Waldameer Discussion Thread

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Ha, hadn't even considered it might be cold then. Around here, it's been full on summer for about a month by then, and highs in the 80s are normal. Guess I'll have to see what the weather is like when I get there.

 

As for the date, it's locked in. Coastermania is the day before, and I'm stopping here between CP and Kennywood. So Saturday it is.

 

Great ride and food recommendations, just what I was looking for. Thanks!

[JJLehto]

Ha, hadn't even considered it might be cold then. Around here, it's been full on summer for about a month by then, and highs in the 80s are normal. Guess I'll have to see what the weather is like when I get there.

 

As for the date, it's locked in. Coastermania is the day before, and I'm stopping here between CP and Kennywood. So Saturday it is.

 

Great ride and food recommendations, just what I was looking for. Thanks!

 

 

Ah I understand, figured it was built around Coastermania. I did that exact same thing, it's indeed a GREAT way to fill out a Coastermania trip.

[Philrad71]

Ha, hadn't even considered it would be cold then.

 

Fixed that for ya there, Andrew!

 

Seriously though...take the time that you would be spending at the water park and go to a U-Pick Six Public House on Rte 20 for lunch (it's a stone's throw away) and have the bacon grape flatbread and a couple of brews.

 

You can thank me later!

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Just looked that up, and it looks awesome! Thanks!

[ajfelice]

Trip planning time! Going to be at Waldameer June 2, a Saturday. Obviously I'm there mainly for Ravine Flyer II, but that new water slide looks pretty fun as well. I'll probably get the combo wristband and spend some time in the waterpark.

 

Waldameer's website has an interesting phrase: "Rides begin opening at noon, all rides open by 1." So I'm guessing it would be better to head straight to the water park at opening, then do rides after?

 

Also, what rides have long and/or slow moving lines that I may want to do early? Definitely want to do the two dark rides, the sky ride, the flume, and the coasters. Are any of the flats especially good, can't miss? They're all types I've been on before, so they'll be as time allows unless there's something special that bumps a particular flat into can't miss territory.

 

Thanks!

 

You will not need a strategy for June 2. That is notoriously the slowest Saturday between Memorial Day and Labor Day. We are talking less than 10-15min at peak for Ravine Flyer II with one train.

 

As for ride opening times, we took a page out of Seabreeze's book and stagger rides for some to open at noon with the remainder by 1:00pm. I am actually in the lobbying stage to get Ravine Flyer II bumped up to noon, but right now it is a 1:00pm opening any day the park is scheduled to close at 10:00pm.

 

Unique non-coasters are the two dark rides, XScream for its great view, and Music Express for its intense program.

[JRice92]

Mirroring what others said Xscream and Music Express are must rides.

[pryonisys]

Cool thing that I saw on the ACE twitter account last night. Looks like Waldameer will be getting a Zamperla Mini Discovery 360 in 2019. It should be interesting as it may be the most thrilling flat ride there (that is all subjective though). No clue where they will fit it but they always seem to fit things in.

It's nice to see additions to the dry side along with all the great additions to Water World that have been going on recently.

[christianscoasters]

XScream is one of the most terrifying drop towers I’ve ever been on. I don’t know why, but that drop gets me every time!

[Myself]

Cool thing that I saw on the ACE twitter account last night. Looks like Waldameer will be getting a Zamperla Mini Discovery 360 in 2019. It should be interesting as it may be the most thrilling flat ride there (that is all subjective though). No clue where they will fit it but they always seem to fit things in.

It's nice to see additions to the dry side along with all the great additions to Water World that have been going on recently.

The ride will be called Chaos and will be located behind the train station in between the two tracks.

[pryonisys]

Cool thing that I saw on the ACE twitter account last night. Looks like Waldameer will be getting a Zamperla Mini Discovery 360 in 2019. It should be interesting as it may be the most thrilling flat ride there (that is all subjective though). No clue where they will fit it but they always seem to fit things in.

It's nice to see additions to the dry side along with all the great additions to Water World that have been going on recently.

The ride will be called Chaos and will be located behind the train station in between the two tracks.

Well ok then. I saw the name but didn't know the location, thanks. That will be interesting to have it up there. It's still strange to me how much they're developing that section of the park, but it's great to see. Thanks for the additional info

[_s3_]

The new Discovery sounds great.

 

Steve Gorman also confirms the addition, stating that the ride is already ordered for 2019 around the 7:00 mark of this Facebook Live video:

 

https://www.facebook.com/GoErie/videos/10156140589332367/UzpfSTE0NzUyMDgwNTI5NTk1MjoxNjAwNDYxMzczMzM1MjE0/

 

ACE mentioned a Mini Discovery, but based on Gorman's words, definitely sounds more like a Discovery Revolution (which Screamscape has mentioned).

 

Great add to the park, IMO. I would like to see the train station moved back a little bit, but not sure if there is a "re-profile" going to happen with that or not. The train station made a lot more sense back in the day prior to the moving of the Scrambler, but now it seems as if the main station is crowding the area a little bit.

[BitterOldHag]

^ Thank you so much for sharing that video. I learned a lot about a park I have been visiting for over 20 years, especially hearing a reason as to why the park doesn't remain open after Labor Day. I always thought it had something to do with the campground next door raising a stink, so it's interesting to hear that it was simply a staffing issue. It was also fun to hear Mr. Gorman (Steve) mention that the Ravine Flyer II had over 300,000 riders last year. Makes me wonder what the park's total attendance was. I would not be surprised if it was over 500,000 as the waterpark expansion has really done well for Waldameer.

 

I am definitely a shill for Waldameer, so for anyone that has plans of travelling through the area and has not yet been to the park, I can't recommend the place enough.

[Philrad71]

Great news!

 

This will be a perfect addition for the park!

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Thanks for posting that; it was really fun to watch. I haven't been to this park, but still trying to make it this summer, and it was great seeing a walkthrough and also the trip to the top of RF2's lift. Looks like a really fun park!

[ajfelice]

For clarification on the location, Chaos will be located behind the train station as seen in blue and green in the photo below. Without sharing too much information on what we have in store for the future, the Chaos location could be the start of a multi-attraction expansion southward several years down the road contingent on some other things. What may seem off the beaten path for 2019 will eventually come full circle.

 

 

Fall operations are not completely off the table, but staffing is a major consideration. If/when the season is extended, the schedule will be similar to Seabreeze or Kentucky Kingdom with the season ending mid to late September. Speaking of staffing, the decline in population in the region is huge red flag going forward as each expansion puts on the extra stress of boosting recruitment efforts.

 

Lastly, if you haven't ridden Ravine Flyer II in awhile, 2018 is the year to do it. Major re-tracking on both sides of the bridge, bottom of the second drop, and tight turn going into the 90 degree bank has dramatically improved three notorious trouble spots.

Edited May 15, 2018 by ajfelice

[Canobie Coaster]

^ Wow I thought Ravine Flyer 2 was pretty smooth last year considering the aggressive layout. Glad to see their star attraction getting the love it deserves.

[pryonisys]

Well that answers the question I had about where that ride would fit. It's nice to see the park I grew up with continuing to get love.

I hope that somehow Erie figures out a way to fix all the issues that they have (not park related) so that Waldameer has the capability (and a good reason) to keep improving.

 

I also thought Ravine Flyer was very smooth last year, but I'm happy that they are continuing to maintain it so well.

[JT325]

The attention to care and detail Waldameer gives their rides and park always amazes me. Over the last few years this park has become one of my top favorites! Ravine Flyer 2 is a wild and awesome ride, but my favorite at the park is still Comet. With it's truly classic seating and beautiful curved station, all updated with (curved!) magnetic brakes to enable 2 train ops. The amount of fun I have at this place... night rides on the flume, the dark rides, the Spider, the charm. The awesome sky ride, the list goes on.

[djcoastermark]

I must say, Ravine Flyer is in my top coasters. Looking at the lift hill is soooo deceiving. My first impression was that there is no way in heck there's a 120 foot drop off that thing. It looks so small. Then get on it, and wow ! As it climbs the lift and you see the best view of any coaster out onto Lake Erie for a brief moment, then the drop. My first impression was where the heck did that come from. That drop ranks so high on my list. Yeah, If I'm ever in the area again, it is a must do. And yes, Comt is really cool too.

[Rai Fox]

Thanks to a change in travel plans, just got to add Waldameer to my park schedule for this summer! I'll be there on Tuesday, June 26th, so I don't imagine crowds will be much of an issue and I should be able to get to everything in the park. That makes ride "must-dos" pretty much irrelevant, so more importantly, are there any must try restaurants or snacks here? I saw mention of a deep fried pretzel a couple pages back...anything else that's worth going out of the way for, or should I plan on finding food outside the park instead?

[pryonisys]

Thanks to a change in travel plans, just got to add Waldameer to my park schedule for this summer! I'll be there on Tuesday, June 26th, so I don't imagine crowds will be much of an issue and I should be able to get to everything in the park. That makes ride "must-dos" pretty much irrelevant, so more importantly, are there any must try restaurants or snacks here? I saw mention of a deep fried pretzel a couple pages back...anything else that's worth going out of the way for, or should I plan on finding food outside the park instead?

IMO get food outside of the park.

The park food is inexpensive as far as park food goes, but I've personally never been a fan of Waldameer's food options, it all seems very generic to me (Disclaimer: I was raised in a family that brought a cooler to amusement parks and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch and that frugalness has carried on into my adulthood, so my opinion doesn't line up well with most park goers when it comes to food).

 

With easy access and free parking it's really no problem to get out of the park for food, there are some decent sit down restaurants right on the Peninsula Ave (the road the park's main entrance is on), I've only been there once but Joe Roots Grill which is very close to the park is an ok lunch spot. There are a lot of places on West Lake Road also. It really all depends what you are looking for in terms of food.

 

A local favorite for burgers and hot dogs is Sara's which is just north of Waldameer at the entrance to Presque Isle. (Not a place I frequent very often as a company I used to work for managed their computers so if I was there to eat they would always ask me to fix their computer issues).

[Samuel]

Thanks to a change in travel plans, just got to add Waldameer to my park schedule for this summer! I'll be there on Tuesday, June 26th, so I don't imagine crowds will be much of an issue and I should be able to get to everything in the park. That makes ride "must-dos" pretty much irrelevant, so more importantly, are there any must try restaurants or snacks here? I saw mention of a deep fried pretzel a couple pages back...anything else that's worth going out of the way for, or should I plan on finding food outside the park instead?

 

Nice! I think you'll have an awesome time. I'll be heading to the park this weekend, and I recommend stopping by a little Erie culture credit called Sara's immediately outside the park -- just beyond the Ravine Flyer's road flyover. It's an unapologetic jukebox diner-and-ice-cream joint that serves some standard food, but also some of the best milkshakes (and ice cream) around, and it'll just charm the pants off of you.

 

It's a popular spot with the locals and is one of my favorite places to pop in when I go to the park. The ice cream and roadside attraction kitsch are more than worth the 15 seconds it takes to get there from the park.

 

You might take up another option for dinner, but you can't go wrong checking it out and having a dessert.

 

Google images for Sara's

[Philrad71]

I was just at Sara's the other day on a weekday (needed a break from sitting in a hospital room) around 3:00 and it was packed. So if you go, be ready for big crowds if it's a nice day - especially if you go on a Saturday. As others have mentioned, it's extremely popular with the beach/Waldameer crowd as well as locals.

 

I have heard that the small place across from the park has good food (and beer). Can't recall the name of it, but I am thinking of trying it within the next day or two, so I'll grab some pics. My Dad said that they have great gyros and they have what locals call "Greek hot dogs" which are like chili dogs, but with just meat sauce on them. Never had them, but may try one to see if it's better than Sara's chili dog.

 

And as others have mentioned, Waldameer isn't really known for it's stellar park food. They have the basics, but none that I have had really stood out as delicious or must-haves.

 

Edit - the place across the street is called Schickalay's On The Bay.

 

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Edited June 13, 2018 by Philrad71

[Canobie Coaster]

I was probably the one recommending the deep fried pretzel. It was unique, delicious, and cheap.

 

Also know that even if it's torrential downpours all day, Waldameer will be open and running everything. Their rain policy is amazing and I was actually stunned they even opened on the day I visited last year. Waldameer is fantastic.

[Rai Fox]

Thanks! I'll just have to wait for Knoebels later in the summer for the spectacular park food, then. I'll probably end up giving Sara's a try!

 

I remember reading about their rain policy here; that was actually one of the deciding factors for making a stop there. I'm fitting it into the middle of a road trip, so there's not really any wiggle room to do it any other day; it's that tuesday or nothing. Knowing it'll almost certainly be open no matter what the weather ends up being is a big plus.