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2023 Golden Ticket Award winners announced

Matt N

CF Legend
Another September can only mean one thing; the return of the Golden Ticket Awards! The ceremony was hosted at Dollywood over the weekend, and there were some interesting changes this year, including a pretty big one to the winner of Best Park!

The winners this year were as follows:
  • Best Park: Dollywood (#2 Europa Park, #3 Universal’s Islands of Adventure, #4 Phantasialand, #5 Kings Island)
  • Best Water Park: Schlitterbahn New Braunfels (#2 Splashin’ Safari, #3 Volcano Bay, #4 Hyland Hills Water World, #5 Aquatica Orlando)
  • Best Family Park: Dutch Wonderland (#2 Santa’s Village, #3 Story Land, #4 Paultons Park, #5 Legoland Florida)
  • Best Family Coaster: Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood (#2 Slinky Dog Dash at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, #3 Freedom Flyer at Fun Spot Orlando, #4 Wooden Warrior at Quassy, #5 Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland Paris)
  • Breakout Family Entertainment Centre: Fun Land of Fredericksburg (#2 Meow Wolf: The Real Unreal, #3 Scene75 Chicagoland, #4 Bolder, #5 Malibu Jack’s Lafayette)
  • Most Beautiful Park: Busch Gardens Williamsburg (#2 Dollywood, #3 Europa Park, #4 Tokyo DisneySea, #5 Efteling)
  • Best Water Ride: Valhalla at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (#2 Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, #3 Chiapas at Phnatasialand, #4 Timber Mountain Log Ride at Knott’s Berry Farm, #5 Aquaman Power Wave at Six Flags Over Texas)
  • Best Kids Area: Dollywood (#2 Kings Island, #3 Canada’s Wonderland, #4 Universal’s Islands of Adventure, #5 Carowinds)
  • Best Halloween Event: Universal Studios Florida (#2 Knott’s Berry Farm, #3 Universal Studios Hollywood, #4 Six Flags Fiesta Texas, #5 Europa Park)
  • Best New Show: Le Mime et l’Etoile at Puy de Fou France (#2 Summerbration at Cedar Point, #3 El Misterio de Sorbaces at Puy de Fou España)
  • Best New Rollercoaster: Wildcat’s Revenge at Hersheypark (#2 ArieForce One at Fun Spot Atlanta, #3 Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood, #4 Toutatis at Parc Asterix, #5 Zambezi Zinger at Worlds of Fun)
  • Best New Family Attraction: Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge at Universal Studios Hollywood (#2 Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Disneyland, #3 Draken Falls at Adventureland, #4 Yuta Falls at Lost Island Theme Park, #5 Treasure Hunt: The Ride in Monterey, California)
  • Best New Water Park Ride: Rocket Blast at Waldameer & Water World (#2 Riptide Racer at Water Country USA, #3 Vikingløp at Rulantica, #4 Turtle Coaster at Land of Legends, #5 Lightspeed Shuttle at Studio City Water Park)
  • Best New Attraction Installation: ArieForce One at Fun Spot Atlanta (#2 Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge at Universal Studios Hollywood, #3 Toutatis at Parc Asterix, #4 Leviathan at Sea World Australia, #5 Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood)
  • Best Guest Experience: Dollywood (#2 Knoebels, #3 Holiday World, #4 Europa Park, #5 Silver Dollar City)
  • Best Dark Ride: Rise of the Resistance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios (#2 Haunted Mansion at Knoebels, #3 Volkanu: Quest for the Golden at Lost Island, #4 Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout at Disney’s California Adventure, #5 Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts at Universal Studios Florida)
  • Best Water Park Ride: Mammoth at Splashin’ Safari (#2 Wildebeest at Splashin’ Safari, #3 Krakatau Aqua Coaster at Volcano Bay, #4 Lost River of the Pharaohs at Hyland Hills Water World, #5 Cheetah Chase at Splashin’ Safari)
  • Best Food: Knoebels (#2 Dollywood, #3 Silver Dollar City, #4 Epcot, #5 Europa Park)
  • Best Christmas Event: Dollywood (#2 Silver Dollar City, #3 Magic Kingdom, #4 Kings Dominion, #5 Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Europa Park (tied))
The Top 25 Steel Roller Coasters of 2023 were as follows:
  1. Fury 325 - Carowinds
  2. Millennium Force - Cedar Point
  3. Jurassic World VelociCoaster - Universal’s Islands of Adventure
  4. Steel Vengeance - Cedar Point
  5. Iron Gwazi - Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
  6. Expedition GeForce - Holiday Park
  7. Superman the Ride - Six Flags New England
  8. Taron - Phantasialand
  9. Intimidator 305 - Kings Dominion
  10. Maverick - Cedar Point
  11. Apollo’s Chariot - Busch Gardens Williamsburg
  12. Phantom’s Revenge - Kennywood
  13. Leviathan - Canada’s Wonderland
  14. Lightning Rod - Dollywood
  15. Intimidator - Carowinds
  16. Iron Rattler - Six Flags Fiesta Texas
  17. Mako - SeaWorld Orlando
  18. Helix - Liseberg
  19. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure - Universal’s Islands of Adventure
  20. Nitro - Six Flags Great Adventure
  21. X2 - Six Flags Magic Mountain
  22. Time Traveler - Silver Dollar City
  23. Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind - Epcot
  24. Candymonium - Hersheypark
  25. ArieForce One - Fun Spot Atlanta
The Top 25 Wooden Roller Coasters of 2023 were as follows:
  1. Phoenix - Knoebels
  2. Voyage - Holiday World
  3. El Toro - Six Flags Great Adventure
  4. Thunderhead - Dollywood
  5. Boulder Dash - Lake Compounce
  6. Beast - Kings Island
  7. Mystic Timbers - Kings Island
  8. Ravine Flyer II - Waldameer
  9. GhostRider - Knott’s Berry Farm
  10. Outlaw Run - Silver Dollar City
  11. Balder - Liseberg
  12. Gold Striker - California’s Great America
  13. Wildfire - Kolmarden
  14. Wodan - Europa Park
  15. Jack Rabbit - Kennywood
  16. Cyclone - Luna Park
  17. Shivering Timbers - Michigan’s Adventure
  18. Thunderbolt - Kennywood
  19. Troy - Toverland
  20. Rutschebanan - Tivoli Gardens
  21. Legend - Holiday World
  22. Lightning Racer - Hersheypark
  23. Flying Turns - Knoebels
  24. Prowler - Worlds of Fun
  25. Comet - Six Flags Great Escape
So, those are the GTA winners of 2023! What do you guys think of this year’s winners?
 
A complete joke. At least they didn't list a closed ride as one of the winners this year. They couldn't find more than 3 new shows to include in a category though.
 
Really fun to the that Europapark is supposed to be in the top 5 for food, but Phantasialand, although being vastly superior is not.
Well, the whole award just causes headscratching 90% of the time, so this is to be expected.
 
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