Winners Announced from 2019 Golden Ticket Awards

Amusement Today announced the winners of the 2019 Golden Ticket Awards at Silverwood in Idaho on Saturday, September 7th.

How are the winners selected? Here are some details from GoldenTicketAwards.com:

Amusement Today relies on a panel of voters from all over the world consisting of experienced park enthusiasts. The U.S. ballots are divided into four geographical regions, with approximately the same number of voters in each region. In addition to the American voters, Amusement Today invites a number of international voters to participate.

Below are the 2019 winners.

• Best Amusement Park
  Europa-Park, Rust, Germany

• Best Water Park
  Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort, New Braunfels, Texas

• Best Family Park of 2019
  Dutch Wonderland, Lancaster, Pa.

• Best Wildlife/Marine Life Park
  SeaWorld Orlando, Orlando, Fla.

• Best Water Park Ride
  Wildebeest at Splashin’ Safari, Santa Claus, Ind.

• Best Wooden Coaster
  Phoenix at Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pa.

• Best Steel Coaster
  Fury 325, Carowinds, Charlotte, N.C.

• Best Kids’ Area
  Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

• Best Guest Experience
  Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

• Breakout Family Entertainment Center of 2019
  C.J. Barrymore’s, Clinton, Mich.

• Best Halloween Event of 2018
  Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, Orlando, Fla.

• Most Beautiful Park
  Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Va.

• Best Christmas Event of 2018
  Smoky Mountain Christmas at Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

• Best Food of 2019
  Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, Pa.

• Best New Show of 2019
  Reuben’s Swashbuckling Adventure at Silver Dollar City, Branson, Mo.

• Best Water Ride
  Valhalla at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, Lancashire, England

• Best Dark Ride
  Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure at Shanghai Disneyland, China

• Best New Attraction Installation of 2019
  Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Fla.

• Best New Roller Coaster of 2019
  The Steel Curtain at Kennywood, West Mifflin, Pa.

• Best New Family Attraction of 2019
  Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run at Disneyland, Anaheim, Calif.

• Best New Water Park Ride of 2019
  Cutback Water Coaster at Water Country USA, Williamsburg, Va.

• Best Innovation of 2019
  Canada’s Wonderland, Vaughan, Ontario

• Park of the Year
  Morey’s Piers, Wildwood, N.J.

• Renaissance Award
  Kings Island, Kings Mills, Ohio

• Turnstile Award
  Silverwood Theme Park, Athol, Idaho

Five of the top theme park groups in the world received just under half of the 25 awards.

1. Three Awards Each:
   Cedar Fair
   SeaWorld

2. Two Awards Each:
   Disney
   Parques Reunidos
   Universal

Read more about the winners at GoldTicketAwards.com.