Recapping 2011 – The Most Read & Discussed Posts
I thought it’d be interesting to look back at my posts and polls from 2011 in a new three part series. In Part 1 I’m going to review the blog’s most read and most commented posts.
Most Read Post
Busch Gardens’ Verbolten Plans Leaked
Runner Up: Top 10 New Roller Coasters for 2011 Part 2
Most Discussed Post
Dollywood’s 2012 B&M Wing Coaster (49 Comments)
Runner Up: Leviathan | Giga Coaster Coming to Canada’s Wonderland (44 Comments)
Most Read News Story
Man Dies on Darien Lake Roller Coaster
Runner Up: Survey Markers for Carowinds 2012 Ride
Most Discussed News Story
Reactions to Holiday World’s Mammoth & the Minivan Effect (35 Comments)
Runner Up: Earthquake Shakes Kings Dominion & Busch Gardens (19 Comments)
Most Read Coaster Review (All Reviews)
New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas
Runner Up: Bizarro at Six Flags New England
Most Viewed Featured Photo
The Best Currently Defunct Roller Coaster on the Planet
Runner Up: My Favorite Roller Coaster Photo
Most Discussed Featured Photo
The Best Thing to See at a Theme Park (22 Comments)
Runner Up: At Least It’s Photogenic (21 Comments)
Most Popular Topic Page
Roller Coaster Showdowns
Runner Up: Roller Coaster Reviews
As I view my site’s analytics on a regular basis, I wasn’t too surprised by most of these results. Although, the Roller Coaster Showdowns topic page flew under my radar. I didn’t even write a showdown in 2011! I guess I better crank out a few more of those if I can come up with a good head-to-head match up of rides I’ve ridden.
All posts are from 2011 except for coaster reviews. I thought it’d be neat to see the most popular review for 2011 no matter when the review was written. As Bizarro is one of these most popular coasters around, it’s no surprise to see it rank highly.
In the next post I’ll go over some interesting poll results from 30 plus polls that I conducted in 2011. And in Part 3 I’ll go over my favorite posts and highlights for the site and my travels. I’ll also share some info on what’s coming to the site(s) in the coming year.
What’s Your Take?
Are you surprised by any of these top posts? Had you missed any of these articles? Leave a comment below.
January 5, 2012 at 02:58
I don't know about every one else, but when I started reading this blog, the Roller Coaster Showdowns were realy the only thing that interested me. I probably would've read others posts too, but I was simply so intrested in the showdows that I never realy thought checking out the other posts. I obviously did, eventualy, but I went for a very long time with "Top Thrill Dragster vs. Kingda Ka" being practicaly the only post I ever read.
January 5, 2012 at 16:23
Same here. When I first found this blog, roller coaster showdowns was the first thing I went to. It's cool how you pit two very similar, yet very good coasters against each other. And CC, i've noticed that it's been a while since you've done a theme park review. I like the ones you have up there, and it'd be great to see more.
January 5, 2012 at 17:08
Thanks for the feedback guys. While that page and those posts get a good amount of traffic, they don't get the most. But, given your comments they may be a sort of gateway for some coaster fans.
I've had several people request a Cheetah Hunt vs. Maverick showdown, but I haven't ridden either. Like I said, I'll have to think of another one. Maybe an 'outside of the box' comparison. Hmmm…..
If you've got any showdown ideas based on what I've ridden (http://www.thecoastercritic.com/about/complete-ride-list), let me know!
I've been asked about theme park reviews too. I realized that I'm not really fully qualified to give true 'theme park reviews' as I really just stick to roller coasters when I go to parks. Now a coaster lineup review post might work, but I can't speak to flat rides, water rides, food, etc.
January 6, 2012 at 02:50
I've got one: The Raven vs. The Legend.
January 6, 2012 at 14:52
I also have one: El toro vs the voyage. Two of the best wooden coasters.
January 7, 2012 at 15:48
I think that is possibly THE most requested roller coaster showdown ever.
January 6, 2012 at 17:45
Do a showdown vs cloned rides. Like Bizarro at SFGAd and Medusa at SFDK. or two Batmen, or two of basically any Vekoma. Some clones are better than others. Take the Gerstlauer Spinning coasters for example (Fairly Odd Coaster at Nick U vs. Spinning Dragons at WOF) Exact same ride, but the Nick U one is better due to proximity to the other rides.
January 6, 2012 at 13:49
Roller coaster showdowns is my favorite topic to. I also like top 3 thursdays and reviews. I would like to see a el toro vs. new texas giant showdown. Some anothee ideas are sooperdooperlooper vs. mindbender and beast vs. The voyage.
January 11, 2012 at 10:18
Nice suggestions. I forgot about the hype around people wanting to compare El Toro to the New Texas Giant. Even though that's comparing a woodie to a steel coaster it is an interesting matchup.
January 12, 2012 at 07:25
I think you should also compare Montu vs. Alpengeist. Or Hulk vs. V:TBC.