Steel Roller Coaster Poll 2009

Newly Renamed and Rethemed, Bizarro Tops Steel Poll for 5th Straight Year

Note: Scroll to the bottom for links to the results for all 400+ steel roller coasters in the poll.
Six Flags New England's Bizarro is #1 again. Eagle's Fortress again finished #2 (based on rides delivered a year or more ago as it did not operate in 2009) and Expedition GeForce again placed third in the poll. Kings Island's Diamondback leads the Class of 2009 with an impressive fourth place debut. Perennial Top 10 Steel Coaster Goliath of Holland's Walibi World improved three spots to #5 this year. Piraten of Djurs Sommerland in Denmark fell one spot from its 2008 debut to #6 this year. Perennial favorite Nemesis is #7 this year, just ahead of #8 Katun. Kawasemi dropped five spots from its 2008 debut to #9 this year. Millennium Force climbed two spots from 2008 and closes out this year's top ten. Falling out of the top 10 this year were Behemoth, which dropped five spots from its 2008 debut to #12, and Dragon Khan at #22. Other new coasters that debuted well this year include Blue Fire Megacoaster at #12, Tele2 Insane at #20, Manta at #23, iSpeed at #37, and Fluch von Novgorod at #41. "Favorite Wood Coaster" outclassed the top steel rides again this year. It would have finished 4th, losing only comparisons to some European and Australian Steel Coasters in countries where most of the local wood coasters are not as highly regarded. However, the most interesting result is that "Favorite Wood Coaster" beat each of the top three steel coasters by large margins among mutual-riders. The opposite is true in the wood poll as "Favorite Steel" lost by healthy margins to each of the top three wooden coasters. Participation was up this year to a record 656 ballots, compared to 631 in 2008. The following chart shows the mutual rider comparisons for the top steel roller coasters. Preferences are listed for the people who rode each pair of coasters. The chart should be read from left to right along the line for each of the top coasters listed at the left. For instance, it can be seen that #1 Bizarro won the comparison with #3 Expedition GeForce by an 20 to 13 margin. NOTE: the order they are listed in the spreadsheet is not the official order of finish. Note: Scroll to the bottom for links to the mutual rider comparisons for all 400+ steel roller coasters in the poll. Note that any links below that are not yet active will become active as I have time to complete them.

2009 Steel Roller Coaster Poll Results Nine Year Chart

Ordered by this year's results for all 400+ coasters, with each coaster's results dating back to 1999 also listed on the same line, this chart is the best way to see trends and consistencies in each roller coaster's ranking over the years.

2009 Steel Roller Coaster Poll Results Listing

Shows each of the 400+ coasters winning percentage, the number of wins, losses, and ties for each and tiebreaker information.

All 656 Completed Steel Poll Ballots

Look for your ballot, a friend's ballot, or for ballots that have similar 'tastes' for ideas on which steel roller coasters you should seek out.

Mutual Rider Spreadsheet

Has the coaster v. coaster voting results (including favorite wood coaster) showing which coaster of each pair was preferred (and by what margin) by the people who have ridden each pair of coasters. (LARGE: 2 MB Excel Spreadsheet) Note: All comparisons are actually in the file, but only the first 255 columns/coasters can be seen when using Excel. NOTE: the order listed in the spreadsheet is not the official order of finish.

Results Based Only on Voters who Rode each Coaster in 2009

These results help highlight how each steel roller coaster was running this year.

Locations of the 2009 Voters

Shows cumulative locations for the 571 voters who specified their country or USA state on their ballot.

Ride Forces

Shows which ride forces the voters preferred and also six top 20 rankings based only on voters who listed each of the six ride forces as their favorite (or co-favorite). For an explanation of the tabulation algorithm and much more about this poll, visit the website BestRollerCoasterPoll.com