It’s time to unveil the winners of the 2016 Attraction Awards!
The competition was fierce this year, and several of the races were close. We had a record number of votes cast, and we’re grateful for your participation! And of course, congratulations to the winners and nominees.
Remember, the Attraction Awards is a fun, non-scientific web polling. Now let’s get to the results:
1. Most Anticipated 2016 Attraction
Valravn at Cedar Point
When it opens May 7th, Cedar Point’s Valravn will be the world’s tallest, longest and fastest dive coaster — standing 223 feet tall, stretching 3,415 feet and reaching a top speed of 75 mph. And on top of those impressive numbers, the Bolliger & Mabillard steel coaster will also feature three inversions: a 165-foot-tall Immelmann, a dive loop and a zero-g roll.
Honorable mention: Lightning Rod at Dollywood
2. Best New-for-2015 Attraction
Fury 325 at Carowinds
Photo © Carowinds
Fury 325 was the most anticipated attraction of 2015, and it appears that the 300-foot-tall B&M coaster did not disappoint. As its name suggests, the coaster stands 325-feet tall, towering over the amusement park below. It reaches a top speed of 95 mph during its 6,600-foot trek across and around the park, ravaging through its course with no mercy.
Honorable mention: Thunderbird at Holiday World
3. Best Park Twitter Account
Kings Island (@KingsIslandPR)
Seven years ago today, we joined the world of #Twitter and made our first tweet. pic.twitter.com/Uyb3BiPZPY
— Kings Island (@KingsIslandPR) April 25, 2016
It’s fitting that Kings Island is celebrating seven years on Twitter. They’ve done a spectacular job of leveraging Twitter’s potential. The park not only regularly tweets updates and beautiful photos of the park’s attractions, events, shows and more, but the page also regularly interacts with fans and followers. And as social media is a two-way street — a conversation of sorts — that interaction matters.
Honorable mention: Carowinds (@Carowinds)
4. Best Attraction Named After an Animal
Diamondback at Kings Island
Named after the diamondback rattlesnake, Kings Island’s Diamondback hyper coaster has stood as the park’s tallest coaster (at 230 feet) since it opened in 2009. Its more than 5,200 feet of track stretches toward the outer boundaries of the Ohio amusement park, and the coaster’s finale features a water splashdown — the first of its kind for a hyper coaster.
Honorable mention: Maverick at Cedar Point
5. Most Missed Attraction
Thunder Road at Carowinds
Carowinds’ second wooden roller coaster, Thunder Road, opened in 1976 and featured two identical tracks that paralleled one another, allowing pairs of 24-seat trains to race as they traversed the 3,819-foot course. Just shy of its 40th anniversary, the coaster was closed in the summer of 2015 to make way for the renamed and expanded Carolina Harbor water park. Read more about Thunder Road’s history here.
Honorable mention: Back to the Future (any Universal Studios)
6. Coaster Most Deserving of the “Virtual Reality” Treatment
Vortex at Kings Island
Vortex is among the many classic roller coasters at Kings Island. The Arrow Dynamics looping steel coaster opened in 1987 and has remained largely untouched aside from some fresh coats of paint. The coaster stands nearly 150 feet tall and features a 138-foot drop along with six inversions. It seems like a perfect candidate to receive a “Virtual Reality” makeover.
Honorable mention: Iron Dragon at Cedar Point
Thank you again to everyone who participated in this year’s Attraction Awards. We’ll see you again next year!
only fair cedar parks, there is something so wrong