FINAL RESULTS: 1999 Internet Wooden Tracked Roller Coaster Poll Parc Asterix's Tonnerre de Zeus is the solid #1 this year after finishing second to Megafobia in 1997 and finishing an extremely close second to Shivering Timbers last year. Those two former #1's round out this year's top three with Silverwood's Tremors debuting at #4. Seven new rides (eight including late 1998's GhostRider) placed in the top 32. Among the top 3 head-to-head: TdZ was preferred 8-5-2 over ST and 9-4-2 over MF, ST squeaked by MF 8-7-1. TdZ's only blemish was a 5-5-2 tie with Rampage. Positions 4-8 were extremely tight this year. It is a virtual tie for 5th as GR and Comet tie in head to head 9-9-0, the only difference being that GR was compared to #101 Wild Wild West by someone and Comet was not, so they will henceforth be listed as tied for 5th. Interesting(?) observation: The Gwazi rides finished very close to each other in the poll, but the Tiger was preferred 14 to 2 with 7 rating them as equal. You may see all the head-to-head comparison numbers by downloading the spreadsheet from the website http://www.hitchhikers.net/wcoaster Our polltakers' favorite steel roller coaster came out 11th in the poll. One way that could be interpreted is that the majority of riders of those ten woodies that placed ahead of it would rather ride that woodie than any steel coaster they have ever ridden. It is actually a little more complex than that, but (e.g.) Shivering Timbers won its' matchup with "My Favorite Steel" 28-15-1. I think that is remarkable considering the relative cost to the parks of the steel rides (up to 8 times the cost of a NEW woodie). The parks are slowly figuring this out as there may be a dozen or more new woodies built for the 2000 season. The results are presented in a tabular format showing 1994 through 1999 placements, giving a better feel for trends and consistencies in the poll. When viewing this chart, one should expect a coaster's rank to drop slightly from year to year due to additional coasters debuting in the poll. Special attention should be paid to the RIDERS column as the fewer the number of riders, the greater the margin of error. Symbols: # - no riders or no riders numerically ranked this coaster that year. R#- < 3 rider/raters (greater margin for error). (R is the Rank) Rt- Coaster tied for rank R S - coaster SBNO or in storage, not included in the poll that year. x - not included on the ballot that year due to error on my part. - - coaster was not yet built. n - coaster new or rebuilt this year. The 1993 results are not included in this chart due to the low number of ballots received and other differences in the poll that year. Do not place too much stock in the bottom half of the 1994 poll as not enough people ranked all coasters they had ridden. 72 persons took the poll in 1994 & 1995, 104 in 1996, 130 in 1997, 141 in 1998 and 150 this year. Total Number of Ballots = 150 Average Number of Woodies Ridden = 38.4 +--------------------------------------------- 1999 Rank | +---------------------------------------- 1998 Rank | | +----------------------------------- 1997 Rank | | | +------------------------------ 1996 Rank | | | | +------------------------- 1995 Rank | | | | | +-------------------- 1994 Rank | | | | | | | | | | | | '99POLL V V V V V V COASTER PARK LOC RIDERS 1 2 2 - - - Tonnerre de Zeus Parc Asterix FR 20 2 1 - - - - Shivering Timbers Michigan's Adventure MI 61 3 3 1 1 - - Megafobia Oakwood UK 23 4n - - - - - Tremors Silverwood ID 15 5t 7 - - - - GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA 42 5t 5 3 2 1 1 Comet Great Escape NY 49 7 6 4 3 2 - Raven Holiday World IN 62 8 4 - - - - Rampage Visionland AL 44 9 12 9 9t 6 4 Phoenix Knoebel's PA 85 10 13 13 7 9 6 Georgia Cyclone SFoG GA 50 11 9 16 S S S Wildcat (SBNO) Idora Park OH 7 12 11 5 4 3 3 Coaster Playland BC 32 13n - - - - - Twister Knoebel's PA 65 14 10 6 9t 8 2 Texas Giant SFoT TX 58 15 14 12 9t 15 8 Cyclone Astroland NY 65 16#n - - - - - Aska Nara Dreamland JP 2 17 16 22 18 19 9 Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Bch Bdwk CA 43 18 26 11 8 - - Timber Terror Silverwood ID 20 19 15 21 12 12 14 Grand National Blackpool UK 31 20 34 40 24 37 - Viper SFGAm IL 68 21n - - - - - Roar Marine World CA 27 22 25 30 21 18 44 Screechin' Eagle Americana OH 56 23 27 26 27 20 21 Cyclone Lakeside CO 34 24 17 15 15 10 7 Serpiente de Fuego La Feria MX 15 25 29 27 35 29 31 Riverside Cyclone Riverside MA 45 26 19 10 6 5 13 Timberwolf Worlds of Fun MO 49 27 18 14 5 - - Wildcat Hersheypark PA 83 28 20 19 16 13 - Cyclops Big Chief WI 44 29 22 - - - - Excalibur Funtown USA ME 31 30n - - - - - Gwazi-Tiger Busch Gardens-Tampa FL 24 31n - - - - - Silver Comet Martin's Fantasy Is. NY 32 32n - - - - - Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL 23 33 33 28 - - - Zeus Big Chief WI 42 34 24 17 17 7 10 Thunderbolt Kennywood PA 97 35 30 18 S S S Comet (SBNO) Lincoln Park MA 6 36 21 24 14 4 12 Wild One SF America MD 57 37 40 33 26 24 24 Hurler Carowinds NC 37 38 49 32 22 23 16 Big Dipper Geauga Lake OH 68 39t 28 - - - - Roar SF America MD 49 39t 43 38 28 22 19 Swamp Fox Family Kingdom SC 26 41 31 43 30 31 20 Giant Dipper Belmont Park CA 45 42 39 41 25 26 28 Jack Rabbit Kennywood PA 99 43 35 35 45 36 52 Big Dipper Blackpool UK 32 44 38 25 S S 18 Blue Streak Conneaut Lake Park PA 51 45 42 31 19 17 29 Yankee Cannonball Canobie Lake Park NH 42 46 32 23 20 21 15 The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA 84 47 23 8 - - - Stampida Port Aventura ES 8 48 44 44 35 38 25 Arkansas Twister(S) Magic Springs AR 16 49 36 20 13 - - Great White Wild Wheels Pier NJ 43 50 54 47 41 56 30 Thunder Run Kentucky Kingdom KY 65 51 51 42 29 11 11 Blue Streak Cedar Point OH 108 52 45 39 40 28 23 Le Monstre La Ronde QU 21 53 37 - - - - Twist Sist - Lola Kentucky Kingdom KY 42 54 41 - - - - Twist Sist - Stella Kentucky Kingdom KY 42 55 56 52 39 54 35 Zingo Bell's OK 23 56 61 69 60 72 49 Grt Am Scrm Mach SFoG GA 56 57 71 74 71 75 112# Tree Topper Upper Clements Park NS 3 58 46 29 23 16 26 Hurler Kings Dominion VA 77 59 53 53 46 50 36 Racer Kennywood PA 98 60 48 55 48 32 118# Cyclone Pleasureland UK 20 61 57 57 50 48 39 Cannonball Lake Winnepesaukah GA 31 62 64 50 52 59 47 Skyliner Lakemont PA 60 63 69 73 67 58 116# Wild Mouse Blackpool UK 31 64 103 79 S S S Runaway Coaster Rotunda UK 10 65 75 49 42 45 53 Outlaw Adventureland IA 31 66 47 36 31 40 34 Thunderhawk Dorney Park PA 83 67 59 67 68 55 76 Roller Coaster Lagoon UT 19 68 52 45 44 27 17 The Beast Kings Island OH 93 69# # # # # # White Canyon Yomiuriland JP 2 70 70 58 32 34 33 The Legend Arnolds Park IA 24 71 68 56 49 49 45 Screamin' Eagle SFMA MO 53 72 73 34 37 25 22 Rutschebanen Bakken DK 4 73 72 48 53 51 93 Roller Coaster Puyallup Fair WA 21 74 60 46 43 41 32 Hoosier Hurricane Indiana Beach IN 48 75 85 66 54 54 43 Racer Kings Island OH 91 76# # # # # # White Cyclone Nagashima Spaland JP 2 77# # # # # # Jupiter Nishi-Nihon Korakuen JP 2 78 80 76 72 68 40 Wildcat Lake Compounce CT 40 79 65 62 61 53 92 Starliner Miracle Strip FL 16 80 62 60 38 42 41 Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA 86 81 86 71 69 61 71 Zippin' Pippin Libertyland TN 22 82 82 72 70 64 115# Texas Tornado Frontierland UK 16 83 63 54 62 43 96 Rutschebanen Tivoli Gardens DK 4 84 67 77 66 65 65 Tornado Adventureland IA 29 85 90 68 58 57 59 Comet Hersheypark PA 90 86 77 65 59 47 48 Roller Coaster Joyland KS 21 87 76 75 65 74 70 High Roller Valleyfair! MN 35 88 58 51 46 14# - Twister II Elitch Gardens CO 25 89 79 91 86 79 68 Thunderbolt Riverside MA 45 90 78 80 63 67 63 Judge Roy Scream SFoT TX 60 91 88 82 73 87 64 Wilde Beast Canada's Wonderland ON 45 92 135 129# 107# 111# 110# Bush Beast Australia's Wonderl. AU 3 93 84 70 64 88 66 M.Can.Mine Buster Canada's Wonderland ON 45 94 94 61 S S S Jack Rabbit (SBNO) Idora Park OH 9 95 66 64 34 30 - Cannonball Waterville USA AL 16 96 89 84 80 70 61 Thunder Road Carowinds NC 42 97 81 90 76 60 82 Roller Coaster Blackpool UK 32 98 92 83 77 84 94 Roller Coaster Great Yarmouth UK 15 99 91 102 87 97 69 Texas Cyclone SF Astroworld TX 44 100 93 81 51 62 38 Tornado Stricker's Grove OH 32 101n - - - - - Wild Wild West Warner Bros. Movie W DE 4 102 100 93 57 76 74 Psyclone S.F. Magic Mountain CA 66 103 99 85# 91 91 x Scenic Railway Luna Park-Melbourne AU 5 104 87 101 73 73 51 Flyer Comet Whalom Park MA 38 105 108 97 95 44 54 Wild Mouse Frontierland UK 15 106 96 89 89 80 62 Cyclone Williams Grove PA 39 107 105 105 99 89 67 Rollo Coaster Idlewild PA 48 108 104 109# 90# 53# 102# Hullamvasut Varosliget HU 5 109 109 94 84 78 56 Dragon Coaster Playland NY 38 110 111 110 92 108 75 Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ 72 111# 98# 114 94 82 99 Vuoristorata Linnamaki Park FI 2 112 107 96 88 118# 119# Scenic Railway Dreamland UK 18 113 120 63 - - - Tomahawk Port Aventura ES 6 114 74 59 33 33 27 Predator Darien Lake NY 53 115 97 104 82 77 57 Jack Rabbit Seabreeze NY 36 116 117 98 S S S Leap the Dips Lakemont PA 43 117 110 100 83 101 73 Wildcat Frontier City OK 18 118 106 99 85 86 78 American Eagle SFGAm IL 75 119 121 108 97 90 83 Sky Princess Dutch Wonderland PA 39 120t 113 92 78 69 55 Big Dipper Camden Park WV 27 120t 95 107 98# 103# 100# Anaconda Walibi-Schtroumpf FR 10 122 101 95 81 71 60 Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA 72 123 122 116 101 83 102 Pegasus de Efeling NL 7 124 83 87 55 35 50 Rattler Fiesta Texas TX 38 125 119 117 100 85 91 Jack Rabbit Clementon Lake NJ 28 126 114 113 109 - - Pegasus Big Chief WI 42 127 118 115 106# # # Hochschaubahn Prater Park AT 4 128 126 121 103 98 79 Beastie Kings Island OH 73 129 116 111 96 92 72 Raging Wolf Bobs Geauga Lake OH 67 130 130 125 S S S Red Streaker (S) Willow Mill PA 8 131 128 122 114 95 111 Beastie Australia's Wonderl. AU 4 132 55 78 S S S Thunderbolt (SBNO) Coney Island NY 7 133 123 106 105 # - Antelope Gulliver's World UK 9 134 127 112 56# - - Teddy Bear Stricker's Grove OH 20 135 115 103 73 66 42 Mean Streak Cedar Point OH 109 136 132 120 108 96 85 Comet Waldameer PA 34 137 112 86 79 81 46 Wolverine Wildcat Michigan's Adventure MI 60 138 136 123 113 107 87 Zipper Dipper Blackpool UK 27 139 140 131 110 105 77 Little Dipper Hillcrest IL 11 140 131 127 119 99 114 Zach's Zoomer Michigan's Adventure MI 60 141 129 118 111 100 86 Scooby Doo Kings Dominion VA 71 142 133 128 102 104 84 Sea Dragon Wyandot Lake OH 29 143 134 126 115 102 89 Ghoster Coaster Canada's Wonderland ON 40 144 124 124 104 93 81 Scooby Doo Carowinds NC 39 145 139 134 116 106 113 Kiddie Coaster Playland NY 11 146 141 133 117 - - Underground Adventureland IA 19 147 137 119 93 63 58 Hercules Dorney Park PA 82 148# 125 88 # 39# # Sierra Thunder Mirabilandia Park IT 2 149 138 130 112 109 80 Little Dipper Kiddieland IL 24 150 142 132 118 110 88 Lil' Dipper Camden Park WV 24 151 143 135 120 112 90 The Grizzly Great America CA 43 The following three coasters had no riders take the poll this year. # 102# # S S S Devil's Coach (S) J's Amusements CA 0 #n - - - - - King Kobra Great Adventure BR 0 # # x x x x Little Dipper Esselworld IN 0 The following two coasters are sorely missed. - 8 7 S S 5 Twister Elitch Gardens CO 0 - 50 37 S S 37 Wildcat Elitch Gardens CO 0 Below, I have listed the 1999 results in more detail. The columns listed are: RANK, COASTER NAME, PARK, LOC (two letter abbreviation of state, province, or country), RIDERS (number of polltakers who indicated they rode each coaster), W (head to head wins versus other coasters), L (losses), T (ties), WinPct (winning percentage), and TiBk (tiebreaker..head to head preferences between those coasters tied). Special attention should again be paid to the RIDERS column when viewing the results. In general, the rankings of those coasters with more riders will be more likely to truly reflect the general sentiment about a coaster. There is a * in place of a rank for coasters with < 3 riders. A blank line has been inserted where > (2/#coasters) WinPct gaps exist. The program was run twice. Once excluding "My Favorite Steel" to get the results for the woodies so that they would not be affected by it, and once including it so it could be placed amongst the woodies. "MFS" affected the ordering slightly when included as it finished between Wildcat and Georgia Cyclone in 11th place, but when excluded Georgia Cyclone edged Wildcat for 10th. Total Number of Ballots = 150 Average Number of Woodies Ridden = 38.4 RANK COASTER NAME PARK LOC RIDERS W L T WinPct TiBk ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Tonnerre de Zeus Parc Asterix FR 20 147 0 1 0.9966 2 Shivering Timbers Michigan's Adventure MI 61 148 1 0 0.9933 3 Megafobia Oakwood UK 23 147 2 1 0.9833 4 Tremors Silverwood ID 15 141 4 1 0.9692 5tGhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA 42 144 4 2 0.9667 5tComet Great Escape NY 49 143 4 2 0.9664 7 Raven Holiday World IN 62 143 6 0 0.9597 16 8 Rampage Visionland AL 44 142 5 2 0.9597 15 9 Phoenix Knoebel's PA 85 139 8 2 0.9396 10 Georgia Cyclone SFoG GA 50 138 9 2 0.9329 11 Wildcat (SBNO) Idora Park OH 7 115 7 3 0.9320 ** My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere ** 113 139 9 3 0.9305 12 Coaster Playland BC 32 137 11 1 0.9228 13 Twister Knoebel's PA 65 135 13 1 0.9094 14 Texas Giant SFoT TX 58 134 14 1 0.9027 15 Cyclone Astroland NY 65 133 14 2 0.8993 * Aska Nara Dreamland JP 2 116 11 5 0.8977 17 Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Bch Bdwk CA 43 132 15 2 0.8926 18 Timber Terror Silverwood ID 20 125 17 7 0.8624 19 Grand National Blackpool UK 31 127 20 3 0.8567 20 Viper SFGAm IL 68 124 21 4 0.8456 21 Roar Marine World CA 27 121 21 6 0.8378 22 Screechin' Eagle Americana OH 56 121 21 7 0.8356 23 Cyclone Lakeside CO 34 122 23 4 0.8322 24 Serpiente de Fuego La Feria MX 15 120 22 7 0.8289 25 Riverside Cyclone Riverside MA 45 122 25 2 0.8255 26 Timberwolf Worlds of Fun MO 49 121 25 3 0.8221 18 27 Wildcat Hersheypark PA 83 120 24 5 0.8221 14 28 Cyclops Big Chief WI 44 120 27 2 0.8121 29 Excalibur Funtown USA ME 31 117 28 4 0.7987 30 Gwazi-Tiger Busch Gardens-Tampa FL 24 115 28 4 0.7959 31 Silver Comet Martin's Fantasy Is. NY 32 115 27 7 0.7953 32 Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL 23 114 28 5 0.7925 33 Zeus Big Chief WI 42 114 27 8 0.7919 19 34 Thunderbolt Kennywood PA 97 117 30 2 0.7919 15 35 Comet (SBNO) Lincoln Park MA 6 111 30 7 0.7736 36 Wild One SF America MD 57 106 29 8 0.7692 37 Hurler Carowinds NC 37 108 37 4 0.7383 38 Big Dipper Geauga Lake OH 68 106 39 4 0.7248 39tSwamp Fox Family Kingdom SC 26 104 38 7 0.7215 8 39tRoar SF America MD 49 106 40 3 0.7215 8 41 Giant Dipper Belmont Park CA 45 104 40 5 0.7148 42 Jack Rabbit Kennywood PA 99 104 42 3 0.7081 43 Big Dipper Blackpool UK 32 103 42 5 0.7033 44 Blue Streak Conneaut Lake Park PA 51 99 43 7 0.6879 45 Yankee Cannonball Canobie Lake Park NH 42 100 47 2 0.6779 46 The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA 84 97 47 5 0.6678 47 Stampida Port Aventura ES 8 71 26 38 0.6667 48 Arkansas Twister(S) Magic Springs AR 16 95 47 7 0.6611 49 Great White Wild Wheels Pier NJ 43 94 49 6 0.6510 50 Thunder Run Kentucky Kingdom KY 65 95 51 3 0.6477 51 Blue Streak Cedar Point OH 108 93 52 4 0.6376 52 Le Monstre La Ronde QU 21 86 47 10 0.6364 53 Twist Sist - Lola Kentucky Kingdom KY 42 90 51 8 0.6309 54 Twist Sist - Stella Kentucky Kingdom KY 42 91 53 5 0.6275 7 55 Zingo Bell's OK 23 91 53 5 0.6275 4 56 Grt Am Scrm Mach SFoG GA 56 90 54 5 0.6208 57 Tree Topper Upper Clements Park NS 3 65 36 34 0.6074 58 Hurler Kings Dominion VA 77 88 57 4 0.6040 59 Racer Kennywood PA 98 88 58 3 0.6007 60 Cyclone Pleasureland UK 20 84 55 10 0.5973 61 Cannonball Lake Winnepesaukah GA 31 86 60 3 0.5872 62 Skyliner Lakemont PA 60 82 59 8 0.5772 63 Wild Mouse Blackpool UK 31 82 60 8 0.5733 64 Runaway Coaster Rotunda UK 10 77 56 14 0.5714 65 Outlaw Adventureland IA 31 82 61 6 0.5705 66 Thunderhawk Dorney Park PA 83 81 63 5 0.5604 67 Roller Coaster Lagoon UT 19 76 59 14 0.5570 68 The Beast Kings Island OH 93 78 65 6 0.5436 * White Canyon Yomiuriland JP 2 64 55 13 0.5341 70 The Legend Arnolds Park IA 24 74 66 9 0.5268 71 Screamin' Eagle SFMA MO 53 71 65 5 0.5213 72 Rutschebanen Bakken DK 4 71 67 4 0.5141 73 Roller Coaster Puyallup Fair WA 21 72 70 7 0.5067 74 Hoosier Hurricane Indiana Beach IN 48 71 75 3 0.4866 20 75 Racer Kings Island OH 91 70 74 5 0.4866 16 * White Cyclone Nagashima Spaland JP 2 57 62 13 0.4811 * Jupiter Nishi-Nihon Korakuen JP 2 56 63 13 0.4735 78 Wildcat Lake Compounce CT 40 67 75 7 0.4732 79 Starliner Miracle Strip FL 16 62 70 9 0.4716 80 Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA 86 66 75 8 0.4698 81 Zippin' Pippin Libertyland TN 22 65 75 9 0.4664 5 82 Texas Tornado Frontierland UK 16 67 77 5 0.4664 2 83 Rutschebanen Tivoli Gardens DK 4 62 72 8 0.4648 84 Tornado Adventureland IA 29 66 77 6 0.4631 85 Comet Hersheypark PA 90 66 80 3 0.4530 86 Roller Coaster Joyland KS 21 61 80 8 0.4362 87 High Roller Valleyfair! MN 35 60 81 8 0.4295 88 Twister II Elitch Gardens CO 25 58 83 8 0.4161 89 Thunderbolt Riverside MA 45 60 86 3 0.4128 90 Judge Roy Scream SFoT TX 60 59 86 4 0.4094 91 Wilde Beast Canada's Wonderland ON 45 55 81 7 0.4091 92 Bush Beast Australia's Wonderl. AU 3 10 42 94 0.3904 93 M.Can.Mine Buster Canada's Wonderland ON 45 51 85 7 0.3811 94 Jack Rabbit (SBNO) Idora Park OH 9 41 72 16 0.3798 95 Cannonball Waterville USA AL 16 51 87 10 0.3784 96 Thunder Road Carowinds NC 42 54 93 2 0.3691 97 Roller Coaster Blackpool UK 32 52 92 6 0.3667 98 Roller Coaster Great Yarmouth UK 15 47 92 9 0.3480 99 Texas Cyclone SF Astroworld TX 44 45 88 8 0.3475 100 Tornado Stricker's Grove OH 32 48 95 6 0.3423 101 Wild Wild West Warner Bros. Movie W DE 4 6 13 0 0.3158 102 Psyclone S.F. Magic Mountain CA 66 44 100 6 0.3133 103 Scenic Railway Luna Park-Melbourne AU 5 41 99 7 0.3027 104 Flyer Comet Whalom Park MA 38 41 101 7 0.2987 105 Wild Mouse Frontierland UK 15 41 101 6 0.2973 106 Cyclone Williams Grove PA 39 40 102 7 0.2919 107 Rollo Coaster Idlewild PA 48 41 105 3 0.2852 108 Hullamvasut Varosliget HU 5 37 97 4 0.2826 109 Dragon Coaster Playland NY 38 37 103 9 0.2785 110 Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ 72 35 102 12 0.2752 * Vuoristorata Linnamaki Park FI 2 30 90 12 0.2727 112 Scenic Railway Dreamland UK 18 36 104 9 0.2718 113 Tomahawk Port Aventura ES 6 19 81 35 0.2704 114 Predator Darien Lake NY 53 38 107 4 0.2685 115 Jack Rabbit Seabreeze NY 36 35 107 7 0.2584 116 Leap the Dips Lakemont PA 43 35 107 5 0.2551 117 Wildcat Frontier City OK 18 30 100 11 0.2518 118 American Eagle SFGAm IL 75 35 109 5 0.2517 119 Sky Princess Dutch Wonderland PA 39 34 113 2 0.2349 120tBig Dipper Camden Park WV 27 31 112 6 0.2282 3 120tAnaconda Walibi-Schtroumpf FR 10 26 107 16 0.2282 3 122 Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA 72 31 115 4 0.2200 123 Pegasus de Efeling NL 7 22 106 14 0.2042 124 Rattler Fiesta Texas TX 38 26 115 8 0.2013 125 Jack Rabbit Clementon Lake NJ 28 25 117 7 0.1913 126 Pegasus Big Chief WI 42 27 120 2 0.1879 127 Hochschaubahn Prater Park AT 4 19 105 13 0.1861 128 Beastie Kings Island OH 73 18 118 13 0.1644 129 Raging Wolf Bobs Geauga Lake OH 67 20 122 7 0.1577 130 Red Streaker (S) Willow Mill PA 8 19 124 6 0.1477 131 Beastie Australia's Wonderl. AU 4 14 117 15 0.1473 132 Thunderbolt (SBNO) Coney Island NY 7 6 100 25 0.1412 133 Antelope Gulliver's World UK 9 15 113 3 0.1260 134 Teddy Bear Stricker's Grove OH 20 15 128 6 0.1208 10 135 Mean Streak Cedar Point OH 109 14 127 8 0.1208 4 136 Comet Waldameer PA 34 16 130 3 0.1174 137 Wolverine Wildcat Michigan's Adventure MI 60 16 131 2 0.1141 138 Zipper Dipper Blackpool UK 27 13 133 4 0.1000 139 Little Dipper Hillcrest IL 11 9 129 9 0.0918 140 Zach's Zoomer Michigan's Adventure MI 60 13 135 1 0.0906 141 Scooby Doo Kings Dominion VA 71 11 134 4 0.0872 142 Sea Dragon Wyandot Lake OH 29 9 135 5 0.0772 143 Ghoster Coaster Canada's Wonderland ON 40 7 129 7 0.0734 144 Scooby Doo Carowinds NC 39 9 137 3 0.0705 145 Kiddie Coaster Playland NY 11 8 137 4 0.0671 146 Underground Adventureland IA 19 3 127 6 0.0441 147 Hercules Dorney Park PA 82 4 140 5 0.0436 * Sierra Thunder Mirabilandia Park IT 2 3 124 5 0.0417 149 Little Dipper Kiddieland IL 24 4 143 2 0.0336 150 Lil' Dipper Camden Park WV 24 3 144 2 0.0268 151 The Grizzly Great America CA 43 0 148 1 0.0034 The three coasters below had no riders take the poll this year. * Little Dipper Esselworld IN 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * King Kobra Great Adventure BR 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Devil's Coach (S) J's Amusements CA 0 0 0 0 0.0000 I also ran the program using only this year's riding experiences. These results are not very meaningful as there are MANY pairings of coasters that no rider had ridden both of this year. As you can see, our poll respondants had ridden an average of 15 woodies this year. That sounds good until it is realized that when there are only about 2/5 as many ride experiences it causes there to be an average of less than 1/6 as many people who had ridden each pair of coasters (this year vs. ever). As an example of how this can affect the results, see that Rampage has moved ahead of Megafobia. A person might assume that means that riders preferred Rampage to Megafobia this year...that is not the case as MF still won the direct comparison. However, MF ties several coasters further down in the rankings, in each case only two people had ridden both this year. It is more likely that those are statistical anomalies due to small sample size than the consensus among all people who rode MF and e.g. Rotunda's Runaway Coaster this year is that the two rides provide equal thrills. Therefore, I want to be very clear that the following results based on only 1999 ride experiences have a much greater margin of error and are only included here because they may be of some limited additional interest. One thing I found interesting is that Knoebel's is the park that seems to have had far and away the most (by over 20) polltakers visit it this year. That park is not the easiest to get to, and it is not located in or near a major metropolis. But it does have two outstanding wooden coasters, a great atmosphere, friendly employees and management, and some pretty good pizza too :-). Total Number of Ballots = 150 Average Number of Woodies Ridden = 15.7 RANK COASTER NAME PARK LOC RIDERS W L T WinPct TiBk ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Tonnerre de Zeus Parc Asterix FR 3 32 0 1 0.9848 2 Shivering Timbers Michigan's Adventure MI 26 108 3 2 0.9646 3 Raven Holiday World IN 26 107 5 1 0.9513 4 GhostRider Knott's Berry Farm CA 39 106 5 5 0.9353 5 Tremors Silverwood ID 15 98 6 2 0.9340 6 Cyclone Astroland NY 19 93 6 2 0.9307 7 Rampage Visionland AL 27 105 7 2 0.9298 8 Megafobia Oakwood UK 8 59 2 6 0.9254 9 Comet Great Escape NY 14 89 6 4 0.9192 10 Phoenix Knoebel's PA 65 110 9 4 0.9106 11 My Favorite Steel Anypark Anywhere ** 85 115 11 3 0.9031 12 Georgia Cyclone SFoG GA 27 101 9 7 0.8932 13 Coaster Playland BC 11 80 10 0 0.8889 14 Texas Giant SFoT TX 25 101 13 3 0.8761 15 Stampida Port Aventura ES 3 31 4 3 0.8553 * Aska Nara Dreamland JP 2 19 2 3 0.8542 17 Giant Dipper Santa Cruz Bch Bdwk CA 24 86 14 4 0.8462 18 Timber Terror Silverwood ID 15 85 15 6 0.8302 19 Twister Knoebel's PA 64 96 16 11 0.8252 20 Riverside Cyclone Riverside MA 19 83 16 12 0.8018 21 Viper SFGAm IL 41 90 21 4 0.8000 22 Screechin' Eagle Americana OH 19 86 20 6 0.7946 23 Cyclops Big Chief WI 16 78 19 12 0.7706 24 Roar Marine World CA 27 72 20 8 0.7600 25 Timberwolf Worlds of Fun MO 11 67 18 11 0.7552 26 Great White Wild Wheels Pier NJ 10 67 22 3 0.7446 27 Wild One SF America MD 31 80 26 5 0.7432 28 Blue Streak Conneaut Lake Park PA 12 67 22 8 0.7320 29 Wildcat Hersheypark PA 36 78 27 5 0.7318 30 Zeus Big Chief WI 18 75 28 6 0.7156 * Runaway Coaster Rotunda UK 2 18 5 8 0.7097 32 Gwazi-Lion Busch Gardens-Tampa FL 23 67 24 12 0.7087 33 Grand National Blackpool UK 11 62 23 9 0.7074 34 Thunderbolt Kennywood PA 43 77 31 4 0.7054 35 Roar SF America MD 31 74 31 4 0.6972 36 Silver Comet Martin's Fantasy Is. NY 31 79 33 8 0.6917 37 Outlaw Adventureland IA 4 44 19 5 0.6838 38 Zingo Bell's OK 4 41 15 20 0.6711 39 Giant Dipper Belmont Park CA 17 57 26 9 0.6685 40 Gwazi-Tiger Busch Gardens-Tampa FL 24 61 29 13 0.6553 41 Big Dipper Geauga Lake OH 19 68 35 5 0.6528 42 Excalibur Funtown USA ME 13 51 26 5 0.6524 43 Jack Rabbit Kennywood PA 41 63 38 8 0.6147 44 Roller Coaster Joyland KS 4 45 28 16 0.5955 45 Thunder Run Kentucky Kingdom KY 30 64 44 9 0.5855 46 The Legend Arnolds Park IA 6 44 30 8 0.5854 47 Yankee Cannonball Canobie Lake Park NH 15 55 38 10 0.5825 48 Racer Kennywood PA 41 62 44 6 0.5804 49 Hurler Carowinds NC 19 53 38 5 0.5781 50 Twist Sist - Lola Kentucky Kingdom KY 27 62 45 6 0.5752 51 Cyclone Lakeside CO 10 55 40 9 0.5721 52 Twist Sist - Stella Kentucky Kingdom KY 28 64 48 4 0.5690 * Swamp Fox Family Kingdom SC 2 28 21 2 0.5686 54 Wild Mouse Blackpool UK 11 48 37 9 0.5585 55 Blue Streak Cedar Point OH 42 63 50 5 0.5551 56 Skyliner Lakemont PA 40 58 46 10 0.5526 57 Big Dipper Blackpool UK 11 45 38 11 0.5372 58 The Beast Kings Island OH 34 57 49 11 0.5342 * Serpiente de Fuego La Feria MX 2 8 6 20 0.5294 60 Grt Am Scrm Mach SFoG GA 29 61 55 5 0.5248 61 The Grizzly Kings Dominion VA 34 58 54 5 0.5171 * Starliner Miracle Strip FL 2 31 29 8 0.5147 63 Cyclone Pleasureland UK 4 22 21 1 0.5114 64 Cannonball Lake Winnepesaukah GA 18 56 55 9 0.5042 65 Racer Kings Island OH 32 54 55 7 0.4957 66 Roller Coaster Puyallup Fair WA 5 38 39 8 0.4941 67 Screamin' Eagle SFMA MO 10 34 38 9 0.4753 68 Hurler Kings Dominion VA 35 51 57 9 0.4744 69 Tornado Stricker's Grove OH 10 41 49 7 0.4588 70 Thunderhawk Dorney Park PA 33 47 61 5 0.4381 71 High Roller Valleyfair! MN 6 30 41 8 0.4304 72 Wilde Beast Canada's Wonderland ON 8 22 32 11 0.4231 73 Comet Hersheypark PA 37 41 61 7 0.4083 * Rutschebanen Tivoli Gardens DK 1 2 3 0 0.4000 75 Judge Roy Scream SFoT TX 22 38 61 14 0.3982 76 Rebel Yell Kings Dominion VA 35 43 67 7 0.3974 77 Roller Coaster Blackpool UK 11 31 54 9 0.3777 78 Big Dipper Camden Park WV 3 22 40 11 0.3767 79 Roller Coaster Lagoon UT 3 18 32 5 0.3727 80 Thunderbolt Riverside MA 17 33 61 15 0.3716 81 Texas Cyclone SF Astroworld TX 15 37 67 7 0.3649 * Roller Coaster Great Yarmouth UK 1 11 20 0 0.3548 83 Hoosier Hurricane Indiana Beach IN 15 31 61 11 0.3544 84 Thunder Road Carowinds NC 19 29 60 7 0.3385 85 Wildcat Lake Compounce CT 13 23 56 23 0.3382 86 Flyer Comet Whalom Park MA 13 26 62 19 0.3318 87 M.Can.Mine Buster Canada's Wonderland ON 8 15 38 12 0.3231 88 Cyclone Williams Grove PA 12 31 67 3 0.3218 89 Rollo Coaster Idlewild PA 13 26 61 5 0.3098 90 American Eagle SFGAm IL 33 29 74 12 0.3043 91 Wild Wild West Warner Bros. Movie W DE 4 5 12 0 0.2941 * Scenic Railway Dreamland UK 2 1 14 16 0.2903 93 Jack Rabbit Seabreeze NY 10 20 53 4 0.2857 94 Cannonball Run Waterville USA AL 5 20 63 13 0.2760 95 Leap the Dips Lakemont PA 41 26 82 6 0.2544 96 Colossus S.F. Magic Mountain CA 27 22 71 6 0.2525 97 Rolling Thunder SFGAd NJ 44 24 80 8 0.2500 0 98 Tomahawk Port Aventura ES 3 8 27 3 0.2500 0 99 Tornado Adventureland IA 4 13 49 6 0.2353 * Jack Rabbit Clementon Lake NJ 1 13 48 0 0.2131 * Kiddie Coaster Playland NY 2 9 48 10 0.2090 * White Canyon Yomiuriland JP 2 5 19 0 0.2083 103 Lil' Dipper Camden Park WV 3 13 56 4 0.2055 104 Psyclone S.F. Magic Mountain CA 19 12 61 10 0.2048 105 Sky Princess Dutch Wonderland PA 13 14 71 11 0.2031 106 Predator Darien Lake NY 31 19 92 11 0.2008 107 Pegasus Big Chief WI 15 15 78 12 0.2000 108 Twister II Elitch Gardens CO 9 16 80 8 0.1923 109 Rattler Fiesta Texas TX 19 16 90 9 0.1783 110 Beastie Kings Island OH 23 16 90 8 0.1754 * White Cyclone Nagashima Spaland JP 2 4 20 0 0.1667 0 * Zippin' Pippin Libertyland TN 1 1 5 0 0.1667 0 113 Zipper Dipper Blackpool UK 8 12 74 6 0.1630 114 Wolverine Wildcat Michigan's Adventure MI 22 15 93 4 0.1518 115 Dragon Coaster Playland NY 7 7 67 12 0.1512 * Sea Dragon Wyandot Lake OH 2 7 49 4 0.1500 117 Teddy Bear Stricker's Grove OH 10 9 77 11 0.1495 118 Scooby Doo Kings Dominion VA 28 11 95 11 0.1410 * Jupiter Nishi-Nihon Korakuen JP 2 3 21 0 0.1250 120 Scooby Doo Carowinds NC 15 9 79 3 0.1154 121 Zach's Zoomer Michigan's Adventure MI 22 10 97 3 0.1045 122 Raging Wolf Bobs Geauga Lake OH 17 8 94 5 0.0981 123 Comet Waldameer PA 6 3 74 10 0.0920 * Scenic Railway Luna Park-Melbourne AU 1 1 11 0 0.0833 125 Mean Streak Cedar Point OH 43 5 106 8 0.0756 126 Little Dipper Kiddieland IL 6 2 53 5 0.0750 127 Ghoster Coaster Canada's Wonderland ON 6 1 57 7 0.0692 128 Wildcat Frontier City OK 4 1 67 8 0.0658 * Anaconda Walibi-Schtroumpf FR 2 0 27 4 0.0645 130 Underground Adventureland IA 4 3 64 1 0.0515 131 The Grizzly Great America CA 20 2 95 5 0.0441 132 Hercules Dorney Park PA 28 3 102 3 0.0417 * Tree Topper Upper Clements Park NS 1 0 3 0 0.0000 * Pegasus de Efeling NL 1 0 3 0 0.0000 * Rutschebanen Bakken DK 1 0 5 0 0.0000 The rest of the coasters had no polltakers ride them this year. * Hullamvasut Varosliget HU 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Little Dipper Esselworld IN 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Sierra Thunder Mirabilandia Park IT 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Vuoristorata Linnamaki Park FI 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * King Kobra Great Adventure BR 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Hochschaubahn Prater Park AT 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Bush Beast Australia's Wonderl. AU 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Beastie Australia's Wonderl. AU 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Le Monstre La Ronde QU 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Red Streaker (S) Willow Mill PA 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Wildcat (SBNO) Idora Park OH 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Jack Rabbit (SBNO) Idora Park OH 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Thunderbolt (SBNO) Coney Island NY 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Comet (SBNO) Lincoln Park MA 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Little Dipper Hillcrest IL 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Texas Tornado Frontierland UK 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Wild Mouse Frontierland UK 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Devil's Coach (S) J's Amusements CA 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Antelope Gulliver's World UK 0 0 0 0 0.0000 * Arkansas Twister(S) Magic Springs AR 0 0 0 0 0.0000 For an explanation of the tabulation algorithm and much more about this annual poll, visit the website http://www.hitchhikers.net/wcoaster