Arnolds Park - last day of 2003 season (9/7/03)

I finally made it back to Okoboji yesterday and got 20 laps on the Roller Coaster / Pepsi Legend / Giant Coaster (whatever it's called now). I remember the ride having spunk, but not that much--wow! I was only there from about 3:30 to 5:00. I can't imagine what it would be like at 11pm. I spent 17 of my 20 rides in the back two seats for that killer airtime on the last two hills. The front two seats were roped off. I'm not sure if they were really "out of order" or just two violent--I'm guessing they were out of order as the third seat in the lead car did not pack much of a punch like the back.
I also gave the "donated" log flume a spin and got a little wet but didn't do any other rides as I didn't want to get sick and have to drive home feeling ill.
Yesterday was the park's last day of operation for the 2003 season and it had a nice attendance, especially for a Sunday in September. When I got there, the parking lot was about 3/4 full. It had been at least five years since I last visited the park. Hopefully it will stick around for years to come.
I left around 5pm and tracked down the Taco House. I'm a big fan of the Taco Casa in Des Moines (a sister restaurant). After that I thought about going back to get some more laps in, but decided not to test my headache from the first 20 and headed back home to Ames, IA. The 90 minutes were definitely worth the 7 hours of driving. Please give it a try next year if you can.
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-Matt in Iowa

Arnold's is high on my list of "must visit" parks. I've made countless trips to Iowa when I was growing up but we never ventured that far west (a lot of family in eastern Iowa).

It's a park of miracles for sure.
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Ripple Rock Amusement Park
Flying Scooter coming soon!

I was there the third week of August and the front was broken then.

Kinda gives the impression nobody's been working on it, doesn't it?

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Without the chaindog, you'd never get up the lifthill...

Yeah, it does. Or maybe the front two seats really are violent? I wish I could have ridden the coaster before they removed the 4th hill (where the "low flat" section is now). I heard that was the highlight of the ride.
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-Matt in Iowa