Lakemont Park status?

Does anyone know the status of Lakemont Park? I'm trying to plan a visit there to ride Leap The Dips, but their website hasn't been working. They haven't shut down, have they?

Altoona paper had a story about summer jobs on the 11th. Park owner said he hired 230 workers for this season. I would assume they will be open.

814-949-PARK

Their web site looks fine to me:

http://www.lakemontparkfun.com/parkinformation.html

It's not working for me at the moment. It wasn't working when I tried yesterday either. Maybe they just have a crappy server.

Lakemont has been having problems with their website off and on for several months now. It has tended to go down for a week or so at a time. I wouldn't read anything into it concerning the status of the park itself. Just a bad web service.

Don't ya just love park status threads due to the problems with their website. I wonder how it will go down on here, when Cedar Point has a glitch with their website.

But Lakemont is a very low budget type of park. I don't find it surprising that people would expect the park to simply shut down one day, but I don't expect to see it myself.

Hi..............Barry Kumpf, General Manager of Lakemont Park in Altoona, PA here. I just want to assure you that weare VERY MUCH open!!!! While we have no new rides, we have upgraded ALL of our food outlets and have given everything in the park a facelift. We have also given ourweb site a facelift, which is why you may have had some difficulty accessing it. WHile not 100% complete, the new web site looks TERRIFIC!!!!! We still need to add the in park dining options, a map and a couple of other things, but we are very pleased with the site so far. Please plan to visit with us some time this summer. Thanks!

Thanks for keeping us informed Barry! Cant wait to ride the Dips again.

Some friends and I just went to Lakemont this past weekend, and everything was up and running. We were worried that we'd driven all this way for a day trip, losing an hour due to an Ohio Turnpike accident, only to have a thunderstorm ruin our chances of riding the oldest operating coaster in the world. Fortunately, the storm passed, and we ended up spending the rest of the day there rather than going on to Idlewild as originally planned.

Leap the Dips is awesome in its own right, not only for nostalgia, but just to see that type of ride with side friction wheels and no restraints. The back seat is also a *very* different ride than the front and even includes some airtime! I preferred the smoother ride in the front though.

I loved Skyliner too. In the front car, I loved the way each drop was so smooth and seemed to "hang" as it went down. While there was still the "hip thrust into the person next to you" characteristic of these classic woodies, it wasn't a constant rib-jostling, pelvis-smashing adventure others sometimes have. *cough*Phoenix*cough* :)

Also, as someone whose parents took him on the Horseshoe Curve route once as a kid, I enjoyed seeing the "Ponyshoe Curve" on the park's train.

Thanks for the update Barry. Glad to hear that Lakemont is in a great position to begin another season. Don't worry about not having any new rides. As long as Skyliner is running well, that's enough of a reason for me to return!

They will have some new rides soon enough.

The park has come a long way since my first visit in '98. I hope to get back there this season. Leap The Dips is a blast and was worth the ten year wait.

Congrats on the new Web site, Barry. My family really enjoyed our visit to Lakemont last August. We were drawn to ride the "oldest roller coaster in the whole wide world that is still standing" as my six-year-old daughter described Leap The Dips. But Skyliner knocked our socks off and will bring us back. Getting on some of your rare flats was a blast, as well.

Agent Johnson said:
They will have some new rides soon enough.

Could you elaborate please? :)

It's probably a secret. I remember about 7 or 8 years ago, Barry (Lakemont Park's GM) telling me that they wanted to get a larger Ferris wheel or something that people could see from I-99.