The time will soon come for many coaster enthusiasts' favorite annual poll, the Mitch Hawker Coaster Poll ( http://www.ushsho.com/bestrollercoasterpoll.htm )

It is always fun to see which coaster will take the #1 spot in the two voting categories of wood and steel.

With Superman Ride of Steel (now Bizarro) at Six Flags New England winning for #1 steel three years in a row, you can't help but wonder if the new theming it recieved will have any impact on voters.

I personally think Bizarro has a very good chance at keeping its #1 spot. The newly added theming of on board audio, (even if it is just random Bizarro movie quotes), a fresh coat of purple paint and fire could only help. I can however see Expedition GeForce coming back and possibly beating Bizarro, as it beat Bizarro for a few years in the early 2000's. Then there's the mega-lites, which there are now four of. I think these coasters will continue to make the top 10 for a while, but I can't see them ever beating Bizarro and Expedition GeForce unless Intamin comes up with a new layout (coughcough).

Now what will the #1 woodie for 2009 be? There has not been any sort of pattern for the #1 coaster (T-Express in 2008, Voyage in 2007 and 2006, Balder in 2005) so I am curious to see if it will be a completely new coaster (perhaps Fireball, which opened at Happy Valley in China this year) or a coaster that has already ben voted #1, like T-Express or Voyage.

I actually think El Toro looks like the best of all four Intamin pre-fabs, and definitely better than any of Gravity Group's coasters that are aging terribly (come on Timberliners!) So, while El Toro would be what I'd like to see at #1, it seems unlikely as most enthusiasts seem to prefer Intamin's other pre-fabs and TGG's coasters. I'd say Fireball has a good chance of winning #1, as many people from ThemeParkReview rode the coaster and they seem to have a very big impact on the poll.

In 2009, we have had 98 new coasters go up. It will be interesting to see if voting increases or decreases and if any of the new coasters will take over in the top 10.

Thanks for reading,

- David