Pennsylvania Trip Day 1: Conneaut Lake Park

[raptor]

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!

[The Interpreter]

Thanks for posting that. I love Conneaut, and miss what it was so much. I hope they make it, but the debt level that the place faces is almost insurmountable. Devil's Den aka Dr. Moriarty's Wild Ride has a near clone at Camden Park, Haunted House. Tempest of course can also be found at Ohio's Coney Island.

Great pictures...I must stop at Conneaut on my next trip to Waldameer, which must be soon!

[windshawne]

What a nice place it appears to be. I would love one more ride on the tumble bug

[standbyme]

Thanks for sharing...a very interesting trip report, everything looks so quaint. (Except for the Tide umbrella!)

[XGatorHead 8904]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! for posting this! The past couple of weeks, instead of being on this site as much as I usually am, I've been gathering info on the parks I want to visit on our Parks of Pensylvania Tour. Lately, Mrs. Gator has expressed her desire to curtail the number of parks that we would go to (there was even one mention of cancelling the trip altogether! ), so I've been collecting everything (prices, hours, rides, shows, etc.) on all the parks that I want to hit. That way I can show her what each one has to offer (and most of them are very reasonably priced).

There are three parks that are definites for us: Sesame Place, Hersheypark and Conneaut Lake Park. If you've ever visited www.conneautlakepark.com, you know there's very little info on what rides they have. So your TR is very useful to me!

Now to talk her into some combination of Knoebel's, Lakemont, DelGrosso's and Idlewild... (she said we may get to Kennywood next year, that's why I'm not pursuing that one now).

I look forward to your future installments!

[raptor]

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