August 2014 NPN Poll Results

© Kings Island

I enjoy asking our readers each year what their favorite new North American coaster was, and while I had an idea of how this year would turn out, well, that doesn't make it less fun.  At least for me!  One of the biggest ride debuts of the year was a massive - world's longest in fact - B&M inverted ride, Banshee, at Kings Island.   It quickly gathered much praise from fans, providing a ride experience that is said to be unlike the recent class of B&M creations, hearkening back to the older days of their designs.

Well all that played out with our readers votes, as well, as Banshee dominated the poll with a total of 44% of the vote, considerably more than the next finisher.  It seems that the giant Banshee was a hit across the board!

The second place ride was one of Rocky Mountain's 2014 creations, Goliath at Six Flags Great America.  The wooden coaster that breaks several world records gathered up over 18% of the total vote.

In a third place tie was a smaller ride that packs a big punch: Lightning Run at Kentucky Kingdom.  The ride is known for its extreme air time, and gathered over 7% of the votes.  The Chance Rides coaster is a new design, hopefully the start of many similar rides to come.  The other 3rd place finisher was an interesting one, the highly themed family ride, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at the Magic Kingdom.

Another Rocky Mountain ride, Medusa Steel Coaster at Six Flags Mexico came in 4th place with over 6%.  Unlike Goliath, Medusa was a transformation ride, changing an older Custom Coasters ride into a new steel hybrid.  Featuring several inversions and a speedy layout, Medusa Steel Coaster stayed on everyone's radar despite the fact that it resides in Mexico.

A tiny bit coaster, a big part dark ride, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts came in 5th place, with about 5% of the total.  You can see how far we've dropped from the huge numbers that Banshee posted.  Basically Banshee and Goliath were in a class of their own, with other rides far below their rankings.  You can check out the full results above for the lower ranking rides.

This month's poll is now active over on the left!