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Catchthebrassring Double Loop User is Offline Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 242	Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 10:03 pm    Post subject: Whirlwind Amusement Park Trip · Quote Just got back Sunday from our family's bi-annual whirlwind amusement park trip. This year we hit 6 parks in 5 states in one week. The parks we went to, in order were Indiana Beach, Holiday World, Kentucky Kingdom, Dollywood, Ghost Town in the Sky, and finally Camden Park. I'll just give a trip report on Indiana Beach today, the others later. As Indiana Beach advertises yes there is more than corn in Indiana. The park is built on a boardwalk. Yes a boardwalk in Indiana, amazing. The park is located on a man-made lake you have to walk across the longest suspension bridge in Indiana to get there. They have an odd admission price. If you buy the combo pass waterpark and rides the cost is 33.00 for the entire day from opening to closing. Or you can just buy the ride pass which is only 23.00 but the ride pass is only good either from opening to 6:00 pm or from 3:00 pm to closing. Since my son wrenched his knee the day before we left and had trouble with steps we skipped the water rides. Plus since we had a 5 hour drive to Holiday World we knew we wouldn't be staying till close. They have an amazing amount of rides for such a small area. There were 5 coasters and they're building a sixth one. The one coaster had a wildcat type track but the trains were like the Jumbo Jet cars. My son was baffled by it, he couldn't believe their were no seat belts or other type of restraint to hold you in. I loved the hoosier hurricane It goes right to the edge of the boardwalk overlooking the lake then turns and takes you to the other end of the park then back to the station. The Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain is quite unique the car enters an elevator that takes you too the top. Than you shoot down into the mountain for all sorts of twists and turns. When they say its a bone rattling ride they mean it. The antique car ride is neat it goes up and down on three levels plus inside the track of one coaster and right next to the track of another. They have a log flume ride which your allowed to take your camera on if you don't mind risking getting it wet. I decided not to risk it and kept it in its case. The only disappointment I had with the park is it only has a kiddie carousel. But other than that we had a great time. Even though we could only ride till six we got on all the coasters three times, my son rode all the flats, I only did half, I don't care for too many spinning rides. We even took a 30 minute boat tour of the lake. Our family definitely wants to go back another year and this time get a cottage right at the park. They have different types of cottages and rooms and the park is right out side the doors. You don't have to walk far like most parks. I have pictures just waiting to get them developed. Next trip I am going to get a digital camera. _________________ "Be ashamed to die until you have achieved some victory for humanity."  Horace Mann Geauga Lake will always remain in our hearts and memories. On June 17th & 18 2008 dick drove the final 2 nails into the coffin of our beloved Geauga Lake
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Coaster 3:16 Beaver Land Mine Ride User is Offline Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 39	Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 3:40 pm    Post subject: Re: Whirlwind Amusement Park Trip · Quote Catchthebrassring wrote: The antique car ride is neat it goes up and down on three levels plus inside the track of one coaster and right next to the track of another. Indiana Beach has been on the top of my "must visit" list for years; I always find an excuse not to go, though.  In reading so many trip reports I don't recall anyone ever mentioning this.  That sounds awesome and like my cup of tea.  Very cool. I look forward to your other trip reports. - Jeff
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Ray P Riptide Run User is Offline Joined: 12 Jul 2007 Posts: 337	Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 5:24 pm    Post subject: · Quote I've been to Indiana Beach twice and didn't ride the antique cars either trip.   Here's a 2006 pic from the Sky Ride and you can actually see one of the cars cruising the track: Also looking forward to the other TR's. Ray P.
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Catchthebrassring Double Loop User is Offline Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 242	Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 2:37 pm    Post subject: · Quote s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk304/Catchthebrassring/?albumview=grid Here are my first set of pictures from Indiana Beach _________________ "Be ashamed to die until you have achieved some victory for humanity."  Horace Mann Geauga Lake will always remain in our hearts and memories. On June 17th & 18 2008 dick drove the final 2 nails into the coffin of our beloved Geauga Lake
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Catchthebrassring Double Loop User is Offline Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 242	Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:48 pm    Post subject: · Quote After Indiana Beach we drove 5 hours to Holiday World got to our motel room around midnight. Next morning got up had breakfast, our motel was only about 10 minutes away left the motel at around 10:00 am arrived at the park about 9:15 am, parked opened at 9:30 am. The park is on a different time zone. It was funny at breakfast all these people were rushing around, kids whining that they'll be late or parents rushing their kids, we on the other hand were quietly eating our breakfast. Because we knew we were near the time change so when we checked in we asked the motel desk clerk if the motel was on the same time as the park, the clerk said no that the motel was an hour ahead of the park. Just as we arrived in the park {Thanks Ray we saved 7 dollars per person with the Pepsi cans. You only need 1 can for 4 people.} it started to rain. So none of the coasters opened up right away. We rode most of the flats than we decided to eat. We went to the Plymouth Rock restaurant. Each meal was around 7 dollars and you got your choice of 4 different meats and 3 sides, plus free pop or ice tea. The food was delicious not like other parks and you got alot of food for your money. By lunch the rain had stopped, so by the time we were done eating all the rides were running including all the coasters. We rode The Raven first, it was a good coaster, We personally don't think it lives up to all the hype around it but it was fun. Next we rode The Legend much better than the Raven. And finally we rode The Voyage, that coaster is awesome. For both my son and me it tops the Beast as our favorite woodie. For my spouse The Beast is still #1 but The Voyage is #2. With The Voyage you think your heading back to the station when all of a sudden it swerves and goes around the station for more twists and turns, then you fly into a final turn and head into the station. That coaster is definitely worth the drive from Cleveland to Indiana. One thing about their coasters is the rides ops after the train leaves the station, they go down the line and take everyones stuff and puts it in the bins. So all you do is jump in your seat and buckle up. This allows the line to move so much faster because your not waiting for people to climb thru the train put there stuff away than climb back in and fasten their seat belts. I think the rain kept most of the locals away but park was still crowed. The longest we had to wait was 30 minutes because they had to change trains on the Raven, the train kept telling the computer that the lap bars weren't down. What really makes this a great family park is the way they a have good assortment of flats as well as some great coasters. The tilt-a-whirl cars look like turkeys. They also have the old flying scooters, I miss those from Geauga Lake. Indiana Beach has them also but we weren't able to ride them that day because they were down. The waterpark area is huge plenty of room for expansion. They have the largest selection of raft rides I've ever seen at a waterpark. With conveyor belts so you don't have to drag your raft up so many steps. I believe there was only one you had to carry your raft up. Since my son wrenched he knee we only walked thru the waterpark. It was the most family orient waterpark I've ever seen. Most of the attractions were built so the whole family could enjoy them together instead of one at a time. The bumper cars were hilarious they looked like buffalo and horses. For the really small kids they had a train that took you thru nursery rhyme characters. Besides free pop they also had free sunscreen stations in both the waterpark and ride part. All in all we had a great time and definitely want to go back again. _________________ "Be ashamed to die until you have achieved some victory for humanity."  Horace Mann Geauga Lake will always remain in our hearts and memories. On June 17th & 18 2008 dick drove the final 2 nails into the coffin of our beloved Geauga Lake
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Catchthebrassring Double Loop User is Offline Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 242	Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 1:01 am    Post subject: · Quote Next stop was Kentucky Kingdom. Since a season pass was only 10.00 more than a one day ticket we bought season passes. We'll most likely go back again for their Halloween fest. The park was nice, It was smaller than I expected but then I found out that they closed almost half the park in their restructuring Which unfortunately included the dueling coasters wicked twins. Our first ride was Thunder Run, It was a nice wooden coaster nothing to make a special trip for but still enjoyable. Our next ride was chang a stand up coaster. I enjoyed it immensely. I haven't found a stand-up that I liked thats somewhat close by since KI got rid of King Cobra. I refuse to ride Mantis that is one of the worst coasters I've ever been on. Next we did the carousel even though it was built in 1994 it is made to look like an antique. What's cool about it is the carriage seats that are usually stationary rock back and forth. They also have 2 sets of balloons one set spins clockwise the other spins counter clockwise as the carousel goes around. It also features and elephant that the back opens and you can place a wheel chair in it making it very handicap accessible. We had lunch prices were mostly around 7.99 to 9.99. We had pulled pork platters. A sandwich with fries. Prices I think were comparable to cp's but you got more for your money and the food was excellent. We bought a refillable souvenir cup. The initial price is high 12.99 but you get free refills all day the first day you buy it than after that the refills only cost .99. You can also buy souvenir buckets of popcorn with the same deal, we didn't see that until we were leaving. After lunch my son and spouse rode T2. I skipped because I didn't feel like getting my head banged around. After that we did some flats rode the giant ferris wheel great view of the park and fair grounds. Rode greezed lightnin' It was fun. Longest we waited for a ride was chang that was approximately 20 min most of the rides were walk ons unless you wanted the first or last seats. Out of the three parks so far Kentucky Kingdom rates 3. Ended the day on a sad note though. We asked why the six flags were at half staff we were told that six flags flys the flags at half staff for 14 days when a Kentucky serviceman or women is killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. He said that since the park has been opened they have been at half staff everyday. _________________ "Be ashamed to die until you have achieved some victory for humanity."  Horace Mann Geauga Lake will always remain in our hearts and memories. On June 17th & 18 2008 dick drove the final 2 nails into the coffin of our beloved Geauga Lake
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Ray P Riptide Run User is Offline Joined: 12 Jul 2007 Posts: 337	Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 11:14 am    Post subject: · Quote Thanks for the great TR's.  HW really is worth a visit.  I don't think it's as perfect as some folks like to proclaim, but it's a beautifully maintained park with three of the best wooden coasters I have had the chance to ride.  Voyage truly is that good.  And that Plymouth Rock Cafe has received nothing but good reviews.  On my next trip I'll definitely have to try a meal there.   I haven't been to KK since 1992.  I'm sure a lot has changed since then!   Again, thanks for the TR's.  Looking forward to the rest! Ray P.
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Gunkey Monkey Site Admin User is Offline Joined: 01 Jul 2007 Posts: 861 Location: Cleveland, Ohio	Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2008 3:17 pm    Post subject: · Quote Thanks for the TR's. I agree that Raven is quite good but not as good as most will attest to. I also thought Legend was better. Voyage is truly amazing. I haven't been to KK since 1987 when Chang was new. Funny that Chang is actually a taller, mirrored version of Mantis but with some slight modifications like the extended ending and extra corkscrew. And I remember T2 being quite the headbanger (and it was my first ever ride on a Vekoma SLC). _________________ On September 21, 2007, a historic 119-year old amusement park had been secretly murdered. Never forget it.
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Catchthebrassring Double Loop User is Offline Joined: 07 Jan 2008 Posts: 242	Posted: Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:43 pm    Post subject: · Quote After leaving Kentucky Kingdom we drove to Lexington for the night, the next day we headed right for Pigeon Forge and Dollywood. Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg is a tourist destination in itself. You could spend a week there and not see everything; anyway we arrived in Pigeon Forge around 3:00pm and drove right to Dollywood. If you buy your ticket after 3:00 you get in the next day free. But don’t lose your ticket you use the same ticket for both days.       Our first ride was Blazin Fury it’s a unique roller coaster because its built inside a mountain, a real mountain not a manmade mountain like some theme parks have. Being inside a mountain makes it perfect on a hot day you have natural air conditioning. After driving in our van with no AC {it broke} the ride felt great. The rollercoaster travels thru a mining town with animatronics. There’s a building on fire, you pass a sign that warns bridge out a head. You slowly travel up and around a curve; suddenly you hear a loud cracking noise as you shoot down a hill into total darkness around a curve and splash thru some water. Very refreshing you get splashed just enough to cool you down but not soak you.  Next we went to Tennessee Tornado a 1999 custom built arrow looping coaster. The last arrow looper ever built according to my son. It has 3 inversions or as Dolly describes it “It’s built just like me two large loops and plenty of curves.” It was a nice ride I rode it a few times because my head did not get banged around like on most looping coaster.        After that we rode their two newest coasters Mystery Mine and Thunderhead, Mystery Mine is a very distinctive coaster as it’s the first Gerstlaur Eurofighter in North America. Each train has 2 rows of 4, the theme is your traveling thru a haunted mine shaft. After the train leaves the station you travel slowly down a hill and into some curves misleading you into believing it’s a boring calm coaster. Then you travel back to the first lift and go up at a 90 degrees and plummet down the other side at an equal angle into more turns and twists and once again your back in the “mine shaft” but the rides not over yet the trains turns a corner and once again climbs a 90 degree lift hill almost twice the size of the first one and in total darkness except for a movie showing straight above you. Once at the top the train pauses for a second, flames shoot out in front of you and you plunge down at 95 degrees into a heart line twist that spins you into a dive loop into the brake run and back to the station. Thunderhead is a nice wooden twister coaster with millennium flyer trains. The track goes thru the station above everyone’s head halfway thru the ride. It was a fun ride; I think it would have been better if we had ridden that before Mystery Mine.          We rode a couple of flats then finished the day on the train. The train travels 5 miles up into the Smokey Mountains. It’s takes 30 minutes round trip. One thing we found amusing unlike other train rides in other parks where they are yelling over the PA no eating or drinking while ride is in motion at Dollywood they actually sell food and drinks on the platform to enjoy while you travel around the mountain. The park closed at7:00 we bought some pastries at the bake shop to eat in our motel room. They were so large and soooooo goooood plus at a very reasonable price of $3.99.         The motel we stayed at was great the outdoor pool and whirlpool were open until midnight and the indoor pool and whirlpool were open 24 hours.          We got to the park at opening walked as fast as we could up the mountain to Mystery Mine & Thunderhead both weren’t open yet so we went back and rode Tennessee Tornado and Blazin Fury. By that time Mystery Mine and Thunderhead were open rode both 3 times. On Mystery Mine front seat is best for viewing the special effects, both seats give a good ride, back you’re more surprised because you can’t see the drops.       Went to lunch, most of the restaurants at Dollywood are all you can eat buffets for only 12.99. We ate at Aunt Lilly’s Barbeque which was not a buffet. My husband and I got the bar-b-que beef which came with baked beans and coleslaw, we also ordered a side of corn on the cob. My son only got the sandwich platter. When our order came up there were 3 ears of corn on the tray, I told them that we only paid for 2 the response was "We know, the one ear is kind of small so we gave you a second one." Wow I don’t know of any other park that would do that. The food was delicious best amusement park food I’ve ever had. Of course as my son pointed out it’s not amusement park food it's good old fashioned southern home cookin. We also had live entertainment in the sitting part of Aunt Lilly's.  If you love to eat Dollywood is the place to go.        After lunch the lines for the coasters were kind of long, 30 minutes for Blazin Fury and Mystery mine 45 minutes. Being warm we decided to go on some water rides. First was Mountain Sidewinder. This has got to be the best non coaster ride. You walk up the mountain on a nice shady path, when you get to the top they weight everyone in your party and combine parties until its around a certain weight. Than you get into tobaggon type sleds with sides and zip down the mountain. It has plenty of twists and turns, the sled reaches some good speeds and you do get wet. Two sides race each other. It was great, we only rode it once because climbing in and out of the sled was too hard on my son’s knee. Next we rode Dare Devil Falls, best way to describe it is it’s a cross between a log flume ride and snake river falls with themeing.         After getting pretty wet we went back to the car put dry socks and shoes on {I hate walking around with wet feet}. Went into Dolly’s museum and took a tour of her tour bus. That was the longest line we stood in all day was to see the tour bus 35 minutes, but it was worth it. Unfortunately I was so awed by the inside I forgot to take pictures.         We rode Thunder Road which is next to the museum, it’s a motion stimulator ride. My family all agreed it’s the best ride of that type. Next we went to the country fair section and rode some flats. By that time it was going on 6 so we went to ride the coasters again since the lines were down. My son and I rode Topple Tower next to Mystery Mine. You get strapped into maxair type seats, the ride spins as it goes up, once at the top instead of dropping you the ride continues to spin and the whole tower tips from side to side. There are mechanical beavers that laugh at you and water jets spray upwards, if you are on that side of the tower when it tips you get wet. We rode a few more flats than it was 7 pm. Went to the gift shops and left.        Dollywood is definitely a great family park it has something for everyone, They are extremely friendly and like Holiday world like to keep the lines moving, they take your stuff and put it in the bins so you don’t hold up the trains climbing through the cars walking to the bins and then back to your seat. We didn’t see any shows this time but I remember the last time we were there they encouraged you to take pictures during the show. Looking forward to going again in another year or two.       After we left Dollywood we drove thru the Smokey Mountains to get to North Carolina and Ghost Town in the Sky. Driving thru the Smokies at night is like being on an amusement ride, thrills and chills. Trip report on Ghost Town another day. _________________ "Be ashamed to die until you have achieved some victory for humanity."  Horace Mann Geauga Lake will always remain in our hearts and memories. On June 17th & 18 2008 dick drove the final 2 nails into the coffin of our beloved Geauga Lake
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