Photo TR - Stacy's day trip to Cincy

[Naina21]

On Saturday July 13th I had a goal to finally get to Stricker's Grove and Coney Island in Cincy. My last attempt was on the 4th of July and I gave up due to it raining all day (did win a bit at the casino while trying to wait out the rain).

 

So Saturday started out nice and sunny, and once I managed to get through the road construction in Louisville, I was happily on my way to Stricker's Grove with an ETA of 1PM when the rides opened. It was interesting to find an small amusement park in the middle of what appears to be a farm. So it was opened this day due to a 4-H competition, so I wasn't expecting it to be very busy. There wasn't many cars in the parking lot, and I think most of them belonged to people manning the different booths. I saw maybe a dozen or so people walking around outside. I didn't go into the building where most of the exhibitions were, so maybe there were more inside? Not all the rides were open, but then the rides that were usually only had one or two people riding on them at any time. I walked around the park first and took a few photos. The park is very small with all the rides practically on top of each other. Because of this, I wasn't able to get a good shot of Teddy Bear's track. I was able to get a few decent shots of Tornado, but only while on the train ride. After my short tour round the park, I went and bought tickets for the rides I wanted to ride - the train ($1.50), Teddy Bear ($3.00) and tornado ($4.50). They only charged be $6 for the tickets, not sure why, but I wasn't going to question them.

 

My thoughts on Stricker's Grove was that it reminded me of the various festivals that I went to as a kid (apple, pumpkin, coal, etc), where there are a bunch of small rides in a small space. The only thing different was this one had a couple coasters. I can see this as a place where a family with younger kids would go for a nice family day out...when the park is open. The next time is August 11th, if anyone is interested. I didn't really look at what food was offered, but I saw stands for soft serve ice cream, hot dogs, pretzels, and nachos.

 

Teddy Bear is a small coaster. I would consider it a kiddie coaster. It was a pretty smooth coaster, pretty boring, but would be great for kids, like to two that rode a couple rows behind me.

 

Tornado was my 75th coaster, I think. Since I only tried figuring out my coaster count a couple years ago, not sure what I may have forgotten that I rode as a kid. Tornado is another smooth coaster. Nothing too exciting, but it is bigger than Teddy Bear and has a bit more speed to it . There was about 6 other people riding it with me, which was the most people on a ride at the same time that I saw during my short time there.

 

The train ride is 1/2 mile long. I expected a little bit more than what I got. Most of what you can see is nothing. When it first sets out, there is the back of the game building on the left and a corn field and empty field on the right. When it rounds the corner, you get to see the 4-H animals on the left and the river on the right. As it heads back on the straightway for most of it, there is pretty much nothing to look at on either side until you go under the driveway entrance to the park. Then you get a decent look at Tornado from the side that faces the road, and the back corner as the train rounds the final corner (track is an oval shape). There were some cute buildings as we pulled back into the station. Overall nothing exciting other than a nice view of Tornado, that I could have gotten from the road if I had pulled over before turning into the parking lot.

 

I'll try to get KI and Coney Island up tomorrow.

Arriving at Stricker's Grove

Tornado from the road

I don't remember ever seeing a Ferris Wheel this small.

And a small Merry Go Round too.

Teddy Bear coaster - it was impossible to get a shot of most of the track.

Scrambler

Tornado

Tornado on the left (red), Teddy Bear on the right (blue) and the Flying Scooters. This is how the entire park is. There is really not much space between rides.

Electric Rainbow in front of Tornado

Weeeeee!

The tickets to ride.

4-H Community Fair program

Here I am for #75 Tornado

Here comes the train!

Really? This is the view?

Not much better

Making progress. The parking lot and the coasters. All this land and they stick all the rides in one small area.

close up view from the train of Tornado

[PKI Jizzman]

Tornado does have that one drop where it feels like you're thrown off a cliff - especially with those buzz bars. It's a nice little ride!

[Meteornotes]

Cool report. This is one of those places that I'll likely never get to since their operation days are so random, but it looks like it would be fun to stop there for a short visit.

 

dt

[John_RN]

Teddy Bear.....best coaster name EVER! lol Cute little park. Great start to the TR!

[The Great Zo]

Great thread and nice pictures! I love the view from the train. Looks like the view out the window from my office. Beautiful Ohio farmland.

[cfc]

Hey, at least there's a river to look at from the train.

 

Thanks for the look at Stricker's Grove, as I'm not sure I'll ever get around to visiting the place, either.

[Mrlittle]

Nice report. Tornado reminds me of a RCT creation. Looks like a fun coaster.

[gisco]

Nice report for a park we don't see too much of!

[SuperShawn]

Cool to see photos from this hard to visit park. Also congrats on getting to #75, you are well on your way to #100.

[Naina21]

Thanks for all the comments. I'm beginning to think I should have taken more photos while at Stricker's Grove. Maybe I'll try to get up there again, and try to take a few friends too.

 

Now on to park #2.

 

Since it was still pretty early (I probably spent a hour, if that at Stricker's), I decided to head over to Kings Island and make use of my season pass. I always joke that I stop in for a ride on something every time I pass through Cincy, and this wasn't an exceptions. The parking lot was fairly full, and I was lucky to grab a good spot as someone just happened to be pulling out as I was turning up a row.

 

With all the speculation about the possibilities of the new coaster, my first stop was the Eiffel Tower to take a few photos of the construction area. I wandered over to Diamondback, I didn't see the wait time, I just saw the long line, guessed it was well over an hour by past experience and continued to Beast, which had a 45 minute wait. This ride was much better than my last on the Beast, when we were stuck on the track for about 15 minutes. After the Beast, it was time to head out to Coney Island.

 

Tune in tomorrow for my report on Coney Island.

View of the construction from the Eiffel Tower

close-up of the right side

Close-up of middle towards the back

Close-up of the middle towards the front

Close-up of the left side - the scarecrows are still there

[Naina21]

Time for park # 3.

 

I timed my entry to Coney Island be after 4pm, when it was only $8 for the rides. There was some kind of technical problem at the ticket booths and ended up waiting almost 30 minutes to get the wristband (there was only 4 people ahead of me).

 

I headed for Python first as it is right next to the ticket booths. Watching the supports sway a bit made me a bit nervous. It was about a 20 minute wait. Once I was closer to the station, I noticed that the ride ops had to manually push the training from the unload to the load stations. Nice! The ride was not very fun, as it would jerk to an almost stop often. I spent the entire ride with with my arms bracing myself against the seat in front of me. The kid that rode with me looked absolutely terrified during the entire ride. It could be improved if it would gradually slow down without slamming on the breaks.

 

I headed over to the Flying Bobs next. Turns out it alternates between running forwards and backwards. I had to ride it twice to catch it backwards.

 

While I was waiting in line, I saw a ride that I loved to ride at the county fair when I was in junior high - The Rock-O-Plane. So I headed over to them next. I don't remember the lap bar being that painful when I would get the cage to flip upside down.

 

I wondered around a bit. Where Stricker's felt like a small festival, Coney Island felt like a fair - either a county fair or state fair. All the fair rides - Scrambler, Supper Roundup, Ferris Wheel, Tilt-a-Whirl and more were there.

 

I ended up riding the Scrambler, Super Roundup, and The Tempest after walking around. The Tempest was different. I'm not even sure how to describe it. The Coney Island site calls it"A tornado-like whirling dervish." There are 4 compartments that hold 8 people each. There are two compartment on each side of the ride. The entire ride spins, and the each side spins and each compartment also spins - that is quite a bit of spinning.

 

Like Stricker's, I didn't really look at the food offerings. I know there was a pizza place and I saw an ice cream truck and a shaved ice truck. Overall it was a cute little park and not very expensive. I wouldn't mind going back to check out the water park side of it.

I think I need to turn in here.

I'm in the right place

My first glimpse at Python

Another view of Python while looking for the ticket booth to buy a wristband so I can ride.

While waiting in line for Python, a view of Flying Bobs - goes forwards and backwards

Python train

Had a hard time trying to get a good shot of Rock-O-Plane, as there was a big tree in the way.

When I was younger I loved to stay upside down on the ride or to make it roll, but now - the lap bar is too painful.

A Classic - Tilt-a-whirl

The Scream Machine was not in operation that day.

The Grand Carousel

Play houses for kids

The Tempest

River Runner

Super Roundup

[PKI Jizzman]

Scream Machine is NEVER in operation. I've never been on a Moser drop tower. It's the only reason I go back to that place. And it's never working. What a piece of crap. The new waterslides at the waterpark are really nice, though.

[Geauga Dog]

Thanks for the TR and the photos. I haven't been to either Stricker's or Coney so it was great to actually get an idea as to what those two parks look like.

 

Those photos of Coney remind me of Americana/LeSourdesville Lake for some reason and too bad they couldn't have relocated the Screechin' Eagle instead of having Couch tear it down. That was a great wooden coaster.

[Whodey]

I am surprised Stricker's Grove wasn't more crowded. I went last October and it was crowded while the weather sucked. It must of been the free pop and snow cones for customer appreciation day. Tornado was 6 or 7 train wait. The good thing about Teddy Bear is that it is a 35" ride so my 2 year old will get his second credit(1st woodie) in August.

 

Good report and pics.