2017 GTA Winners – The Golden Ticket Awards | Presented by Amusement Today

The 2017 Golden Ticket Awards were hosted at Quassy Amusement Park, Lake Compounce (Connecticut).

Best Amusement Park – Europa-Park, Rust, Germany
Best Water Park – Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort, New Braunfels, Texas
Best Children’s Park – Idlewild & SoakZone, Ligonier, Pa.
Best Marine Life Park – SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando, Fla.
Best Seaside Park – Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz, Calif.
Best Wooden Coaster – El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure, Jackson, N.J.
Best Steel Coaster – Fury 325, Carowinds, Charlotte, N.C.
Best Kids’ Area – Kings Island, Kings Mills, Ohio
Friendliest Park – Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
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 – Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Best Shows – Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Best Water Ride – Valhalla at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, Lancashire, England
Best Water Park Ride – Wildebeest at Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.
Best Dark Ride – Twilight Zone Tower of Terror at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Orlando, Fla.
Best New Ride of 2017 – Amusement Park – Mystic Timbers at Kings Island, Kings Mills, Ohio
Best New Ride of 2017 – Water Park – Thunder Rapids at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, San Antonio, 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 Funhouse/Walk-Through Attraction – Noah’s Ark at Kennywood, West Mifflin, Pa.

Personally chosen by Gary Slade, publisher and editor-in-chief of Amusement Today, this year’s Publisher’s Pick Awards were presented in the following categories:
• Supplier of the Year – Intamin in Wollerau, Switzerland, for its success story of creating a diverse catalog of products and hundreds of rides in all parts of the world spanning the last 50 years;
• Park of the Year – Morgan’s Wonderland in San Antonio, for its ongoing mission to provide a safe, clean and beautiful environment free of physical and economic barriers; and
• Person of the Year – Jerry Brick of Lake Compounce in Bristol, Conn., for his passion and commitment to providing a quality, thrilling and safe amusement park that caters to the New England family audience.

2017’s Top 50 Steel Roller Coasters

Rank	Name	Park	Location	Year	Supplier	Total
1	Fury 325	Carowinds	Charlotte, N.C.	2015	B&M	1354
2	Millennium Force	Cedar Point	Sandusky, Ohio	2000	Intamin	1129
3	Superman The Ride	Six Flags New England	Agawam, Mass.	2000	Intamin	705
4	Iron Rattler	Six Flags Fiesta Texas	San Antonio, Texas	2013	RMC	657
5	Expedition GeForce	Holiday Park	Hassloch, Germany	2001	Intamin	575
6	Leviathan	Canada’s Wonderland	Vaughan, Ontario, Canada	2012	B&M	481
7	Nitro	Six Flags Great Adventure	Jackson, N.J.	2001	B&M	442
8	Diamondback	Kings Island	Mason, Ohio	2009	B&M	381
9	New Texas Giant	Six Flags Over Texas	Arlington, Texas	2011	RMC	379
10	Maverick	Cedar Point	Sandusky, Ohio	2007	Intamin	375
11	Apollo’s Chariot	Busch Gardens Williamsburg	Williamsburg, Va.	1999	B&M	374
12	Phantom’s Revenge	Kennywood	West Mifflin, Pa.	2001	Morgan	344
13	Intimidator 305	Kings Dominion	Doswell, Va.	2010	Intamin	330
14-tie	Goliath	Six Flags Over Georgia	Austell, Ga.	2006	B&M	291
14-tie	Wicked Cyclone	Six Flags New England	Agawam, Mass.	2015	RMC	291
16	Twisted Colossus	Six Flags Magic Mountain	Valencia, Calif.	2015	RMC	284
17	Top Thrill Dragster	Cedar Point	Sandusky, Ohio	2003	Intamin	276
18	Blue Fire	Europa-Park	Rust, Germany	2006	Mack	272
19	Intimidator	Carowinds	Charlotte, N.C.	2010	B&M	261
20	Nemesis	Alton Towers	Staffordshire, England	1994	B&M	254
21	Taron	Phantasialand	Brühl, Germany	2016	Intamin	253
22	Banshee	Kings Island	Mason, Ohio	2014	B&M	244
23	Magnum XL-200	Cedar Point	Sandusky, Ohio	1989	Arrow	238
24	Skyrush	Hersheypark	Hershey, Pa.	2012	Intamin	235
25	X2	Six Flags Magic Mountain	Valencia, Calif.	2002	Arrow	217
26	Mind Bender	Six Flags Over Georgia	Austell, Ga.	1978	Schwarzkopf	209
27	Montu	Busch Gardens Tampa	Tampa, Fla.	1996	B&M	200
28	Behemoth	Canada’s Wonderland	Vaughan, Ontario, Canada	2008	B&M	184
29-tie	Cheetah Hunt	Busch Gardens Tampa	Tampa, Fla.	2011	Intamin	181
29-tie	Helix	Liseberg	Gothenburg, Sweden	2014	Mack	181
31	Mako	SeaWorld Orlando	Orlando, Fla.	2016	B&M	171
32	Cannibal	Lagoon	Farmington, Utah	2015	Lagoon	163
33	Storm Chaser	Kentucky Kingdom	Louisville, Ky.	2016	RMC	135
34	Raging Bull	Six Flags Great America	Gurnee, Ill.	1999	B&M	113
35	Black Mamba	Phantasialand	Brühl, Germany	2006	B&M	109
36	Alpengeist	Busch Gardens Williamsburg	Williamsburg, Va.	1997	B&M	104
37	Medusa Steel Coaster	Six Flags Mexico	Mexico City, Mexico	2014	RMC	98
38	Quimera	La Feria	Mexico City, Mexico	2007	Schwarzkopf	93
39	Thunderbird	Holiday World	Santa Claus, Ind.	2015	B&M	91
40	Lisebergbanan	Liseberg	Gothenburg, Sweden	1987	Schwarz	84
41-tie	Goliath	La Ronde	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	2006	B&M	78
41-tie	Kumba	Busch Gardens Tampa	Tampa, Fla.	1993	B&M	78
41-tie	Lightning Run	Kentucky Kingdom	Louisville, Ky.	2014	Chance	78
44	Steel Force	Dorney Park	Allentown, Pa.	1997	Morgan	76
45	Euro-Mir	Europa-Park	Rust, Germany	1997	Mack	72
46-tie	Shock Wave	Six Flags Over Texas	Arlington, Texas	1978	Schwarzkopf	68
46-tie	Whizzer	Six Flags Great America	Gurnee, Ill.	1976	Schwarzkopf	68
48	Griffon	Busch Gardens Williamsburg	Williamsburg, Va.	2007	B&M	62
49	Expedition Everest	Disney’s Animal Kingdom	Orlando, Fla.	2006	Vekoma	61
50	Full Throttle	Six Flags Magic Mountain	Valencia, Calif.	2013	Premier	59

2017’s Top 50 Wooden Roller Coasters

Rank	Name	Park	Location	Supplier	Year	Total
1	El Toro	Six Flags Great Adventure	Jackson, N.J.	Intamin	2009	1241
2	Phoenix	Knoebels Amusement Resort	Elysburg, Pa.	Dinn-PTC/Schmeck	1985	1212
3	Boulder Dash	Lake Compounce	Bristol, Conn.	Custom Coasters	2000	1171
4	Voyage	Holiday World	Santa Claus, Ind.	Gravity Group	2006	1113
5	Lightning Rod	Dollywood	Pigeon Forge, Tenn.	Rocky Mountain	2016	710
6	Beast	Kings Island	Mason, Ohio	KECO	1979	666
7	Ravine Flyer II	Waldameer	Erie, Pa.	Gravity Group	2008	612
8	Thunderhead	Dollywood	Pigeon Forge, Tenn.	Great Coasters Int.	2004	560
9	Outlaw Run	Silver Dollar City	Branson, Mo.	Rocky Mountain	2013	541
10	Gold Striker	California’s Great America	Santa Clara, Calif.	Great Coasters Int.	2013	489
11	Mystic Timbers	Kings Island	Mason, Ohio	Great Coasters Int.	2017	345
12	Lightning Racer	Hersheypark	Hershey, Pa.	Great Coasters Int.	2000	276
13	Goliath	Six Flags Great America	Gurnee, Ill.	Rocky Mountain	2014	269
14	Boardwalk Bullet	Kemah Boardwalk	Kemah Boardwalk	M&V/Gravity Group	2007	236
15	Wodan	Europa-Park	Rust, Germany	Great Coasters Int.	2012	223
16	Balder	Liseberg	Gothenburg, Sweden	Intamin	2003	221
17	Thunderbolt	Kennywood	West Mifflin, Pa.	Vettel/Miller	1968	220
18-tie	GhostRider	Knott’s Berry Farm	Buena Vista, Calif.	Custom Coasters	1998	219
18-tie	Troy	Toverland	Sevenum, Netherlands	Great Coasters Int.	2007	219
18-tie	White Lightning	Fun Spot America	Orlando, Fla.	Great Coasters Int.	2013	219
21	Rampage	Alabama Splash Adventure	Bessemer, Ala.	Custom Coasters	1998	218
22	Cyclone	Luna Park	Brooklyn, N.Y.	Keenan/Baker	1927	217
23	Raven	Holiday World	Santa Claus, Ind.	Custom Coasters	1995	214
24	Legend	Holiday World	Santa Claus, Ind.	Custom Coasters	2000	198
25	Shivering Timbers	Michigan’s Adventure	Muskegon, Mich.	Custom Coasters	1998	197
26	Jack Rabbit	Kennywood	West Mifflin, Pa.	PTC/Miller	1920	188
27	Prowler	Worlds of Fun	Kansas City, Mo.	Great Coasters Int.	2009	186
28	Boss	Six Flags St. Louis	Eureka, Mo.	Custom Coasters	2000	183
29	Wildfire	Kolmården	Norrköping, Sweden	Rocky Mountain	2016	177
30	Cú Chulainn	Tayto Park	Ashbourne, Ireland	Gravity Group	2015	168
31	Giant Dipper	Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk	Santa Cruz, Calif.	Prior & Church/Looff	1924	167
32	Comet	The Great Escape	Lake George, N.Y.	PTC/Schmeck	1994	157
33	Switchback	ZDT’s	Seguin, Texas	Gravity Group	2015	139
34	Colossos	Heide Park	Soltau, Germany	Intamin	2001	129
35	Twister	Knoebels Amusement Resort	Elysburg, Pa.	Fetterman/Knoebels	1999	119
36	Wild Mouse	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Blackpool, England	Wright, Blackpool	1958	112
37	Blue Streak	Conneaut Lake	Conneaut Lake, Pa.	Vettel	1964	109
38	Hades 360	Mt. Olympus Theme Park	Wisconsin Dells, Wis.	Gravity Group	1995	107
39	Playland Wooden Coaster	Playland	Vancouver, B.C., Canada	Phare	1958	98
40	American Thunder	Six Flags St. Louis	Eureka, Mo.	Great Coasters Int.	2009	96
41	El Toro	Freitzeitpark Plohn	Legendfeld, Germany	Great Coasters Int.	2006	92
42	Blue Streak	Cedar Point	Sandusky, Ohio	PTC/Hoover	1964	87
43	Screamin’ Eagle	Six Flags St. Louis	Eureka, Mo.	PTC/Allen	1976	86
44	Flying Turns	Knoebels Amusement Resort	Elysburg, Pa.	Knoebels	2013	84
45	Wooden Warrior	Quassy Amusement Park	Middlebury, Conn.	Gravity Group	2011	82
46	Grizzly (KD)	Kings Dominion	Doswell, Va.		1982	81
47	Tremors	Silverwood	Athol, Idaho	Custom Coasters	1999	80
48	Grand National	Blackpool Pleasure Beach	Blackpool, England	Paige	1935	75
49	Kentucky Rumbler	Beech Bend	Bowling Green, Ky.	Great Coasters Int.	2006	71
50	Twister	Gröna Lund	Stockholm, Sweden	Gravity Group	2011	66