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Valravn at Cedar Point Voted Best New Amusement Park Attraction in USA Today 10Best Readers' Cho
Just today, USA Today announced the winner of the Best Amusement Park Attraction in their annual USA Today 10Best Reader's Choice contest. This voting contest is held by the magazine every year and has other awards, but the most paramount of them is Best New Amusement Park Attraction. Though it may come as a surprise to some of you, Valravn at Cedar Point won the contest.
Valravn was the 100th coaster built by Swiss manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) when it opened officially in May of last year. It is the tallest, fastest, and longest B&M Dive Coaster in the world. At 223 feet tall and a top speed of 75 mph, Valravn is one of the tallest and fastest coasters in the park, let alone the world.
I rode Valravn for the first time on May 23, 2016 (just over two weeks after it officially debuted) and I was very surprised at how good it was. B&M Dive Coasters aren't very appreciated among the coaster enthusiast community because they aren't typically very long and don't retain their speed for the entire ride. Valravn was my first B&M Dive Coaster, and I thought that it was a good investment for the park, contrary to popular belief. (I have a Valravn review coming out soon, so stay tuned for that!)
Many coaster enthusiasts were surprised to hear that Valravn won the contest. Other coasters that opened this year, such as Lightning Rod at Dollywood and Storm Chaser at Kentucky Kingdom, were considered to be better coasters, yet, they both ranked below Valravn. Although I personally love Valravn, I agree with most people, Valravn shouldn't have won.
This contest could only be won by the attraction with the most votes. You may or may not know already, but Cedar Point has a large presence on social media, with nearly 1.5 million likes on Facebook; 202,000 followers on Instagram; and 149,000 followers on Twitter. The park pushed out this contest and told their fans to vote for Valravn on every one of their social media platforms. Because they have a larger following than any other park that opened an attraction this year, Valravn won, of course, because they have the most fans, meaning they got the most votes.
Below, I will list the top ten winners in the USA Today Best New Amusement Park Attraction contest:
Valravn - Cedar Point (Ohio)
Storm Chaser - Kentucky Kingdom (Kentucky)
Lightning Rod - Dollywood (Tennessee)
Phobia Phear Coaster - Lake Compounce (Connecticut)
Cobra's Curse - Busch Gardens Tampa (Florida)
Mass Effect: New Earth - California's Great America (California)
Mako - SeaWorld Orlando (Florida)
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - Universal Studios Hollywood (California)
Incredible Hulk Coaster - Universal's Islands of Adventure (Florida)
Monster - Adventureland (Iowa)
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Valravn photo courtesy of Jordan Sternberg
Thanks to USA Today for information in this article: http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-new-amusement-park-attraction-2016/
