6-1/6-2-2013 Wonderland, Marineland and Martin's

This was my second year in a row to travel to these three parks. A friend and I started out Sat going to CW for the rope drop at 10. The park was not really crowded and the weather was overcast with a threat of rain. Anyway here are some highlights

Canada Wonderland

Coasters-2 quick rides on Behemoth front row and back. Awesome everytime! Ride ops said people could stay seated if no one was waiting in their row.

Leviathan-Two rides on this. Each time was about a 15-20 min wait. Front row and back. To me the front row is the best. Feels like a wind tunnel everytime of course.

Minebuster was way better than Wildbeast. Wildbeast should run Advil or Tylenol trains to prove a point. Def a "sit in the first few rows coaster in my opinion.

Thunder Run always reminds me of Thunder Mtn at Disney. Gotta love the dragon and little effects inside wonderland mountain.

All the other coasters are meh. TOGO, the SLC, Volaire Flyer, Backlot was ok but the special FX were not working. The kiddie coasters were done just so my friend could get her credits.

Flats-First time riding Sledge Hammer and it was amazing. A little bumpy but I really liked it. Windseeker is always a relaxing ride. Klockwerks was a little better than the Dorney version.

Operations-Really great. Very kind and outgoing!

Bummers-In the waiting areas for Vortex and windseeker they kept playing Justin Beiber videos and Taylor Swift. The people really are eye struck whenever justin was on the flat screen monitors. The night time show and Cirque Ambiente were closed until June 22nd.

A-HA moment-Crowds were mostly light. Probably a great idea to visit the first weekend in June.

Marineland/Martins

Just a summary. Dragon mountain we both loved. Its hard to tell about the animal treatment at ML. I saw some things that made me scratch my head like the covering for the Deer and Elk is not big enough to fit all of them if they needed shade. I only saw one feeding trough and two water troughs for about 50 ish buffalo. Seems like they could use more. I think it was a bit overpriced for what you get but thats just me. I am guessing most of the money goes toward the care of the animals.

Martin's was our last stop on Sunday. The comet gave me a huge headache (sat in first row) I have been having sinuse issues so that is probably a factor with that.

Flats-Sky screamer was amazing. Basically walk on. Got two nice rides on it and great views of the mist from the falls. The Antique cars at Martins was a first for me. Nice ride and track overall.

Operations-Marineland was good. Martin's could be a bit better.

Bummers-At Marineland anyone over the age of 9 is considered an adult. I think it should be 13 and over. A family in front of us were shocked they had to pay adult prices for a kid that was 10 and one that was 11.

At Martin's the mouse coaster was closed due to high winds as well as the tower swing ride. The log flume was also down.

A-HA moment-none really for ML or Matin's. My headache getting off of comet was surprising.

Never been to Marineland, but they have a couple of interesting flats I'd like to try including a Huss Magic.

I think I would not like looking at the animals. I can't begin to know what's true there and what isn't, but it gives me a sad feeling anyway.

What, there's an actual park on the planet that I've been to that you haven't? I'm agog with disbelief. ;)

It's true, Marineland is worth the trip just for the unusual flats. Throw in the fun bizarreness that is Dragon Mountain and the incomprehensible spacing of attractions in the park and you make for a different kind of park experience, altogether.

Yes, in fact, there's many many parks you've been to that I haven't. I just can't think of any right now.

377 roller coasters? I'm going for 100 next spring break. Woew

You are still young, Tyler.

When I was your age, it wasn't a thing to have a lot of different rides under your belt. So far, I only have 152.

I would love to get out to CW, but doing so would mean getting a Passport, and that would pretty much be the only reason for me to get one, so I'd just have to add that to the cost of getting there. My Platinum Pass would help with that cost though. I don't know, I have so many other parks here in the U.S. that I haven't been to yet.

When I get my Federal Drivers License ID soon, will it count as a Canada/Mexico passport?

LostKause said: When I was your age, it wasn't a thing to have a lot of different rides under your belt. So far, I only have 152.

It's still not a thing as far as I'm concerned. :-)

From the gal who has yet to visit the parks in her own city... :-)

It's true, Tyler, track record is not necessarily the measure of a good enthusiast. But when you've been visiting amusement parks since the late 50's, as I have, it's bound to happen. I'm lucky to have visited parks that no longer exist and have quite a few defunct rides on my list. I'm also lucky to have had parents that recognized my love of riding when I was young and a dad who liked to ride also. We'd usually stop at a park on family vacations.

You know, Tyler, and you're not going to believe this, but there was a time when there was no Internet. No, really. And until just recently (in the grand scheme of things) people didn't necessarily know where other rides and parks were located, and didn't care. It really was a "local" thing. Maybe if one was lucky they'd visit a relative in another state and get to another park. But by and large people didn't travel to amusement parks as destinations the way we do now. Instead they took the local trolley to the end of the line and spent the day there, and it was trip enough. The age of coaster enthusiasm as we know it didn't start until the late 70's.

When I first joined ACE there was an elderly woman in the club who in her youth traveled the vaudeville circuit (look it up) as a performer. We were astounded at the number of rides she had ridden, but she explained that when they had a day off, rather than spending the day as the other girls did, she would seek out the local park in whatever city they were in to try their coaster. It was unusual for the times and she considered herself fortunate.

By the way. 377 coasters, to some, isn't all that many!

RCMAC said:

But when you've been visiting amusement parks since the late 50's, as I have, it's bound to happen.

Huh huh...

Ha! "Still Alive to Tell the Story" is how I see it...

It must be a pain to rank all those coasters. So many choices to choose your favorite from. What park is in Columbus that you haven't been to?

RCMAC said:
From the gal who has yet to visit the parks in her own city... :-)

Exactly.

Tyler, that joke was directed, lovingly, at Carrie. I'm not a gal and we have only one park in Columbus if you want to call it that, Zoombezi Bay at the Columbus Zoo. And while I rode Sea Dragon when it was at Wyandot Lake, (and Columbus Zoo Park as the Jet Flyer), I've never been to Zoombezi Bay. The ride didn't move, incidentally, they tore down the old park and built a new one around it. Twice.
I hate everything about that place, including the name, and I'm not going.

Very true about interesting flats. But it was really a pain that their flying carpet and rocking tug ride were not working. Their space avenger is a ride I have only seen there. Not sure if there are more in the states like it? In case anyone cares the topple tower is still SBNO. The walrus that sits on top of it looks cool though.

That Space Avenger looks like a suped-up version of the old Telecombat ride. LeSourdesville had a really old crappy one for years. It looks like there's screens on this one, and I seem to remember you could manually spin the cars and take aim at other riders. A hit temporarily disabled their plane, or caused it to drop or something. I was never a big fan of those, they're harder to do than they look. I don't like work, (unless it's a Flying Scooter). :)

Hey Mac, I don't see your credits for Olentangy Park. :P

Why you, I oughta...