Michigan's Adventure (MiA) Discussion Thread

[DirkFunk]

it's poorly staffed

 

So is CP.

 

And you won't find me there until June this year because of that. I'm pretty hard on CP for their poor staffing and actively tell people not to go opening weekend around htere.

 

they have like, what, three rides that adults and children under 48" can ride together (two of which are coasters)?

 

I count 22 (Dry side), three of which are coasters. (According to the website)

 

I took a look - wasn't 22 (adults can't fit on Hampton Motorcycles) but it was higher than I expected given Cedar Fair's usually militant attitude on height restrictions.

 

As a water park, what have they gotten new in the last 7-8 years, some used kiddie slides from Geauga?

 

All Cedar Fair food stands and locations suck. Classic tenders and fries. (Cedar Fair OWNED, not including Subway, Chick Fil-A, Panda express etc..)

 

Cedar Point's actually managed to put in edible things (burritos, mac and cheese, cheese on a stick, the Dragon's Inn provalone sticks). Same with Kings Island and definitely true with Canada's Wonderland. Mchigan's Adventure, we agree, isn't in league with them as a facility. It's in league with Adventureland in Iowa or Kentucky Kingdom. Those parks are way better than Michigan's Adventure food wise even if they're totally midpack. Darien Lake has a full service restaurant. Michigan's Adventure has a busted ass Coasters. Knoebels exists in this world; Michigan's Adventure buys a propane grill from Home Depot and slaps it into the beer garden so the person working register can make hot dogs to order (if you have 45 minute to kill). It's bad. Pointing out other bad things doesn't make Michigan's Adventure less bad. It just further highlights that Cedar Point rents out space to food trucks (that have great food) while Michigan's Adventure...doesn't.

 

They do need a new entrance. Not gonna lie.

 

The Corkscrew station was a meme before memes existed. I'm not joking either. "SAVE THE STATION".

 

Your hating on stuff that's not even there lol. They A. Don't have the staffing. And B. Don't have the attendance base to warrant a show.

 

You want to know who has live entertainment? Coney Island Cincinnati. Idlewild. Lake Compounce has multiple show venues. Donley's Wild West Town has live entertainment, for god sakes. That park is for sale in a catalog for $7 million.

 

Added coasters, an indoor restaurant. Umbrella's can be found around seating areas. The carnival ride area used to be known as "the oasis". Now it is cluttered with trees.

 

"Cluttered with trees" is a little strong. Kiddieland and the area around Wolverine Wildcat is still concrete paradise.

 

Okay, sorry the park is such a disappointment.

 

It isn't even just that the park isn't "good": it isn't even very interesting. It is only interesting to me in so much as it maximizes bad design aesthetic and unimaginative ride selection. It's less of a functioning fun park and more of a case study in how mediocre you can make a product in this industry and still draw a crowd when you have demographics and a lack of competition.

[SharkTums]

The Corkscrew station was a meme before memes existed. I'm not joking either. "SAVE THE STATION".

 

Oh god, that takes me back. We're old and have been in this hobby way too long.

[DirkFunk]

The reason that wolverine wildcat only has 1 train, is because it doesn't have a transfer track. There is no room to put it anywhere.

 

Right, they'd need to invest in transfer track and another train. And probably pay people more than dirt nothing wage (or just openly appeal to ex-felons) to get enough people on the platform to make it worth their while. Fred's experience is pretty much par for course for me over the last decade. I've not seen another Cedar Fair park let operators leave the booth while the ride was on to check lapbars by themselves, but at Michigan's Adventure, all things are apparently possible.

[DirkFunk]

I’d bet Cedar Point isn’t the reason for infrequent additions to the park. It seems like Michigan’s Adventure caters to families first and foremost, and if you’re a thrill seeker, you’re pretty much expected to go to Cedar Point. From what I’ve read for on this thread before, Michigan’s Adventure still has relatively high profit margins, if that’s true I doubt it’s going the way of Geauga Lake anytime soon. I don’t think proximity to Cedar Point is a reason for sparse additions either, if that were the case, Kings Island would not have gotten the significant additions they’ve received over the past decade.

 

It's never going anywhere and it's never going to get better. WYSIWYG. Timbers is about as good as it's gonna ever be now with the trick track removed and the helix trimmed to the point that it does little but kill more time for the crew to circle jerk in the station before they officially stack trains. I've made my peace with it. You can go do so many other rad things in that part of the world - or even just go on a suicide run across Michigan to the northern parks like Arzo's and Cedar Valley (the latter of which is much more charming than MiAdv) - that I would never tell people to not go. In fact, people should go. They should see what total mediocrity resembles so that they don't confuse something actually good with it.

[coasterbill]

This is my favorite thread today.

 

PS: Wolverine Wildcat is like a dystopian terrible Phoenix. If some random Chinese company decided to build a knockoff Phoenix it would be that. The layout is remarkably similar (tunnel and all) but it somehow manages to be completely uninteresting all around. The fact that it’s operations are so bad and it’s in a park with horrible food just makes it even more bizarre.

[DavidB]

Jesus...all around

[Parker821]

Then there's Wolverine Wildcat. It only has one train. But why does the park only have ONE (1) person checking lapbars

 

Because staffing. The ride only requires one person to check restraints. There is a unload position, but is usually only staffed in the morning before breaks start.

 

I've not seen another Cedar Fair park let operators leave the booth while the ride was on to check lapbars by themselves, but at Michigan's Adventure, all things are apparently possible.

 

The program Cedar Fair uses called IRT, prohibits the operator from leaving their position....even if only one is checking restraints.

 

Wolverine Wildcat is like a dystopian terrible Phoenix

 

Yep. And since they are retracking the double down, it prob wont be going anytime soon.

 

circle jerk in the station before they officially stack trains.

 

It's difficult to not stack timbers when guests have absolutely no idea how to unbuckle their seatbelt...also a couple more checking restraints would not hurt...staffing problems.

 

they'd need to invest in transfer track and another train

 

It's prob not worth their time or money to do that.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Parker821

[RCjunkie]

It isn't even just that the park isn't "good": it isn't even very interesting. It is only interesting to me in so much as it maximizes bad design aesthetic and unimaginative ride selection. It's less of a functioning fun park and more of a case study in how mediocre you can make a product in this industry and still draw a crowd when you have demographics and a lack of competition.

 

Spot on. If you have the right location and no competition it allows you to get away with this.

[grsupercity]

The parks app just updated and now has wait times.

[Parker821]

The parks app just updated and now has wait times.

 

Yep, wait times will be available on Shivering Timbers, Wolverine Wildcat, Loggers Run, Mad Mouse, Thunderhawk, and Grand Rapids.

[ThemeParkJunkie51290]

About to make this drive over to Michigan's Adventure today! First time visit . . . so . . . wish me a great time today!

[grsupercity]

About to make this drive over to Michigan's Adventure today! First time visit . . . so . . . wish me a great time today!

 

How was your trip?

 

I finally made my first trip to MIA this past weekend. Timbers and Wildcat had lots of new wood. Timbers I thought ran the best it has since the early 2000's. It was butter smooth and was a buffet of airtime. Only thing was I noticed was a trim brake before the helix. I have never noticed a trim brake before so I may be new?

 

Now time for my yearly wrong prediction. I still think the park is getting a camp snoopy. Weather it be a redo of the area by Zach's Zoomer or a whole new kids area behind Wildcat. I could see a snoopy 500 whip ride, camp bus and some more usual camp snoopy rides. A nice playground for kids would be nice as well.

[ThemeParkJunkie51290]

About to make this drive over to Michigan's Adventure today! First time visit . . . so . . . wish me a great time today!

 

How was your trip?

 

I finally made my first trip to MIA this past weekend. Timbers and Wildcat had lots of new wood. Timbers I thought ran the best it has since the early 2000's. It was butter smooth and was a buffet of airtime. Only thing was I noticed was a trim brake before the helix. I have never noticed a trim brake before so I may be new?

 

Now time for my yearly wrong prediction. I still think the park is getting a camp snoopy. Weather it be a redo of the area by Zach's Zoomer or a whole new kids area behind Wildcat. I could see a snoopy 500 whip ride, camp bus and some more usual camp snoopy rides. A nice playground for kids would be nice as well.

 

Everything was great! I really enjoyed myself and all the rides were walk-on during my visit. The staff were friendly, and the atmosphere of the park was fantastic!

[cparkes92]

If Michigan's Adventure were to get a coaster in the next few years, it will be one of these:

1. A relocation from another Cedar Fair park

2. RMC conversion of Wolverine Wildcat

3. Either an RMC Raptor or a Premier Sky Rocket II that would replace Corkscrew

[MIAfan88]

2-4 parks normally receive a coaster each year. Kings Island and California's Great America appear to be all but confirmed. In the hunt are Kings Dominion and my dark horse Worlds of Fun. Maybe they will get one of Schlitterbahn Kansas City slides, although the selection seems small to pick from. More than likely a few lounge chairs and umbrellas.

 

Any noticeable changes for those who have visited this year?

[VF15]

Yesterday I visited Michigan’s Adventure for the first time and had a nice day. I’ve wanted to visit this park for a while, particularly for Shivering Timbers, and with me living only a few hours away for the summer, it seemed like a good time to go. This was the seventh Cedar Fair I’ve been to and probably the most unique one so far. In many ways it didn’t really feel like a typical Cedar Fair park. Apart from some the typical CF staples like the trash cans, FunTV, and certain food/merch locations, the park had a relatively unique feel to it, as many aspects of the park feel held over since before it was bought out, but I wasn’t bothered by it. Overall it was a great day to be at the park, weather was mostly sunny and in the low 70s. Crowds levels were very low, my only long wait all day was for Mad Mouse (20 minutes), everything else was only a one train/cycle wait. The park has an interesting selection of both coasters and flats. Below I’ll share some thoughts on the park’s coasters...

 

-Shivering Timbers: This coaster was the reason I made the trip to MiA and it did not disappoint. The ride has a great first drop and features tons of airtime on its many hills, some floater and some ejector. The ending helix was nice too with some strong laterals. Will definitely be somewhere in my top 5 wooden coasters.

-Wolverine Wildcat: Despite the fact that there wasn’t much airtime, it was an enjoyable coaster for what it was. Had some decent drops and a few laterals in some places.

-Corkscrew: For a 40-year-old Arrow, it gave a relatively smooth experience. It’s a short ride but still had fun.

-Thunderhawk: After being an enthusiast for several years now, I finally rode my first Vekoma SLC, and it wasn’t that bad. It was honestly bumpier on the arms and shoulders than the head, but overall was not nearly as bad as it could have been. It provided a relatively intense ride otherwise.

-Mad Mouse: An exact copy of the Arrow Mouse from Valleyfair. Fun ride with nice laterals.

-Zach’s Zoomer: Not bad for a family coaster. Had a few pops of airtime here and there.

Edited June 19, 2019 by VF15

[Canobie Coaster]

Glad you enjoyed Shivering Timbers. I love my out and back woodies and that really is one on steroids.

 

If you thought Thunderhawk was bumpy, wait until you try some other SLCs. That's one of the smoother ones.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Glad you had a good time. I agree with your assessment of all the coasters. Shivering Timbers alone is worth the trip to Muskegon, which is good considering that nothing else is worth traveling for. Once you're there though, they do have a handful of other enjoyable rides, and you can make a day of it. Certainly there are better parks, but you're not going to have a bad time at Michigan's Adventure.

[thrillrider]

Looks like the park is removing the car ride. Sunday is your last chance to ride it. Found this on Facebook...

 

[coasterbill]

Holy crap. Are they actually gearing up for a dry park addition?

 

Based on the location it's probably a kiddy area upgrade but still... look out, world.

[Canobie Coaster]

^ That would be a nice location for a gazebo with some more benches.

[codeGR]

My first thought was replacing it with a more traditional antique car ride, like what was just installed at Kings Island.

[coasterbill]

I would laugh so hard. Please let them do that.

[grsupercity]

I have been predicting camp snoopy. I might actually be right for once

 

That ride has been really have some issues this year. One side hasnt ran all year and the other has been limped along

[MIAfan88]

Knowing them, the area could turn into a grassy area like what happened to the Stinger area at Dorney Park.

 

If it is a Camp / Planet Snoopy, how many new rides are expected? Truthfully, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was 2 or 3 new rides.....I guess that’s a lot for a park that likely won’t get anything new after this for 5 years.