raptor

Not that I don't like the idea of Starlight Experience, but I have yet to make my way to the Point this year and I was wandering if SE brought down the charm of Frontier Town in the daytime?

I visited last year, and I loved the park, planning on going back next year. Steel Hawg is kind of different, the thing about it though, is that it has a very small capacity, when I was there they ran one car at a time that only had a few seats, 2 per seat, so if there is any kind of line expect a long wait, or at least that's how it was when I went, they may have increased the efficency since. It's not real fast, but it does have some crazy elements that are fun. They do have lots of great rides like the Paratrooper, which I love, awesome swings, flying scooters, and be sure to ride lost coaster of superstition mountain, I love that ride!

Nice article, this is a very charming park, I do think $19.95 may be a little too high, at least without the Blue Streak running, to keep a sustained flow of traffic, that they need to survive, I think $15 would be about right, however when I was there the special was for $5, you can't beat that. The hotel is very charming, especially the veranda's overlooking the lake, I hope to get back up there again next year, especially if the Blue Streak is running

Wow! this is a stretch you can feel faint sitting in your kitchen, You can't blame this on me, I am totally innocent

More than anything, KI needs some classic, traditional rides.

I don't think Kings Island has anything that really makes me dizzy because the rides I get dizzy on are ones where I have significant control on how fast I spin, such as the Tip Top at Stricker's Grove or Spin a Ree that used to be at Coney

I know a lot of people like water parks and that's fine, but myself I don't like cold water, and I don't like getting very wet, a little wet is ok, but I despise getting drenched. I like rides and I think they should be 2 separate things, or at least separate admissions, but hey that's my opinion. I like swimming, if it's an indoor heated pool, however I would never pick that over riding rides.

The only thing I ate was a meatball hoagie at the indoor Italian restaurant, the name escapes me. I prefer indoor eateries so I went there and I wasn't really in the mood for anything on the menu, so I got the MB hoagie which I am not a big fan of, so I couldn't really say how good it was, but I'm sure there food is pretty good. I was just in a hurry. Yes I believe the Caterpillar is high maintenance, you can see where the canopy is ripping some, and since there are more of these rides in operation without a functioning canopy than with would indicate that it is indeed high maintenance.

The weather report looked good for today and the rest of the trip, which was refreshing after that terrible night driving in the rain last night. However it did take longer than expected for the sun to come out and still looked dreary and over cast with some light sprinkles. The weather would end up being good though. I left the Johnstown Holiday Inn after eating my free breakfast at their restaurant that came free with their Idlewild ticket package, which by the way is a terrific deal. For $135 you get a room at the Holiday Inn, normally over a $100 dollar room, plus 2 tickets to Idlewild, that’s worth almost $60 there, plus breakfast for 2 at the Holiday Inn’s restaurant up to $10 a person, and it was a nice Holiday Inn. Anyway I headed for Idlewild, I passed through Ligonier, which was a cute little town, and then turned onto 30 W, I missed the entrance to the park the first time, the road looks too small to be an entrance to a park, so I had to turn around and get it the 2nd time. We entered through The Hootin’ Holler Section of the park and the first thing we rode was the Howler. This is a unique new type of flat. I’d never seen one before and it was a great spinner. One of the first things I noticed as we strolled in the park was a log flume, but I never got around to riding it. Then we stopped in the General Store but didn’t buy anything. Next we headed up for Olde Idlewild where most of the traditional rides are. We rode the Whip and the Paratroopers. I can’t get enough of the Paratroopers. The whip however, did disappoint a little bit as I thought the whipping part was a bit tame, maybe it was just me, but when I rode the whip at Kennywood later in the week it seemed a lot better! I never got a chance to ride The Monster as I got to ride it plenty at Lakemont the night before: I didn't have enough time for the Ferris Wheel either: Next we headed over for Mister Rogers Neighborhood. I thought this would be a very interesting attraction, even though it obviously would be geared towards kids. This ride was both charming and disappointing. I found the ride and the presentation and the character models very charming. However, the theme of the ride about inviting everyone you see to a hugging part by saying over and over again “come along, come along to the castle hug ‘n’ song – I found to be dumb and obnoxious, but if one can block that out it becomes a very neat attraction, everything else about it was first class. Next we strolled around the Kids area which had many charming attractions, I’m sure I’ll get some argument on this end, but I thought this was the best park for kids I've been to, alot of unique kid attractions, and just about all the adult rides are good for kids as well if ridden with an adult. I just don’t like the current trend of everything being either a wild adult ride or a kiddy ride, the nice family rides good for all are becoming a thing of the past and I think that’s a shame, in Pennsylvania, however this isn’t the case. Rides like Haunted House Rides, The Whip, Tumblebug, Paratroopers, Flying Scooters, Enchanted Voyage like boat rides are good fun for all together. Some quick shots I took in the Kids park were: Handcars: Pony track: Another thing, this is one of the prettiest parks I have ever visited, Trees everywhere, lots of fountains, and bridges and streams. You could walk through this park all day and not ride anything and have a good time. Next we headed for the Caterpillar. I rode this when I was a kid, I think at the Cincinnati Zoo, with my mom and sister. This ride was super cool, I loved the canopy coming over top, and it felt like you were in a tent, and there was also a fan blowing up air underneath you. It really goes quite fast, which surprised me. I rode this 3 or 4 time that day. I believe I read that it is one of only 2 rides of this kind left with a functioning canopy. Next it was over to the Rollo Coaster. This was a terrific ride for a mild coaster, It’s not quite a kids coaster, not quite an adult coaster, somewhere in between. It’s a ride that Grandparents could ride with Grandchildren and both have a great time. It goes through a lot of trees, which is really neat. There was about a 5 or 6 year old kid who was scared to death to ride it and his parents desperately wanted to ride it and tried to take him on it and it was like rain man screaming when Tom Cruise tried to get him on the airplane that wasn’t Quantus. The dad said you rode the bigger coaster at Hershey and wanted to ride again, you can go on this one, the kid screamed NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Throwing up his hands in a panic. It was very funny! I never did make it on the Carousel or the Tilt A Whirl Never got a chance to ride the flying scooters either Next was the Wild Mouse Roller Coaster. This was the best Wild Mouse I have ever ridden, it goes through the treetops and spends a lot of time high in the air and has very quick jerky turns. Notice you can also see the Wild Mouse in the background of some of the Caterpillar shots. Next I rode the Balloon Race. The only time I had ridden this before was at Dollywood back in 1994 (back when the admission was $34 less than it is today). That one has long since been removed, I believe. It was a nice, enjoyable, relaxing ride. Next I wanted to visit Story Book Forest. I didn’t expect to be charmed by it or stay very long, but since it was unique I wanted to see it. It was kind of hard to find, it was all the way at the other end, and I had to ask a couple people where it was, but eventually I found it, I have to say I was blown away by it, First of all it is huge, I got lost a couple times in it, you could spend all day walking through this place, The craftsmanship is incredible, the life-size houses that you can walk in are so neat, another reason I think you can’t beat this place for kids. The place was such a beautiful place to walk, with beautiful landscaping, bridges, creeks and ponds. The house of the Three Bears had a real Goldy Locks sitting outside the house in a chair, although it may be hard to tell in this distant picture Inside the house of the Three Bears Next we went on The Dizzy Lizzy attraction. This was totally cool. You sit on a bench and get the illusion that your going upside down in a circle, when in reality the room is moving in a circle, this was really cool, not to mention you get to listen to the Beatles song Dizzy Miss Miss Lizzy written by Larry Williams the whole time, you can’t beat that! The next thing we did was Confusion Hill, which was kind of like a fun house, you walked through and listened to the host, but the floor was slanted through the whole place, interesting attraction, but something that could get old after a couple of times. We pretty much just rode rides we had already ridden before leaving around 7:30. I had a 2 hour drive up to State College PA, where I was staying 2 nights at a Sleep Inn. Tomorrow I would be going to Knoebel’s Park in Elysburg!

Is Son of Beast my favorite coaster? Not a chance Is Son of Beast my least favorite coaster? quite possibly

Gator - with the exception of Kennywood which I don't think you had on your list to start with, Mrs. Gator vetoed my entire trip

There was a time when I would have said Coney Mall hands down, but the traditional aspect of CM, except the scrambler and the monster and I never liked the Dodgem, it just don't have the charm anymore, it really hasn't been the same since the Antique Cars left, not just the ride but it was pretty and fun to look at.

Coney Island or Stricker's Grove needs to save the Whip! I love that classic ride, the only place in relative driving distance you can ride that at is Camden Park

has several pictures inside. I was quite surprised to see Americana on the cover.

I'm planning on making my first visit next year.

A quick note, NAPHA has a discounted price of $26.95. that's a good deal. I'll have to go for that as I am a member, you just have to show your card.

10 dollars cheaper than Soak City I wouldn't know, don't go to water parks, but it's about the same price as Cedar Point with 17 coasters and how many flats? Like I said probably a great place for people who love water parks, that just isn't me I'm not really complaining, I hope they do well, but the op asked if it was worth it and my opinion to him was that he wasn't big on water parks probably not. Plus if you are from the Cincinnati area there is not much there that isn't here that you ride on a regular basis. Except of course for the 3 coasters. But hey you've swayed me to trying, I'll go next year. My amusement park budget has been spent for the year with my PA trip. I would love to ride those 3 coasters.

I rarely drink pop at a park, I drink it before I arrive and after I leave. The price of pop is definatly reflected in the admission price. The free parking is nice and you can say that saves you 10 bucks but parking at KI is per car not per person, if you have a party of 4 that savings is not that much compared to the ticket price. Not trying to bash the place, but simply stating that if your not into water parks and water rides and getting soaked there is not a whole lot there for the price, lot's of people love the splash stuff though and I'm sure it's a great place for them. Actually I might just go there next year. I think there is a decent discount from NAPHA which I belong to, but I still don't think there is enough there to warrant the price.

I won't debate they have 3 fine wooden coasters but after that here are the rides: Pilgrim's Plunge - Another Water Ride Carousel - well everyone has a carousel Raging Rapids - Yet another water ride Swings - They're always nice Gobbler Getaway - not quite sure what this is Frightful Falls - Another water ride, but I like flume's if they don't soak you Tilt a whirl and A roundup and a scrambler - I get my fill at Stricker's Grove and Coney Island Liberty Launch - I'm not crazy about these rides, but this is definately a nice attraction Flying Scooters - OK I love these Bumper Cars - Not crazy about them but lots of people like them Train- Trains are always nice Monster - Classic Ride Antique Cars - Love these as well When I add it up, I just don't see $40 worth of rides there, I don't like to get wet and I don't like water parks, so if you're like me it doesn't seem worth it, however fans of water parks might think it's a great park, if they could separate the water side from the amusement side and knock at least 10 bucks off and I'll buy my own drinks I'd be more likely to go, but I just don't see value for myself here.

I have never been there, and I doubt I ever will. They just don't have that much for a 40 dollar price tag. But then again I don't give a rats behind about water parks, I like the amusement side, which means I am paying 40 dollars for 2 nice wooden coasters and a small collection of carnival rides basically. I don't need free soft drinks, please charge me for them and take that off the price of admission and let me decide whether I want to spend money on drinks or not. I usually just pack a cooler in the car and go out and drink one if I get thirsty, but they are not free you're paying for them in price of admission, and how about $140 for a season pass are you kidding me? It's what between $95 and $110 for a Cedar Point season pass depending on when you buy it. To me it looks like a park that would be about at $25 -$30 dollar admission, but they throw on a big waterpark which are relatively cheap compared to major rides and jump the price up $15, well I'm not paying for that water park. If you are a fan of water parks it might be a great place, but if you just like the amusement side I can't imagine it being worth the price or the drive. As far as Indiana goes I would recommend Indiana Beach. It is a fine old fashioned reasonable park with a terrific variety of rides.

Yes Space Odyssey was the name, I didn't manage to get on that one, but later in the week Knoebels had virtually the same thing called Cosmotron, which was obviously an indoor Catepillar without a canopy

I woke up at 6:00 and left Hotel Conneaut headed for Tipton PA, it had stormed through the night, and it looked like it would rain all day. It took me 3 hours to get to Tipton in the rain. Fortunately it stopped raining and the sun came out when I got there. I only planned to spend about 90 minutes here as I was more interested in Lakemont Park in Altoona, just 10 minutes down the road. Unfortunately after 5 minutes the rain began to pour. We found shelter in Murf’s Kitchen. This is not an indoor eatery but it is under cover and I managed to get one of the two tables, someone asked if they could have it while my sister was fetching a Pizza from a stand, I politely declined, the large Pizza rivaled Laroasas, and I’m sure made with Delgrosso’s sauce. It was a great deal at 8.50. after a half-hour the rain subsided and the rides started backup so we headed for the ticket booth which was in the entrance to Kiddy Kingdom. First thing I had to ride was the Casino, which came from Kings Island when it was The Wheel of Fortune. I remember riding this when I was about 7 with my parents then it was gone. I’ve ridden other Trabant’s since but riding this one felt so nostalgic. Maybe it’s me but it seemed to have a little more kick than other Trabant rides. Next we headed off for the Wild Mouse, this is a spinner We had to wait about 20 minutes for them to test the ride. I’d never ridden one and while it wasn’t overly exciting it was fun. We then headed for the paratroopers. They seemed newer than other models I had seen and they were certainly faster than some I have been on, they were awesome. We had time for one more ride. We opted for the new Yo-Yo swings ride that had replaced the retired Balloon Race. These were great swings that went very high, reminded me of the one’s at Indiana Beach. Some of the rides we didn’t have time to ride were: The Roundup: The Carousel: The Flying Bobs: The Scrambler: The Tilt A Whirl: And The Dodgem: They also had an old Catapilar ride without the canopy indoors I can't remember what it was called, and a Pirate Ship, but I had not the time to ride them. All in all it was a nice clean park and reasonable. An all day pass was about $13 and with ride tickets most rides were a dollar in tickets, the Wild Mouse was 2 dollars. I was however disappointed with their gift shop. With such a cute logo, I would think it would be on their shirts, but their shirts had no pictures, I did manage to pickup a nice hat. Now it was time to drive to Altoona and go to Lakemont Park, I couldn’t wait to rid the Leap the Dips, The Skyliner, and the Twister. So I head down I-99 and got there in about 10 minutes. I couldn’t figure out where to park so I parked in the Altoona Curve baseball lot for a couple bucks. I found out there would be a game to night, Awesome! I could catch a few pitches while riding the Skyliner. It was almost 5 so I went in their gift shop to kill a few minutes as the price went down to $8 after 5. Their gift shop was much better than Delgrosso’s and I bought a nice Leap the Dips shirt for only $12. At 5 I entered the park. The first thing that struck me about Lakemont was how dead it was. There was only about 50 to 75 people there. There were ride operators just waiting for people to ride. One of them told me this was normal for Saturday, it’s packed on $3 dollar Wednesday’s but the rest of the time is slow. That is a shame because it is a very nice park, and very reasonable, and the staff is very friendly. The local people really need to step up! First thing I rode was the Twister. This is a vintage ride that is very rare, a bit like the tilt a whirl, but takes less effort to spin and don’t quite spin as much, but it was a very interesting ride. Next we headed for Leap the Dips, the oldest coaster in the world built in 1902; it is a side friction, figure eight coaster. This ride was awesome! It was longer and funner than I expected, with lots of dips. The ride operator had to push you out of the station towards the chain incline until you latched on and he had to pull you back into the station at the end. I rode this 6 or 7 times that night. Next we headed for the Skyliner. The baseball game was just starting, actually they were practicing, but before the night was through I was able to catch a couple of pitches while riding. I rode it about 6 or 7 times, the final 3 in a row without getting off. What tremendous airtime this ride has. Right next to the Skyliner we rode the Tin Lizzy Antique Car Ride. Next we rode the Monster. We stayed on twice since no one else was on it, and I must say even though it looked older than the one at Kings Island, I could get it to spin a lot more! There was some descent eating choices although I didn’t end up having time to eat. This Funnel Cake place looked really good! We did step in the air-conditioned Arcade for a moment though. Remember this Kiddy Ferris wheel that used to be at Chucky Cheeses? This was yet another park in PA that had cute Kiddy rides. The Toboggan was a different ride, the most thrilling part being when you ride to the top with the back of your head facing the ground. I didn’t ride the Skydiver after riding the previous day at Conneaut Lake Park, but I did ride the swings and they were nice although obviously a very old model, but they stayed in place well not bumping into other swings. Next was the Octopus. At a glance it looks just like the Monster. The operator told me the difference was that the operator had some control on how much you spin on the Monster, while on the Octopus the riders have total control, I will say I spun more on the Octopus than I ever had on any Monster ride. Also the front tended to dip downwards when high up, which was cool. I rode this ride 4 or 5 times it was great. I never found time to ride the tilt a whirl since I can ride it at Coney and Stricker’s Grove. After riding the train, which had plenty of wild life along the way, it started to get cloudy again, and I should’ve left then and there but against my better judgement I rode the Carousel Followed by the Ferris Wheel. Time for one last ride I had to cap it off with another ride on Leap the Dips. I really liked this park, I thought it was terrific! As I left it started to Pour down raining mercilessly just as I was merging onto 22 west towards my hotel an hour away in Johnstown. It was scary, I couldn’t see a thing, to make matters worse I messed up the GPS route to the Holiday Inn in Johnstown where I was staying because of there excellent Idlewild package: 2 tickets, 2 free breakfast upto $20 and the room all for $135. The rain slowed after 10 minutes but the threat remained and finding my hotel was rather tricky. Eventually I found it and went to bed, and fell asleep quick. I would be able to get some sleep tonight as I was only about a half-hour or so from Idlewild.

Stay tunned Gator, in the next week I'll be posting the rest of my tour: day 2 Delgrosso's/Lakemont day 3: Idlewild day 4: Knoebel's and day 5: Kennywood

On Friday June 19, I embarked on my first PA amusement park trip. I was starting it off at Conneaut Lake Park, I started early and since the park didn't open till 4 I decided to take the backroads from Groveport, just south of Columbus. I ended up on 62 and came across an East of Chicago Pizza buffet in Millersburg, I love EOC so that was a great place to eat lunch. Eventually made it into Pennsylvania which after awhile I discovered that this state loves road construction, just about every road I was on had plenty of it so turning my headlights on as the state law requires became a frequent practice. I arrived a little after 4 at Conneaut Lake Park. As soon as I as I got there I found the Hotel Conneaut to check into my room. The hotel was very old fashioned and charming. The lobby had a library and a Grand Piano Especially charming were the veranda's overlooking the lake Out front there was an old boardwalk on the lake leading up to a place called the Beach Club which seemed to be a happening place My room was small but quaint and reasonably priced at $75, if you want a lake view the price went up to $150, they also had single bed rooms as cheap as $55. We rushed to the park with the threat of rain hanging over us, but fortunately it didn't rain till overnight. They just happen to be running a special that day an all day ride pass was just $5 and free parking, and it got even cheaper, when someone walked up to us and said he bought one extra and gave it to us, so we only had to buy one $5 pass, what a bargain. The first thing I had to ride was the Tumble Bug, as it had been exactly 25 years since I rode it when Kings Island last had it in 1984 when I was 8, and what a fun ride it was. I rode it at least 5 times that night, bringing back great memories. Next I rode the Paratroopers, these rides are all over the state and it is an awesome ride, man would I love to see Kings Island have one it is such a relaxing fun ride as you swoop up in the trees and dive back down and then do it all over again. Next we rode the Skydiver. This is a new ride at CLP this year and I had never ridden one before and I must say it was pretty wild, as you spin in a circle you bounce all over the place, It's hard to explain it is just a crazy ride, it does require 2 riders, they don't allow single riders. Next I took a stroll through Kiddie Land. I was impressed for an old small park It had quite a nice kiddie land with lots of cute rides. I thought the carousel was cute with kid size horses some of which even go up and down. As the trip went on however, I found this ride to be a common ride at most of the parks. I really thought the Horse and carriage ride was cute, but once again I would see this ride at other parks throughout the week. Before I left Kiddie Land I could see through the trees the classic Blue Streak Roller Coaster that is not operating this year. After 2 years of not operating it needs to be worked on before it can hopefully open sometime next year, I have my fingers crossed on this, I would love to ride this coaster. Leaving Kiddie Land I rode the vintage Carousel. This vintage Carousel dates back to 1914. Next I rode a Tempest ride, that had a different name, I can't remember what but it had I believe witch in the title. Next I went over to the Devil's Den. Being a fan of dark rides this was really cool, part haunted house, and part mini coaster as you went up a small incline and coasted down. I finally took a ride on the Flying Skooters. They also had a Trabant, and a Tilt A Whirl. The Musik Express is gone, and the Roll O Plane and Tobagan were not operating. The gift shop was decent and I managed to buy a shirt and 2 mugs. It was a fun day and I hope someday to visit the park again, but it was time to get some sleep the following day I would be driving about 3 hours to Delgrosso's Park in Tipton PA for the afternoon and then heading down to Lakemont Park for the evening. Stay tunned for the day 2 trip report coming soon!

Thanks for the info, If only all of their websites spelled out there food choices the way Knoebel's does the Alamo looks good to me. Unfourtuantely I was on a Conneaut Lake forum and someone said that they are not openning the Hotel restaurant this year, and their not sure why, I was hoping to eat there as I will be staying there.