thekidd33

Where did you dig up this 'dirt'?

Taking out the rose bowl and adding a few airtime hills and a turnaround back there would be just fine with me...highly doubt that is the plan though.

Make that 5! Thanks for the head's up on the offer!

^Like that awesome red Intamin monster just across the train tracks?

I loved ST, it really gave a great ride in both the front and the back. BTW Dave the trip reports your daughter has been doing are just incredible! Very very fun to read! Seems like you guys had an amazing trip!

I finally got some time off from work this past week and the family was heading up to St. Joseph, MI to go to the beach for a few days...so my brothers (Kelly and Beau (bscott400800))and I decided we would leave a little early and get in a trip to Michigan's Adventure. It took us about 5 hours from Indy (though we did stop for about 30 min for lunch) to reach the park. By the time we got there it was raining pretty steadily and the park was all but empty. We got pretty lucky with our timing as it stopped raining about 25 minutes after we arrived and we basically had the park to ourselves. Both the parking attendant and the lady who sold us our tickets made comments about how thankful they were to finally have a slow day at the park. Apparently the park has been packing them in this season, which is good news. We got a chance to ride all the coasters except Mad Mouse at least twice and found several of them to be far more fun than we expected. Overall Park Observations: Michigan's Adventure is quite a bit smaller than King's Island with the entire park situated in a 'U' shape around a small lake. Shivering Timbers and Wolverine Wildcat anchor one end while Thunderhawk sits at the other. The park was very clean and all the employees seemed very nice and very focused on getting trains out quickly...the problem was that there were far too few of them. Corkscrew and Wolverine Wildcat were both operating with two total ride ops - one running the board and one checking restraints. Even with the crowds at next to nothing this was visibly taxing on them. I hope that this was just due to the weather and not how these rides are run every day. The only other complaint I really had about the park (which a thousand people have stated before me) is that it would be nice if there was a path to complete the circle around the lake. It seems that this path (service road?) actually does exist, it is just closed off to the public. It would be nice to be able to make a much shorter walk to Thunderhawk from Shivering Timbers...but I suppose then we would bypass all of Mr. Kinzel's $5 games and $12 meals. Hopefully over time this area can be developed and that path added in. Overall it was a very nice little park that I really do want to visit again. Corkscrew: Corkscrew is the standard Arrow Double Corkscrew design and sits right along the midway just inside the front gate. We got three rides in on it throughout the day (the first in pouring rain, which was both cold and fun) all in the back. There is a little pop of air back there down the drop and the corkscrews were fun. I didn't experience any head banging on any of my three rides and in fact found this to be very re-rideable. The only downside was the two man crew and one train (by design - not due to the rain) operation that made for slow waits, even with the light crowds. Wolverine Wildcat: For any of you that read my Cedar Point TR know that my first encounter with a Dinn Corp woodie, um, wasn't pleasant, so I really didn't know what to expect from this one. Basically I just figured it couldn't possibly be as bad as Mean Streak so I hopped in line. I am happy to report that Meanie's smaller cousin is far far more enjoyable. I was in the very back and ended up riding with a 6-year-old boy who was there with his family. It was both of our first rides on this coaster and he had an absolute blast. The coaster itself isn't anything special as there really isn't any one element that makes it really stand out. There is some nice ejector air in the back on the first three drops but there didn't seem to be much air when I rode later on in the very front. However on that first ride watching this little kid enjoy his first 'big' coaster was awesome. He was laughing the entire way around. It really made me wish I could go back and experience things like this as a kid again. Very very cool to watch. Mad Mouse: Mad Mouse was closed when we got there and closed up again later in the evening when it began sprinkling again, so I am assuming it doesn't run in the rain. This was the only full line we had to wait in all day. Kelly noticed it was testing when we were on the log flume and when we got there the line was almost all the way full already, despite the small crowds. It seems to be a pretty popular ride. This was my first ride on any type of Wild Mouse design and I thought it was pretty fun. There were certainly a lot of smiling faces getting off. We all thought it was a lot of fun and a good family ride. The turn/drop right after the lifthill made us all feel like we were going to end up falling off the edge. Not exactly a thrill seekers cup of tea but certainly a good time. Also this was just about the only coaster in the park that seemed to get people through at anything approaching a reasonable speed. Zach's Zoomer: This woodie is a copy (I believe) of Woodstock Express at KI. There was no one in line for this on so we jumped on for a quick lap. I have to admit we all had a really good time on this ride. Kelly kept yelling "Zoooooomer!" the whole time and we were all dying laughing by the time it was over. It was very smooth and for a family ride was a nice thrill. It made me want to make sure I get a lap in on Woodstock's Express on my next visit to KI. We kept randomly yelling "Zoomer!" the rest of the day lol. Thunderhawk: Thunderhawk anchors on end of the 'U' shape of the park and it certainly seemed to draw people back to its location. There were a lot of people standing around near the rides entrance though, not many seemed to actually jump in line. This was my first SLC experience. I rode it twice, once in the third row and once in the second to last row. I preferred the back row on this ride for sure. There were a lot more forces back there and it didn't seem to be any more rough in back than it was in the front. The pull you get down the first drop is a lot of fun in back too. While not overly rough, it certainly jerks you around in a few places. If this is supposedly one of, if not the, smoothest of the SLC's then I don't know how excited I am for the rest. Overall, Thunderhawk was a nice ride that fit really well into this park. Shivering Timbers: Shivering Timbers was awesome. There really isn't any other way to put it. This CCI woodie is an absolute beast. We rode two times, once in back and once in front. The ride experiences are totally different between the two. The back has some wicked ejector air over the first three hills and offers an insane pull down the drop coming out of the turnaround. The front had crazy amounts of airtime throughout the ride and offered some great head choppers on the way back. They were only running one train due to the rain, luckily this seemed to be the only ride with its full compliment of ride ops on hand that day and they were getting trains dispatched as fast as they possibly could. I got off the first ride thinking it may have been my favorite woodie but after the second ride settled on placing it third, behind Voyage and Beast. Other Rides: We also rode the log flume twice, falling star once, and my brothers rode the sea dragon once as well. The log flume offered some great views of the park and was a nice relaxing ride, though you did not get wet at all one it. Falling Star was really really fun! It has a fairly long ride cycle and was actually the first non-dark, non-water flat ride that I had ridden in a long, long time. I may have to give more of these a chance because falling star was a blast. Overall it was a great day at a very nice little park. I can't wait to get back someday soon! Thanks for reading!

Holiday World lost power this evening as well, just a little after 5. Liberty Launch was struck by lightening during the storm that caused the outage.

At KI, I prefer the front row on Firehawk, Diamondback, Flight Deck, Backlot, and the back on Racer, Beast, AE. I got my first ride in the magic seat on Vortex a few weeks ago and it will be 5-1 for me from now on! Flight of Fear is really the only ride that I don't have a preference on.

I guess this is good news (for the short term anyway). Hopefully Kinzel & Co. doesn't begin (continue?) to operate as though the whole debt problem has been solved.

Sounds like you had a great time! Thanks for sharing!

I received an email yesterday asking for my shirt size and containing a couple of graphic to use to premote the event.

Honestly, I LIKE Maverick but don't love it. I love the hill and launch and thats about it. Don't get me wrong it is a great ride but its really rough in my opinion... The first time I rode it I thought so too. It was the ride I was looking forward to in the park most and I got off fairly disappointed. I decided to give it a second try and that second ride was AMAZING. I think a lot of it has to do with learning when/how to move your body with the transitions. I was in the same seat (on the same train actually) for both rides and they were completely different.

Glad you had a good time! Maverick is incredible isn't it!?!

I love AE. It is one of the few rides at KI that has enough themeing present and working that they actually add to the ride. I also love the views you get of SOB from the ride.

Welcome to KIC! We'll ride it next time we go, I haven't ridden before either! Its a larger, enclosed version of the top spin ride on RTC3.

^Agreed! Part of the reason I love Adventure Express is the great views you get of SOB. That structure is an awesome sight.

My understanding is that the wheels will be in contact with steel.

Its almost like you are implying that other giant HUSS rides at our lovely park have been subject to prolonged downtime in the past! lol Hopefully this is just a temporary set back.

Awesome pics, thanks for posting! Totally agree about Racer/Blue Streak. I thought Blue Streak was a much better ride.

I believe that there have indeed been a few instances of FoF rolling back though it is my understanding that it is a rather rare event.

Thats good news! I was beginning to think CP may have 2 new attractions to look forward to in 2011 lol.

Why not King's Dominion then? I haven't been myself but I have heard great things about the park. Plus it is close to Richmond/Williamsburg/Washington D.C. which all offer a lot to do for tourists.

It is always fun to see pics from parks that you don't hear much about, thanks for posting these!

Hahaha true. Very neat presentation though.

Wow they really pulled out all the stops for this!