We got to the park around 11:15, which was 15 minute after opening, to see a grand total of 12 cars and a bus there. This was a good sign for crowds that day. The odd thing about the park is if you use a platinum pass from another Cedar Fair park, you must get a ticket. What sucks is this takes up a good 5 minutes to check the passes and print them. It was not a big deal, but if you traveled to the park one just a day on a very busy day there would be problems.
Big Dipper - This was the first surprise of the day as I thought the weight limit was 170 pounds per seat However, apparently it is 320 pounds per row as they let me on no problems. The ride is actually a fun kiddie coaster that goes through 2 circuits each ride. While not as good as the custom version of this ride at SFOG, it is still great for kids.
Zach's Zoomer - So this is a very fun little wooden coaster. The ride works for the park as it feels walking from Big Dipper to Zoomer to Corkscrew is a progression for children. I got a chance to ride in the front and back as there was no wait (we were the only 2 people on when I rode the 2nd time.) What did surprise me about the ride is how it gives the same feeling as riding the Wildcat but on a smaller scale. There was even as much airtime as the Wildcat
Be-Bop Blvd - A decent little car ride. The ride operates 2 lanes at a time. Even on a dead day like this, they had both sides running in the first hour the park was open. The ride is a combination of an antique car ride and the Wiggle's World car ride. You have no control over if the car goes, but you can steer the car. It is an odd little combination that works for the ride.
Corkscrew - This ride is one of only 3 Arrow Corkscrew models left in the US and I can see why. The ride is just too quick to mean anything these days. The ride can not be more then 50 seconds long. What really sucks about the ride is how awful the crew was. The ride was running a train every 5-10 minutes. For us, it took them 9 minutes to dispact the train one we sat in our seats due to idiot ride-ops. Even worse is the fact the same ride-ops forgot they had to release use from the restraints manually. Plus this was one of the few rides that had a 1 cycle wait for any row, but the release times had more to do with that then anything.
Mad Mouse - One of the Arrow Mad Mouses that Cedar Fair runs (they actually run the only 3 running ones in the world.) So I was expecting the ride to hurt my legs like the one at ValleyFair! I was wrong on this as I loved this little ride. It was smooth, fast where it needed to be and had almost no wait. We rode twice and only the first ride did we have a 1 car wait. The only thing the park should do is reverse the entrance and exit. The way the exit is built, you feel like a mouse walking through a tunnel. Seems like a good idea for an entrance.
Tilt-A-Whirl - A basic Tilt-A-Whirl. Not much more I can say other then it was a walk-on.
Shivering Timbers - The main attraction of the park. This is the first thing you see when you enter the park from the main gate and it just looks massive. First of off, there was no wait the entire day other then the first and last row. Even then, the last row was walk on most of the day. The longest wait for the front row I had was 4 cycles.
With the ride's trains, they were the comfiest PTC trains I have ever been on. They felt like I was riding in very large clouds. Sadly, there is no cover for the 2nd train, which is just a bad idea.
As for the ride itself. It was running only the green train all day. I found the back to be rough and a bit painful when going through the last helix. However, in the front it is a blast and gives great floating airtime. I also rode in the 3rd row and found it to be even better then the front row for airtime. I would still take the front row for first drop view alone. The ride is outstanding with it moving it into my number 3 wooden coaster and 9th overall rank.
Wolverine Wildcat - I had heard really bad things about Dinn rides, so I was expecting the worst. The ride was not that bad. It was more bland then anything, but was not bad at all. I did find the tunnel to the lift hill to be very odd and would have sucked if we road with screaming girls.
Logger's Run - this felt a lot like the SF Great America version except the small life out of the station. The biggest problem with the ride is how much water it takes on, thus shoes have no chance to stay dry. Other than that, a fun flume ride.
Timbertown Railway - This ride is really odd. The ride takes a ride past Shivering Timber and through a bunch of wetlands area. While the area looks nice, I have to wonder why there is nothing there. We only rode it too the back of the park, so I can not coment on a ride to the front of the park.
Thunderhawk - Ah yes, the parks Geauga Lake donation. The ride looks great in the park. It also is a ride the park needed, as their coaster line-up would be seriously lacking without. The ride is better then T2(the only other SLC I have ridden.) However, even then, the restraints just killed my arms. It is the first ride I've ever had my head with no problems and something else hurting, so screw the SLC model.
Dodgems - So this version of the bumper cars is actully really good. The cars get a decent amount of speed and you have an open floor to work with. The only problems are no head-on collisions and the restraints go around your chest.
Giant Wheel - This ferris wheel is fast. Simply put I could get maybe 1 picture each revolution due to the speed on it. Even with the photo problems, it is a fun ride.
Some other notes on the day
- The food prices and selection here suck. Even worse, the food prices chance depending on where you are. For example, a cheeseburger basket (aka comes with fries) was $7.00 at the area by Shivering Timbers. If you go to the Coaster Burgers place, it was $8.75. Just stupid on their part.
- They were having massive sales during the day. Outside the park, they had tabels and a area with stuff for $1. I was able to get a tall shot glass of the old park logo (with the lion, pre-cedar fair days,) a Shivering Timbers mug and my fiancee got a snoopy head band. They had mini-basketball, stuff animals you win in the $5 games and tons of other stuff. On top of that, most kids shirts were running 3-4 bucks around the park.
The park is nice enough, just not enough to do. Non-water flats rides is what the park must focus on. There are less then 10 non-water flat rides in the entire park. This includes the bumper cars, be-bop blvd cars, ferris wheel, train and carousel. This park needs a drop tower and a new thrilling flat ride. The positive to this is there is a ton of room to exspand in and around the train. So it is not like the park is low on land.
Overall, the day was a good one. I got around 10 rides on Timbers, rood all the other coaster and got myself some lapel pins from the park. Would I ever go to the park again? Not really unless I was in the area, the park is closing or a new coaster comes. But I do think the park is worth a trip for at least one visit.
If you have any question, just post and I will do my best to answer. I took some 500 plus pictures, so it will be hard for me to forget anything.
Thanks
