TR : Eight Parks, Four Days

[coasterdude2011]

Well I just graduated from high school this past year and my parents asked what I want for a graduation gift, I of course said I wanted to go to some amusement parks. So my mom and I started planning for our trip and decided on northern New York and western Pennsylvania. We decided to go to Waldameer, Martin's Fantasy Island, Seabreeze, Darien Lake, Knoebels, Delgrosso's, Lakemont, and finish off at Conneaut Lake. We decided to leave out Kennywood because we already stopped there last year for a trip that included it and Knoebels and I already stopped earlier this year. So without further ado, the reviews!

 

(Sorry for how long this is)

 

Waldameer : I love this park, I seriously can not get enough of it. The park is only two hours from my house and this is the third year in a row that I have gone. The park is incredibly clean, well shaded, employees are nice, food is affordable and has the perfect family atmosphere. The North End expansion looks great and the three new rides were a perfect fit for the park. Obviously the big draw for me was Ravine Flyer 2 which is still in my top 5 and just blows me away every time. The drop tower, X-Scream puts many to shame with some intense airtime during the freefall. Only downside is that you slam into your seat when the ride hits the brakes but still a very fun and enjoyable ride. Besides that, Pirates Cove, Wacky Shack, Comet, Steel Dragon, and their other rides all are family fun and perfect for a day visit. Especially with Presque Peninsula right outside of the park and the diner's amazing food about a quarter mile down the road!

 

Martin's Fantasy Island : I had no clue what to expect from this park other than the Silver Comet. We paid our starlight admission for the affordable thirteen dollars and walked in. We immediately toured the kids area which I was very impressed with. Very well shaded, rides seemed like they were kept for, nice fairy tale story booths, a petting zoo, it was a very nice surprise! Then we went to the amusement park side and I wish I could say the same. I rode Silver Comet three times that day due to it being a walkon mostly the entire day. I would've rode more but the ride ops were painfully slow. I don't know if most parks do this but I come from Cedar Point where they buckle the seat belt and push down the lap bar at the same time. Martin's has to buckle each seat belt, then the ride op screamed hands up and do not pull down the lap bar where she then pushed it down for you. If a little kid pushed down the lap bar, the other operator released the lap bars and the whole process repeated. It took almost 5min for a train to dispatch while both ride operators were talking about their day. Silver Comet itself is a great wooden coaster, especially in the front however. I then went and rode Devil's Hole. First time I have been on a ride like this and I honestly did not like it and it made me feel sick. It was loud, hot, and I hated the jolt when you raised from the floor. After that I did not feel too good, rode Full Tilt, Crazy Mouse, the car ride, and called it a day. Wish I rode Mind Warp but I just felt like crap and it didn't look promising. This park needs some landscape help pronto, chipped pavement, and randomly placed rides. I feel this park could do much better especially in their good location by the falls.

 

Seabreeze : Biggest surprise park of the trip. This park truly is the Waldameer of New York except with a little less of a ride selection and a tad more history in the park. The park is extremely clean and tidy with very efficient ride ops. Almost every ride only had one and they were getting people through the lines. Jack Rabbit is a fun old wooden coaster, doesn't do too much but its a ride where you throw your hands up and have a good time. The Bobsleds is without a doubt one of the cutest coasters I have ever been on and just like the Jack Rabbit is good fun. Whirlwind is the same as Steel Dragon at Waldameer only not as trimmed and more forceful as well. They need a couple more rides but I was impressed with the Screaming Eagle and their Flyers especially. The park is well landscaped, needs a little more shade but has an amazing location and atmosphere on the lake. I loved this little park and make sure you go to the burger joint by the park, you can't miss it when you're driving there, its amazing.

 

Darien Lake : I was finally going to get my first Boomerang and SLC after missing them at Geauga Lake until I read Boomerang was down for the entire day. This park didn't really surprise me, I thought it was going to be your average corporate park and it was. The food was terrible, a pretzel (luke warm) and a small drink cost nine dollars and just very unacceptable. Having said that the coasters surprised me. I was iffy about RoS in the back seat, it was a tad rough and I was just very confused by the layout and all of the potential it had. The front seat changed my mind, I loved it, smooth, nice floater air time during the first half of the ride, amazing ejector on the last half. They just didn't need the helixes and random straight piece of track. Predator stunned me, I loved it, it wasn't butter smooth but it ran very well, had airtime, great layout and is right up there with Silver Comet for me. Motocoaster was great fun, I loved the launch, the tight turns, the brief airtime and I would love to see Cedar Point replace Wildcat with a motocoaster. Also they were really getting trains through the station on this one. Mind Eraser was rough, but I was expecting much worse, so it was a little surprise, but still rough. Operation were mediocre for the most of the rides and I saw the famed Batman from the top of RoS and pieces of the Thunderbolt from Celebration City by Mind Eraser. (Also alot of park goers still refer to RoS as Superman, struck me odd.)

 

Knoebels : My favorite amusement park, they can't do much wrong here. The food is the best theme park food I've ever had, its unique, affordable and tasty. There is shade everywhere, all of the employees have a smile on their face, operations were top notch, especially with the under thirty second dispatches on Phoenix. Speaking of Phoenix, easily my top coaster. Amazing airtime, smooth, and all with a buzz bar. It's simple and amazing all at the same time. Twister is the king of Lateral G forces, it is rougher then Phoenix but still enjoyable and just soooooooo many laterals on the ride. I absolutely adore the Haunted Mansion, it is without a doubt the best dark ride I've been on. All of their flats have long programs which makes them all worth riding. Fandango and Power Surge both provide very thrilling long, intense cycles and wish more parks had them. Flying Turns looks good and they have a POV of the ride next to the ride and it looks like Black Diamond will open soon! I love this park and everything about it!

 

Del Grosso : Stayed here for about an hour. Its a very good family park, great kids rides and enough family rides to have an enjoyable evening. The park needs some shade but for the most part is still very good. I rode only the Crazy Mouse, Space Odyssey and their Drop Tower, all providing good rides and stopped and had their AMAZING pizza. Completely worth the stop for that alone. Del Grosso's is a good way to kill some time and is the better out of the two Altoona area parks.

 

Lakemont : This park has so much potential, good location by Altoona, oldest wooden coaster, classic flats and a good "big" wooden coaster with Skyliner, but sadly does not come close to what it could be. The rides are all starting to become run down, the food is not very good, there is no shade at all in the park and no flow to the park. Leap the Dips was great fun, but it looks like it needs some attention and Skyliner definitely needs attention. It does not look good at all lately and ran just "ok" in the front and very rough in the back. You can hear the train throughout the park because it is squealing so loud and if you go on it you will get a headache. I also rode my first Chance Toboggan, only to hit my head during the drop after the helix, the ride honestly terrified me. The lake/creek by the park was stagnant and screamed malaria creek. The water park was decent but this park needs something to get it in the right direction. They have all of the resources to be good, but it honestly felt like no one really cared for this park. I hope this park does better in the future.

 

Conneaut Lake : I visited the park two years ago when it was closed and examined it. Yes, this park is still rundown but I loved it. Within two years they reopened Blue Streak (even though it was closed on my visit) redid sections of the boardwalk, added some working lights, made the putt putt area beautiful, reopened almost all of the flat rides and kiddy rides. You could tell the park was really trying to be a very good park again and it was a nice contrast from Lakemont. Conneaut Lake itself is beautiful with a very nice hotel that was hosting a wedding reception. The employees were the nicest of the trip, especially the ride op to Devils Den who gave candy to children and tried to scare guests at the end of the ride. I hope to see this park make it, I truly feel like they are trying to make this park good again. By the way, I completely did not know they installed a new kiddy coaster with the Go Gator, rcdb doesn't even have it listed yet, anyone know more?