Does Your Favorite Coaster Suck? Wood coaster poll!

[Coastard69]

Alright, we made a wooden coaster poll.

Yes, another one.

But this one is built around the old Mitch Hawker-style head-to-head method, so it isn’t just “which rides appeared on the most Top 10 lists” or “which coaster has the largest fan club this year.”

If you rank Troy over Wodan, that comparison is only evaluated against other voters who have ridden both Troy and Wodan.

Same idea across the whole ballot.

So if you’ve ridden 15 woodies, your opinion on those 15 still counts properly. You do not need a credit count the size of a small European nation, and the poll isn’t automatically tilted toward whichever rides happen to be most commonly ridden by North American enthusiasts.

And for anyone who remembers the old Hawker polls:

there is no spreadsheet.

No downloading a file.
No editing cells.
No wondering whether you’ve broken the entire thing because Excel decided a coaster name was a date.

You just use the website like a normal person.

We’ve also spent far too much time teaching it things coaster enthusiasts insist on doing, like abbreviating everything, using old park names, typing the park before the ride, typing the ride before the park, and apparently refusing to spell out “Ravine Flyer II.”

The aim is just to get a genuinely useful worldwide wooden coaster ranking based on shared rider experience.

Which means the more European ballots we get, the better the comparison network becomes. Balder, Troy, Wodan, Colossos, Wildfire, Zadra’s wooden cousins, all of it helps connect the wider field instead of turning the results into “America has spoken, everyone else can go home.”

If that sounds like your kind of unnecessary coaster statistics:

https://yourfavoritecoastersucks.com/poll/wood-2026

Go rank some wood.

 

[MannekenPis]

Well I filled it in and on the last page couldn't see how to submit it. Could only view draft ballot on a page that said it couldn't be submitted from, but with no instructions as to how it could. Waste of time.

 

[Coastard69]

Well I filled it in and on the last page couldn't see how to submit it. Could only view draft ballot on a page that said it couldn't be submitted from, but with no instructions as to how it could. Waste of time.

My sincere apologies, there was a major issue with the login capability at launch. It has been fixed, but I apologize about this.

 

[Matt N]

Does the poll consider defunct coasters, out of curiosity?

I’ve done 14 wooden coasters, and one of the ones I’ve done is the now defunct Megafobia at Oakwood, which I would place as my #5 woodie based on my last ride on it. Yet when I looked at the UK wooden coasters, I couldn’t see Megafobia listed there as an option.

 

[MannekenPis]

Does the poll consider defunct coasters, out of curiosity?

I’ve done 14 wooden coasters, and one of the ones I’ve done is the now defunct Megafobia at Oakwood, which I would place as my #5 woodie based on my last ride on it. Yet when I looked at the UK wooden coasters, I couldn’t see Megafobia listed there as an option.

It had to be ridden in 2026 I believe, that said it was a faff to fill in so not doing it a second time I'm afraid (just looked and it hadn't stored my selection from when I couldn't submit).

 

[Coastard69]

Does the poll consider defunct coasters, out of curiosity?

I’ve done 14 wooden coasters, and one of the ones I’ve done is the now defunct Megafobia at Oakwood, which I would place as my #5 woodie based on my last ride on it. Yet when I looked at the UK wooden coasters, I couldn’t see Megafobia listed there as an option.

The poll is Mitch Hawker style so it only ranks roller coasters that operated within this calendar year.

 

[Coastard69]

It had to be ridden in 2026 I believe, that said it was a faff to fill in so not doing it a second time I'm afraid (just looked and it hadn't stored my selection from when I couldn't submit).

I'm sorry about this, saving lists is built into the functionality of the site, but unfortunately with the code error that prevented you from logging in when I updated the coding I think it probably wiped out the local memory storage. Again my apologies about the launch day issues.

 

[ECG]

 

[Coastard69]

No Jerry! Don't hit me with the thumbs down!

 

[Coastard69]

Quick poll update for anybody following along here:

El Toro is currently sitting fifth in the live YFCS Wood Poll standings.

That is the only top-10 position we’re showing right now.

Considering El Toro has spent a long time living in the “obviously top three” part of the wood coaster conversation, that felt worth sharing.

These are still early results, and the standings will move as more ballots come in. The poll is using Hawker-style head-to-head comparisons between mutual riders, so the answer to “how is El Toro only fifth?” is pretty simple:

Vote.

If you think it belongs higher, make that case with your ballot.
If you think fifth is still too generous, that works too.

https://yourfavoritecoastersucks.co...aign=wood_poll_2026&utm_content=el_toro_fifth

Go rank your wood.

 

[Coastard69]

Quick YFCS Wood Poll update, because the current results are getting weird.


Voting is still open, and we took a peek at the interim Hawker-style standings from the ballots currently counting.


Two things immediately jumped out:


Coney Island Cyclone is currently #5 in the world.


And perhaps more importantly for CoasterForce: there is currently not a single European wooden coaster in the Top 10.


None.


Obviously these aren’t final results. The standings are calculated from mutual-rider head-to-head comparisons, so they can—and probably will—move as more ballots come in.


But if you’re looking at that and thinking “there is absolutely no way”, arguing with us won’t fix it. Voting might.


We especially want more ballots from outside North America, so if you’ve ridden woodies in Europe, please throw your rankings into the mess.


No spreadsheets required. Paste your coaster list, tell us what you’ve ridden, rank them, and the site handles the rest.


2026 YFCS Wood Poll:
yourfavoritecoastersucks.com/poll/wood-2026?utm_source=coasterforce&utm_medium=forum&utm_campaign=wood_poll_2026


And yes, Cyclone at #5 is real. For now.

 

[Coastard69]

UPDATE: Phoenix is currently 4th — and Europe has been shut out of the Top 10


A quick update now that we’ve got more ballots coming into the 2026 YFCS Wooden Coaster Poll.


I’m still keeping most of the interim Top 10 hidden, but I can reveal two things:


Phoenix at Knoebels is currently sitting in 4th.


And perhaps more importantly for CoasterForce…


There are currently ZERO European wooden coasters in the Top 10.


No Wodan. No Balder. No Colossos. Nothing.


(And before somebody says Wildfire: RMC Topper Track is classified as steel in the YFCS poll.)


These are only interim standings, so they absolutely can—and probably will—change as more ballots arrive. Results are calculated Hawker-style using head-to-head comparisons between people who have actually ridden both coasters.


Which means if the current results look suspiciously American to you, complaining about Americans having bad taste won’t fix it.


Voting will.


I’d especially love to get more European ballots into the sample before this thing closes. The broader the group of riders, the more interesting the final results become.


Voting is open through November 1:
yourfavoritecoastersucks.com


Thanks again to everyone from CoasterForce who has already voted or shared the poll.


Now let’s see if Europe can actually get something into the Top 10 before voting closes.

 

[MannekenPis]

I do appreciate your attempts to engage Europeans, but I doubt we are going to be that bothered about there being no European coasters on an obviously American dominated poll. Can I ask what percentage of polls are currently from Europeans?

Depending on the answer to that, at this stage a few extra Coaster Force responses might just force one European coaster in and appear to validate the results. Probably better for it to be an American poll with American results. I mean, you can just filter Captaincoaster.com for wooden coasters for a more international perspective.

 

[Coastard69]

I do appreciate your attempts to engage Europeans, but I doubt we are going to be that bothered about there being no European coasters on an obviously American dominated poll. Can I ask what percentage of polls are currently from Europeans?

Depending on the answer to that, at this stage a few extra Coaster Force responses might just force one European coaster in and appear to validate the results. Probably better for it to be an American poll with American results. I mean, you can just filter Captaincoaster.com for wooden coasters for a more international perspective.

Following the first day I posted the link here the top 10 featured Wodan and Balder, which have both since disappeared and not returned to the on going calculations for top 10.

I do not have geographical information on voters, but at this stage I’d say “American dominated” is a fair characterization.

Captain Coaster does use a very similar system, however we’re looking to make a “snapshot” of how the enthusiast community ranked the coasters (wood first than steel) that actually operated within that calendar year as opposed to an on-going rankings.

 

[Peet]

I always enjoy seeing poll results, so hats off to the people who put in the hours to make them happen. It's obviously hard work because still nobody has emerged as the "new Mitch Hawker", different people seem to do different polls each year. Anyway, ballot submitted, looking forward to seeing the results.

 

[Coastard69]

I always enjoy seeing poll results, so hats off to the people who put in the hours to make them happen. It's obviously hard work because still nobody has emerged as the "new Mitch Hawker", different people seem to do different polls each year. Anyway, ballot submitted, looking forward to seeing the results.

Thanks for voting! Agreed, there’s been lots of polls and now that it’s been over 10 years since the last Mitch Hawker polls, we felt it was time to try it again as close to the original as possible.

 

[Coastard69]

UPDATE: Shivering Timbers is back in the Top 10 — and Europe has been completely kicked out.


Another bit of chaos from the provisional 2026 YFCS Wooden Coaster Poll standings:


Shivering Timbers is currently NINTH.


That alone is interesting. Shivering Timbers hasn’t been hanging around the Top 10 conversation in a while, and now it has apparently decided it’s 1998 again.


But there’s an even bigger development for the CoasterForce crowd:


There are currently ZERO European wooden coasters in the Top 10.


And Europe wasn’t always shut out.


Wodan and Balder have BOTH appeared in the provisional YFCS Top 10 earlier in this very poll.


They’ve since been unseated.


So this isn’t simply an American-heavy sample that never put a European coaster up there. European woodies were in the fight. As more ballots came in, both of them got knocked out.


These are still provisional standings. YFCS calculates the results Hawker-style using head-to-head comparisons among mutual riders, so every new group of ballots can change the matchups.


Which leaves us with two extremely important questions:


Does Shivering Timbers really belong back in the world’s Top 10?


And, perhaps more importantly around here:


ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO LET THE AMERICANS TAKE ALL TEN SPOTS?


Wodan fans? Balder fans? This would be an excellent time to stop typing and start voting.


FINAL DAY TO VOTE: NOVEMBER 1


https://yourfavoritecoastersucks.co...oll_2026&utm_content=shivering_timbers_europe


The standings don’t read the comments. They read your ballot.

 

[Hyde]

Topper track as steel? Definitely a hot take. But hey, whatever makes Phoenix go up in the rankings.

Love this ranking system and ease of use for importing CSV. Thanks for putting in the work, and excited to see the results!

I'll also be sure to bake into comparisons for EC's own Favourite Roller Coaster rankings at the end of the year - fun to compare how other rankings compare.

 

[Coastard69]

Topper track as steel? Definitely a hot take. But hey, whatever makes Phoenix go up in the rankings.

Love this ranking system and ease of use for importing CSV. Thanks for putting in the work, and excited to see the results!

I'll also be sure to bake into comparisons for EC's own Favourite Roller Coaster rankings at the end of the year - fun to compare how other rankings compare.

Thank you! I tried to make the whole thing as frictionless as possible to make voting easy, and if you decide to vote again next year, your ridden coasters and their rankings will be stored with your login info so you’ll only have to update with coasters added within that year!

As for RMCs I figured I’d draw the line with physical track construction. Traditional wooden coasters (including prefab and precut) are layers of wood with a thin steel rail, whereas topper track replaces layers of the wood stack with steel and grout. I think I’m really just being a wood coaster purist for whatever that means in 2026

Also excited to see how the results compare to other polls. Especially wanting to ensure that this one has good geographic variety so we get a more fair ranking.

 

[Hyde]

Thank you! I tried to make the whole thing as frictionless as possible to make voting easy, and if you decide to vote again next year, your ridden coasters and their rankings will be stored with your login info so you’ll only have to update with coasters added within that year!

As for RMCs I figured I’d draw the line with physical track construction. Traditional wooden coasters (including prefab and precut) are layers of wood with a thin steel rail, whereas topper track replaces layers of the wood stack with steel and grout. I think I’m really just being a wood coaster purist for whatever that means in 2026

Also excited to see how the results compare to other polls. Especially wanting to ensure that this one has good geographic variety so we get a more fair ranking.

But wood is still on the inner structure of the track. I get the why, but I've always found the question of how much steel/wood blend in the track makes a track steel-or-wood pretty subjective.

FWIW, you do let Wolverine Wildcat through, which also has Titan track.