What is Attraction Madness?
Attraction Madness is a tournament made up of 68 competing attractions from theme parks around the world. This is the second annual Attraction Madness tournament, and we’re seeking to improve the event in all sorts of ways! We’ve planned much further ahead to ensure that the event occurs seamlessly throughout the entire month of March, with no delays or cancellations. To see the results of Attraction Madness 2021, please click here.
2022 Selection Process
Every attraction is selected due to various accomplishments in the industry. If an attraction is the winner of a category in a well-recognized awards show (i.e. The Golden Ticket Awards) then that attraction will most likely appear in the Attraction Madness tournament. Also, rides featured on Top (Number) lists of notable persons in the theme park community may find their way into the tournament. Finally, the last nine spots are filled via our Top 50 Best Theme Park Attractions list, in order to bring the total to 68.
The organizations we are taking into consideration for the 2022 tournament are:
- The Golden Ticket Awards
- USA Today 10 Best
- Theme Park Worldwide ranking videos
- Coaster Studios ranking videos
- Theme Park Review ranking videos
- Limitless Park Top 50 Best Theme Park Attractions – 2021 Edition
- Previous Final Four of Attraction Madness 2021
If an attraction has been selected to join the tournament, it will be bolded.
Seeds are chosen at the discretion of Limitless Park. Higher and lower seeding is not randomized, but instead awarded based on the merit of a particular award. For instance, it is our opinion that the Golden Ticket Awards for best dark ride and best steel or wood roller coaster, the highest ranking attraction in the selected USA Today lists, and the previous Attraction Madness champion are the greatest honor an attraction can receive, so they hold the four “1 seed” spots in the tournament.
If the recognized category awards an attraction that already has a spot in the tournament, the attraction will be listed again but will not be bolded.
If the recognized category awards a theme park rather than an attraction, the newest major attraction (i.e. extreme roller coaster, large-scale dark ride) will receive a spot in the tournament to represent the park. If that attraction has already claimed a spot in the tournament, the spot will go to the next eligible newest ride. For instance, if Busch Gardens Tampa were to win a category for “best theme park” but Iron Gwazi (2022) already has a spot in the tournament, the spot would go to Tigris (2019).
If the “new” attraction is more than five years old, a different, more popular attraction may be chosen at the discretion of the tournament selector.
If the award is given to a person, the tournament spot will be given to an attraction at the theme park the person is most closely associated to. If the award is given to a manufacturer, the tournament spot will be given to the newest major ride built by the manufacturer.
Finally, an attraction must be open in order to compete in Attraction Madness 2022. A special exception will be made for Iron Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa and Pantheon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg as they started holding passholder previews in February 2022 and March 2022 respectively.
2022 Tournament Selections
2021 Attraction Madness Final Four
1. Winner – Steel Vengeance (1)
2. Runner Up – Zadra (2)
3. Final Four Qualifier – El Toro (3)
4. Final Four Qualifier – Maverick (4)
2021 Golden Ticket Awards
Main Awards List
5. Best Amusement Park – Europa Park – Snorri Touren (8)
6. Best Family Park of 2021 – Dutch Wonderland – Merlin’s Mayhem (9)
7. Best Wildlife/Marine Life Park – SeaWorld Orlando – Ice Breaker (8)
8. Best Wooden Coaster – Knoebels Amusement Park – Phoenix (2)
9. Best Steel Coaster – Carowinds – Fury 325 (2)
10. Best Water Ride – Blackpool Pleasure Beach – Valhalla (5)
11. Best Dark Ride – Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (1)
12. Best New Roller Coaster of 2020/2021 – Jurassic World Velocicoaster (1)
13. Best Innovation of 2021 – Gravity Group – Fun Spot Orlando – White Lightning (9)
14. Park of the Year Award – Universal Orlando – Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (3)
5 Picks from 2021 Golden Ticket Awards Best Wooden Coasters List
15. Second Best Wooden Coaster – Holiday World – Voyage (3)
16. Fourth Best Wooden Coaster – Lake Compounce – Boulder Dash (4)
17. Fifth Best Wooden Coaster – Kings Island – Beast (5)
18. Sixth Best Wooden Coaster – Kings Island – Mystic Timbers (6)
19. Seventh Best Wooden Coaster – Knott’s Berry Farm – Ghost Rider (7)
5 Picks from 2021 Golden Ticket Awards Best Steel Coasters List
20. Second Best Steel Coaster – Cedar Point – Millennium Force (3)
21. Fourth Best Steel Coaster – Six Flags New England – Superman the Ride (4)
22. Fifth Best Steel Coaster – Hersheypark – Candymonium (5)
23. Sixth Best Steel Coaster – Holiday Park – Expedition G-Force (6)
24. Seventh Best Steel Coaster – Dollywood – Lightning Rod (7)
USA Today 10 Best – 2021 Lists
3 Picks from Best New Roller Coaster
25. Best Roller Coaster – SeaWorld Orlando – Mako (1)
26. Second Best Roller Coaster – Kennywood – Phantom’s Revenge (4)
27. Seventh Best Roller Coaster – Busch Gardens Tampa – Montu (5)
10 Picks from Best Theme Park
28. Best Theme Park – SeaWorld Orlando – Infinity Falls (2)
29. Second Best Theme Park – Silver Dollar City – Mystic River Falls (6)
30. Third Best Theme Park – Kings Island – Orion (6)
31. Fourth Best Theme Park – Busch Gardens Williamsburg – Pantheon (7)
32. Fifth Best Theme Park – Dollywood – Dragonflier (7)
33. Sixth Best Theme Park – Busch Gardens Tampa – Iron Gwazi (8)
34. Seventh Best Theme Park – Cedar Point – Snake River Expedition (8)
35. Eighth Best Theme Park – Hersheypark – Reese’s Cupfusion (9)
36. Ninth Best Theme Park – Magic Kingdom – Seven Dwarves Mine Train (9)
37. Tenth Best Theme Park – Knott’s Berry Farm – Knott’s Bear-y Tales (10)
3 Picks from Best New Theme Park Attraction
38. Fourth Best New Attraction – Six Flags Great Adventure – Jersey Devil (10)
39. Sixth Best New Attraction – Epcot – Remi’s Ratatouille Adventure (11)
40. Tenth Best New Attraction – Universal Studios Hollywood – Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash (12)
Coaster Studios – 2022 Lists
3 Picks from Top 10 Wooden Coasters in the World
41. Third Best Coaster – Silver Dollar City – Outlaw Run (10)
42. Fourth Best Coaster – Kolmarden – Wildfire (11)
43. Fifth Best Coaster – Kemah Boardwalk – Boardwalk Bullet (12)
3 Picks from Every Cedar Fair Park Ranked
44. Best Park – Cedar Point – Valravn (10)
45. Second Best Park – Kings Island – Banshee (11)
46. Third Best Park – Carowinds – Copperhead Strike (12)
Theme Park Worldwide – 2020/2021 Lists
3 Picks from Top 10 Best Dark Rides – 2020
47. Second Best Ride – Efteling – Sybolica (11)
48. Third Best Ride – Tokyo DisneySea – Journey to the Center of the Earth (12)
49. Fourth Best Ride – Shanghai Disneyland – Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle of the Shrunken Treasure (13)
3 Picks from Top 10 Best Roller Coasters – 2021
50. Third Best Coaster – Port Aventura – Shambhala (11)
51. Sixth Best Coaster – Walibi Holland – Untamed (13)
52. Eighth Best Coaster – Liseberg – Helix (14)
Theme Park Review Lists – 2021
3 Picks from Top 10 Roller Coasters – Steel
53. Third Best Coaster – Hersheypark – Skyrush (11)
54. Sixth Best Coaster – Six Flags Mexico – Medusa Steel Coaster (13)
55. Seventh Best Coaster – Kings Dominion – Twisted Timbers (14)
Limitless Park Top 50 Best Theme Park Attractions – 2021
13 Picks from Top 50 Attractions List – 2021
56. Third Best Attraction – Disney’s Animal Kingdom – Flight of Passage (13)
57. Fifth Best Attraction – Disney’s Hollywood Studios – Tower of Terror (14)
58. Sixth Best Attraction – Disneyland – Indiana Jones Adventure (14)
59. Eighth Best Attraction – Kings Dominion – Intimidator 305 (15)
60. Twelfth Best Attraction – Universal’s Islands of Adventure – Amazing Adventures of Spiderman (15)
61. Thirteenth Best Attraction – Magic Kingdom – Splash Mountain (15)
62. Fifteenth Best Attraction – Six Flags Magic Mountain – Twisted Colossus (15)
63. Eighteenth Best Attraction – Lagoon – Cannibal (16)
64. Twentieth Best Attraction – Disney’s California Adventure – Radiator Springs Racers (16)
65. Twenty-First Best Attraction – Magic Kingdom – Haunted Mansion (16)
66. Twenty-Second Best Attraction – Busch Gardens Tampa – Kumba (16)
67. Twenty-Third Best Attraction – Disney’s California Adventure – Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout (16)
68. Twenty-Fourth Best Attraction – Cedar Point – Top Thrill Dragster (16)
2022 Tournament Bracket
Winners written in bold.
FIRST FOUR
1. Kumba (16) v. Top Thrill Dragster (16)
2. Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout (16) v. Haunted Mansion [WDW] (16)
3. Banshee (11) v. Symbolica (11)
4. Shambhala (11) v. Skyrush (11)
FIRST ROUND
BRACKET 1
Steel Vengeance (1) v. Top Thrill Dragster (16)
Snorri Torren (8) v. Merlin’s Mayhem (9)
Valhalla (5) v. Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash (12)
Maverick (4) v. Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure (13)
Mystic Timbers (6) v. Remi’s Ratatouille Adventure (11)
El Toro (3) v. Helix (14)
Ghost Rider (7) v. Knott’s Bear-y Tales (10)
Zadra (2) v. Intimidator 305 (15)
BRACKET 2
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (1) v. Haunted Mansion (16)
Ice Breaker (8) v. White Lightning (9)
Beast (5) v. Boardwalk Bullet (12)
Boulder Dash (4) v. Untamed (13)
Expedition GeForce (6) v. Wildfire (11)
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (3) v. Twisted Timbers (14)
Lightning Rod (7) v. Jersey Devil (10)
Phoenix (2) v. Amazing Adventures of Spider Man (15)
BRACKET 3
Velocicoaster (1) v. Cannibal (16)
Iron Gwazi (8) v. Reese’s Cupfusion (9)
Candymonium (5) v. Copperhead Strike (12)
Superman the Ride (4) v. Medusa Steel Coaster (13)
Mystic River Falls (6) v. Banshee (11)
Voyage (3) v. Tower of Terror (14)
Pantheon (7) v. Outlaw Run (10)
Fury 325 (2) v. Splash Mountain (15)
BRACKET 4
Mako (1) v. Radiator Springs Racers (16)
Snake River Expedition (8) v. Seven Dwarves Mine Train (9)
Montu (5) v. Journey to the Center of the Earth (12)
Phantom’s Revenge (4) v. Flight of Passage (13)
Orion (6) v. Shambhala (11)
Millennium Force (3) v. Indiana Jones Adventure (14)
Dragon Flier (7) v. Valravn (10)
Infinity Falls (2) v. Twisted Colossus (15)
SECOND ROUND
BRACKET 1
Steel Vengeance (1) v. Merlin’s Mayhem (9)
Valhalla (5) v. Maverick (4)
Mystic Timbers (6) v. El Toro (3)
Ghost Rider (7) v. Zadra (2)
BRACKET 2
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (1) v. Ice Breaker (8)
Beast (5) v. Untamed (13)
Wildfire (11) v. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure (3)
Lightning Rod (7) v. Phoenix (2)
BRACKET 3
Velocicoaster (1) v. Iron Gwazi (8)
Copperhead Strike (12) v. Superman the Ride (4)
Banshee (11) v. Voyage (3)
Pantheon (7) v. Fury 325 (2)
BRACKET 4
Mako (1) v. Seven Dwarves Mine Train (9)
Montu (5) v. Phantom’s Revenge (4)
Shambhala (11) v. Millennium Force (3)
Valravn (10) v. Twisted Colossus (15)
SWEET 16
BRACKET 1
Steel Vengeance (1) v. Maverick (4)
El Toro (3) v. Zadra (2)
BRACKET 2
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (1) v. Untamed (13)
Wildfire (11) v. Lightning Rod (7)
BRACKET 3
Velocicoaster (1) v. Copperhead Strike (12)
Voyage (3) v. Fury 325 (2)
BRACKET 4
Mako (1) v. Montu (5)
Shambhala (11) v. Twisted Colossus (15)
ELITE 8
BRACKET 1
Steel Vengeance (1) v. Zadra (2)
BRACKET 2
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (1) v. Lightning Rod (7)
BRACKET 3
Velocicoaster (1) v. Fury 325 (2)
BRACKET 4
Mako (1) v. Twisted Colossus (15)
FINAL FOUR
Steel Vengeance (1) v. Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance (1)
Velocicoaster (1) v. Mako (1)
WINNER: ?
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