coasterferg Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 So a friend and I decided to take a quick road trip over Memorial Day weekend. When we were deciding where to go we thought "why not the midwest, specifically around Chicago, which has the highest gas prices in the nation"...so we did! I decided to hit up to parks I'd never been too: Indiana Beach and Michigan's Adventure! ZOMG YAY! I'm not much for writing a lot but heres a couple of things worth mentioning... Indiana Beach. I love unique and traditional parks and have been wanting to go here for ages. Unfortunately my day was slightly hampered as 3 of the 5 roller coasters were closed...LAME! But at least the parks two signature woodies were open, and they were great. I'm not one to leave a huge report, but the last car of the Cornball Express had some of the best ejector airtime I've ever experienced...it was friggin' awesome. I couldn't believe how much air could be gotten from such a small and compact ride. Michigan's Adventure. After missing three of Indiana Beach's coasters I was not in the mood for more closures. Sadly when we arrived at MA Shivering Timbers was closed...this made for a very unhappy Nick (me). Mechanics were working on it all day long. Well finally the coaster gods smiled at me and the ride opened with one train about 1 hour before we had to leave...Praise Jesus! We rode in the back and the front. The back was SUPER intense and a bit rough but the front had awesome airtime and was very enjoyable. Finally, I don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but Thunderhawk has employed on ride video cameras to ALL the cars! After the ride they sell on ride VIDEOS, not just photos. That's right, you can actually buy a DVD of yourself while on the ride. At first I did notice a camera sticking out in front of the first car but they actually have cameras for each car! After the ride they show you a quick video clip of yourself going down the first drop in a typical post photo shop. Pretty cool...unfortunately, these DVDs cost about $15. Any way on to some photos... Goodbye Indiana Beach...I shall return someday to get those other credits I missed! Obligatory vain photo 'nother badass photo more constructiony stuff If only we had visited three months later... OOO...AWWW...keep your composure construction nerds One cool thing about Indiana Beach is they can't ride hide the construction...you can go right up to the track! I really am kindof a big nerd...but for some reason I can pull off a good badass photo of myself... And now for some construction pics! Thank goodness Cornball and Hurricane were such good rides! I may look slightly grumpy due to the fact that I missed 3 of the 5 credits today... Rides over water...OOOOO...pretty OMG! Both trains on the lift while I was on the Skyride...what are the odds? Like 1 in a zillion!!1!?? I am a happy camper at this point Look at all that amusementy goodness! Its so beautiful... Yay...new rolly rides for me!
coasterferg Posted June 6, 2008 Author Posted June 6, 2008 And now for something completely different... Thank you Michigan's Adventure...thanks for not being busy. All in all it was great trip...even though I missed some credits, I was able to up my count to 127...with more to look forward too in the future! Adios! Oh good...now Justine won't have to deal with me being a grumpy A$$ the for the whole drive home. HOORAY! Could it be? Why yes IT OPENED! Approximately 50 minutes before we have to leave I spot people in ShiTi's queue My turn Since its not open, we can only pose with Shivering Timbers...or ShiTi as i'm calling it as this point... The lake does offer some pretty views... Time for another trek around the lake. Moving on we hit up the Mad Mouse. So here we are Shivering Timbers...its is not open and I am not pleased with missing my 4th credit of the trip... While it was little rough...Wolverine was fun and had good airtime...whats with all the woodies having such good airtime...stupid Timberwolf ruining my expectations! Justine is all smiles before the violence that is the Wolverine Wildcat Shivering Timbers from the train...thankfully they are in the process of building a path connecting the two ends of the park...which also opens up a bunch of new land for rides! Time for Wolverine Wildcat. But how do we get there...well for now, you can either walk 27 miles back around the lake...or take the train...we chose the train Time for a quick pose with sexy Thunderhawk Side loop being groped by the train! Naughty train! Bet you've never seen this view b4...also, the onride videos were pretty sweet Yay for SLCs. It did have the typical ear banging...but tolerable... Across the lake I spy our next victim as we prepare for the MILE walk back over to it Justine, my partner in crime, thinks "OH, pretty colors!" Next it was time to get corkscrewed. While these rides are dated and short...you do get a great pop of airtime in the last car First up is Zach's Zoomer...a fun little woodie...we had a lot of fun cramming us two adults into the front car... More shots b4 we enter the park. Things are looking up! I'm getting excited!!1!1! Gotta take time for a vanity shot Driving thru the woods to MA
spaceace12 Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 I was hoping that the rotating rides closed at Indiana Beach would be ending after last weekend with school being over. Seems that the new management won't/have not hired enough workers to open the park fully. I ran into the same situation last Saturday. Throughout the day random ride shut downs would happen (I have a photo trip report on here). Was any flat rides closed? Guess what I will have to remember is last year when all the rides would be open on a slow day and have ride ops at each ride.
tnguy Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 Nice report. So all in all you liked shivering timbers? I've heard mixed reactions about it.
coasterferg Posted June 6, 2008 Author Posted June 6, 2008 At Indiana Beach, the Falling Star and the Air Crow were also down...thus I still have never been on a Flyers ride. Shivering Timbers depended on where you sat. For the first ride we rode int he last car. While I normally tolerate roughness fairly well and did enjoy the ride, I would not be able to do many rerides in the back of the train. It was very intense. However for the second ride we sat in the front and it was AWESOME! We got great airtime being pushed of the many, MANY hills and it didn't seem nearly as rough as it was in the back. So yeah, all in all I enjoyed Shivering Timbers.
spaceace12 Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 The Falling Star is down until they get new lapbars. As for Aircrow, I wonder if it broke a part or something. It was operating on opening day for a while.
MiAdventureMan87 Posted June 7, 2008 Posted June 7, 2008 Ironically, MiA has their own Falling Star. I work on it. Surprised he didnt say anything about that. That park badly needs a new flat ride now, but I bet they wont get one for another two years, as they seem to add major attractions every other year or so. I havent heard anything about building a pathway between the sides of the park, last I heard it was for maintenance. That park has so much potential.
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