It's a great field, too, with four outstanding attractions that represent the best work done by the industry over the past decade. Not a clunker among these. So let's get to it!
A few notes, first. Breaking the voting into two sessions worked well in focusing the comments and keeping traffic to the site consistent through the day. But I'm beat. It's Friday, and the 14-hour days watching the comments are getting to me. (I feel asleep at 10 'til nine last night.) So we're doing this in one batch today. Voting closes when my kids want dinner tonight. So vote ASAP - right after you read the comments!
Second, if anyone keeps the theme park spirit going to day by sneaking out to see "Adventureland," tell us what you thought of the movie in our Adventureland thread.
Third, I'll make another pitch for new readers to join our Facebook page, follow our Twitter feed, or sign-up for our e-mail newsletter. We're happy that you've visited us and want to keep in touch. I love many of the comments that I've read from new readers and hope that you'll continue to be part of our Theme Park Insider community. We're here, especially, for fans who aren't bound by love for a single brand of park or type of attraction and who adore the wide range of thrills, theme and excitement offered by the world's theme parks.
Now, let's get to the voting.
Both match-ups today feature a well-regarded roller coaster from a seasonal park going up against a themed dark ride from Universal Orlando. First up, it's Busch Gardens' Apollo's Chariot versus Universal Studios Florida's Revenge of the Mummy.
And in the second match, the biggie: Islands of Adventure's The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man versus Cedar Point's Millennium Force. Alert the Facebook groups and let's hold the servers hold up.
Have fun in the comments, folks.
Update: Oh, yeah. The contest. There was a five-way tie among folks who picked the most of the final four rides. (No one got 'em all. Heck, I only got one.) So I selected at random among the three who picked Spider-Man to win, since that was the only ride still in among those picked to win by the five. (Sorry to the other two... who picked Toy Story!) And your winner is... Marc Ricketts. Congratulations, Marc.
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Apollo vs. ROTM....
I gave Apollo my vote on this one. I've never been on either or these, but it looks like it would be a better ride in my mind.
Spider-man vs. Millennium.....
Of course my vote went to Millennium. It's an amazing ride. I used to be scared of big drops, but after I went on Millennium, I couldn't stay away from them. In my thoughts, one of the best rides in Cedar Point!!
Apollo is just a better coaster.
Millennium Force is the best of the best, hands down.
I threw out the fact that I don't like the Spider-Man franchise or comic books in general. I'm keeping in the fact I don't like motion simulators (they're rarely accurate even in the professional flight simulator world) or 3D (I always end up with the scratched plastic lens). Still, the whole concept is brilliant.
I just love the exhilaration of riding Millennium Force. It's more than just the wind in the hair, the forces on the body, the motions--it's real. It's not a simulated experience; it IS an experience.
Millennium Force over Spider-Man but it really was very, very close for me.
All four attractions are excellent. All four attractions I have ridden. All four parks I've attended. If you want to base your picks on someone else's, go with mine, because I've been there, man! I know...
Anyway, to keep my Story-Over-Steel Membership intact I am going to vote for the rides that offer both THEME (decoration & narrative) AND THRILLS (fun) in my votes.
Therefore, Mummy & Spider-Man.
Good luck to everyone. Have a great day, I'll see you on the other side.
Spiderman vs Millennium Force- When it comes to theme vs. thrill, there couldn't be a greater distance between these two. Both deliver a great ride, but do so in the absolute opposite way. Probably one of the toughest things for me to do in this tournament is to eliminate Spiderman. It's a groundbreaking ride that throws the visual kitchen sink at it's riders, and is my favorite themed ride. Millennium Force is my favorite coaster...and I love the coasters. Bottom line, I can't spend a day at Cedar Point without riding Millennium at least once...usually three or 4 times, or more depending on the line. I could however, spend a day at Universal and not ride Spiderman.
There's just something about the Force....silky smooth, super fast, perfect pacing, big airtime for those not stapled into their seats, inverted curves, and that first drop....it's as if you aren't in a coaster train at all. Millennium Force wins.
That being said, I took into consideration that this is a THEME PARK page and voting system. So, since I never have ridden either Apollo's Chariot or Revenge of the Mummy, I voted for Mummy in support of a Theme ride instead of a roller coaster.
But whatever again
EDIT: Also, just checked some math on both polls, and for what its worth, there are more votes for Mummy than for Spiderman, so it would seem that some of the Universal voters are voting for MF. Take that as you will.
That said, while I love the smart, funny, and heart-felt roller coaster fans that have joined us from the various Cedar Point communities, I find the paranoia of some CP fans annoying. (Just as I find the paranoid Disney, Universal and Six Flags fans annoying.) Universal's FB group has 50K more fans than CP's. When Universal links, those fans come over and outnumber CP's FB fans.
Plus, Universal has twice the attendance of CP, and its rides have higher hourly capacities. So it shouldn't surprise anyone that Universal starts any popularity contest with a significant built-in advantage over CP.
The overall market for theme is much, much greater than the market for roller coaster thrills. That doesn't mean that themed rides are better than roller coasters, or that they deserve to win this, or any other contest. It just means that roller coaster fans shouldn't see some dark conspiracy when theme park fans turn out and vote for their favorites.
I love rides that combine theme AND thrills, and many of you have heard my "if both rides were in the same park, which would I ride more often?" argument.
Well - Mummy gets it for me in the first vote. I love the two drops in that ride (after the "lift" hill and a bit further into the coaster part) - you fly out of your seat! It just entertains me constantly. Apollo is awesome, but after a few rides, I'm done. Mummy wins.
And Derek called it with Spidey vs. MF. When I go to Cedar Point, I ride MF multiple times each day.
When I go to IOA (and spend several days at Universal Orlando as a whole) - I ride Spidey once.
Folks - stop bashing Cedar Point - it's a great park that can go toe to toe with Univeral and Disney. It's clean, it's fun, the employees are awesome (and incented well), the shops and merchandise are great - all around it's an amazing park. It's truly a wonderful family experience.
But we're voting on RIDES, not the parks. And as a long time TPI poster (not a "blind CP fan") - I vote for Milennium Force!
Everest deserved to be in the Final Four.
Like I said, I have ridden both Spiderman and Millennium Force. While my home park is Cedar Point and my ride count for MF far exceeds Spiderman (only one ride), I think my favorite park is actually Islands of Adventure. I am a person that is big on thrills, but man, if you throw some great themeing my way, I am equally as happy. Having said that, I don't think Spiderman quite hits the top of the themeing bar. Like someone else said, the ride throws a visual kitchen sink at you, and manages to do it in a way that isn't so overwhelming that you can't enjoy the ride. At the same time, the line just wasn't as great as I think everyone makes it out to be, so that leaves the ride alone to judge. And when it comes down to that decision, Millennium wins, hands down. It is the perfection of roller coaster design in my opinion. Physically, Spiderman is not a thrilling ride, it is the visual kitchen sink that is the real experience. Cinematically, I think its better than a lot of full length feature films, but physically it pales in comparison to a roller coaster like the Force.
Now, after that PSA, let the name calling resume.... ;-)
Okay, unite people! Is there anyone that will really be upset regardless of which rides win today? Honestly, these are all great rides... trust me, I've been on all of them. Sure I love Spidey, but I understand my love for the character goes beyond the ride alone. And as much as I love him (this is that kind of manly, football style love I am talking about, you understand, right!?), I will not cry if MF wins. Not much, anyway. There is something to be said for a 300 foot drop on a hyper coaster that is ONE OF A KIND, people!
Having said all that, Mr. Counsil... do that magic you do, now! ;)
However...I have seen some absolutely ridiculous comments over the last few rounds. I mean, it's ok to have a favorite ride, but having a condescending attitude on somebody's comment/vote or a specific park/company because it doesn't agree with yours in a heavily opinionated contest seems a bit silly to me. Everybody is entitled to their own favorite ride, and what makes a "Best Ride in America" varies heavily from person to person.
I personally voted for MF because while I haven't ridden Spiderman I have ridden many themed rides and I know that in my humble opinion, no themed ride can possibly give me the same thrill as riding MF. But that's my opinion, not an objective statement. ;)
/lloyd-bridges
Great movie, Airplane. :)
fight...fight...fight Keep the votes comin!
This was already mentioned somewhere, but I'll say it as well. This tournament is a great social experiment...a journey into the mind of psychotic theme/amusement park fans.
I voted for Mummy first off. For me Apollo's Chariot is a great attraction, but Mummy offers so much more. Apollo is great for thrills but Mummy offers thrills along with a great story.
In the second vote I go for Spidey. Spider-Man offers some thrills, even if it is relatively tame. Millennium Force offers much more thrills but little in the way theme, this is where Spider-Man takes it.
Apollo vs Rotm. Apollo getss my vote on this one. I'm all about steel hypercoasters and Apollo is one of the best great air time and long ride.
Spider man vs Millennium. A truly great Mega coaster and my favorite. I like everything about the ride. Spidy is a great attaction. But I like Millenuium much more.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Orlando-FL/Universal-Orlando/8242803279?ref=ts
Its been up and running long enough to get over 113k fans.
And if CP wants to use social sites for votes, why can't Universal!
I recognise from all relevant comments over the competition that the other two rides truly deserve a place and probably wouldn't be too upset if one of those two won, however my overwhelming favourite is Spiderman.
I love coasters as much as any one and a few I have experienced would make my top ten for definite, but I also love many other different rides and I do enjoy the excellent themeing that the two I voted for have, which I understand to be vastly superior to their competition.
Either way, I doubt either Universal or CP will send a message directly to fans again. Big companies are sensitive to how often they do that. The company I work for has a week of discussion internally before pulling that trigger! Tweeting is a little more acceptable for some reason.
But I will say now that waiting a week to make a group decision whether to employ social media for something is a sign that a company is dysfunctional with social media. I'm not saying that a company should delegate these decisions to low-level employees without training. But that the company's decision making must happen swiftly, reflecting the immediate environment of social media.
Newspapers are dying, in part, because they couldn't cast away their six-editors-must-look-at-everything production process swiftly enough to compete online.
I went with Revenge of the Mummy and Spiderman. The rides I haven't been on, I've watched videos of, read reviews on.. I feel like I know what I'm talking about. And I would most definitely take these two rides in my home park over their competitors. It's a tough decision, but I guess I'm just a theme guy.
Still, this is all in good fun. Nobody is going to die if an attraction loses. ]
And its not a problem if MF beats Spiderman, but the three (maybe four) time TPI Award winning Spiderman only has round 25% against its competitior? I see blind voting at its baddest!
Darn you CP blind voters, you will not prevail,
Mwahahahahahahaahhhahhahahahahah cough cough!!!
Sorry for sounding so sour, but this tourniment has been the liveliest I have ever been a part of and probably the best web traffic for TPI! It also has been a bit of an experiment of campaigning!
There's a general rule that applies here; don't knock a park you haven't been to or a ride you haven't been on.
Even though I'm new around these parts, I think Robert would agree with me when I say that the participation and visibility of this year's contest probably blows away the past years. I would say a lot of it has to do with the TPI Twitter and Facebook pages gaining the visibility that the two sites naturally bring. What we have this year is an interesting insight into just how much communication on Twitter and specifically Facebook can affect something. Sure the blind voting has been up, but considering that both Universal and Cedar Point have Facebook pages which have been used to promote the votes for their respective rides, we can call it even on just having a way to get the word out on Facebook. HOWEVER, the Universal page has over 40,000 more fans, and as such, over 40,000 more potential votes than Cedar Point. Also, I'm pretty sure that Universal fans outnumber Cedar Point fans on a similar scale. That right there gives Universal one heck of an advantage in numbers, you can't deny that. Yet despite that, Millennium Force is still blowing out Spiderman. The simple conclusion is that the Cedar Point fans have done a much better job of mobilizing and "rallying the troops" than Universal has so far today.
Again, I would like to point to the calculations I've done twice on the number of votes that Mummy is getting and the number of votes Spiderman is getting. In both cases (I haven't done another calculation since) Spiderman received a little less than half of the vote that Mummy has gotten. That to me says that there are a lot of people that like Universal, but feel that MF is the better ride.
If you want to talk about blind votes, that's fine, but also remember that Universal has the much larger number for a blind vote than Cedar Point. So before you go complaining about the blind votes, think about that.
EDIT: Just did another quick calculation, and Mummy still has more than twice the votes of Spiderman.
Spiderman, by the way, is nothing like anything else out there! Thats why I should think it should win!
Sure, we all have bias, but mine are Disney and SFGA not Universal. Erik Yates is probably laughing somewhere that I am actually defending Universal!
I'm looking forward to using my free 7 day 2 park ticket for Universal Orlando this year, because like I said, it is quite possibly my favorite park. I'll be going straight to Dueling Dragons, Hulk, and Ripsaw Falls before Spiderman, though.
I also think its a shame I'll not get to go to Europe to ride Blue Fire. Maverick is my favorite ride, but after watching the POV for Blue Fire, I think Maverick may have some steep competition coming.
You've got it in the bag, Cedar Point.
The only problem I see is the disparity between Millennium and Spider-man. The race between the two should be much closer. Otherwise, may the best ride win. However, at this point, I would hope that voters have ridden all the rides and vote accordingly.
Oh, I voted for Apollo and Spider-man.
With probably the top 2 seeds in the finals?
Sorry, didn't like the format of the whole contest and this is worst boner of them all.
In addition, by next year, I want to have a new polling tool - one that allows better analysis of the data (registered readers vs. visitors, location around the country and world, etc.), as well as that allows me to control voting start and stop times. I do have to do that manually now, and it is driving me nuts. The current tool is great for Vote of the Week, but isn't doing what I want for the tournament. I might have to spring to pay someone to help me develop it, though. (If you know ColdFusion and love TPI, drop me a line.)
This tournament is a SHAM! A FARCE!!! How can you people live with yourselves!
Somebody, I don't care who, tell me, what is going on!!!
What's that... I can hear music... in the distance...
Y-E-T-I
We all got rid of the Y-E-T-I
For this round I don't care
If the voting is fair
There is nothing this group won't d-are
Y-E-T-I
We all got rid of the Y-E-T-I
This has been such a rush
That my brain's turned to mush
And Betty Ford says I'm quite the lu-ush
Y-E-T-I
We all got rid of the Y-E-T-I
Have a great weekend everyone!!!!
shaggyolsen
And Spidey's illusions of dropping between buildings MUST BE SEEN TO BE BELIEVED!
That said, I must agree -- these rides are too different to be reasonably compared. Which do you like better -- medium rare ribeye steak or hot apple pie ala mode?
See what I mean?
But it's still in rhe running.
Millennium Force, Millennium Force
CP fans had no remorse
Spins around, drops a lot,
The best ride? Clearly not.
Look Out!
Here comes Millennium Force.
Is he fun? Listen friend,
Non-stop thrills from start to end.
Can he beat Spiderman?
Take a look - yes he can.
Hey, there
There goes the Millennium Force.
In the chill of the night
Theme park fans start to shiver
Fingers up during flight
I #@%*in' hate Jake Rivers.
Millennium Force, Millennium Force
Causes negative discourse
Theme and plot, he's ignored
Fan boys are his reward.
To him, life is a great big joke
Whenever there's a vote
You'll find Millennium Force
Kudos to Millenium Force, and this is coming from someone who has Spiderman as the greatest theme park attraction ever created. Spiderman is so good that Robert Niles had to essentially retire/alter the award because it kept winning the best ride award 4 years in a row, I believe. Kinda like Wilt causing the NBA to have to rewrite some of the goaltending rules.
I'm predicting that we're going to see a Spiderman versus Millenium Force rematch next year (because of the new system in place) and it'll be a lot closer than it was today. I have a feeling that the TPI regulars are going to see that they visit Cedar Point within the next two years or so, and vice versa with the CP fanbase wanting to find out why the majority of TPI commentators have Spiderman as the GOAT.
A fitting send off to an AMAZING ride.
Hey, at least Spider-Man has $2.5 billion in box office muscle to console himself with over the long holiday until next year's tournament... when he returns to his rightful place as The Greatest Theme Park Attraction In The World!
And somewhere in the darkness Jake Rivers was laughing..........
....... but that laughter died quickly when he bent down to pick up the soap.........
Spider-Man, Spider-Man
Cannot do what a coaster can!
LMAO.
Seriously, to paraphrase what someone else said earlier, I'd rather have my steak for dinner and my apple pie for dessert! Yum. Too bad the appetizer (HM) is missing, though...
Oops--UPDATE: Universal did send a message to all 100,000+ fans on Facebook. CP didn't. This will be interesting!
The gap is closing... fast! Go Spidey!
So join us Monday for Mummy vs. Millennium Force in the finals. Congrats. I'm going to sleep now.
Spidey was so close!!! 30 more mins and it surely would have taken the lead!!
Have a great weekend, everyone, and for those with parks just opening for the summer... I expect to see some trip reports next week!
Revenge of the Mummy is rightfully the winner. Hands down!
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