Michigan's Adventure 6/1/08

I was visiting Grand Haven, MI and decided to make the quick trip to Michigan's Adventure. MiAdv is only about 30 minutes from downtown Grand Haven.

I arrived at the park about 11:15am and found the park to be fairly empty. I promptly headed to the relocated Thunderhawk. Thunderhawk is in the back of the park by the waterpark and other water rides. Thunderhawk looks nice looming over the large pond inside the park. I rode Thunderhawk about 10 times in the morning. Oddly enough, the most enjoyable ride was in the last row of the train. The ride in the last row was much smoother than in the middle or front of the train. It also seems that Thunderhawk is more aggressive at its new home. The placement and landscaping around the ride are very nice. This ride fits in very well. I like this ride better at MiAdv than at GL.

I took in a few laps on Shivering Timbers. The front row provided the smoothest ride as usual. The middle of the train was not too bad. However, the last row was much rougher than I had remembered. The last row is still exciting when you get "pulled" over the lift hill...after that its fairly abusive. But none the less it is a great ride.

I also rode Wolverine Wildcat & Zach's Zoomer a few times. WW could use some attention. It is rough just like ST. ZZ is still a great junior wooden roller coaster.

I also rode a few of the flats: Sea Dragon, Falling Star, Thunderbolt, Tilt-a-Whirl and Dodgem Cars. It was just warm enough to ride Loggers Run. Nothing beats a good log flume.

I did not go in the water park. I am not sure if the water park opened that day. It was only 65 degrees in Grand Haven. The water park looks nice.

In all the park looked very nice. It was clean. The landscaping was very nice as well. The staff in the shops and food stands were pleasant. And all of the ride ops seem to be enthusiastic about thier jobs.

I have a couple of videos to share from my trip:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=35408757

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=35430676

And some photos as well:

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=304822288&albumId=807201

Dropped in the park Sun. morning myself. I was supprised at the small crowd. Usually they start getting pretty busy after Mem. day. I asked the gate attendent as I was leaving and he said there was a lot more people there on Sat. but not near as many as they were expecting. I am sure the local economy is not helping.

The blue train on ST is running the smoothest so far this year (new wheels?). Have not ridden in the back yet but will check things out next visit. Having only a few riders makes for a rougher ride also.

I noticed that the back seat on Thunderhawk was actually fairly smooth too. I also think the station for the ride is very pleasant looking with its Northern woodsy theme. I think Thawk looks great at MiAdv, much more flashy than it did at GL last summer.