OK. First, this is my first, and probably ONLY PTR that I will ever do. Man is it a pain in the a$$.

Anyway, my kids' school picnic was today, and it seemed like a great opportunity to introduce KIC to Waldameer in Erie, PA. It is a fantastic little park, with some really big thrills. Namely the new Ravine Flyer 2. I first rode this new coaster when it first opened, and of course again today. They have since removed almost all the anti-rollbacks, and boy, does this coaster FLY.

Many of my pics came from the ferris wheel, train (as you can probably tell from the looking throught the fence pics), or the Skyride.

Please feel free to critique my loads of pics. Many of them are rides, or my kids, or the ACE convention that was obviously in town, but it actually was kind of fun.

One hint, I kept editing my post so that I knew that I was not screwing it up!

Welcome to Waldameer. Evem older than Interp, Woofer, and Brown put together!

This park means business!

And if you don't wear your shoes, you will get whatever this is describing.

Decently priced.

Midway shot.

Another midway shot.

Games on the midway.

This guy had no idea what was being built at KI. I tried to dip into his knowledge of parks. Needless to say, it was a quick conversation.

OK, onto some rides:

Comet was first. It is a nice Jr. woodie. The kids loved it.

The neat thing about Comet is that a turn ariund on the ride goes directly above the station.

Above the ride, over the station, through the trees! Am I kidding myself? I'm an expert at this PTR thing!

Mom and Jessica loved the Comet.

Next up: Paratrooper.

This would be the kids' first ride on a BIG ride without mom or dad. Boy, was dad stressed!

Onto Ravine Flyer 3. Funny thing about RV3, it was actually built before RV2. This is a kiddie steel that goes around twice.

And this ride is for kids? Look at that angle!

A view of RV3, Sea Dragon & some kind of wooden coaster in the background! Hmmmm....

RV3

Kiddie Kingdom rides.

Random mom pushing her kid on the "little trains". She probably thought "What the heck is this guy doing taking a pic of me and my kid?"

Now that is a GREAT ride op! KI workers take note!

Speaking of great ride ops. I really loved this option. I can honestly say that I have never seen anything like this at another park.

Shot of the 7 miles of beaches on Presque Isle.

PI again with Erie Bay to the right and that pesky wooden thing that keeps getting in my way even further to the right.

Onto Part 2....

Sooooo...... Ravine Flyer II?????

Did you do the Whacky Shack?

The park I grew up at had a ride very similar called the Phantasmagoria. My park is now either defunct or (hopefully) between locations, so I've been trying to find little pieces of the park anywhere I can.

But we did have to eat.

I got the meatball sub. It wasn't too bad. But for $5, it should have been better. Oh well, that's business for a park these days.

Yeah, that's it. No, just kidding, that's half of it. With the drink, my total was about $8. Mom and the girls got the hot dog, 7/8 ounce of chips, and drink school special. Without the coupon, it would have been $3.50.

Obviously NOT a CF park.

Now, how can people miss the creepy clown cans?

Speaking of lunch, there must have been an ACE convention in town:

This was the key note speaker. Remember, crack kills!

This is the Whacky Shack. It is a great, old Sally Dark ride. Some of the inside effects did not move, but still a great ride.

Ok, OK!

Ravine Flyer 2 time:

Happy?

This is actually a pic of my oldest daughter, Julianna, waiting for her first trip on RV2.

I have never seen a ride with so many signs at the entrance.

Lift hill and into the gully.

To the bridge and over the "Ravine".

Around the turn around, and back over the bridge.

Station shot.

Break run.

The wife liked RV2!

I took a bunch more, but I'm tired.

That's crazy that the coaster goes over the road not once but twice if I understand correctly. Looks pretty cool. Thanks for the photos Brown.

Yes it goes back over the road.

The first few times on the ride, it is actually hard to tell where you are at. It may not be the "fastest" coaster, but going over the bridge for the first time, you can hardly tell.

It has great air time, transitions, and laterals, and the tunnels are a great addition. And as most know, I'm not a big fan of SoB, but for RV2's cost of $6 million, it is too bad that KI could not have done something like this back in 2000. Between Maverick and now RV2, I am now a true believer that a huge lift hill is not necessary

It is not Beast, El Toro, or Voyage; but it is one of the best wood coasters that I have ever been on. And even though it is intense, it is so re-ridable (unlike Voyage).

It is just a fantasiclly fun ride.

Great pics! Thanks for the report...and yes, a coaster doesn't have to break any record to be wonderful. I have many favorite examples, from Avalanche at Timber Falls Adventure Golf and Cyclops at Mount Olympus in the Dells to Cornball Express at Indiana Beach to even Rollo Coaster at Idlewild.