Golden Ticket Awards 2006

[nyy102]

Amusement Today has just released the results of their 2006 Golden Ticket Awards. I know Disney does not usually fare well here, since the awards are run and voted on by serious coaster enthusiasts and Disney is not a coaster haven, but there were some real positives for Disney anyway, which proves that even though Disney does not have 300 foot tall coasters or anything like that Disney still attracts coaster lovers. The nicest surprise was that EE ranked 2nd on the list of Top New Coasters, which is Disney's only coaster related award. Disappointingly, as parks, DL was voted 5th best while the MK was voted 10th best, but they were the only parks on that list that did not have any major or really intense roller coasters, so I guess that showing is pretty good. In addition, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon were voted the 3rd and 5th best water parks, respectively, and BB and TL were voted the 2nd and 3rd best landscaped waterparks, respectively. In addition, Summit Plummet was tied for 5th in best waterpark ride. DL, MK, and Epcot were voted the 3rd, 4th, and 5th cleanest parks, respectively, and the MK was tied for 4th in the friendlyest park staff category. MGM was 5th in the best shows category, while Epcot was 2nd in best food. Splash Mountain was tied for 4th as the best amusement park water ride. The ToT, IJ at DL, and MK's HM were voted the 3rd, 4th, and 5th best dark rides, respectively. EE, ToT, and IJ were 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in the best theming category, respectively. In the only category Disney won, Illuminations was voted best outdoor night production, and Fantasmic was tied for 4th in that category. I thought some of you might be interested, and I wanted to congratulate Disney on at least getting a little recognition for all of the good that it does.

EDIT: Here is the link to the lists - http://amusementtoday.com/2006gtaParkAndRide.html

 

[tampabrad]

I completely understand and agree that Disney would not and will not win any of the coaster categories. The winners are pretty much based on height and speed. I have seen videos and pictures of the winning coasters and they do seem fit to win. The Disney coasters are more than than, they are complete immersive attractions, with the exception of California Screaming.

On the other hand, and I don't wan't to sound negetive, I am upset but not surprised that Disney is far from winning in the show, landscape, darkride, food, and friendliest staff categories. Back in the day, Disney set the standards for all of these areas. This should be a wake up call for the higher ups at Disney. Some (probably all) of the parks that scored higher than Disney don't have close to the revenue of Disney. Disney should be embarrased that Six Flags beat them in best park shows, and that Holiday World beat them in cleanest and friendliest staff. Gone are the days when people would talk about how you could count to five and trash would be picked up at a Disney park.

It would be great to hear that Disney called some kind of management meeting to discuss why they cant even reach the standards that themselves have set, and what they could do about it, but I highly doubt Disney and their bean counters care that they have been beaten in a game they have created.

Kudos to the parks that have won, and "Bad Show" Disney for setting a standard and not coming close to achieving it.

I have to add in that I looked at the magazine, and there is a "thank you" from Epcot for the Illuminations win. May be Disney does take this more serious than I thought.

 

[Knett]

Those are...interesting:veryconfu Never really cared for the golden tickets.

Now, here's a category that gets me:

Best water ride:

1. Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls
Tie for 4th: Splash Mountain and Journey to Atlantis

Are you kidding me? Splash Mountain is TONS better than Journey to Atlantis, and I can't see why DDR Ripsaw Falls got #1.

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

Those are...interesting:veryconfu Never really cared for the golden tickets.

Now, here's a category that gets me:

Best water ride:

1. Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls
Tie for 4th: Splash Mountain and Journey to Atlantis

Are you kidding me? Splash Mountain is TONS better than Journey to Atlantis, and I can't see why DDR Ripsaw Falls got #1.

Wait a minute.....Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls was #1?? There is absolutely almost no scenery along the way and the only thing it has going for it is the double drop (or whatever you'd call it) and even then they had such problems with it, it was closed for the longest time because people got hurt. Splash Mountain is superior in EVERY way to DDRRF. Oh, Please...

 

[Epcot82Guy]

The problem is that many contributors do not feel that Disney is equivalent or even part of the "amusement park" industry. How IOA slips through is a bit beyond me since, from pure thirlls, their rides are somewhat lacking, so it must be the themeing that pushes it over (but another debate for another day). It should be noted that Disney does start to appear on here, showing that it is garnering more of an audience from this group. However, as a representation, the Golden Ticket is not necessarily representative of the amusement business as a whole (despite its attempt to market itself as such).

 

[WDWScottieBoy]

Amusement Today is VERY one sided and loves to keep Disney at the back (if they can even put it there). To say that Splash and Atlantis are the same....NO WAY!!! Atlantis is TERRIBLE!

I can't say that I agree with any of the categories.

 

[FigmentJedi]

I do not understand the appeal of the Knoebel's Haunted House whatsoever. I've seen images of that before and it is absolutely nowhere close to Disney's dark rides, especially Indy and the Haunted Mansion. These people have some warped priorities when it comes to choosing what's best in a dark ride and I don't think hokey and rundown monster figures and lame dinosaurs are good reasons to vote a dark ride number one for several years. That or they're just plain high on something.

 

[AndyMagic]

These always must be taken with a grain of salt. I disagree that Ripsaw Falls is better than Splash but it depends how they are voting. Ripsaw is certainly more thrilling and has one of the best water drops in the world. Splash wins in pretty much every other category. The best dark ride section seems right to me though. All in all, these awards are about rewarding parks for their outstanding achievements. Disney has been the trend-setter for so long it almost seems like giving them first place in everything would be redundant. I like that they reward the lesser-known parks like Holiday World.

 

[SpectroMan]

Most of the time I look at these awards and say "OK," but I always hate looking at the Show Award and seeing Fiesta Texas on the top of the list. I have been twice there, and I am usually board to tears with their shows. It all comes down to professionalism, and I have always seen rough edges in their shows.

 

[nyy102]

The problem is that many contributors do not feel that Disney is equivalent or even part of the "amusement park" industry. How IOA slips through is a bit beyond me since, from pure thirlls, their rides are somewhat lacking, so it must be the themeing that pushes it over (but another debate for another day). It should be noted that Disney does start to appear on here, showing that it is garnering more of an audience from this group. However, as a representation, the Golden Ticket is not necessarily representative of the amusement business as a whole (despite its attempt to market itself as such).

IOA slips through the cracks because, though it doesn't have a collection of 8 or 10 world class coasters, it has two (or three, depending on how you look at it) in the Hulk and Dueling Dragons, and that alone attracts people. Since those people are already in the park, they ride things like DDRSF, and thus think its a better ride than Splash Mountain, which they may have never ridden because MK does not have a world class coaster or two to attract these coaster enthusiasts in with. It's this group of people that pushes DDRSF past SM and all others, and since SW has Kraken, its this group that makes Journey to Atlantis look like it can compare to Splash Mountain.

 

[Dr Banner]

I'm never suprised at how sore losers Disney fans can be. In my opinion, and I guess i'm with the majority here, Ripsaw Falls is better than Splash Mountain. If you take away all the themeing and Zip-Ah-Dee-Doo-Dah away Splash Mountain is just another log flume whereas Ripsaw Falls is something different. The fact of the amtter is that you don't like Disney to lose out to Universal. Saying that, I disagree with just about every other result. How Sclitterbahn is better themed than TL or BB and since when was Busch Gardens cleaner than Disney?

 

[Knett]

I am not upset that Splash Mtn lost out to DDR Ripsaw Falls as much as I am confused as to how they had Splash tied with Journey To Atlantis. There's just NO WAY Atlantis is anywhere close to Splash.

 

[nyfrenchy]

This Golden Tickets ranking is just plain RIDICULOUS....!!

There is a BEST LANDSCAPING category... and Animal Kingdom is not listed.. :veryconfu

Apparently neither Disneyland nor the Magic Kingdom is good enough to get 4% or 6% of vote in order to make the cut into the categories "Best Children's Park" or "Best Kid's Area". Where is the outrage people???

I do not know any park other than MGM that has so many live shows: Indiana Jones, Light Moter Action, Ariel, Beauty & Beast, Fantasmic... yet all of that get MGM only 5% of vote in the category "BEST SHOWS". :brick:

 

[col]

why is blackpool on the list?
why is it higher than MK?

 

[nyy102]

I'm never suprised at how sore losers Disney fans can be. In my opinion, and I guess i'm with the majority here, Ripsaw Falls is better than Splash Mountain. If you take away all the themeing and Zip-Ah-Dee-Doo-Dah away Splash Mountain is just another log flume whereas Ripsaw Falls is something different. The fact of the amtter is that you don't like Disney to lose out to Universal. Saying that, I disagree with just about every other result. How Sclitterbahn is better themed than TL or BB and since when was Busch Gardens cleaner than Disney?

I'm not being sore about it, as I like both DDRSF and SM, but I just prefer SM and think it's the better ride. I agree that they are not both exactly the same, as Disney went more for theming and Universal decided to focus on the concept of a log flume with a twist, but I just personally don't think that twist makes up for the lack of theming or real story on the ride. I understand that there is a rough storyline, but when the audio is crappy and a few figures aren't working, it's impossible to tell what that storyline is on DDRSF. I also have to agree with others here that its amazing to think that SM was then tied with Journey to Atlantis, as the theming and story on that are nonexistant, and the "coaster" section (which really only consists of a downward spiral) that got it all the votes just does not impress me, but, that again, is a matter of opinion.

The one thing that really bothered me though, more than Disney being snubbed for friendliest park staff or cleanest park or best live shows or any of that, is that Disney did not win for best overall themed ride, which went to DD in IOA. DD is a good coaster, and its queue, which is a castle, is as themed, if not more, than any queue to any major/intense coaster that I've seen, but the ride itself is just a coaster over barren land. According to Universal books and stuff that talk about the ride, Fire supposedly "ravages the town of Merlinwood" while Ice stalks Merlin's Castle. Neither one comes even remotely close to that castle, nor go into it, once the coaster has left the station, except for when they reenter the station, and there is nothing that could even be mistaken for a town or even a house within site of the coaster, which to me makes the theming pretty poor, especially since Universal falsely advertises that the theming is greater than it truly is. Do not mistake me for a Universal hater though, as I thought that Revenge of the Mummy being 5th on that list was a solid choice, as both the queue is themed (Egyptian tomb/movie set) and the ride is heavily themed, with a dark ride portion and with smoke and figures appearing during the coaster portion. What I don't understand is how DD is #1 when all thats themed is the queue (and according to Amusement Today, people just couldn't get over the fact that the coaster trains are themed to look like the dragons they represent!), while EE was #2, and that queue is definitely as themed, if not more, plus the ride itself takes place in a big mountain, not to mention seeing the Yeti and the fact that the coaster trains here are also correctly themed. If Disney said that EE was a journey to the top of Everest but when you got on the ride it just moved forward and backwards quickly and there wasn't actually a mountain or anything to resemble Everest, Disney fans would be upset and Disney haters wouldn't stop talking about it, yet when DD claims to have a town and imply that the ride flies through parts of the castle when neither exist or happen, its voted the best themed ride. I just don't get it.

 

[freediverdude]

Well it looks obvious to me that these Golden Ticket awards are voted on mostly by people who go to the coaster parks, and their main aim is to ride the coasters as much as possible. These people would not be Disney-goers for the most part, and may not even know what the theming is on some of the Disney rides as compared to the others, thus they would vote for what they know. I think that probably accounts for some of these rankings. Like somebody else said, the coaster people went to Sea World to ride Kraken, and so they remember having fun on Atlantis, and haven't been on SM in forever or even ever. And the same thing with the shows, a lot of the people probably only visit their regional Six Flags park and see those shows, and rarely if ever have seen the WDW shows. So yeah I think I would take these results with a grain of salt.

 

[RenegadeMilkmen]

I stopped reading after the "best water ride" category. DUDLEY DO RIGHT beat SPLASH MOUNTAIN??? Thats blasphemy, seeing as how Dudley Do Right is just an extremely cheap ripoff of Splash Mountain.

 

[cmatt]

these threads amuse me greatly with the disney zealots foaming at the mouth because universal is higher then disney

 

[Buford]

the best way to judge the parks is the cash comin' in...... and we all know who TRULY wins

 

[Disneyfanman]

DDRSF is faster, has a much more exciting drop, and gets you much wetter. I love the cartoons and the attempts at humor. Very cool, and if I were 16 years old I would probably rate it the best flume in the world.

But........I'm 45. My youngest grew up scared to death of that final drop. My wife hates getting wet. My oldest teen loved it just like he loves IOA. So he goes, I go, and my daughter goes (3 of 5) every three years when we visit IOA.

But all of us do Splash Mountain every trip. Every year. Sometimes multiple times. And love it. It's my favorite ride at Disney. We ride it when it's cold outside. We ride it when it's raining. We ride it at night. They crank it down when it's chilly so that people don't get as wet.

So I guess if 18 year old teens ruled the world and paid for vacations and got to vote for golden tickets, then DDRSF would always be #1 in everything. But instead real adults rule, pay, and sometimes vote. Splash is an incredible, 12 minute, themed to the gills, family ride with an exciting ending. DDRSF is a 6 minute, well themed, wild and wet thrill ride with a wicked ending that attracts the same crowd that rides roller coasters. IOA targets that audience. They went for the MAX and got it.

But they traded "immersive experience for thrills". And the older I get, the less I like the trade. I really think that's why IOA gets 7 million visitors a year to the MKs 14 or 15 million. Because they target one demographic. Disney targets everyone. And that, happy campers, is why Splash rules the world. Because with a few exceptions, families can ride it together.