the polls have closed, just as we do in public elections? It seems very, very likely that knowing how a contest is going has skewed the outcome.

AN ASIDE NOTE TO ROBERT: Do you generally reply to feedback submitted via the website? I have submitted feedback several times, and I've never gotten a reply, not even a "form" email stating my feedback was received. Is it possible the form is not working? Thanks.

I am also *terrible* about thinking "oh, that's a good message; I want to come up with a thoughtful response to it," then setting it aside to think about... and later forgetting to ever reply. Really, I need someone to invent a prescription that stops me from doing that. Ugh.

It has to be in the 85 - 90 percentile....

On the other hand, I can't for the life of me believe that either Dueling Dragons made it past the second round. It's one of the most overrated rides in the tourney. Indiana Jones isn't the best in the world, but Dueling Dragons has slipped through the cracks long enough. Too many weak opponents along the way. It somehow managed to beat Mission Space, and then went against both Busch vertical drop coasters and got by on it's "Universal" status. I really don't think that the best ride is in this matchup, but that's how tournaments go sometimes.

The fanboys crack me up. We should get the biggest baddest Disney and Cedar Point fanboys together and have a debate. It would so eventually end up in the gutter.

That night, I came back from the bar, only to see this kid Jake razzing me out. Man, I did not take kindly to that. I hate when people talk smack over the internet: it's like punching someone in the dark.

I'm still a huge fan of Cedar Point. I go every year at least once or twice, and usually spend a couple of days each trip. I'm biased towards them a little, because I love the place. The difference with me is that I like it as a whole. The hotels are good, the location on the lake is unique, and there is a lot to do. The roller coasters are the best and get all of the attention, but there's more to Cedar Point than that.