Pleasantly Surprised by Michigan's Adventure

[Zader]

Saturday 5/25 was my first trip to Michigan's Adventure in Muskegon, MI. Coming away from the day, I was pleasantly surprised by the park. I was expecting a small, mediocre park that had been partially neglected by Cedar Fair. What I got instead was a park that feels more like a small family park that has management guidance from the parent company. There were no crowds all day long and the longest we waited for a ride was one cycle for Shivering Timbers.

Lunch was at Coasters. This was my first time eating at Coasters, so I'm not sure how they work in other parts, but there were 2 self serve kiosks (one of which was down) for ordering. Overall, the ordering experience wasn't bad, but could be sped up drastically by having the cashiers who were there for cash payment anyways taking the orders.

I rode 2 flat rides. Dodgem and Lakeside Gliders. Dodgem was themed to taxis and European police cars and was pretty fun. There was not divider in the middle, so you didn't have to drive in a pattern like some others I've ridden. Three cars did feel a bit slow, though. Lakeside gliders was my first glider experience and it was pretty great! I normally don't ride any flats that spin because I get motion sick, but I had ridden everything in the park that I wanted so I decided to go for it. At first I couldn't get the hang of how to move in the tub, but by the end I had gotten a couple of pretty good snaps.

Now for the coasters, in alphabetical order because why not. All of them were only running one train, but that was completely understandable since most times the ride ops were just in the station waiting for riders.

Big Dipper: x1
This is the park's kiddie coaster. It's a more involved layout than that of Great Pumpkin at Kings Island and you don't have to have a kid with you to ride it. It's a nice little ride and is great for kids.

Corkscrew: x4
This coaster is short but sweet. I enjoyed this much more than Corkscrew at Cedar Point. The trains and restraints were more comfortable and it was pretty smooth for an Arrow looper. It was a bit on the short side, but that's to be expected. I was pretty surprised at the amount of airtime on the first drop in the back row.

Mad Mouse: x5
This is a fantastic wild mouse. The sharp turns at the top really throw you around and the drops at the end give some good pops of air.

Shivering Timbers: x4
I rode 3 times in the back row and once in row 2. This is definitely a back row coaster, but the back does lead to a little more roughness. My first 3 rides, the train was nearly empty except for 2 or 3 other people. This was the first ride of the day and I was really blown away by how strong the airtime is on every hill. For my last ride, every seat on the train was full and I was in the back row. I was completely caught off guard with how much I was thrown over the first drop and how much speed the train carried through the whole layout. The extra speed and unrelenting airtime cemented this as my #3 wooden coaster behind Voyage and Mystic Timbers.

Thunderhawk: x1
I have ridden 2 SLC's. This and T3 at Kentucky Kingdom. Of the 2, I think this one is the better ride experience. It wasn't overly rough, but the wheel gaps do bang you around some. This does have the hard OTSR's, as opposed to the seat belt material restraints on T3, but I actually preferred them because of the way they sat on my thighs. The T3 restraints have a wide section that rests on your thighs and tightens throughout which leads to discomfort on the final brakes. Thunderhawk's restraints hardly touched my thighs, which prevented any thigh crushing. There was a slight amount of headbanging, but not to the point that it distracted from the ride.

Wolverine Wildcat: x4
This ride can vary greatly depending on the row you sit in. If you're sitting on a wheel, it will rattle you to the core. If you're not on a wheel, it's a pretty good ride. It gives some decent airtime throughout and is pretty enjoyable. The double up into the new double down was neat, but the train loses a lot of speed at the top of the double up, which takes just a bit away from the double down. Overall, nothing stellar to write home about, but still a solid ride.

Zach's Zoomer: x2
This is the park's family wooden coaster. It's very similar, if not the same layout as Woodstock Express at Kings Island. It has buzzer bars which help to give some airtime. It's a neat little family woodie.

[IndyGuy4KI]

Great report @Zader. Look forward to hearing about your future trips!

[homestar92]

I had a wonderful time on my visit to Michigan's Adventure. I went in expecting a poor experience and I was also pleasantly surprised.

Their waterpark is also great. But they don't have lifts to get the tubes to the top of the big slides, so you're gonna get a workout!

[silver2005]

If you're adventurous, Muskegon has some pleasant surprises.  The areas around the bay and Lake Michigan are nice areas to relax.  A few decent restaurants there as well.

MIA is probably the most underrated park I've been to.  Just don't go in expecting too much, enjoy the dated architecture (gives it its own charm IMO), get plenty of rides on Shivering Timbers, and its a pretty fun park.  

Next time I get the itch to go to CP, I'm absolutely doing MIA again (probably Waldameer, too).