However, Krakatau's designers explicitly state it is an "aqua coaster", not to be confused with a "roller coaster", yet Robert finds a way to contort the definition of the "Best New Roller Coaster" category to accommodate an attraction that neither "rolls" nor "coasts" (it's always being propelled by either flowing water or the LSMs). Based on what I've seen and heard, it does sound like it fits into the definition of a theme park (something TPI has been hesitant to do for years with other highly themed water parks). Under normal circumstances, a water park would not qualify as a theme park, but Universal was clearly attempting to market Volcano Bay as something more than your typical water park.
I don't mind stretching category boundaries, but if you're going to bother having categories, the winners should fit within those.Ī prime example is the Best New Theme Park winner, which is a water park. Why bother having categories if you're going to give awards to attractions/parks/hotels/restaurants that don't fit the category? Under that premise, I would argue that Tower of Terror (DHS) should qualify for the Best Hotel category, and my kitchen should qualify for Best Resort Restaurant. I acknowledge that the TPI audience is much more than just roller coaster enthusiasts, but if you're giving an award for "Best New Roller Coaster", the winner should actually fit the definition of "roller coaster". (I think many of us can agree that this was a weak year for coasters.) So that's why I made the judgment call to include Krakatau as eligible for the coaster award. So, to me, keeping Krakatua out of the roller coaster category was splitting the hair too finely, especially given the fact that it was far outperforming the other, more traditional coasters that opened this year. Yes, there's water, but there's water as a functional and non-thematic element on other coasters, too, including the Matterhorn Bobsleds. The only purpose of the power on Krakatua is to carry the ride vehicle up to points of GPE, from which the ride "coasts" through the rest of the course. the top.) You also are riding in a vehicle and not sliding directly in the tube. (Those are gravity powered alone, and you start from the point of greatest potential energy, i.e. With its lifts and launches, I can't categorize Kratakau as a water slide. I meant to do a post on the coaster eligibility issue, but when no one mentioned it after I included Krakatau on the nominees list last month, I didn't get around to it. If Krakatau was worthy of an award (I can't say since I haven't been on it), it would have been simple to come up with a special category for it (it's done all the time in this and many other industries), but calling a water slide a roller coaster is borderline heresy and in my opinion decreases the prestige of not just this, but all of the TPI Awards. I think this was a very poor decision, and while ride manufacturers and theme park designers are continuously creating attractions that defy categorization, giving an award to a ride that clearly doesn't fit the description of attractions in that category is short-sighted. There weren't a lot of new roller coasters to debut this year, but shoe-horning something into this category that doesn't belong devalues the award and belittles the winners from previous years (including those in the straight Best Roller Coaster category, which for some reason wasn't announced). I know TPI has typically tried to distance itself from the coaster fan crowd, but this choice is going to create a lot of dissent, especially since many parks are proud to display TPI Award accolades in their parks (see Mythos and El Toro). Sorry Robert, but that's a huge jumping of the shark by awarding an "aqua-coaster", which it's own creators use specific language to clearly identify it as NOT a "roller coaster", in the Best New Roller Coaster category.
Coaster fans are very particular when it comes to defining what is actually a "roller coaster" (rides like Pinfari's Looping Star is advertised as a roller coaster by parks, but does not actually fit most coaster fans' definition of roller coaster since the trains never actually "coast"), but just about anyone would agree that something branded a "ROLLER coaster" should have wheels or rollers. You're going to get some serious criticism for the "Best New Roller Coaster" winner (including from me).
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