Philrad71 Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 Not entirely sure what to do for the 4th holiday, I suggested to Michael "Hey, why don't we go to Michigan and hit up Michigan's Adventure being that we have never been there and we have Platinum Passes?" Of course he said yes, so we set sail for the "Almighty Mitten" after stopping for a few hours on July 3rd at Cedar Point. Of note, if you ever want to go to the Point around a holiday when it is not insanely crowded, visit the park on July 3rd. I have been there twice now in recent years and it has been pretty much dead both times. Gatekeeper was a ten minute wait and a lot of rides were walk-on's other than MF and Maverick which each had about 45 minute waits. Perhaps we have just been lucky? Anyway, back to Michigan's Adventure. This is a really nice park tucked way in the middle of well...nowhere. Kinda reminded me of Darien Lake where you drive off the interstate for several miles hitting up some country roads and all of a sudden...BAM! There's an amusement park! While not loaded with as many choices as most Cedar Fair parks, I really liked what the park had to offer. The water park was obviously the big draw and we were able to hit that up for the last hour before it closed where the crowds weren't too bad. Although I couldn't believe that the family raft rides made riders haul those big ass rafts all the way to the top in order to ride! I actually liked all of the coasters including the (gulp) SLC relocated from Geauga Lake. I remember getting viciously beaten when I rode this at Geauga Lake the year before they closed the park so I had reservations about riding it. I will say that while it wasn't the smoothest coaster in the world, it honestly was not bad for an SLC and I really liked the first drop next to the lake! I had heard that Shivering Timbers had not aged all that well so we were also reluctant to ride this. But just looking at the all of the airtime hills to be had, we had to give it a whirl with my caveat being that we definitely had to wait for the front seat. I was nervous about getting our asses kicked like we did on Voyage a month earlier, but this was not meant to be today. I can say that I had one helluva ride on Shivering Timbers in the front right seat! Airtime out the ying-yang on every hill and only some minor jostling during the helices at the end which looked like they had just had some recent repair work this season. While I will say that our second ride in the third seat seemed a bit rougher, I will easily place this coaster in my top five woodies after El Toro, Boulder Dash, Phoenix and Ravine Flyer 2. I would love to go back someday and ride this bad boy in the front seat at night...I would imagine this might even top Beast in the front seat at night! The rest of the park was nice and clean and I really liked the new beer garden right next to the also new Flyers by the lake. Yeah, a Fat Tire set me back $7.50, but the bar is situated right on the lake and had a great view of the park. What a great place to relax & unwind! Okay enough yacking, let's get to the photos, shall we? Welcome, welcome, come in, come in! This really is a very pretty park. Definitely a quirky layout, but nice. Opposite side gives you a nice view of the water park & the kiddie area. Grand Rapids - very cool name for a water ride in Michigan! AAAAARGGGGHHHHH!!!!! Oh jeez....what are getting ourselves into? Actually, this wasn't bad at all! This is the weird part of the park where it just ends with the exception of a train that will take you over to Shivering Timbers. Hmmm...airtime goodness or bone- rattling horridness? First drop...can't be too bad, can it? Of course a train ride wouldn't be complete if you didn't get to take the tunnel. Okay, here we are. I had this excited, yet nervous feeling as we walked up the entrance path. This was about the most American thing I could think of doing on the 4th of July! Ummm...I don't think that I'm going to tempt fate here. Definitely a nice looking coaster although you are limited to photo ops unless you get them from the parking lot. Definitely had that "small park charm" that a lot of people complain that some Cedar Fair parks don't seem to have. The parks log flume - didn't ride this or Grand Rapids instead opting to hit up the water park for an hour before it closed. Photos from the ferris wheel. I like how some of the coasters sit right next to the lake and the Sea Dragon is also located on the water. Very Indiana Beach-ey. Below are the new Lakeside Flyers - also can't forget the new Lakeside Beer Garden right behind it! Water park side with the Corkscrew (didn't ride this one). Flying Trapeze with a very empty parking lot. Actually, the ride op on Shivering Timbers said that this was the busiest day she had seen at the park this year. That doesn't sound positive for a park where the longest wait was less than a half hour (for Wolverine Wildcat because they were only running one train and we waited for the front seat). Yay for Fat Tire in the beer garden! Trying out the panoramic view on the camera. Wolverine Wildcat - a bit rough around the edges, but we had a fun ride in the front seat. Loved the double up-double down element and there was definitely some airtime to be had! Take a look at this fresh fruit bowl we got in the water park for less than $7. I was totally impressed! Sunset glimpse of Shivering Timbers - definitely an impressive coaster with some of the best airtime I have had since the last time I rode El Toro! Thanks Michigan's Adventure - you are definitely one of the more unique Cedar Fair parks we have visited! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KI Kidd Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 Nice photos! I can't pinpoint exactly what it is but Michigan's Adventure is one of my favorite parks to visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share Posted July 29, 2013 ^Thanks! We kinda felt the same way after visiting. While the park layout seemed very quirky, it just seemed to have a lot of potential to be a very good mid-sized family amusement park with a bit more TLC. Very comparable to say...a bit smaller version of Darien Lake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_koppen Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 Great photos! I love the look of the SLC, even though it's just an SLC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Great pictures. I can't wait to see what this park is going to look like in 10 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunaSled Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Nice TR. I live 40 minutes away from MA and it's a great little park. Shivering Timbers is a world-class beat your ass woodie and should be checked off your list as soon as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 ^It's definitely amazing to me that I got my ass beat way worse on Holiday World's woodies than I did on Shivering Timbers based on reviews I had read, trip reports and so on. I kind of expected it on Voyage, but Legend (and to some extent Raven) were just too much. It certainly appears to me that older wooden coasters on certain days, temps, conditions, rows, trains, etc, can result in a really good ride or a downright feisty, evil one. I read in another trip report that mentioned Hoosier Hurricane gave a member a horrible ride but when we rode it, we loved it. Same for Wolverine Wildcat...I really liked the ride I got on that coaster as well as ST which had received some pretty nasty reviews in the past as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 I remember years ago when I first got into coasters I was watching a special on them. One of the coasters they featured was Shivering Timbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 ^Yes, I think I saw that special too...I believe it might have been either the year or year after it opened when they were touting it as the best wooden coaster in the world? I remember thinking that that was definitely the craziest, coolest looking wooden coaster I had ever seen - at least until El Toro was built. I almost feel ashamed that it has taken me this long to get out there and ride it. Although I had a great ride in the front seat, I could see this one being a bit temperamental as my second ride in the third seat was a bit rougher. Even still, the amount of airtime going over the hills was way more than I expected. I was wondering if the coaster would just kind of slither over the hills...boy, was I wrong! Being that the park is somewhat off the radar compared to other bigger CF parks in the area, I wonder if this could ever be a potential candidate for an RMC make-over? Probably not, but I would imagine that if they ever did that it might be a real game changer for this small park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yay101 Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Great trip report! I went here in 2007 (the first out-of-state credits for me ) and it doesn't look like it changed much at all, other than the addition of Thunderhawk and Lakeside Gliders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Thanks for the trip report. I have yet to visit Michigan's Adventure, mainly because it's so remote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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