InsaneCoasterJunkie

Can't hide it now... Was surprised to see the news this morning!!

Just in case there wasn't more to explain from my last post, did some peeking at the Waldameer website today and Lakeview Grove is absent from both the 2026 park map and the picnic grove rental section. West Lakeview remains but Lakeview (aka the original Ravine Flyer I station) is missing. Could this be the visual clue we need for the 2027 project?? The Waldameer fan in me is starting to freak out and I'm definitely intrigued!!

Renewed my season pass last month and on my way out, I managed to spot several markers near Lakeview Grove. Could this be for a future project in 2027?? Looks like it goes near and/or down the ravine so I'm not saying a flat ride but maybe something like Big Bear Mountain at Dollywood could work perfectly in this spot!

Goals for Waldameer this season?

Was browsing the internet yesterday and I found Spider on a used rides website asking for $65,000 and being available in September which right at the end of the season. Call me crazy but I think Spider could be removed at the end of the season and be replaced by something cooler! I'll post the link down below if you want to read more but already some intriguing stuff before the season starts!! Link: https://irmrides.com/product/eyerly-spider-2/

Won't say much but an article was just released that Waldameer owner Paul Nelson passed away yesterday morning at the age of 89. Just read the article and it's pretty emotional to say the least... Article may be have a paywall attached so I'll copy the contents below https://www.goerie.com/story/news/local/2023/05/22/paul-nelson-owner-of-waldameer-park-water-world-dies-at-89-lake-erie-amusement-parks-roller-coaster/65377466007/

Something to watch out for and good news on Rocket Blast Full Article: https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/waldameer-and-water-world-preparing-newest-attraction-as-opening-day-nears/

I wonder what Waldameer might in have in store for us come opening day... My speculations/predictions have been rather wild this off season and I can't wait to see what upgrades they might make!

I'm already starting to think about the next coaster at Waldameer. Even though it might not be for a few years, I think I have a solid prediction. I personally am returning to that RMC idea awhile back as the manufacturer released two new concepts on their website. Either or could work out for the park when space and money allows. All pictures are from the RMC website and I will link them below! Just some food for thought :) Links: https://www.rockymtnconstruction.com/steel-coasters/ https://www.rockymtnconstruction.com/family-hybrid-coasters/

I can agree that Waldameer has a great relationship with Zamperla. The park has added 8 rides since 1999 and I don't see why they can't continue with that. I say most likely, the next ride will be Zamperla due to these circumstances. An air race is definitely possible as Waldameer has proved that upside down rides can work for the thrill seekers. An Endeavour could also work as well. That new Gryphon does look intriguing and I could see Waldameer jumping early to trends. Down below is a Zamperla wish list of rides I could see- 1. Air Race/Super Air Race (Named Aeronaut) 2. Endeavour (Name Free Spin) 3. Gryphon (Named Gryosphere) 4. Nebulaz (Named Neubla) 5. WindstarZ (Named Windstar) 6. A custom variation of the Thunderbolt coaster model (Fit to the park's specific needs)

I'm going to make my best guess on what could had been. I speculate that the rides would've been manufactured by Zamperla since the park works very well with them and I could see more rides from them going forward. One of the rides I could had seen was a Air Race replacing Spider and the other one could of been a Endeavour or Nebulaz replacing Mega Vortex or going next to Chaos. That's just my speculation and anything could change in the plans but that's my best educated guess :)

I was at Season Pass Photo Day this past Saturday and wanted to update you all on what I saw- 1. Various rides and other things were repainted (Mega Vortex, Spider, Umbrellas, Steel Dragon, Charlie the Clown) 2. Water World entrance just removed the turnstiles and added tables for what I believe will be for bag checks 3. The new food tent is huge and I personally will call it "Bigger Blue Tent" 4. The Ravine Flyer II retracking looks great. You would be fooled if you said it looked like a GCI 5. Carousel Delights surprised me! The Dippin Dots Sundaes are new for 2021 and they are delicious 6. Only 3 rides were open to ride. Music Express was scheduled to open but cycled empty the entire day 7. Not everything in the park is ready but that's okay. They'll definitely be ready for opening day 8. According to the website under COVID-19 protocols, now all attractions will be open which means Pirate's Cove could possibly open! 9. Overall crowds surprised me which is a good sign. People want to come back and I hope they make a profit this season. Hopefully new ride 2022? Overall I was impressed with the park. Even though it wasn't perfect, I was excited to return to my home park, see all the familiar faces, and document what's new for this season. As a shameless plug, I have 4 videos coming to my YouTube channel from Season Pass Day (Amusement Drive-Thru, Construction Update, Vlog, Park N Eat). I can't wait to share them to the public starting May 13th! Next step: Opening Day on the 15th!

There are less than 10 days until Season Pass Photo Day and I just wanted to update on progress at Waldameer. Pieces are starting to come together for the 125th season but I will be investigating more in the coming weeks. The Food Stand Reveal: Last month, I mentioned about a new food stand coming where the former Zeke's Shack game used to operate. Now we have an answer regarding it. The name of this place will be Carousel Delights and will be severing foods such as nachos, Dippin Dots, and much more. I am a bit disappointed that a new food option wasn't coming but it will be another place for food in the amusement park. New Spider Sign: Old Man Winter visited Erie yesterday morning for one last time and Waldameer posted it's yearly snow picture to their social media. In the picture, there is a new sign for Spider. The sign is now all black, matching the ride and a brand new web on top of the letters. I personally love the new sign and should be a good "sign" of things to come. A "Stupid" ICJ Plug: As it gets closer to Waldameer's opening, I am optimistic about how this season will operate. With COVID protocols being relaxed a bit and the fun cosmetic upgrades looking promising, I can't wait to see what my home park has to offer. I'll be visiting on both Season Pass Photo Day (May 1st) and Opening Day (May 15th) for my first rides of the season as well as any other updates that the park have made so stay tuned on this thread and my YouTube channel InsaneCoasterJunkie for more updates regarding Waldameer. I know this might be a shameless plug but Waldameer is my second home and I'm very passionate about how this park operates :) New Spider Sign: https://www.instagram.com/p/CN7VOSWLcTk/

It's been awhile since the last post but there are some hopes for the 2021 season at Waldameer. It was revealed in a local news article that the park is making several changes to improve the park for it's 125th season. Here's the breakdown: The Fate Of The "2021" Rides: In the original plan, Waldameer was going to continue their current 10 year plan and add two new rides to the park. The type of ride and location were not known but what do we know is that these rides are cancelled according to owner Paul Nelson. He revealed that only 27% of their regular attendance showed up to the park for 2020 and with borrowing over $1 million just to open this year, it was almost no shocker that these rides are cancelled. Now it's possible it could be on hold for 2022 but even 2022 is uncertain at this time. Fun Cosmetic Upgrades: Over the past few months, it was revealed over social media that several rides would get "fun cosmetic upgrades" for the 2021 season. It's unknown what rides will be repainted or what but it's basically open arms at this point. Speculate all you want and what happens but I am interested on what rides get these upgrades. It can be anything from repaints to new lights or other improvements but again, all open arms! New Water World Entrance: Nelson revealed that a new and improved entrance will be constructed for Water World. According to Nelson, this new entrance can get you in twice as fast. As for my speculation, I think there's one area to address and that's the current entrance near Comet. This area can be a bottleneck, especially on busy days and for the expanding water park, a new and improved entrance is well needed. I am overall happy that a bottleneck area is being addressed. It's possible a brand new entrance could be constructed but I have my doubts with that. New Food Stand: Nelson reveled that a new food stand will debut for the 2021 season. This will go where the former Zeke's Shack shooting game used to be. This game operated until 2019 and never opened for 2020, suspecting that new developments are near. A Dipping Dots stand was also removed in that area. We sadly don't know what food items it will cater but it's all fun and games. I suspect that a pasta bar of some sort could be in that area. Pasta is a food item that is missing in Waldameer's lineup. I see something similar to the Mac Bowl at Cedar Point where you can customize your mac and cheese with various cheeses and toppings. Imagine white cheddar with bacon!!! That's my dream but who knows what will be added? New Food Tent: The last major upgrade Waldameer will be addressing will be a new large tent where the former Showtime Theater once stood. There was a tent there before but that was for the theater and was torn down after the 2020 season. According to Nelson, it will "keep you out of the rain and have a place to eat if it does sprinkle." I can't comment on much and what it will be built but it should be a nice upgrade from the previous one. Overall, I am excited for the 2021 season at Waldameer. While its not what is planned (still sad about the two rides not being here), making cosmetic upgrades and addressing some rough patches will help Waldameer move forward in the future. Season Pass Photo Days will be May 1st and 2nd, as well as the 7th and 8th. Opening day is the 15th. As a closer, I am quietly working on my biggest video in 3 years and will cover the entire history of the park! Stay tuned! Link: https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/43488623/waldameer-prepares-for-125th-season

Waldameer posted this interesting picture this morning about a slide that never came to be for their water park Water World. In 1991, a new tower dubbed the "Awesome Tower" debuted with the fitting slide Awesome Twosome. 1992 followed with an additional slide named Midnight Plunge. Those nostalgic fans might remember the slides being colored an aqua green and black respectively. However, when the tower was designed, there was room for a 3rd water slide in the middle of the two existing slides and it was to be named Liquid Lightning. If they continued with their expansion plan, Liquid Lightning would have debuted in 1993 (that's my best guess but it's unknown when it would've opened). For over two decades, there was footers, a sign, and spot in the splash pool that revealed another slide was coming but it never came to be. What happened is anyone's guess but drawing from the post, it was possible it was cancelled sometime after. Talking about the layout, the first half of Liquid Lightning would've started very similarly to Midnight Plunge/Awesome Twosome and halfway through, it would've opend towards a open flume section, similar to the Raging/Wild River water slides with a helix finale before dropping in the existing splash pool. During the 2013-14 off season, Water World received a major overhaul before the massive 2015 expansion with Awesome Twosome being repainted to a multi-color pallet, and Midnight Plunge was repainted to yellow and was renamed to Liquid Lightning, in honor of the cancelled name (which in my opinion I like the new name better than the previous name). In 2014, it was revealed a major multi-year expansion plan would occur for Waldameer's Water World, and a new bowl slide was projected to built in the gapped spot as mentioned earlier. It wasn't until 2018 when the bowl slide would open to guests and it was named Cannonbowl. Personally, I really like the bowl slide (2nd favorite in Water World) but it would had been interesting if the original Liquid Lightning was built and how that could of impacted the water park's expansion plan. This is a unique part of Waldameer's history that was kept secret for years but I never thought there was a cancelled attraction in their ride portfolio. I will be making a video about this in the near future on my YouTube channel but I wanted to post it here first so everyone can marvel over this lost bit of history! I accidently posted this in another forum but it was meant for this forum. Oh well it's here :)