ytterbiumanalyst

Really, I just want them to keep retracking Timber Wolf. It's practically a new coaster already, and they've only retracked half of it.

West Coast Bash in a couple of weeks! Pacific Park, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott's Berry Farm, Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure, and Universal Studios Hollywood. Six parks in five days!

Arnolds Park On the way back, we decided to go through Omaha, and Arnolds Park wasn’t much of a detour from the fastest route. It was a delightful small park right on the lake, with plenty of classic rides. Most of the park is focused on small children, so if you’re not traveling with kids, there isn’t going to be much for you here. With kids, though, it was a blast. We stayed for about 4 hours and rode as much as we wanted. Food: If you’re going to get several drinks, the souvenir cup is the way to go. It sells for $6, with $1 refills. At $3 a pop, soda can rack up fast. We didn’t actually eat any food here, as it was all very expensive, so we opted to eat at the Godfather’s in town (not the one at the park) for much less. Service: Very good, especially the guy working Legend. Yes, no crew here; it’s operated by one person, and he was fantastic. Very friendly, helped everyone get excited for the ride. I must say, though, the bathrooms left a lot to be desired. There weren’t any locks on any of the stalls. Not sure if that’s intentional, but it was certainly not desireable. Water ride: Just the one log flume. Pretty standard as those go, so it was the second best ride in the park behind Legend. Walkthroughs: These need their own section. Tipsy House is built over the Legend, and you can see the coaster go through a hole in the floor. Not a 90-degree corner anywhere. The Mirror Maze is pretty straightforward; you’re not likely to get lost. My four-year-old loved it, though, and we went through it several times in a row, even well after she had memorized the correct path. Flat rides: Tons of classics: Rock-o-Plane, Roll-o-Plane, bumper cars, scrambler. And a special shout out to Bug House. If you go here, you need to visit the Bug House. It’s weird, it’s disorienting, it’s awesome. Coasters: Kiddie Coaster – The incredibly original name of Kiddie Coaster should tell you exactly who the intended audience is. This one’s for kids only, no adults allowed. My kids liked it. Legend – This is the very definition of a great children’s coaster. It’s not tall or fast, but it’s a tremendous amount of fun. The second drop has a bit of air (yes, the second drop is actually a bit more intense than the first, due to an unusual layout). If I have any complaint, it’s that it’s a bit short. But that problem can be corrected by riding it over and over again. And since lines are not a thing at this park, that’s what we did! This isn't part of Arnolds Park itself, but it's right across the street and it's pretty awesome. There are all these percussion instruments scattered around a small park. They're all of the xylophone, marimba, or drum families. It was fun! After banging around a bit, we headed to Arnolds Park proper. Two great attractions! Everyone enjoyed the dragons. They have a Ferris wheel! This is the kiddie coaster, called Kiddie Coaster. Mind=blown. The kids are being reckless here. The yo-yo was ridiculous. Sketchy looking ride, stupidly long ride cycle, tons of fun! The "midway." We can't explain it, and you wouldn't understand anyway. Every park needs a big ass flag. My youngest really liked the fish ride. She was practically their only customer all day. Those who like spinning rides enjoyed this scrambler. The park's log flume. There isn't a great area for spectators to take in the splash. This was as close as I could get. Octopus was the second Monster ride of the trip. The ubiquitous classic tilt-a-whirl. Bumper cars! Roll-o-plane. I don't do these, but my wife and my oldest daughter loved it. The go-kart track was obviously one of the main attractions of the park. It and the mini golf were not included on the wristband. Rock-o-plane--THROUGH THE TREES! I've actually not ever been on a rock-o-plane before this one. It was fun! They had a playground that I'm pretty sure used to be at a Burger King. And in case you're wondering, yes, there's a toy shop! Tipsy house. It was very fun! Hmm, maybe you want to model yourself after a slightly more successful park? At least on the Pirates ride, the pirates don't eat the tourists. Carousel THROUGH THE TREE! Legend was incredible. As were the many children's rides here. On the way out, we discovered a classic car show had descended upon the park! That's it for this report. See y'all at West Coast Bash!

We did not. It would have been about $75 for all of us, and I wasn't sure the kids would like it.

I don't think he's trolling, just pulling "clues" out of his butt and failing to read the rest of this thread, where this question was answered already. "Iron Horse" refers to the train, because "Iron Horse" is an old nickname for trains. That's all there is to it. EDIT: Thanks, GCI Wooden, for finding the post.

^ You should! The log flume is the best ride at MoA. Neither Nick Universe nor Vallyfair! were the best park I've ever been to, but both are a lot of fun. I'd actually give the edge to Nick Universe, mostly because since it's in a mall, there are actual restaurants and you can go do other things in the middle of the day. Also, sunscreen isn't required, it's not dependent on weather, and operations are better (it's a pay-per-ride model that sells all-day wristbands).

Valleyfair! Valleyfair! had a promotion giving a kids’ ticket plus a meal for $34, which is the same price as my Platinum Pass Bring-a-Friend is, so we picked Wednesday for our visit. At opening, we went to Route 76 and I rode Steel Venom (the only coaster of this entire trip that I couldn’t ride with my kids), while they rode the Tilt-a-Whirl and Northern Lights. Fantastic rides all! That out of the way, we headed to the waterpark for a couple of hours, then made our way from back to front. This seemed to be a good strategy, and we never had a very long wait for anything. Amazingly, some of the rides that we had heard were recently taken apart were back up again, including SuperCat and Wheel of Fortune. In all, it was a very good time, and we stayed from open to close, and really didn’t want to leave when the park was closing. They certainly have some areas that could use improvement, but overall, it’s a very fun place. Theming: They attempt a little in the old west section around Renegade, but no, there’s really nothing to speak of here. The park is beautiful, though, very well landscaped, and mostly done with paving stones rather than asphalt. You can tell they take pride in it and make it as nice as possible. Food: They’ve got all the basics covered, and I don’t have any complaints. Chickie’s and Pete’s is great as usual. Minnesota law is kind of weird about alcohol sales, though (and it must be a law and not just Valleyfair!, because it was the same in many different places we bought beer). They take your ID and then quiz you about your address, age, etc. In Missouri, they just check your photo to be sure it’s you, and your age to be sure you’re old enough. That was an odd experience, but hey, whatever keeps the kids from getting drunk on $9 beer. Service: Very good! I found all employees very helpful, food service, ride operators, shop staff, front gate staff. I was very pleased with everyone’s willingness to help in whatever way I needed. Waterpark: This is really the only complaint I have about the day. What was in the waterpark was very fun; the highlight was the Raging Rapids slide. That thing is ridiculous amounts of fun. I thought it odd to have a 56” height limit until I rode it. It’s intense, and completely unlike anything I’ve ever done. Don’t get rid of this; it’s amazing! Hurricane Falls was good, too; pretty standard family raft ride, but you can’t really go wrong with these. There’s only one Zoombabwe, so I can’t complain. Breakers Pipeline/Plunge was very fun; this is a much-needed addition. It’s a long, long walk up there, but it’s a breathtaking few seconds. I honestly like this one better than Mile High Falls at Kentucky Kingdom. It’s not quite as tall or as fast, and that is a benefit. Mile High Falls was a bit painful, and Breakers Plunge is not. Panic Falls was underwhelming, and I could see this leaving for a complex like Oceans of Fun’s Predator Plunge/ Sharks’ Revenge, but a bit different design since they already have the drop capsule slides. Mostly they need more tube slides here. Literally the only tube slide is Raging Rapids. Overall, I love waterparks, but I was done with this one in about 2 hours. They need more for kids, too. Barefoot Beach is a great start, but they need a big play area like Oceans of Fun’s Paradise Falls. That would complete the offerings for kids. Water rides: Thunder Canyon was a very solid rapids ride. They did a good job of making sure no one leaves dry in any way at all. The ending is especially brutal, with a waterfall over the lift. The Wave was a solid splash boat as well. I especially loved that it splashed toward the main midway. We had as much fun standing by the fence as we did actually on the ride. Flat rides: There are several notable ones here. I thought Power Tower was fun, very similar to Cedar Point’s version. Detonator still has the edge, though, with the airtime on the downstroke. Xtreme Swing is great, as Screamin’ Swings always are. Northern Lights, Flying Eagles, SuperCat, and Wheel of Fortune were also fun, and it was good to revisit Monster for the first time since it left Worlds of Fun. We didn’t ride Looping Starship—none of us are fans of that sort of ride—but it is special. Coasters: Corkscrew – This is the park’s only looping coaster, and it’s a good one. I experienced no headbanging at all, though my wife did on the second corkscrew. Cosmic Coaster – Different from its Worlds of Fun counterpart, this one is a powered coaster. The downward helix was fun, and the kids liked it. Not much else to say about that. Excalibur – If they’re going to take out one coaster, this should be the one. It was fun, but not nearly as exciting as the others. The airtime on the figure 8 was a nice surprise. High Roller – The classic woodie! If only more children’s areas had a coaster like this! Really puts Worlds of Fun’s Wacky Worm to shame. Mad Mouse – This is the best mouse coaster! It felt really solid, didn’t have any odd bumps or jolts, and had plenty of lateral goodness. If only they didn’t stack all the cars every lap…. Wow, why bother having more than 3 cars if you’re going to run it that badly? Renegade – Best coaster of the entire trip. It’s relentless, powerful, fast, and it does not want you in your seat ever. I think I still give the edge to Prowler, but just barely. Wow. Steel Venom – I love these, and this one was especially cool with the holding brake. Really unnerving in the front seat looking straight down. Wild Thing – So much fun. The “tunnel” was a little weird, what with its not going underground. I come from the hills, and that ain’t no tunnel. The figure 8 at the end, while not nearly as forceful as Mamba’s helix, was fun nonetheless. Overall, with the amount of negativity directed toward Valleyfair! on this forum, most of it is completely undeserved. Yes, it would be nice to have a modern looping coaster, but it needs a better waterpark first. That’s the glaring need, and the main thing that keeps this from being a two-day park. First coaster of the day! But if the venom's made of steel, will I need a tetanus shot? Ooh, that thing looks really wild.... Valleyfair! The exclamation mark is part of the name, so you have to shout it. It has some great views. Very nice entrance plaza. This is the first one I've been on that had the holding brake. Really unnerving in the front row. I love these things. The launch is something else. This ride features both tilts and whirls. Wheeee! This is the single sh*t parks give about anniversaries. This right here. Robot zombie dinosaurs lurk behind this gate. Hmm, we shouldn't have run onto that boat, I think.... Yeah, that didn't help. Oh no! One got out! Run for your liiiiiiiives! With such bad luck, what else would we do? Ferris wheel! The craziest thing about this mouse is the ridiculous stacking. We finally escaped the robot zombie dinosaur, but we ran straight into a monster. We have the worst luck. Something is screwy in the planet of Snoopy. Follow the ... what colour is this brick road? Tan? I don't know. Traffic jam. Rides for young and old. It's a bright day in the city that always soaks. Food truck! Well, I found the obligatory Coasters. Only this one has a friend. I can say with all accuracy that this is the best day I've ever had at Valleyfair! Oh hell no. The cars...they go bump in the night.... It's a bird! It's a mouse toy! It's SuperCat! They see me rollin', they hatin'. This coaster don't follow no rules. The ride sign for the new hotness. The new hotness.

Prowler last night. No deer this time.

We'll trade it for your bumper cars.

Prowler, with deer in its infield near the first drop. Two fawns and a doe!

My thoughts exactly.

Glad you're coming to America! If you only see one city, Washington is the one. Baltimore BWI is a great airport to fly into, and it can be cheaper than Reagan or Dulles, the two Washington airports. Of course, depends on your exact itinerary. As for immigration and customs, you will only do this once, when you first land in the US. After that, any domestic flights you take, even ones from one state to another, will not require immigration. Do allow more time for immigration in the US, as it does take longer in my experience than for any other country I've been to, and that includes 4 countries in Europe. Of course, my only experience with US immigration has been as an American returning to my country, so take that for what it's worth. As for transportation, cabs are very expensive. The best and cheapest option is to take the MARC commuter train. The airport train platform is disability friendly. It will end at Washington Union Station, which is a huge train station with multiple train, subway, and bus connections, and there is a disability friendly elevator to the subway platform. In general traveling around the US with a disability is relatively easy. The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) requires wheelchair accessible entrances in nearly all buildings, sidewalks, etc., as well as requiring most businesses to accommodate other types of disabilities. In general, all you have to do is ask, and they'll do all they can to help. Sometimes you may need to call in advance, depending on the nature of the disability, so I would advise doing so. Have a great time!

Yes, we spent an entire day there, open to close. More on that later, but first... Mall of America Wow, how this place has changed. The last time we were here was in 2007, the year before it became Nickelodeon Universe. Orange Streak and the log flume are still here, but wow has everything else changed! They’ve stuffed rides in every conceivable corner, and created a much improved experience. One of the best parts about Nickelodeon Universe is that since it’s in a mall, you’re not stuck paying $15 for a crappy cheeseburger. Instead, you can pay $15 for a good cheeseburger (hey, those places have to pay the rent, which isn’t cheap at MoA!). We bought the combo tickets online with the SeaLife Aquarium run by Merlin. You absolutely need to buy your tickets online; it’s a crazy big discount. Armed with our printout of the confirmation page, we headed to one of the automated kiosks to obtain our tickets. These aren’t normal wristbands that have that sticky-back stuff. These require a sticker, which is provided by the ride op at the first ride you go on. There were some school groups there on that day, but other than them, the park was fairly empty all day. We made a full round, going on everything we wanted to once, then headed to the aquarium for a break. It was bigger than the SeaLife at the Crown Center in Kansas City; the tunnel was amazingly long, and the sharks and rays are beautiful. We were not able to pet the rays because some of them are pregnant, but on the other hand, I learned that rays can be pregnant. I figured they laid eggs, since they were fish. It’s been an educational experience! After the aquarium, we moved back to Nick Universe for some re-rides. SpongeBob, TMNT, Shredder, and Jimmy Neutron were the favourites, and my youngest marathoned the carousel. We ended the day with a trip to the LEGO store and a couple of toy stores on the third floor. I didn’t expect that we would be there open to close, but that’s how it happened! This place really does have something for everyone, and it’s such a different kind of place that even those who aren’t into theme parks can have a good time. Theming: Great theming throughout, especially considering the limited area they had to work with. If you are a kid or have been a kid, you’ll know most of these characters. Food: Incredible! There’s your standard mall food court, of course, but beyond that the entire 3rd floor south is full of sit-down restaurants, and there are a few others scattered throughout the mall. The question here is what you’d like to eat. If it’s a chain, it’s here. Service: Above average. Staff were friendly and efficient, and I loved that the ride ops didn’t do any showy “Take 5” or “Scanning” like the ride ops in certain chains. Instead, they just observed the ride areas. We never encountered any guest services or food service people (much, much better food is to be had in the mall). Water rides: Just the one, but it’s incredible! Probably the best log flume I’ve ever been on. There are several immersive scenes, and the splashes (yes, two of them) lightly drizzle without soaking, which is very important for an indoor ride. Add to it a highly themed queue, and this ride is just incredible. Flat rides: They have some very good flat rides here. TMNT, Shredder, and Jimmy Neutron’s Atomic Collider were especially fun. If you like flipping, I’m sure Brain Surge is good. I saw many excited people in line for it. I just don’t do flipping like that. Coasters: Avatar Airbender – This was much anticipated, as I’ve never been on one of these. It felt like a severely whacked-out Disko, and it was very enjoyable. I only rode it once, as it bordered on too much spinning for me, but luckily it stopped just shy of crossing that line. Back to the Barnyard Hayride – This is a small powered coaster with no drops. My four-year-old loved it, and she normally will not ride any coasters. Winner! Fairly Odd Coaster – This is identical to Spinning Dragons, but it fits in much better here. It looks like it was actually designed for this park, with the way it spirals around the pillars and other rides. Orange Streak – The classic coaster that opened with the mall. It’s not tall or fast, and relies mostly on big sweeping curves. My oldest daughter loved it, since she tends to stick with milder coasters. SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge – This was my first Eurofighter, and since the only point of reference I have is Monster, it’s maybe a bit unfair. Monster is just head and shoulders above SpongeBob, and that’s saying something. SpongeBob was my favourite coaster in this park by far, and third favourite of the entire trip, behind Monster and Renegade. So, for anyone who is maybe a bit underwhelmed by Eurofighters, go ride Monster. It’s not the same thing at all. I don't do flipping rides normally, but I liked Air Race, so I wanted to try this one. Never got it to flip, but it was a lot of fun. ... Where spinning rotating blades threaten our lives! We start off by visiting this secret location... Ooooowahahahahahahahahaaaa! Here's a map of Nickelodeon Universe. It's flat, because cartoons live in a 2D world! Orange Streaking near the American Girl store. And around the corner to get our atoms collided! I would love to meet the demented person who created this monstrosity from the depths of their depraved mind, so that I can shake their hand and buy them a beer. This thing is seriously a stupid amount of fun. Diego now drives the camp bus. The carousel is still here. Sky Circle. I love the name of this ride; it's such a throwback to the old school Nickelodeon. Now they just need someone to double dare me to eat a whole Good Burger with Good Fries and a Good Shake, and nine-year-old me will be happy. Good old-fashioned barnyard fun! Oh hell no. Hell yes! This is the best themed frog hopper ever. The Sally dark ride was fun. We didn't do the upcharge ropes course. We did, however, ride this. A couple of times. Okay, way too much. No, who am I kidding? You can't ride this too much. Of course, we didn't forget this park's roots. So twisty! And this park hasn't forgotten its roots, either. Lots of rides here for smaller kids too. Good thing I brought my handy dandy notebook!

Nah. The entire town of Branson shuts down in January and February. It used to shut down around Labor Day back in the day Which just further proves my point lol! Branson pretty much follows SDC's schedule. The town is built around SDC (and originally Shepherd of the Hills too, though the latter is less important now). When SDC put in World-Fest and the Christmas festival in the early 90s, many of the businesses found it profitable to extend their seasons as well. People who came to see Christmas lights would also see Andy Williams sing carols and buy Christmas presents at the outlet malls. Recently as SDC has been extending their season further by opening for spring break in early March, you see a lot of those seasonal businesses also opening at those times. So this isn't to say SDC would go year-round, as I really don't think we would have sufficient people travelling to Branson in Jan and Feb. Clearly SDC doesn't think so either, or they'd be open. The point is that Branson shutting down in the winter is a function of SDC shutting down in the winter. They don't look to other Branson businesses to take the lead.

Como Town Now in the Twin Cities, our first destination was the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, a free public zoo that also contains a very large number of amusement rides and one roller coaster! On the way over there, we stopped by the new home of the Twin Cities Model Railroad Museum, just down the street from the former Amtrak Midway Station. There were several displays under construction, but as a bonus, it was steeply discounted, as they’re in a “preview” stage at the moment. There were several Lionel and Thomas sets that the kids could control, as well as some more elaborate layouts. It was a small museum, though I understand it’s bigger than the previous location, so we were there for about an hour before moving on to the zoo. The zoo itself is very small; the polar bear exhibit was impressive, but other than that, there’s not a lot to stand out here. They do have the basics, though, including giraffes and gorillas, so there was enough to keep the kids entertained. Once we had seen all the animals, we made our way over to Como Town. This is the sort of place that young children can go nuts for, and ours (8, 6, & 4) had a great time. There are a couple of unique flats, including this bizarre firefighting water gun thing. Just see the photo below; it’s hard to explain. The Tiger Trax coaster is a standard Galaxi model, but they have a good and long miniature train ride and a driving school! The kids had a great time driving around, and the park gives out “driver’s licences” when they get off the ride. It was a great time! Theming: No attempt is made at theming, though the landscaping is nice. Food: Very good. We didn’t buy any in Como Town itself, but on the zoo side they had a wonderful variety, including some Asian noodle dishes. Way above the average zoo fare. Service: Above average. Employees never went out of their way to be helpful, but if approached, they provided whatever help/information they could. Met my expectiations. Waterpark: They had a splash area for the kids. We didn’t realize they would have this, so we didn’t bring swimsuits this day, and thus didn’t go to the splash area. It looked like it would be fun, though. Flat rides: This is pretty much the majority of the park. The driving school is the standout, but they had a lot of the standards: tilt-a-whirl, bumper cars, frog hopper, etc. The firefighting ride is a highlight; just so bizarre, and very fun. Coaster: Just the one, Tiger Trax, a standard Galaxi. The height limit doesn’t really make sense to me; they required 51” with a parent, meaning my son could ride Wild Thing and SpongeBob, but not this little thing. I don’t understand. I rode it with my oldest daughter, though, and she had a good time. Miniature worlds abound. There's some great detail in a lot of these. The highlight of the displays was this amusement park. Part of the recreation of the Empire Builder (Chicago-Seattle). For the control panel enthusiasts. St. Paul Union Station (new home of Amtrak) We are on a lift hill.... The Ferris wheel was not the tallest I've ever seen, but it looked fun. Loopty loop! The Cha-cha was this park's inferior Scrambler. The circus show was fun, though. Wonder what's going to replace Dinos Alive when the contract runs out? This park has a classic carousel. The chairswings was pretty low capacity, though. This Scrambler was much better than Cha-cha. Seriously, who builds a mini-golf course with only 3 holes? The other of the park's two carousels. Nice midway, complete with shooting gallery. This was part of an FAO Schwartz display. On to the zoo. The kids loved exploring the conservatory. Several of Como Town's flat rides. The train ride. This bizarre firefighting ride. Bumper cars Spinny car ride. All the kids liked this. Tiger Trax, the only coaster here. Driving school! Cafesjian's Carousel Ready to ride the last ride of the day!

The point of that was that they always have something new, it's just not always something big, and it's not always a ride. They do a very good job of getting people back year after year, especially since this area isn't very densely populated and they have to pull people from farther away than most parks. Yeah, I mean we're not even talking necessarily ride operators, either. One person who told me this was a waitress. I know I very rarely am told at work about things happening in other departments, so I wouldn't assume at all that this is accurate information. At the same time I'm not ruling out that the ride could happen next year. But if we wait until 2018, it won't kill me. I'll just enjoy it then.

Something new, yes, but not necessarily something big. They've been alternating for a while now. 2007 - Giant Barn Swing (big) 2008 - Grand Expo (big) 2009 - shows and stuff (small) 2010 - Tom and Huck's River Blast (big) 2011 - Half Dollar Holler (small) 2012 - shows and stuff (small) 2013 - Outlaw Run (big) 2014 - shows and stuff (small) 2015 - Fireman's Landing (big) 2016 - shows and stuff (small)

Take it for what it is, but I have been told by multiple park employees that the coaster is for next year, and without even asking. Usually they just see I have a T-shirt from a coaster event and assume I'll want to know that information. So, that doesn't mean any of them truly know for sure it's for next year, but I'm not ruling it out either. There's also a huge area cleared already, and several retaining walls built. With that much work done already, they very well could have it ready by March.

Well it does go 120 mph up the tower, and then 120 mph back down it.... Common core math... Well, I graduated even before No Child Left Behind was a thing, so I grew up on dinosaur math, complete with trains leaving Boston westbound at 35 mph. But I really wish someone had taught me mathematical theory. All while I was in school, I learned the processes without actually understanding what I was doing. It wasn't until I got into college and learned about 4-dimensional math that everything finally clicked for me. Finally someone bothered to talk about the theory, the reasons behind the processes. I can see his face, but I can't actually remember his name, but he was one of the best professors I had, for that very reason.

Duluth and Spirit Mountain With the name of this thread referencing Minnesota’s lakes, I feel obligated to show you some. The second day of our trip was mostly a driving day, as we went from Des Moines to Duluth. We stopped for lunch at Clear Lake, which is a lovely little town. We enjoyed the break from driving, spending all of our time at the town’s central park and on the lakefront. After returning to the car, we resumed our northward journey all the way to a much, much bigger lake: Lake Superior, or as Minnesotans apparently call it, “the lake.” Duluth was a lovely town, and this was our first time back since 2007. This was a real vacation, not just a coaster tour, so Duluth was to be the “down time” of the vacation—just a nice, relaxing location, perfect for hanging out and talking and in general not being in a hurry to go anywhere. We ate dinner at the Canal Park Brewing Company, and it’s highly recommended! There was a bit of a wait to get in, but that was easily passed outside at the lake shore. The restaurant is right on the lake, and they have al fresco seating too. They brew all their beers in-house (about a dozen varieties in all!), and if you’re like me and want to sample EVERYTHING, they have flights! The Lakewalk is a civic park right along the lakefront with a boardwalk and all kinds of nautical things to see. It’s a really relaxing environment, and a fantastic city park. We enjoyed watching the bridge rise for the boats, as well as the many Pokémon Go stops! The next day we did some sightseeing of the town itself. The library was a fantastic piece of architecture and really a centerpiece for the town. Across the street is Union Station, home of Duluth’s North Shore Scenic Railway, featuring a museum and excursion trains. In the afternoon, we headed up to Spirit Mountain Adventure Park. It’s a little pricey for what’s there, which is a 9-hole mini golf course, a jumping pillow, and an alpine coaster. The girls played mini golf while my son and I rode our very first alpine coaster! It was a great ride, and very different from any other coaster experience. They do allow you to run at full speed the whole way, and near the end some of the curves have some pretty extreme laterals because of it. It’s a great ride, but we only rode it once ($15 a pop isn’t very re-ridable…). That done, it was time to head to the Twin Cities, where we would spend most of our time. Clear Lake, Iowa They had a wonderful little city park that served as a great spot for a picnic lunch. This is the one Minnesotans call "the lake"--Superior! It's a working lake, and we saw plenty of boats. National Registry of Historic Places credit! It's not a sandy beach, but it's the only beach we're going to this year. Here's the family in front of a tugboat memorial or something. Here they are goofing off in front of a lighthouse. Duluth from the lighthouse is beautiful at sunset. Goodnight, bridge. The next day we did some sightseeing. This is their library. Incredible architecture, right up there with Columbia, Missouri's library. Seriously that's a cool building. And we climb a mountain to reach Minnesota's most northerly coaster. Mini-golf for those who aren't coaster fans. And an alpine coaster for us! A jumping pillow for the little ones.

Works for me on my Galaxy.

This is a great trip report! Glad you had fun, and thanks for sharing!

Well it does go 120 mph up the tower, and then 120 mph back down it....

Nice report! Brings me back to my visit a couple of years ago. You didn't miss much with Buccaneer Battle. That sort of ride is most fun with people interacting with the ride, and no one seems to want to stop and shoot water guns at us. It was pretty disappointing. Glad you liked Whizzer. It seems like it's overlooked since it's not big or fast, but it's truly one of the best there. And I'm totally with you on Raging Bull. It was good, but it could have been great, and just really left me disappointed.