Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards were just announced this past weekend at Kennywood. As it seemed to be popular the last few years, I’m once again sharing what my picks were this year and some of the rationale behind it. This of course is just my opinion, and it’s interesting to see how that changes even year to year. This year more than any in the past, my choices did seem to align more with the winners. Here we go!
Best Theme Park / Amusement Park of 2024
Tokyo DisneySea
There are a few parks that are right at the top and it is hard to differentiate. I chose to give it to Tokyo DisneySea this year due to their very impressive Fantasy Springs expansion featuring three major new and unique attractions.
Best Water Park of 2024
Volcano Bay
Same as it is with the top theme parks, there are several water parks that are near the top for me. None of them added significant attractions (though Schlitterbahn New Braunfels certainly is making some moves to modernize its infrastructure, but has kept some key attractions closed or neutered). I voted for Volcano Bay as the park remains the total package – though I’d like to see some expansion here soon.
Most Beautiful Park of 2024
Efteling
I didn’t change my vote here. My 2024 visit to Efteling reaffirmed to me that this remains the most beautiful park.
Best Guest Experience of 2024
Dollywood
I’ve bounced back and forth between Holiday World, Dollywood and Silver Dollar City with this category. I had an exceptional visit to Dollywood this year and gave them my vote.
Best Kids’ Area in a Park in 2024
Dollywood
This is a difficult category for me to vote on. There are larger kids areas out there with more variety and there are parks with multiple kids areas. None are kept up as well as Wildwood Grove.
Best Food of 2024
EPCOT
EPCOT got my vote again this year with its four food festivals and impressive set of quick service and sit down restaurants. Other parks I would consider for this award would be Knoebels, Europa Park and Disney California Adventure.
Best Dark Ride of 2024
Rise of the Resistance at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
I kept my vote the same in this category as well. I firmly believe this is the best dark ride experience I have been on. I still have not made it to Asia for Shanghai Pirates, Hong Kong Zootopia or Beijing’s Jurassic World Adventure which I would consider the competition. Let’s see if Epic Universe shakes things up next year!
Best Water Ride in an Amusement Park of 2024
Chiapas at Phantasialand
Chiapas is my favorite water ride. Rode it again this year. I don’t know if it has all the charm and impact as the first time I experienced it, but it is still incredible. Seems it finally got recognized and one this year. I’m also a big fan of the Knott’s log ride and think Disney did an admiral job with Tiana’s Bayou Adventure.
Best Family Coaster of 2024
Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood
Last year I threw my vote away on Hagrid’s which I think is the best family coaster. This category looks for coasters with an under 48 height requirement, but also can’t have dark ride segments. This makes this category custom fit for one of the most thrilling family rides – Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood, which ended up winning the award. I would have voted Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind next if it was included.
Best New Coaster of 2024
Voltron Nevera at Europa Park
First off, I was fortunate enough to ride Top Thrill 2 many times this season and I do think it was possibly the best roller coaster experience I had this season. It’s a tremendous ride. Also, it was not on the ballot – most certainly due to its uptime. I also did not get a chance to visit Thorpe Park for Hyperia. I did get to go to Europa Park and Voltron Nevera, which got my vote, is a fantastic experience and truly a marvel. The theming is beyond top notch. The coaster is intense and the experience can vary from pretty smooth to quite extreme / rough depending on the train and where you sit. It is certainly deserving of top coaster honors. Looking at the other runners up, I am sad not to see Iron Menace at Dorney Park get recognized, but happy to see Bobcat at Great Escape make the list.
Wood Coaster Rankings
Some shuffling here, but no major new entrants. Dropped my beloved Ravine Flyer II a couple notches due to no fault of its own. The surprise would have been Tremors at Silverwood that just missed this list.
#1 The Voyage at Holiday World
#2 Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce
#3 Wildfire at Kolmården
#4 Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City
#5 Ghostrider at Knotts Berry Farm
#6 Thunderhead at Dollywood
#7 El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure
#8 Ravine Flyer II at Waldameer Park
#9 Legend at Holiday World
#10 Colossos at Heide Park
Steel Coaster Rankings
My top 3 remained the same. Had some great rides on Taron and Zadra this year, but neither cracked the top 10. I did bump Time Traveler out and Skyrush has arrived based on the excellent new restraints on what was already a tremendous ride. What would have been a surprise would have been a showing from Goliath at La Ronde. I had some tremendous rides on it this year after the ballot had been cast. I feel few voters make it up to that park. It truly is a flawless ride.
#1 Ride to Happiness at Plopsaland De Panne
#2 Velocicoaster at Universal Island’s of Adventure
#3 Helix at Liseberg
#4 Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point
#5 Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa
#6 Fury 325 at Carowinds
#7 Millennium Force at Cedar Point
#8 Mako at Sea World Orlando
#9 Leviathan at Canada’s Wonderland
#10 Skyrush at Hersheypark