So I visited WOF yesterday and boy was it an interesting and exciting visit. It was absolutely dead. Probably the least busy day I have ever seen. Oceans of Fun had an average crowd, but that’s to be expected. But WOF’s crowd was super minimal. The main parking lot at WOF was filled up to C3. And if you’ve been there, you’d know that’s not much of the parking lot. So the waits for the rides were minimal to non existent! It was so dead that day that Spinning Dragons was a walk on.
But what I wanted to talk about was how impressive operations were, especially for the crowd. Every coaster was running two trains even though they were sending them 90% empty most of the time. This is a stark contrast to last season where lines could reach well over an hour and they would still never use two trains. It’s also worth mentioning that the ops at every coaster except Timberwolf would actually try and dispatch in a reasonably quick amount of time. The quickest dispatches were at patriot and they were not stacking at all. Mamba had some quick dispatches too and wasn’t always stacking. Prowler still had slower dispatches, but nothing compared to the 5+ minutes of stacking during my last visit. But I can’t say the same for Timberwolf. They were still doing the old method of waiting for every rider to leave the station, then opening every restraint and seatbelt before opening the gates. Then they would wait until the previous train was stacked before closing the gates and starting the long process of checking restraints. But other than that, operations were surprisingly good and I *really* hope they keep this up through the summer!
Speaking of Timberwolf. I really enjoyed it. The new turn was buttery smooth but kinda forceless. Not one hint of laterals except after the little airtime hop after the turn. The first half of the ride felt a decent bit faster but the double trims were still kicking in. But it’s the last half of the ride that shines now. Even though they added another trim after the new turn and are tilizing an old trim before the low flat turnaround (don’t know how to describe it

), it’s taken at a much greater speed. The hill after the new work now offers the most extreme airtime I’ve felt on a traditional wooden coaster. And the hills after that which didn’t normally have airtime offer nice floater. Going to soak that all in this season before the tame it down with the next phase of refurbishment.
Also worth mentioning that I tried some of the BBQ from Battlecreek BBQ and it was really good! Even though it was nearly $20 for a pulled pork sandwich and fries, it was a hefty sized meal. The flavor was good and I like how they’re actually using proper buns on the sandwiches now instead of just flat regular grocery store bread.
But overall, it was a great visit and I REALLY liked what I saw and hope it continues through the rest of the season!

- No crowds at Mamba! No train in sight because of the fast dispatches!

- New turn!