Holiday World was home to the 2011 Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards in which the Amusement Industry names the “Best of the Year”. The awards are sponsored, developed and put on by amusement industry magazine, Amusement Today. This was the 14th annual presentation of the awards, which many inside the industry consider to be the “Academy Awards” of the Amusement Industry.
In addition to the awards, Amusement Today honored Dick Kinzel as part of their “Legends Series”. Kinzel is the first in the series to be honored while alive.
The honoree of this year’s Legends Series, which pays tribute to an amusement legend who has impacted the industry in a unique way, is Richard L. Kinzel, President and CEO of Cedar Fair, L.P., in Sandusky, Ohio. Kinzel began his storied career in the amusement industry in 1972 and will retire in January. He has left his mark on the business through his vision, passion and commitment to improving and investing in the Cedar Fair properties. Kinzel is the first living recipient of the Legends Series.
As for this year’s Golden Ticket Award Winners, they are:
Best Amusement Park – Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
Best Waterpark – Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort, New Braunfels, Texas
Best Children’s Park – Idlewild and SoakZone, Ligonier, Pa.
Best Marine Life Park – SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
Best Seaside Park – Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Best Wooden Coaster – The Voyage at Holiday World, Santa Claus, Ind.
Best Steel Coaster – Millennium Force at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
Best Kids’ Area – Kings Island, Kings Mills, Ohio
Friendliest Staff – Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.
Cleanest Park – Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.
Best Halloween Event – Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
Best Landscaping – Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Va.
Best Christmas Event – Smoky Mountain Christmas at Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Best Food – Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pa.
Best Shows – Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Best Outdoor Night Show Production – IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at Walt Disney World’s Epcot, Orlando, Fla.
Best Water Ride – Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla.
Best Waterpark Ride – Wildebeest at Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.
Best Dark Ride – Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla.
Best New Ride of 2011: Amusement Park – New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington, Texas
Best New Ride of 2011: Waterpark – The Falls at Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort, New Braunfels, Texas
Best Carousel – Grand Carousel at Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pa.
Best Indoor Roller Coaster – Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
Best Indoor Waterpark – Schlitterbahn Galveston Island, Galveston, Texas
Best Funhouse/Walk-Through Attraction – Noah’s Ark at Kennywood, West Mifflin, Pa.
Congratulations to all the winners.
Thoughts-Compare that to last year’s winners, and you’ll see very little change in the list. Cedar Point won again for Best Park for the 14th year in a row, as did other perennial favorites, Knoebels, Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Schlitterbahn.
Other surprising factors include Texas Giant for “Best New Ride”, which isn’t a new ride, but a radical transformation of an old ride. While it may be a new ride for many who had ridden it before, by definition, it’s still just a refurbished ride. Other new attractions such as the much praised, and wildly touted Cheetah Hunt didn’t even come close to the amount of votes to win. With such lopsided victories, and many perennial winners it has many wondering “just how are the winners chosen”.
According to Amusement Today
Calculated from an international poll conducted by Amusement Today, the Golden Ticket Awards are the results of a detailed survey that is sent to a database of experienced and well-traveled amusement park fans around the world – in balanced geographical regions – asking them to rate the “bests” in 25 categories such as “amusement parks,” “roller coasters,” “food,” “Halloween and Christmas events” and “water rides.”
The question arises, is a poll given out to a group of fans the best way to go about awarding something as large as the “Best of the Best” in the amusement industry? Other questions arise such as how often is that group of fans changed out, which sections of the world are given the polls (It seems mostly in the Northeast and Midwest) and how are these fans chosen? How can a park like Cedar Point win “Best Park” when Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom squashes it (and all parks) in attendance year after year? Coasters tend to get old, new ones built with new innovations, yet the same ones win the top ten every year.
We’d like to know what you think about it. Let us know in the comments below, Do you agree or Disagree with the Golden Ticket Awards?
This is not to take away from the winners of the awards at all, every park in the list has outstanding achievements of their own, and unfortunately there can only be one named “Best of the Best”.
For the full list of winners, visit the official Amusement Today website.
