Bay Beach - June 11, 2011

Saturday afternoon we had a pleasant experience at Bay Beach in Green bAy. We'd been there several times before, before the Zippin Pippin was in existence, and had a decent time. It's not overly exciting for adults, but our toddler loved the visits.

Thus, with Zippin Pippin, we decided we needed another trip. SO we headed out in the afternoon. Got to the park around 2:00 and started with the rides the 3 years old wanted to ride (Boats, swings, Merry go round, etc.) Then my wife and I traded rides on Zipping Pippin while the other rode the smaller rides (Scrambler, Helicopters, Ferris Wheel, etc.)

For the part that really matter. The Zippin Pippin was running great. Two trains were up and running, though they were constantly being stacked. I took two laps on the ride, one in 1-3 and the other in 5-1, with about a 10 - 15 minute wait each time. Both were excellent. Lots of airtime and one real good punch right after the turnaround. Overall, the ride is running great and looks in great shape. Sure, I'd love it to have the older cars on it without seat dividers, but that will never happen in todays insurance climate.

The station layout is a bit strange, in that you load and unload from the right side of the train, but there is just a single station brake. Can't think of any other modern coaster like that.

They are still working on some theming and landscaping, but overall, this has been a great improvement for the park.

Now onto what the park could really use. Doon't get me wrong. I love that they have Zippin Pippin, but they really could use a smaller coaster as well (maybe a Miler or something like that.) My daughter happens to be just shy of 40 inches, and she's had a ball on every coaster (that she is tall enough for) at Disney, Little Amerikka, and Waldameer. While she likes the other rides at Bay Beach, she's outgrowing some of the small rides faster than she is getting tall enough for the "big rides". She knew she wasn't big enough for Zippin Pippin when we got there, but she sure would have been happy if there would have been one she could have ridden instead.

Great report. I have been hearing a lot of good things about Pippin. It dose look like they need more family/intermediate rides.

One thing I was very surprised about though was the price. a quarter for a ticket. and ride were 1-4 tickets.

I won't post a Trip Report of my day there today, since it is almost identical to what you had posted. I took a trip up there from Chicago specifically for the Zippin Pippin. (it's great to work for an airline!) I did take some pictures of the park. Also included are some of the coaster. Here's the link to my FB page where the pics are. http://tinyurl.com/646xypv A big thumbs up to this small, but busy little park in Green Bay!