beatle11

Very shameful. 15/30. I will be praying to Anton for forgiveness.

Millennium Force was the first to pop into my mind.

Too bad, but it's not really surprising. Most of the rides were inoperable, and it would almost be like starting a new park from scratch which evidently is not something the Koch's were willing to make an attempt at. At this point, I think it's highly unlikely we see this park ever reopening.

Great stuff Laura!

Looks like they did a really good job with Cars Land. Not surprised at all with the 6 1/2 hour wait.

Ha! My persuasiveness knows no bounds! I guess all those garbage cans make Cedar Fair parks look to dirty.

This thing is starting to look incredible. Can't wait for the announcement!

^What about now, do you still respect him?

You really don't want to miss Knoebels if your in the area. Everything there is awesome. Like Larry mentioned, if you want to fit Dorney in, you can if you are there right at open and just rush your credit run before heading to Knoebels. You'll probably want to hit the Wild Mouse first, then do Stinger and Possessed. The rest of the credits are much higher capacity rides. Have fun!

The Matterhorn trains look great!

If they can fix it, then I would definitely agree with you. Hopefully they can get it running without so many technical problems.

I'm thinking....North In that case, I will say you are off to Six Flags Great America.

^Quite literally in fact.

^And look how wrong they were about that. Leviathan and Behemoth are completely different.

Wouldn't be surprised at all if that were the case. S&S Swing would be a nice replacement.

So Far: Canada's Wonderland Waldameer Conneaut Lake

Mono.....DOH! Looking forward to more of this report.

^I didn't think Blue Streak felt unsafe by any means, but it was definitely very rough, as expected. I took two rides, knowing full well that there is a good chance I'll never get to ride it again. I noticed a section with new wood, and the new mini putt looked very nice, so it seems they are really trying, but when you have maybe 30 guests in the park at 1 in the afternoon on a Saturday, it's hard to imagine it will be around for much longer. Kinda sad since the park has so much history.

Great TR Laura. Looks like you enjoyed yourself. The coasters are pretty generic, but they are credits all the same.

Hmm, are you going north or south next?

Nice pics Erik!

^ Maybe I just got it on a bad day. Glad it's been running well for you.

Thanks everyone for your comments. Waldameer is about a 1 hour drive north of Conneaut Lake in Erie, PA. I arrived at about 2 in the afternoon, and the park definitely looked busy. Lot's of people in the water park though. We have arrived at Waldameer! Here is the park map. It actually makes the park look more open than it really is. Waldameer really takes advantage of the available space when the expand. First stop, Potato Patch!! They don't do the bacon and cheese fries like at Kennywood. They basically give you a choice of either cheddar or gravy on the side in a dipping container with the fries. Nonetheless, they are still amazing! Comet was located next to the Potato Patch, so that was my first stop. I sat in the back of the first car, and the ride definitely was running well. Even a couple little pops of air time. Only 1 train was operating, and the ops were slow as molasses. This would become the theme for the day. Going up. It's a great family coaster. Okay, no more delays. The reason we are here today. Again, 1 train operation, and slow as hell ops. Lift hill into airtime insanity! I can definitely agree that this coaster has the airtime and the insane laterals that would make it a top 10 woodie. That being said, OMFG does it beat the hell out of you! Part of it is just the insane laterals, but as it seems to be a pretty consistent theme with the PTC trains, they tear the hell out of the track. Two rides was definitely enough with the beating and the slow ops. The last credit of the day was a Maurer spinning coaster. I believe this is the same model that Seabreeze has. I started going backwards and pretty much ended up that way for most of the ride. It really didn't spin much. There were 3 cars running today, and I counted 5 more on the transfer track. Less than half were running! Grrr! Once again the ops were very slow. Next up, was the dark ride/Jeff Johnson credit. I had heard good things about this one. See, Jeff Johnson credit. In terms of ops, this is an older, low capacity ride, but the operator did his best to keep the line moving. As the name suggests, the ride is very whacky! I took a ride on the Skyride next. It definitely gives you a nice view of the park. Next, I took a ride on the L. Ruth Express. Control panel porn! Waldameer only has 1 of these Chance trains in operation, which can lead to some long wait times. However the queue is lined with benches so you can sit and wait rather than stand there for a long period of time. Take the tunnel!! Now for some photo's of the rest of the park. Here's the kiddie credit I didn't whore myself out on today. Very happy riders! New hotness for this year. They definitely crammed this ride in next to the kiddie coaster. I believe this is a walk through/fun house type attraction. Second carousel of the day. Beautiful horses. Ferris Wheel. The park had a nice looking log flume as well. Oh crap! Definitely, not an acceptable amount of wetness, when you have to drive home for three hours afterwards. As you can imagine, people were dripping wet coming off this thing. Drop ride. A couple shots of the water park on the way out. And that was Waldameer. They definitely have a nice collection of rides, but the ops definitely left something to be desired. Thanks for reading, and please leave your comments.

^I'm sure it would help, if they could afford it. That being said, Kennywood is a major obstacle to them.

Yesterday, I crossed the border at Fort Erie and made the trek across the I-90 and the I-79 to Conneaut Lake Park, and then back up the I-79 to Waldameer. Contrary to my visit to Seabreeze and Martin's Fantasy Island last year (Photo TR Here) where I waited an hour at the Queenston/Lewiston bridge, there was virtually no wait at the Peace Bridge. The guy at the border patrol was quite clearly very suspicious of a guy driving by himself to amusement parks. I explained to him that I was a roller coaster enthusiast, and it was pretty clear that he had no clue what that even meant. So after he quickly looked in my trunk, I was on my way. This TR, along with the one linked to above, should serve as a nice preview for the Leviathon participants. Once you get through Buffalo, the drive is very easy. Very little traffic, and the weather was pretty much perfect. My first stop was Conneaut Lake Park, which is a bit over 2 hours from Buffalo. I see Blue Streak, this must mean.... ...we have arrived at Conneaut Lake Park! The parking field is located across the street. Check out the beautiful vintage 1892 sign! Check out the beautiful entrance plaza! Doesn't that just make you want to take a dip in the pool on such a beautiful day! Here's the park map. The rides were a bit late up a running today, so I went to snap photo's first. SBNO Toboggan Credit! The chain is still in place! Perhaps it's time for a bribe. The park maintenance people definitely deserve a raise! Hotel Conneaut. I've heard stories this place is haunted. Beach Club Restaurant. This area actually looked pretty decent. By this point, there were maybe 30 people in the rides area of the park. People however were enjoying the lake. Perhaps the ghost of the roundup is now living in the Hotel Conneaut. Doesn't the midway look amazing! Yeah....maybe not so much. The gift shop looked a bit better I suppose. Kiddieland would not be complete without clowns! Kiddie Carousel. Some kiddie caterpillar ride. Pony rides. And of course, kiddie credit! I chose not to whore myself out today. Now time for the full size carousel. Definitely nice to see early 1900's carousel's still in operation. They simply do not make them like this anymore. Here is some history. The park's Turtle/Tumble Bug was down for maintenance today. One of only 2 left in the US if I'm correct. The other being a couple hours to the south at Kennywood. Paratrooper... ...and the Flyers. The park had a couple op's rotating between the half dozen or so flats and a couple more in Kiddieland. Conneaut Lake has water slides! The new mini golf course actually looked really good. Okay, so by this point the rides were open. You could buy a individual ride tickets or a wristband. First stop was this cheesy looking dark ride. Usually, I don't really like these haunted style dark rides, but I really didn't want to miss the infamous gum wall! It was pretty cheesy, but not as much as the Coney Island Spook-A-Rama. This is also a Jeff Johnson credit. Now, the reason we are here today. ACE plaque. I took two rides, once in the center of the second car and once in the front car. As expected, this classic coaster is very rough. I noticed there was new wood, I believe after the third drop before the hill into the turnaround, and it definitely made a difference. And with that, we are ready to depart. Parting shot of Blue Streak from the parking field. As many of us know, Conneaut Lake definitely needs alot of work, and is in serious financial trouble. Some of what I saw definitely makes it look like the park is trying, and the staff was quite friendly, but obviously this park's days could very well be numbered. Waldameer pics to come later. Please leave your comments.