ytterbiumanalyst

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

This is a solid plan. Shivering Timbers alone is worth the price of admission. Especially if you have a Platinum Pass and admission is free.

Yes, that was the main reason for this trip, and we spent a whole day there. Keep watching this thread!

After braving the heat of Arkansas and Oklahoma last year, we decided this year we’d go someplace not as hot. Someplace really far north. And so we went to Minnesota. My wife and I went here on our honeymoon, and we had a great time, but we haven’t been back since then. This was our chance to repeat some good memories now that we have kids, as well as to do some new things. One thing about traveling with kids is that road trips suck. You absolutely do not want to spend too much time in a vehicle with your kids. It doesn’t matter if they’re the greatest kids in the world, brought 2 DSes each, a stack of DVDs 16 feet high, and a bookshelf that would have been the envy of Thomas Jefferson. These kids may have all possible entertainments available to them, but that does not cancel out the fact that they are stuck in a van for hours. So when planning this trip, we decided it would not be advisable to try the whole 11-hour trip in one go (and before you start to say, “It doesn’t take that long to go from the Ozarks to the Twin Cities,” let me remind you—we are travelling with children), and looked for ways to break it up. We decided on Adventureland in Des Moines on the way up and Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha on the way back. Imagine my excitement when Adventureland, which we were already planning to visit, announced a new coaster! And a first of its kind in the US! And so we trekked up the lonely I-35 through corn fields, and soybean fields, and corn fields, and more corn fields, and soybean fields…. Screw it, let’s get to the good part. Having spent the night in Des Moines, we got up early to get to Adventureland by opening. Des Moines is not a big city, and even though our hotel was on the west side, we were able to get to the park in about 20 minutes. Parking was plentiful, and all the spots seemed to be very close. Theming: Other than Outlaw Gulch, with its pretty bland Western theme, there really isn’t much. They do make attempts here and there, but overall not great. The landscaping is acceptable, but nothing striking. The park could really improve in this aspect. Food: We had bought a $50 card from the website, which is as close to a dining plan as this place has. It really made the day a lot easier, as we could just use the card at each food stall and thereby budget food expenses. All the food was cheap, and $50 actually did buy food for 5 people all day. The food court near the rapids ride was the standout; they had something for everyone, including some decent gyros and some very good mini donuts. Service: Typical Midwestern service. Everyone was friendly, but didn’t really seem to go out of their way for anything. Met my expectations. Waterpark: This place has one of the best lazy rivers I’ve seen. There are cabanas all along it—great perk for those who reserved them—and the route actually made it a good way to get from place to place. Plus, there’s a wet bar in the middle of it. As for the slides, the red, white, and blue speed slide had some great air on the drop. Everything else was good but not especially memorable. They do have a good variety, though, and cover all the bases. The kids’ splash area is nearly identical to the one at Oceans of Fun, and the kids had a lot of fun there. Water rides: Saw Mill Splash was down the whole day, but from what I hear, we didn’t miss much. Raging River is tame but fun. Not one of the best rapids rides, but I do appreciate one with a 36” minimum, so we could all ride together. I would have liked it better were it not for the lethargic loading procedures (one boat at a time) that caused horrific stacking. Made an already long line that much slower. Flat rides: Again they have all the bases covered here. The standouts were Storm Chaser, Space Shot, Der Flinger, Himalaya, and Falling Star. Great job of preserving some classics while also investing in new thrills. Coasters: Dragon – This is a decent but not great double-looping coaster. The main draw is that it has a 42” minimum, and can serve as a kid’s first inverting coaster. It wasn’t as rough as a lot of people have said. Monster – Amazing! The beyond-vertical drop is very forceful and disorienting, and the rest of the course is loopy perfection. It slows down a lot by the end but uses this to its advantage. The final inversion produces some pretty fierce hangtime. This is a winner. Outlaw – Probably the second best coaster after Monster. It’s got great pacing, sweeping curves, and some airtime. It especially looks beautiful from the lazy river. Tornado – This is a true classic, and has a ton of airtime. It isn’t rough at all, because of course we sat in the middle bench of these three-bench PTC’s. This will be a recurring theme on this trip. Underground – More of a dark ride than an actual roller coaster. We went into it with that expectation, and it was very fun. Even my youngest liked it, and she won’t go on anything bigger than a Wacky Worm. Oh, I should also mention, they have a Skyride, and it goes right through the middle of Monster. If you don’t like Skyrides, first go see a physician and/or psychiatric professional, and then second go ride this one. It is seriously cool going over/under/through the coaster. Take the A-Train! Meeting some characters. Their Main Street has to be one of the best entrances to any theme park. Really sets you up for a level of immersion the rest of the park fails to deliver. So much to see already! Including this K'Nex Ferris wheel Sky Ride...THROUGH THE TREES! Plenty of stuff here for the little ones, like this car ride. But we're here for this beauty. Sky Ride, of course. What did you think I meant? All right, fine. I've teased enough. Monster pics! For the gear and chain enthusiasts. You be you. I don't judge. I kid! I kid! Of course we're here for the pig. It's twisty! Working our way to the back of the park now, Underground was quirky but awesome. Obligatory '50's diner. If you need some luck, this lady's got some. This is totally not a ripoff. I don't know what sandwich place you're thinking of. Of course, like every landlocked state, Iowa has a lighthouse. Across this bridge there be dragons. Also, Pokemon. More dragons! I'm not sure where we're standing constitutes a tornado shelter.... Only shot I have of the waterpark. I don't take photos in waterparks, because I find it kind of creepy. "Theming"? Dragon's "theming." More "theming." Biergarten. If you're unimpressed by all the cans of beer, as I was, just make a stop here. They've got what you're drinkin'. Oh hell no. Everyone loves a good der-flingin'. It's almost like they've been shot right into space! These riders didn't quite make it to space. Notice the happy expression of the girl in the middle bench, and the pained expressions of the people in the wheel seats. Learn from this. And now for Tornado, a good old-fashioned coaster in a corn field! For some of us, this was more our speed. The rapids ride was good. Now if only they could figure out how to operate it.... Beautiful little ride plaza out in the woods. Fun ride! And I'll leave you with this shot of oblivious and/or suicidal geese. And this gluten free ride.

I'm not saying a coaster is coming, but the front lawn doesn't really need any clearing to house a coaster. The teaser says 4 things. I doubt one is a huge coaster

This apparently so badly needed to be stated that this person created an account here specifically for the purpose.

Frontier City is very underrated. Silver Bullet is a fantastic coaster, and together with a great flume, a great rapids ride, and a huge number of flats, it has something for everyone--including a small splash pad onsite (this in addition to a full-size waterpark across town). The theming is great, the shows are good, and the employees are friendly, helpful, and efficient. Yes, the park is small, and not near anything else, but don't let that stop you. Come out this way for Silver Dollar City's new coaster next year, and check out Frontier City while you're in the area (yep, out West, a 5-hour drive constitutes "in the area").

Boomerangs are marketable. Larson loops are marketable. So yes, as long as your marketing team are not completely inept, they can market a suspended coaster.

Knott's already announced Tornado is leaving after this year for a new slide complex. As I understand, it's still in good shape and could easily be moved to another park in the chain that doesn't have one. Hence the speculation.

If there's one lesson that can be learned from Indiana Beach, it's that you can put that coaster right out on the lake!

I like the time traveler one honestly. Mining always fits in, since Marmaros was a mining town. But the steampunk Wellsian time machine could be really cool, especially since this would be elaborately themed.

It could be one slide if it's a Tornado....

I think it'd be awesome to see a new one of these. The only time in my life I've ridden an inverted and a suspended back to back was earlier this year, Banshee followed by Bat. They're both great rides and very different from each other. Really the only thing they have in common is that you ride below the track. The Bat's swinging on each turn was a very cool and intense experience; I wish there were more of them.

^ Yes, I'm staying after too. My first time to LA and I've got to see the sights! I've got a one-day park hopper for Disney 8/12 and a one-day for Universal Hollywood 8/13. Disneyland closes early for Mickey's Halloween on Tuesday, so I'm going Monday to get the longer hours. Super excited!

Thanks for the report! Nice flashback to our visit last year. I billed the place to our kids as a "water park with some rides" rather than a theme park, as I wanted to set the expectations properly, and that seemed the most accurate phrasing to me. The rides are overall really not very good, but the waterpark is fantastic, second only to Splashin' Safari among the ones I've been to. We had a great time in the waterpark, and they're doing everything right over there. If that's the future for this park, it really is okay by me.

Welcome! I have a few tips on where / how to ride certain coasters and a few tips on when to ride them. As far as actual riding tips, this is going to drive everyone here to drink but luckily they only have to listen to me say it for another few weeks. Mean Streak can beat the crap out of you depending on where you ride it. Ride it in the very front row, lean forward with your back off the seat back and you'll have a glass smooth ride. On Magnum, the lap bars cause thigh pain for a lot of people. Tighten the seatbelts as much as possible to avoid this. Ride Blue Streak and Gemeni in non-wheel seats. So the middle row of any car (there are 3 rows per car). Ride Millennium Force in the front at night. Dragster is always a great front seat ride but you're short on time so you might not be able to wait for it. You have Kingda Ka close to home anyway. Another tip: DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT ride Raptor, Gatekeeper, Blue Streak, Valravn or Maxair in the morning. You can ride Gatekeeper during Early Entry but it's a waste of Early Entry. All of those rides have massive lines in the morning but by mid afternoon they're much more manageable. Also, Sky Ride's line moves insanely fast, so don't let a full queue scare you if you want to ride it. It's a great way to get off your feet in such a huge park and offers excellent views. Have fun! With those tips all the coasters should be very enjoyable (well... except Corkscrew. Corkscrew sucks). Thanks for the tips. I have them saved to reference easily later. Honestly there are so few wooden coasters we enjoy any more so if we skip some of those here I'll be okay with that. I think one of the worst in recent memory may have been Ghostrider at Knott's Berry Farm (same trip where we visited Magic Mountain) so if I have to skip it that's okay with me. Any other coasters that I should expect some pain? After all I try to avoid several coasters I know these days with the headlock restraints that give me headaches (I'm taking to you Minderaser at SIx Flags America and Anaconda at Kings Dominion). I've done them all before and thy was enough. If I should just skip a few at Cedar Point that won't offer me anything above and beyond and ride others over that is fine. As you mentioned Top Thrill Dragster will pretty much match Kingda Ka so if we miss it...it will be okay. Overall just hoping to enjoy our first visit here and sounds like it will be worth the trip. Corkscrew is the only one that is actually painful, as long as you ride Mean Streak as Bill suggested. If you're not that into wooden coasters, though, Mean Streak is skippable. I loved it, but then I like giant wooden coasters in general, and some of my highest rated coasters are that type. Don't skip Blue Streak, though, it's a classic and very smooth in any middle row. If you ride in a front or back row, you're going to have a bad time. So just don't do that. Really, to have the best time at Cedar Point, just ride the M's over and over again: Millennium Force, Maverick, and Magnum. Those are three of the best roller coasters in the world.

^ The cable launch systems on roller coasters are very similar to those used on aircraft carriers. Which is the Navy, not the Air Force, but that's a bit nitpicky.

Except that Boomerang was added three years before Orient Express was removed....

Also the recession hit the year after Voyage was built, and many parks were delaying major additions until the recession was behind us. For example, Silver Dollar City went 2004-2013 with no new coaster, and Cedar Point went 2006-2013.

Totally agree. Zambezi Zinger was a very fun ride that really didn't need to be removed. I remember riding it for the first time in 1996, along with Timber Wolf. I was so afraid of both of them back then, but I'm very glad I got to experience it before it was removed. Boomerang is in no way a replacement.

This "glowing recommendation" of a campsite:

Another click bait list badly in need of an editor. First page says Millennium Force has an 80 foot drop....

^ Good to know. Thanks for sharing!

I'd have had season tickets for several years now. What if fire were cold?

Justice League (2017)