FAQ

WHY DOES THIS EVEN EXIST?

There's a nice, thorough explanation if you click here.

WHERE DO I GET A BALLOT AND HOW DO I FILL IT OUT?

The ballot and instructions can be yours if you click here.

CAN ANYONE VOTE?

Anyone who has ridden at least two coasters listed on the ballot can vote. Technically, you could send in a ballot with only one coaster, but it wouldn't affect the rankings in any way because it wouldn't have any head-to-head matchups. Click here to understand that better.

DO I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER TO WORK ON MY BALLOT?

No! The spreadsheet ballot format makes it easy to re-use a previous ballot. So go ahead and download the ballot whenever you like and start filling it out . When the next poll goes live on Nov 1, we’ll provide instructions on how to use the ballot you already have as a springboard. It will be easy, promise!

OH NO! I SENT IN MY BALLOT, BUT I MADE A MISTAKE! CAN I FIX IT?

Of course! As long as you're still before the deadline of Dec 31, you can re-submit your corrected ballot. Simply put REPLACEMENT BALLOT or UPDATED BALLOT or some other such alert in the subject line. Your old ballot will be discarded and replaced with your corrected one before the final results are tallied.

ARE RACING COASTERS COUNTED AS ONE RIDE OR TWO?

That's entirely up to you. Each half of a racing coaster is listed separately (except for möbius coasters, which are counted as one). If you count them as two rides, then rank each one separately. If you count it as a single coaster (or if you have no preference between the two sides), then rank both sides the same. In either case, please rank both sides if you have ridden both.

CAN I GIVE TWO OR MORE COASTERS THE SAME RANK?

YES, ties are allowed. There's even a good reason to do that, like for racing coasters (see above) or for group ranking.

SOME COASTERS ARE HYBRID. ARE THEY ON THE BALLOT?

The poll considers a "wood coaster" to be a coaster with a track bed made of wood. Usually, there is a steel rail of some kind on top of the wood stack for the wheels to roll on. Any coaster with this type of wood bed track structure that was operating this year will be on the ballot, regardless of what material the support structure is made of. Thus, coasters like The Voyage (wood track, steel supports) are technically hybrid, but listed as wood.
Likewise, the poll considers a “steel coaster” to be a coaster with track made entirely of steel. Angled flat rails like on Miler brand coasters, I-box track like on RMC conversions, and the more traditional tubular rails first introduced on Disney’s Matterhorn coaster are all “steel coasters”. This applies regardless of the material of the support structure, so hybrid coasters such as Kings Island’s Adventure Express are “steel coasters.”

BUT RMC COASTERS AREN'T WOODIES!

For the purposes of this poll, the "Topper Track" RMC coasters are. The track is a stack of wood with a steel rail on top, just like other wood coasters. The industry considers them to be wood coasters, even though that steel rail is a bit non-traditional. The "Iron Horse" conversion coasters have a track that is completely steel, so they are listed on the steel ballot. For true hybrids, such as Lightning Rod which have some wood track and some steel track, we’ll default to the category that the Rollercoaster Database puts the coaster in. Generally speaking, that means the category will default to whichever track material comprises the most footage of track - in Lightning Rod’s case, more than 50% of the track is steel I-box track, so it’s on the steel coaster poll.
NO! I REFUSE TO PUT AN RMC ON MY WOOD BALLOT!

Then simply delete those lines from your ballot. Easy peasy. Do not put them at the bottom of your rankings as some kind of protest or to 'punish' them. That's just childish and immature, seriously. If you don't want to include them in your wood rankings, then don't rank them. It's that simple.

NO! I REFUSE TO PUT AN RMC ON MY WOOD BALLOT!

Then simply delete those lines from your ballot. Easy peasy. Do not put them at the bottom of your rankings as some kind of protest or to 'punish' them. That's just childish and immature, seriously. If you don't want to include them in your wood rankings, then don't rank them. It's that simple.

WOW, ONCE I GET PAST MY TOP 20 OR SO, THIS IS HARD!

Feel free to use group ranking. Ranking your top ten or twenty coasters is usually pretty easy, but after that you're faced with a slew of rides that were likely not as memorable. Rather than toil over it, just bunch them into groups. Here are a few ideas on how to do that.

I’M CONFUSED. I CAN’T REMEMBER WHETHER OR NOT I RODE THIS COASTER BECAUSE THE NAME HAS CHANGED

That happens! Most spreadsheet programs recognize the coaster ID number on the ballot as a hyperlink to the RCDB page of that coaster. Click it and have a look. If that doesn’t jog your memory, look at the bottom of that RCDB page and see what other names it used to have. That might help, too. If in doubt, leave it off your ballot.

THE CHINESE COASTERS GET REALLY CONFUSING! SO MANY COASTERS AND PARKS WITH IDENTICAL NAMES!

Yes, we know. Try clicking the coaster ID number at the end of the row. That will take you to the RCDB page for that coaster, which should help you decipher which one is which.

I RODE A COASTER THAT HAS MOVED TO ANOTHER PARK. I HAVEN’T BEEN ON IT SINCE THE MOVE. SHOULD I RANK IT ANYWAY?

Short answer: no. Coasters can offer a substantially different ride experience after moving to a new park, whether that is due to a change of scenery, theming, operations, maintenance, or other factors. Only vote for coasters you’ve ridden in their current location, which is the one on the ballot.

I DON’T HAVE A SPREADSHEET APP.

You could, if you wanted to, download the CSV version of the ballot and edit it in a text editor. That isn’t advised, but it’s possible.
Free spreadsheet apps are available, including Open Office, Google Sheets, and Numbers. The latter two are also available for mobile formats.

I DON’T KNOW HOW TO USE A SPREADSHEET

There are extensive instructions on how to fill out your ballot using Open Office, Google Sheets, and Numbers for various desktop and mobile platforms. Head over the Ballot page to see them.

WHAT FORMAT SHOULD I SAVE MY BALLOT IN?

You can send the file as .csv or .xlsx or .numbers - whichever you prefer. If you’re using Open Office, you’ll need to save the file using the “Save As” menu item, then save it as .csv or .xlsx - if that’s lost on you, go ahead and send it in anyway and we’ll convert it for you.

I’VE READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS AND I’M STILL LOST

Email editor@ellocoaster.com and let us know what’s up. We’ll try to help.