Roadtrip! 12 Days in the Upper Midwest

[Zand]

Hello all,

I am embarking on a 12 day roadtrip later this month to Minnesota and back. I figured I will eventually use this thread for reports, but for now any intel on the following parks would be great! Keep in mind that my daily itinerary is pretty much set in stone at this point so I won't really have a lot of time to break off to visit other local things. At most of these parks I'll be spending less than a full day so if anyone can point out some less obvious must-dos at any of the parks it would be appreciated!

Day 1 (Sunday July 20): Drive 12+ hours to Michigan with a brief pit stop at Waldameer. I've never been there before but would like to get in and out in under 2 hours. Obviously mostly focused on Ravine Flyer but will also try to get the other two adult coaster credits and ride anything else unique to this park such as the flume and the fun house. Anything else unique I should be aware of?

Day 2: Michigan's Adventure. I feel like other than Shivering Timbers, the rest of the day will consist of a kind of quick loop around the park getting one ride each on the rest of the coasters. Planning on giving this park about 6 hours, and 3 or 4 of them probably will be Shivering Timbers lol.

Day 3: Indiana Beach. I might be more excited for this park than any other park on my trip. I will likely have almost the full day here as I will be travelling westward afterwards and gaining an hour from the time change. I should have no problem hitting everything once and then many rerides on the good stuff many times!

Day 4: Six Flags Great America. Will be here the full day and also have ultra flash pass so I don't see any issues getting on everything or needing a big plan to do so. I know Rakshasa isn't on Flash Pass but hopefully that line won't be too bad.

Day 5: Little Amerricka and Mt Olympus. Quick pit stop at Little Amerricka to check it out and ride the coasters. Then a slightly longer pitstop at Mt Olympus where I will hopefully live to tell all about it Anything unique at either of these parks I should be aware of?

Days 6-8: Visiting friends near Minneapolis for the weekend. Will be checking out Valleyfair and MOA during this time. And doing other Minnesota things. Whatever that is.

Day 9: Hopefully driving all the way to Ohio with a quick pit stop at Bay Beach which will add over an hour to the ride time but I think Zippin Pippin will be worth it. 

Days 10-11: Cedar Point. Expecting a shitshow but hoping for the best. I know my way around this place though. Lol

Day 12: Finishing the ride home and a pit stop at Six Flags Darien Lake. Have been there once about 20 years ago so will get the couple of new to me credits and ride Superman, a classic arrow, and hopefully an improved Predator.

This will be the longest road trip I've ever done but it will be nice to knock out pretty much every park east of the Mississippi that I haven't been to yet. Lots of bucket list coasters and hopefully good times to be had!

[AmyUD06]

Seems like a fun trip you have planned there, and you've got a lot covered.  Here's some additional pointers:

Waldameer has not only a Pirate's Cove walk through fun house, but also a Wacky Shack dark ride.  Both Bill Tracy creations.  Neither are to be missed.  Comet is also a classic and should not be missed just for history, but you're right that Ravine Flyer II is really the star of this park and arguably the only reason to visit. (EDIT:  Here's my TR from 2021)

At Indiana Beach, do NOT sleep on Dr. Frankenstein's Castle.  Yes, it's a minor upcharge, but is easily one of the best walk-through fun houses I've ever done.  Lots of great props, physical gags, and actual maze-like areas.  It was honestly the star of the park for me when I visited (before All-American Triple Loop).  There's also the 1998 shooting-dark-ride Den of Lost Thieves, which predates a lot of other shooting-dark-rides. (EDIT:  Here's my TR from 2021)

Six Flags Great America has one of the few Huss Condors left in the world, and should not be missed just for the historic value.  I visited this park in 2017 before they added Maxx Force, Sky Striker, and Wrath of Rakshasa and I don't know if I could have done everything in one day even then.  Don't miss Little Dipper either- I almost did on my trip there - it's kinda hidden. (EDIT:  Here's my TR from 2017, when I didn't care about credits and didn't have the appreciation of a lot of things in parks that I do today).

Add 2 hours to each of your estimated travel times through Chicago, and 1 hour to your trek across Indiana on the way back to Cedar Point

(Following is some alternative route-order advice, please ignore if your trip is fully booked and non-refundable or if you have personal reasons for doing it the way you are).

You should consider the Lake Express ferry between Muskegon and Milwaukee. It crosses the lake and completely skips driving across Indiana and through Chicago. If you're staying overnight in Muskegon after Michigan's Adventure, and your agenda is flexible, if I were doing this trip I'd modify it like this:

-Day 1: No Changes
-Day 2-3-4: Morning after Michigan's Adventure, Lake Express Ferry to Milwaukee, then stop by Bay Beach on your way to your MN portion of your trip.
-Day 5: Mt Olympus/Little Amerrika
-Day 6: SF Great America
-Day 7: Indiana Beach
-Day 8-9: Cedar Point
-Day 10: Drive Home, Darien Lake.

This way saves you one of the drives through Chicago and dodges the awful Indiana Toll Road almost entirely, eliminates all backtracking, and also gives you 2 extra days to build into your trip if you wanted to spend an extra day at SFGAm (I would, it's one of the better SF parks) or an extra day with your friends in MN.

Either way, have fun!

[Zand]

There's a couple reasons I can really adjust the days. For one thing, the Minnesota days fall when they do simply because it's the weekend. My friend that I'm staying with is off from work Fri-Sun so it wouldn't make sense for me to shift that forwards or backwards any. Also, I already have date specific tickets to Indiana Beach for Tuesday 7/22 (they were only $26 when I got them...I'm sure if I had to the park would be willing to change the date for me, but because of the Minnesota timing factor I don't think it would help to go straight across from MiA as much as it would save time and miles). 

On the day I drive from Minnesota to Ohio, more than likely I'll only make it to South Bend or so and stop there. I don't really care if I get to Cedar Point a little later the first day. If I'm getting into Chicago right at rush hour maybe I'll just stop into Great America for a couple hours to let the traffic die off a bit haha.

Appreciate the tips though! I definitely understand your reasoning for taking the ferry and avoiding Chicago one way. And thanks for the ride recommendations. I definitely love checking out old school funhouses, they are a pretty rare sight these days.

If Great America starts to look too tight time wise to get to everything then I'll definitely prioritize certain things but I think the Flash Pass should get me through everything. I'll do stuff like Superman, Joker, and Dark Knight last because I can ride them all in NJ and don't care that much about credits for the sake of credits. And as much as I enjoy impulses I could put that off till last as well because I'll be riding the one at Valleyfair and Dorney is close by to me.

[Zand]

Looking more and more likely that I will be missing out on Maxx Force

Out of all the parks on this trip, Great America would probably be the easiest to get back to since it's in a major city with cheap flights. So if it's still closed next week I guess I'll have a reason to go back!

[Zand]

Day 1: Waldameer

Basically more of a pit stop than anything, but it was my first time here. Arrived shortly before 5 and was pleased to see they offered an after 5pm wristband for $29 (I was prepared to buy $40-50 in tickets) so my day was already off to a good start. 

Started off with a front row ride on Ravine Flyer II as it was only running 1 train, but ops were decently quick with loading. Front row was pretty good, a few pops of air but nothing to really write home about. But I would return later...

Stopped by Pirates Cove which was a walk on and certainly an interesting walk through fun house. Lots of cool gas and a couple dizzying crooked sections. You don't find these too often anymore so it was really awesome checking this out.

Intended on riding the Flume next but it was down and drained with maintenance milling about in various areas. So I continued back to get by Steel Dragon credit. Pretty much a walk on, not the greatest spinner but a couple briefly intense sections. Didn't spin a whole lot.

Right next door was the awesome Larson drop tower XScream. I would be perfectly happy lapping one of these for hours on end. I was on limited time, or I would've done the same here. I love these things. Wish there were more of them.

Noted the Flume was starting to fill back up with water, I quickly detoured over to Comet to get my final credit of the day (with only two hours I wasn't wasting my time with the kiddie coaster and the Visa). This was running 2 trains and was a really fun, perfectly smooth family woodie. Even had a couple quick moments of floater. Too bad these junior woodies are as rare as they are, they almost all run good.

Headed back over towards the empty Log Flume which was cycling empty logs. As fate would have it, maintenance shouted down to the greeter to open the ride right when I walked up and I would be the first one in. This is a really awesome Flume. Neat tunnel section at the beginning and two good drops. Nice splash but not totally soaking. Two thumbs up for this flume, which is very popular as the line filled right up behind me so I'm glad I got to it when I did.

Unlike Great Adventure, Waldameer knows how to quickly get a Fluke fixed and back running!

Was 6:15 by this point and I rode everything I wanted except Whacky Shack which had a long slow line, so I headed back to Ravine Flyer for a 20 minute wait and back row ride. This is absolutely a back row coaster, the first drop is insane back there and the intensity throughout is turned up to 10. While the front felt kind of controlled and graceful, the back felt like a rampage through most of the ride. I thought this coaster felt similar to Excalibur at Funtown, maybe slightly more intense. Hope to get back to it someday.

Walking back through the park I noticed the line for Whacky Shack was a lot shorter so I hopped on. Another very fun dark ride. Really enjoyed this just as much as its neighbor.

Finished up with one more quick ride on XScream. Had to hit the road to Michigan and was sad to have to leave the park so quick. This is a great little park with a world class woodie, a couple fun support coasters, a great flume, 2 fun dark rides, a Larson Tower, and what looked like a very good package of flats. Not to mention it has a lot of charm and is very family friendly. Felt like a better Canobie. 

Off to Michigan's Adventure tomorrow and FINALLY riding Shivering Timbers for the first time. Can't wait!

[Zand]

Day 2: Michigan's Adventure and some other Michigan adventures 

Arrived at the park around 1 and there was no doubt where I was heading first. Shivering Timbers has been on my bucket list for 25+ years and it was finally time. Was glad to see it running 2 trains and was seated in the front row in about 10 minutes. Front row ride was a bit benign but also seemed pretty smooth. Went around for a ride in the back and this is where it's at...airtime out the wazoo but also quite brutal in spots. I would later return for one more backseat ride and after a little warming up this thing just yeets you out of your seat time after time.

The first couple hills were titan tracked (or something like that) and were nice and smooth, airtime like a hyper. But after that it was so bouncy that you would get several jolts of ejector over each hill and then you'd slam down in the valley. A great ride but very tough to reride.

Moved on to the Mad Mouse, my first Arrow Mouse. These seem to have better pacing and airtime than other manufacturers mice, but the ops were atrocious here. I started timing dispatches because I was bored and the average was about 1:15 or so, for a 4 person car. And they run 7 cars so you get to sit on the brake run for another 5 minutes when you're done. There couldn't have been more than 40 people in line and it took me 28 minutes from getting in line to getting off the ride.

Next door I found the Ferris Wheel to be a walk on so I got a quick ride on that. Nice views of a very pretty park.

Next on the credit tour was Corkscrew which had more awful ops. Dispatches were 5+ minutes and there were multiple cases where the whole train disembarked and everyone was all the way down the stairs and halfway to Shivering Timbers before they bothered to open the gates. Ended up being a 35 minute wait for a line that was halfway down the ramp. The ride was typical boring Arrow Corkscrew, but one of the less brutal ones I've ever ridden.

Hit up Zach's Zoomer which was fun enough. Not as smooth as Comet yesterday, but still a good family woodie. Walk on which was a nice change.

Made my way around the lake to find the SLC closed and the train also closed for some reason, rendering this part of the day a 10 minute walk into a dead end. Very nice looking walk around the lake though.

Walked all the way back around to Wolverine Wildcat which I can agree with the general assessment that this does a shitty Phoenix impression. A couple small floater areas but otherwise just kind of meanders. Smooth enough to enjoy though. Credit #300 acquired.

That's all I did, was only in the park for about 3 hours. This place kind of sucks on paper and in reality it's even smaller than you expect. Shivering Timbers is worth the drive but at the same time you'd love to ride it 20 times since there's not much else to do in this park, but for me anyway it was tough to ride it more than twice in a row. The park feels like it just kind of exists otherwise.

After leaving the park we drive to Silver Lake to check out Mac Wood's Dune Rides. This was a ton of fun and I would highly recommend the 30 minute drive to check this place out. The views are stunning and the ride is a lot of fun. They fly through the hills and you even get a couple airtime pops! The whole area is really nice. I would love to get back to northern Michigan to really explore the area for a whole week.

Staying in New Buffalo MI tonight and I didn't expect to suddenly get transported to the Jersey Shore but that's what it felt like. Stopped at the beach to watch the gorgeous sunset at 9:15 and then had dinner at a rooftop bar and no matter how many times I tried to tell myself, I couldn't believe I was in Michigan, much less mere miles from the Indiana suburbs of Chicago.

It was a great day exploring Michigan! Tomorrow is Indiana Beach, which might be my most anticipated park on the trip.