XShortestStrawX Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Random comment here, but why do parks have such a hard time maintaining their mini golf courses? So far I've been to both Michigan's Adventure and Cedar Point this year and the mini golf courses are in awful condition. Balls get stuck in the chutes, the artificial grass is separating from the ground, barriers are missing, BEES EVERYWHERE (god I hate those things). I love myself some mini golf, but I guess you get what you pay for at $3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grsupercity Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Random comment here, but why do parks have such a hard time maintaining their mini golf courses? So far I've been to both Michigan's Adventure and Cedar Point this year and the mini golf courses are in awful condition. Balls get stuck in the chutes, the artificial grass is separating from the ground, barriers are missing, BEES EVERYWHERE (god I hate those things). I love myself some mini golf, but I guess you get what you pay for at $3? I believe CP and MIA are the only 2 CF parks left with a minigolf course? I could easily see it being replaced with a flat (please god larson drop tower) or a sit down dinner. Both of which are needed. I havn't done MIAs golf course in years so cant comment on its condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XShortestStrawX Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I'd hate to see it go, it's about the only cheap relaxing thing to do in the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunaSled Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Does anyone know what the garden is for behind Timbertown Railway Station? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIAfan88 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Does anyone know what the garden is for behind Timbertown Railway Station? I know that we always look for any possible signs for additions. But this is desperate. It's a garden. The park needs more greenery and what not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeGR Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 That's fine. I just thought it was strange. And I disagree that the park needs more greenery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theredskull84 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Thought I'd share a mini TR from this past weekend. After years of wanting to check out Michigan's Adventure, I finally made it there for a couple days. Overall I think this is an excellent "smaller" park with a wide variety of attractions for everybody. The mixture of coasters and flats with a beautiful setting kinda reminded me a lot of Indiana Beach, just on a grander scale. The entire surrounding area is very pretty as well. Very quiet with tons of trees and forest. And the lake sitting smack dab in the middle of the park made it incredibly photogenic. Hearing the sound of Thunderhawk diving down the first drop carrying over the lake gave me smiles everytime. Speaking of rides, as you can imagine my main draw to this park was Shivering Timbers. And boy it did not disappoint. That, on top of a fantastic waterpark, made this 2 day trip well worth the 3.5 hour drive. I also have to commend the entire staff for being very friendly and helpful. Getting my Cedar Fair platinum pass processed took no more than 2 minutes. Probably the most stress-free experience in doing so. Couldn't have gone any smoother, and that really set the tone for the entire weekend. Now for a few pictures! Just a beautiful park with something for everybody. Can't wait to make it back! Beer goggles. For whatever reason I absolutely love all Arrow coasters. They all hurt but in the best way. Some of the slowest bumpers I've been on, but the new LED light packages on the cars looked great! I absolutely love Flyers, and these were the best I've been on. No ride ops telling you to "take it easy" or any of that. Just all out beyond-sideways the entire cycle. So much fun! This was actually my fist SLC experience, and as I can see why most complain, I thought it was a really fun ride. Definitely choppy and nowhere near as smooth as say a B&M. But the interesting elements made it quite enjoyable IMO. What a wonderful ride. Having never ridden it before the helix re-tracking, I have no basis for comparison. I can say it was probably the smoothest part though. Overall, this coaster was exactly what I expected as far as roughness. The front was probably the smoothest, and the very last row was borderline violent haha. But interestingly enough, my favorite seat was the last car, front row. Just a little rough with truly non-stop airtime. And the difference between the 2nd row and 1st row of the last car was truly night and day. I love Arrow support structures too. Wolverine Wildcat turned out to be one of the bumpiest coasters I've ever been on. Don't get me wrong, I was laughing the whole time with a big smile on my face. But I definitely only needed one ride. I will say that the tunnel leading to the lift hill was pretty cool. Pitch black! A quick coaster with some unique elements. What's not to like? More lift hill porn. Fun little flume. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of not lifting my feet after the drop. Needless to say, my shoes got hit with a 3 inch wave lol. Kind of upsetting that their program didn't include the reverse cycle, but it's still one of my favorite carnival rides dating back to childhood. One of the greatest woodies ever built. This coaster is simply beautiful to look at. We've arrived! The Giant Wheel gives you some great views of the entire park. Classic Arrow goodness. Lift hill porn. Weeeeeeeee. The structure of this coaster is just awe-inspiring. Froggy had to take 5 for some rehydration.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIAfan88 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 The park looks dead. Thunderbolt is a great flat ride. But it hasn't done the backward cycle in a long time. It almost looks like the Ferris Wheel received a new scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeGR Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Nice report. Certainly Shivering Timbers has been improved over the last couple of years. I think it's in great shape. As far as Wolverine Wildcat, I thought it was incredible smooth a couple weeks ago. Certainly much better than a few years prior. I'll be at the park tomorrow (Saturday) so I'll have to check it out again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TunaSled Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 I must agree, I had my best ride ever on ST Tuesday this week. Third car back seat, I was prepared to get wrecked on the return trip but only the trick-track got me. The retracked helix is a thousand percent improvement over the jackhammer party it used to be. World class woodie all the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XShortestStrawX Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Glad you had a good experience. Did you get a chance to go to the water park? It's top notch for being free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grsupercity Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 ST and TH are a good 1 2 punch for a small park. The water park is easy one of the best in the chain, even with out the latest and greatest slides in it. Nice trip report and glad you enjoyed your visit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philrad71 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Nice photos! I also enjoyed ST...front seat was some of the funnest air that I have ever had on a coaster. Sure would like to try it at night someday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yay101 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Great report! For some reason the photo of the Corkscrew sign was my favourite . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theredskull84 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 Glad you had a good experience. Did you get a chance to go to the water park? It's top notch for being free. I sure did. And I'd have to agree. Definitely one of the better waterparks around. It also felt decievingly large. By that I mean once you enter the waterpark section, it's like a whole new park as far as just how much they have. A pleasant surprise to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XShortestStrawX Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 It definitely does feel a lot bigger than it actually is somehow. It's a shame fast lane doesn't work in the water park though. The line for funnel of fear is always so unbearably long whenever I go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theredskull84 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 ^So true. I didn't ride it this visit for that reason exactly. I also only did the water park on Saturday, which was much busier than Friday. Friday was basically a ghost town with every ride being a walk on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeGR Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 I feel like they are still understaffed. I noticed today (as I have earlier in the season) that they continue to have security guards acting as ride operators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theredskull84 Posted June 27, 2015 Share Posted June 27, 2015 ^I noticed that too. Even in the water park, they had security guards dispatching riders down the body slides. Definitely thought that was strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmillzy Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 As a Valleyfair fan and Someone that lives in MN, I have ridden our Hyper, Wild Thing so many times that it is crazy. I would say, an inverted or suspended coaster is more impressive, and it looks like VF is going to get an awesome B&M Invert within the next two years. The problem is that Michigans Adventure looks like a poor mans Valleyfair in 2007, before Renegade. VF has become such a better park since it has taken out stuff like Mini Golf, The Flume, and done some serious revamping. Michigans Adventure needs the following things: -Planet/Camp Snoopy -Drop Tower -More Dining -Halloween Haunt -New Roller Coaster -More Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spartan Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 As a Valleyfair fan and Someone that lives in MN, I have ridden our Hyper, Wild Thing so many times that it is crazy. I would say, an inverted or suspended coaster is more impressive, and it looks like VF is going to get an awesome B&M Invert within the next two years. The problem is that Michigans Adventure looks like a poor mans Valleyfair in 2007, before Renegade. VF has become such a better park since it has taken out stuff like Mini Golf, The Flume, and done some serious revamping. Michigans Adventure needs the following things: -Planet/Camp Snoopy -Drop Tower -More Dining -Halloween Haunt -New Roller Coaster -More Not to take this thread too off topic but I'm kind of curious what proof you have that Valley Fair is going to receive an invert in the next two years considering all signs point to water park expansion? And to get back to Michigan's Adventure I'd argue in a lot of ways it's better than Valley Fair, especially in the wooden roller coaster and water park areas, but to get to your point about what the park needs I would say the parks management from when I've talked to them had been pretty content with the size of their current children's area especially since they already struggle to have enough ride operators as is. A drop tower has been brought up by cedar fair but the parks current gm and her husband the head of maintenance both do not like them, so I'd say that's not going to happen in the near future either. More dining, a new water slide complex, a roller coaster, or even the 200 foot wind seeker the park previously ordered but cancelled are all posibilities for next year. However don't expect a Halloween event or even fireworks until the township decides to ease up its heavy restrictions on the park, and also the park has concerns about whether they would be able to even fully staff the park for a Halloween event since most college kids would be back in school during that time period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XShortestStrawX Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 More dining, a new water slide complex, a roller coaster, or even the 200 foot wind seeker the park previously ordered but cancelled are all posibilities for next year. When was this?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmillzy Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 As a Valleyfair fan and Someone that lives in MN, I have ridden our Hyper, Wild Thing so many times that it is crazy. I would say, an inverted or suspended coaster is more impressive, and it looks like VF is going to get an awesome B&M Invert within the next two years. The problem is that Michigans Adventure looks like a poor mans Valleyfair in 2007, before Renegade. VF has become such a better park since it has taken out stuff like Mini Golf, The Flume, and done some serious revamping. Michigans Adventure needs the following things: -Planet/Camp Snoopy -Drop Tower -More Dining -Halloween Haunt -New Roller Coaster -More Not to take this thread too off topic but I'm kind of curious what proof you have that Valley Fair is going to receive an invert in the next two years considering all signs point to water park expansion? And to get back to Michigan's Adventure I'd argue in a lot of ways it's better than Valley Fair, especially in the wooden roller coaster and water park areas, but to get to your point about what the park needs I would say the parks management from when I've talked to them had been pretty content with the size of their current children's area especially since they already struggle to have enough ride operators as is. A drop tower has been brought up by cedar fair but the parks current gm and her husband the head of maintenance both do not like them, so I'd say that's not going to happen in the near future either. More dining, a new water slide complex, a roller coaster, or even the 200 foot wind seeker the park previously ordered but cancelled are all posibilities for next year. However don't expect a Halloween event or even fireworks until the township decides to ease up its heavy restrictions on the park, and also the park has concerns about whether they would be able to even fully staff the park for a Halloween event since most college kids would be back in school during that time period. VF just received a Water Park expansion in 2015, featuring slides MA doesn't have. Valleyfairs premier wooden is a new 2008 GCI, which is much different than Shivering Timbers, a more standard wooden, but it is still good. MA is clearly the worst and most neglected CF park, but it still has some charm in its own way. Personally, as a VF enthusiast, if the park would have gotten an invert in 2010, and the park did not receive little things like Planet Snoopy, Dino's, Route 76, and 2 Soak City Expansions, the park would have been much worse. If Michigans Adventure was revamped to make it have what all of the other CF Parks have, that would be a better expansion than one hyper coaster that's too nice for the park its in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
codeGR Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 A Windseeker where the Mini-golf currently sits would be a good location, if they are removing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmillzy Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 A Windseeker where the Mini-golf currently sits would be a good location, if they are removing it. Wind seeker is one of the few rides where height is EXTREMELY important. It would be better not to have it then have it be a big investment and no good. I find it funny that on its website MA lists its swing ride as a "thrill ride", when this is in most parks Planet Snoopy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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