Golden Ticket Award for Best New Ride
Awarded forBest new attraction in both Amusement and Water parks
CountryUnited States
Presented byAmusement Today
First awarded2005
Currently held bySteel Vengeance (amusement park)
Medusa's Slidewheel (water park)
Websitegoldenticketawards.com

The Golden Ticket Award for Best New Ride is presented by Amusement Today to the best new attraction in the water park industry. The award was presented for best new attraction in both water parks and amusement parks since its inception in 2005 until 2018.

History

The Golden Ticket Awards have been presenting awards since 1998 acknowledging amusement and water parks for their achievement in different categories. The Best New Ride award was introduced in the form of two different awards to acknowledge the best in amusement and water parks. The award has been presented since 2005 and has been featured on the Discovery Channel and the Travel Channel. In 2019, the amusement park award was split into three categories. The overall award was renamed to Best New Attraction Installation of 2019, with "industry suppliers and parks hav[ing] direct involvement with nominations".[1] The Best New Family Attraction and Best New Roller Coaster categories were also introduced.

Best New Amusement Park Ride

From 2005 to 2018, the fourteen winners were only produced by twelve different theme parks. The parks to introduce the most winners in this timespan were Cedar Point and Dollywood with two rides each. With five awards, Cedar Fair is the company that produced the most best new rides.

Year Winner(s) Park Other candidates
2005 Hades Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park [2]
2006 The Voyage Holiday World & Splashin' Safari [3]
2007 Maverick Cedar Point [4]
2008 Ravine Flyer II Waldameer Park [5]
2009 Prowler Worlds of Fun [6]
2010 Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Islands of Adventure [7]
2011 New Texas Giant Six Flags Over Texas [8]
2012 Wild Eagle Dollywood [9]
2013 Outlaw Run Silver Dollar City [10]
2014 Flying Turns Knoebels [11]
2015 Fury 325 Carowinds [12]
2016 Lightning Rod Dollywood [13]
2017 Mystic Timbers Kings Island [14]
2018 Steel Vengeance Cedar Point [15]

Best New Water Park Ride

The award for the Best New Water Park Ride has been presented for 16 years and is given to the ride that has been voted for by industry professionals. A total of seven different water parks have had the honor of receiving this award and the park that has received it the most is Holiday World & Splashin' Safari in Indiana, with total of five. There is also a Golden Ticket Award that recognizes the Best Water Park and Best Water Park Ride as voted on by the same industry leaders, however this is without the handicap of being anew ride for a specific year.

While water park attractions are built to be as safe as possible, unfortunately accidents due occur. In 2016, the winner of the Best New Water Park Ride in 2014, Verrückt, was involved in a fat accident where a 10-year-old boy, named Caleb Schwab, was tragically decapitated along with serious injury to the other two riders. The ride never reopened, was demolished in 2018, and remains as one of the most tragic accidents in the Amusement Park industry. [16] Verrückt remains the only water park ride on this list to have closed.

The Schlitterbahn Water Park chain finds its way on this list multiple times. The Falls at Schlitterbahn in Texas is the World's Longest Water park ride at 3,600 feet.[17] The ride simulates a tame whitewater river rafting experience that is perfect for all ages to enjoy. It includes sudden drops and rough waters to keep the entire family entertained.

Medusa's SlideWheel at Mt. Olympus Water & Theme park is the United States' first rotating waterslide, and also the winner of the Golden Ticket for Best New Water Park Ride in 2022.[18] This type of slide has riders enter one end of the slide as the whole structure rotates, causing the riders to have "pendulum movement" [18] as they slide through the intricate tubing.

Year Winner(s) Park Other candidates
2005 Black Anaconda Noah's Ark Water Park [2]
2006 Bahari River Holiday World & Splashin' Safari [3]
2007 Bakuli Holiday World & Splashin' Safari [4]
2008 Dragon's Revenge Schlitterbahn, Texas [5]
2009 Congo River Expedition Schlitterbahn, Texas [6]
2010 Wildebeest Holiday World & Splashin' Safari [7]
2011 The Falls Schlitterbahn, Texas [8]
2012 Mammoth Holiday World & Splashin' Safari [9]
2013 River Rush Dollywood's Splash Country [10]
2014 Verrückt Schlitterbahn Kansas City [11]
2015 Dive Bomber Six Flags White Water Atlanta [12]
2016 Massiv Schlitterbahn, Galveston [13]
2017 Thunder Rapids Six Flags Fiesta Texas [14]
2018 Ray Rush Aquatica Orlando [19]
2019 Cutback Water Coaster Water Country USA [20]
2021 Cheetah Chase Holiday World & Splashin' Safari [21]
2022 Medusa's Slidewheel Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park [22]
2023

Rocket Blast

 Waldameer & Water World
  • Riptide Race at Water Country USA
  • Vikingløp at Rulantica
  • Turtle Coaster at Aqualand/Land of Legends
  • Lightspeed Shuttle at Studio City Water Park
 [23]

References

  1. ^ "GTA Categories — The Golden Ticket Awards". Amusement Today. 3 July 2019. Archived from the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Amusement Today — Golden Ticket Winners 2005" (PDF). Amusement Today. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Amusement Today — Golden Ticket Winners 2006" (PDF). Amusement Today. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 16, 2006. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Amusement Today — Golden Ticket Winners 2007" (PDF). Amusement Today. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 30, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  5. ^ a b "Amusement Today — Golden Ticket Winners 2008" (PDF). Amusement Today. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 11, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Amusement Today — Golden Ticket Winners 2009" (PDF). Amusement Today. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 20, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Amusement Today — Golden Ticket Winners 2010" (PDF). Amusement Today. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 24, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  8. ^ a b "Amusement Today — Golden Ticket Winners 2011" (PDF). Amusement Today. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 12, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  9. ^ a b "Amusement Today — Golden Ticket Winners 2012" (PDF). Amusement Today. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 19, 2012. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
  10. ^ a b "Park and ride winners" (PDF). Amusement Today. 17 (6.2): 4. September 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013. Retrieved September 8, 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Park and ride winners". Amusement Today. September 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  12. ^ a b "Park and ride winners". Amusement Today. September 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  13. ^ a b "Park and ride winners". Amusement Today. September 2016. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  14. ^ a b "Park and ride winners" (PDF). Amusement Today. September 2017. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  15. ^ "Amusement Today – Golden Ticket Awards 2018" (PDF). Amusement Today. 22 (6.2): 10. September 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  16. ^ Raine, Naja (August 9, 2016). "Caleb Schwab, 10, Decapitated in Water Slide Accident, Police Confirm". People. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  17. ^ "River Tubing | The Falls | Schlitterbahn New Braunfels". www.schlitterbahn.com. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  18. ^ a b "New Indoor Waterpark & America's First Slidewheel". Mt. Olympus Water & Theme Park. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  19. ^ "Amusement Today – Golden Ticket Awards 2018" (PDF). Amusement Today. 22 (6.2): 10. September 2018. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  20. ^ "Amusement Today – Golden Ticket Awards 2019" (PDF). Amusement Today. 23 (6.2): 12. September 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
  21. ^ "Amusement Today – Golden Ticket Awards 2021" (PDF). Amusement Today. 25 (6.2): 60. September 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  22. ^ "Amusement Today – Golden Ticket Awards 2022" (PDF). Amusement Today. 26 (6.2): 68. September 2021. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  23. ^ "Amusement Today – Golden Ticket Awards 2023" (PDF). Amusement Today. 27 (6.2): 76. September 2023.

External links

Golden Ticket Awards
Golden Ticket Award for Best New Ride
Categories