ilrider

Lol thanks. $5 x 5 of us was $25.

^Last Thursday. It was probably the light rain all day that kept it closed. We got on it the time before though. Glad it is running better this year. Very unique ride!

^If you get on Lost Coaster, consider yourself lucky. It was only open one of the three times we’ve been there. The lift system (or rain) causes problems. Tig’rr we were told cannot run in the rain due to the braking system. Whizzer at SFGAm is also a Schwarzkopf and cannot run in the rain. Beyond its history and an intense first drop, Tig’rr gets pretty rough and is not the greatest coaster around. I don’t know if the new owner will succeed or not either. Having to reopen during the pandemic is obviously very hard on business, and recent owners have struggled. I am glad he was able to save the park, and we’ll have to give him time to make some upgrades. But IB has always been essentially a glorified carnival, with some decent coasters and a few other unique attractions that take it above that level. The boardwalk atmosphere on the beautiful lake with rides on the water just make it a fun and unique park. It is in the middle of nowhere rural Indiana, so an affluent clientele is not the target market for this park. Better off people from the Chicago suburbs like us or Indianapolis head there because it’s a fun day trip, so it’s not in the worst location, but this is not Disney World. I honestly thought the $40 initial price was too high for the park this summer, and we did not go until they started the mid-week $34.95 price. The waterpark is not very good, and we only did it the first time there many years ago but now skip it. They used to offer a combo pass or just a rides pass, so I miss the rides only price, which was closer to $30. I hope IB can succeed under the new ownership, once we get past this stupid virus. I consider it a hidden gem of a park.

Good idea. I felt bad saying no. They were sitting behind us on SH, not next to us, and my son and I had masks on, so I figured the risk was pretty minimal.

Just to bring this back to the park, I took the family to the park today to get our coaster fix since our governor (IL) will not let SFGAm open (except for the water park). Light crowds due to a light rain most of the day, but most of the rides were open, with only Tiger’rr and Lost Coaster closed, Tiger’rr due to rain and Lost Coaster either rain or because it is almost never open anyway. Got on that one years ago thankfully. It felt so good to get on rides again! We were some of the very few weirdos wearing masks most of the day and on the rides. Even though Indiana issued a mask mandate in public Monday, very few had any on. Oh well. IL and IN are two very different worlds I guess. I just wanted to keep us as safe as possible. We were able to social distance most of the day with the light crowds, so that is probably why many did not wear them. The IN mandate is for when social distancing is not possible or indoors. Not trying to continue the political debate. Just found it interesting. The only time I got annoyed was with an unmasked teenage couple who did not observe social distancing in line on Steel Hawg behind us, asked to ride with us, which I reluctantly allowed, but then the girl started hacking up a lung right in front of us on the exit ramp, not wearing a mask of course. So if I get covid she’s at fault! lol

After reading several news stories on it with the same eyewitness cited, she was ejected over the safety bar, possibly on a turn. Her husband tried to grab her by the foot. Apparently someone else was ejected from this ride and also died in 2009 but the park was not cited then because the rider was behaving inappropriately.

But the new owner of IB is from Chicago, which is in a state that has one of the strictest and slowest reopenings in the entire nation. I am surprised they are not taking more precautions at IB, though Indiana does not have nearly the problem with case numbers as your home state right now, since you insist on politicizing the issue.

Wow. Shocking news. I knew it was not in as good a shape as it used to be, but I am surprised they could not find a buyer. Maybe someone will still come in to save it. We enjoyed our two visits there. Cornball Express has great airtime, Steel Hawg was fun and unique, and we were lucky enough to get a ride on Lost Coaster the second visit.

I have been taking Dramamine an hour and a half before I get to the park for several years and can ride everything as long as I do not go on too many spinning rides in one day. My motion sickness started when I hit adulthood.

The Mindbender accident was due to lack of proper maintenance on the axles. That has been well documented. I read something years ago about the manuals being in German, so the Canadian staff could not translate them properly and did not do proper maintenance. Not sure about this tragedy. It is interesting it happened on a similar ride though.

I don’t know if you had a target weekend or not, but opening weekend (this weekend) is usually not that bad, but October in particular is pretty busy, and warm days get very busy in October. Cooler days are good days to go, but it is generally busy overall due to the waterpark being closed. Arriving at park open will give you a couple good hours to get on rides quickly. The last weekend will probably be busy too. Up to you if you want the ERT.

Regarding Maxx Force, yes, I would go right to it upon entry. I would get to the park earlier than 30 minutes though. Forty-five minutes to an hour would be better, as the lines outside will be long. We usually arrive 45 minutes early. Security lines usually open 30 minutes early, and the park either opens 15 minutes early to queue up at rides before they open at 10:30, or they let you in right at 10:30. It varies for some reason.

Being there at park open and going straight to the ride is the best way to get on any ride, ever. We almost always go at park open at any park to get on rides before it gets busy.

^If it is in the U.S., you are going to be much safer on a pendulum ride. Watch a video of the Giant Discovery rides at the SF parks and you can see how much thicker the pole the seats are attached to is. These accidents are happening on cheap knockoffs overseas that are clearly poorly designed and constructed.

^90 is the shorter route, and there are times the GPS will try to take you that way, but that will depend on time of day and current traffic conditions. The Skyway Toll is $5 on 90, which is a big reason we avoid that route. If you want a nice up close view of Chicago, you can take it, but we just prefer going around on 294. Just try both routes as you near Chicago in your GPS and if it much faster to go 90, then that’s fine. Construction on some parts of 294 does slow it down at times. Southbound on 90 back into the city almost always results in heavy traffic beginning several miles before downtown, so only take 90 northbound to the park if you do take it.

Take 294. I have lived here my whole life, and I only take 90 when I am going to the city. 90 costs more in tolls, and you can hit some heavy traffic near the city. Cannot guarantee you will not hit some traffic on 294 too with construction season afoot, but it is just easier.

I have not yet ridden an air-launched coaster, but undoubtedly the force based on the speed to second ratio means the launch is just as, if not more aggressive than the hydraulic launches. I could understand the parks having that warning just to save their butts if a dislocated shoulder from a rider were to happen. I'm a pretty tough guy but as I'm getting older injuries suck. I imagine they have that policy just to cover their butts if someone does hurt themselves while riding. I keep my hands down on most launches these days, and honestly it does not affect the ride experience at all. I still have not seen a response to the question about that little bump after the launch, does it give a pop of air at all? Deleted due to duplicate post.

I have not yet ridden an air-launched coaster, but undoubtedly the force based on the speed to second ratio means the launch is just as, if not more aggressive than the hydraulic launches. I could understand the parks having that warning just to save their butts if a dislocated shoulder from a rider were to happen. I'm a pretty tough guy but as I'm getting older injuries suck. I imagine they have that policy just to cover their butts if someone does hurt themselves while riding. I keep my hands down on most launches these days, and honestly it does not affect the ride experience at all. I still have not seen a response to the question about that little bump after the launch, does it give a pop of air at all? No, there really is no air on the bump after the launch that I noticed. It is just there for the track to pass under after coming back down from the double inversion. It does create a head chopper effect coming back down.

Worst I heard it got from a manager was 2 hours yesterday for the preview. We waited an hour 15 minutes this morning, but that was because we got in line when the Coke ERT started, well before the ride opened, to be near the front. It was 75 minutes when we left at 1:30 today. Not too bad at all. They are dispatching pretty quickly, and I honestly think this ride is scaring some people away. There were not a lot of young kids in line. My son is 10, but he has been riding everything for years and has no fear.

There was not, but they were calling out for single riders near the station, so some riders got to jump ahead. Great ride! My son and I got on this morning. That launch is nuts! A guy put his hands up during the launch and was fine. I would not recommend it though. It is very forceful! Operations were good, and the ride has not gone down yet, so looks like we have a pretty reliable new ride.

That was the rate we just paid for an RV site there this week. Nice to be only a mile from the park, and it’s a really nice campground.

Maxx was topped off today!

We drove by just before 7 tonight, and they were placing the second to last piece of track on the finale! Track is almost complete!

Drove by today and two more sets of supports are up.

^The ride will open in late May. They have no reason for it to be done yet. SF parks build their stuff later than some parks. They just started going vertical in January, and there were days crews could not work because wind chills were 50 below zero a couple weeks ago. They are not trying to race to beat other parks.