Michigans Adventure

[maverick2007]

I am planning a trip to Michigans Adventure soon and, having never been before, could use some tips on what rides are worth riding, what to ride first etc.

Any help is appreciated.

[The Interpreter]

Others will tell you how wonderful Shivering Timbers is and that it is not be missed. I say don't miss the Arrow mouse or the wonderful kiddie wooden, Mad Mouse and Zach's Zoomer respectively. Big Dipper is also more fun than it looks to be. There was a time when Wolverine Wildcat was enjoyable and one of my favorite wood coasters. Unfortunately, that time was long, long ago.

[dare-to-fly]

I really do enjoy Wolverine Wildcat. It's well worth riding, and since Timbers is my #3, I'd have to say that it shouldn't be missed either! I have to admit, though, Cedar Fair has not been maintaining either of the bigger wooden coasters well...but at least they haven't trimmed them.

[PhantomTheater]

Ride everything in the afternoon, when every one is at the water park. For food, drive the distance back to Muskegon.

[SonofBaconator]

Decided to make this the unofficial Michigan's Adventure thread. 

I know people like to dog this park, often making fun of it for its lack of investments. The 90s were when they saw their most major investments. I think if Cedar Fair invested another thrill ride at this park, it would pay off more than people think.

For the sake of this argument, lets say Cedar Fair has emerged from the pandemic and are in the financial position to continue with their goal to give something new to all their parks. They look at Michigan's Adventure and decide they want to invest 8 million dollars into a new roller coaster. Michigan's Adventure is thrilled and begins to look for coasters they could add to their park. Its worth noting that since Michigan's Adventure does receive a lot of big investments, this one will have to hold guests over for a fee years; that is unless they see a sudden spike in attendance.

3.) S&S 4d Freespin

So lets start off with the least likely and work our way up. I'm starting this off with an S&S 4d freespin- the 3rd most likely choice. These coasters roughly cost $5 million dollars which would leave the park with some left over money. 4d freespins are unique and would certainly get the attention of park goers and would help boost attendance. Though there's another 4d freespin on the other side of Lake Michigan in Illinois, I think this would be a standout attraction for the park. The reason I out this at the least likely because this would be a pretty big jump in the thrill category. Not a lot of enthusiasts would travel to MI if they got a 4d freespin since there's a big chance they've already ridden one before. From a GP perspective, it might seem too extreme for the families who go to this park.

2.) RMC Iron Horse

The second choice I have would be to RMC Wolverine Wildcat. This coaster would be up there budget wise but I think it would be worth it if they went over budget. It would certainly give MI something that most Cedar Fair parks don't even have. I could see enthusiasts making the trip to ride it as well as people from across the state. I think GP wise, it would be seen as an inverting coaster like Thunderhawk or Corkscrew. There's a fee arguments against why this wouldn't happen. First off, since 2018 there's been rumors circulating that Cedar Fair isn't super happy with RMC. Whether is is true or not can really only be proven if the chain decides to purchase another one. Secondly, the park might be more willing to have GCI come in and retrack their wooden coasters to preserve them. I'm not a MI expert so I don't know how much people love WWC but they could always to the Ghostrider route and give it a traditional GCI makeover.

1.) Gerstlauer Euro Fighter

Finally we have my number one choice. What could possibly outrank an RMC? I'm thinking a Gerstlauer Euro Fighter. This specific model of coaster seems to do extremely well at smaller Parks like Michigan's Adventure. They're pretty affordable for the ride that they produce and I think Michigan's Adventure could get one in or around that $8 million dollar budget. The thing that really stands out about these coasters is their beyond vertical drops as well as their tight inversions. When I look at Tantrum at Darien Lake or Untamed at Canobie Lake, I often think "this would be perfect for Michigan's Adventure." Its something that would be entirely new and custom to the park. 

 

Now there were a couple other coaster types that I considered that didn't make the list:

A GCI wooden coaster- Now a standard GCI would certainly fit in with the $8 million dollar budget that I gave the park, I don't think it would have as big of an impact as the other three I listed above. I think people would see it as just another wooden roller coaster. If the park didn't already have Shivering Timbers and WWC I would have included it. 

A family inverted coaster- this one I honestly thought about replacing the 4d free Spin but I'm glad I didn't. I don't know if Cedar Fair would work with vekoma even if it's on something as small as a family coaster (maybe I'm wrong). The fact that Thunderhawk doesn't have the new SLC trains suggests that they don't feel like working with them currently. So that leaves the B&M family coaster. Even though it one feature I need some inversions I think too many people would compare it to Thunderhawk (again I could be wrong). Also I feel like a family inverted coaster wouldn't be as big of a draw as the 3 coasters I picked.

A spinning coaster- this wouldn't be anything super elaborate like time traveler. The park could get something from Gerstlauer that resembles something you'd find at a Six Flags park. This one honestly seemed like the dullest choice out of the six I had in mind. It wouldn't draw in a ton of people so for that reason I just chose to leave it out.

Also I didn't pick anything launched because that could potentially cause downtime and maintenance issues

 

What are your thoughts? Am is there some accuracy to this or am I way off?