Whew. What a long week. The trip home from Knoebels' to Pittsburgh swings right by two small traditional-style parks, which are small enough and close enough together that it's perfectly possible to do both in a single day. Which is what we did.
First stop was DelGrosso's, formerly Bland's. I want to this park once last summer, and honestly didn't really like it. Fortunately I was willing to give this park another try, because I had a GREAT time on Sunday. It's small, but incredibly clean. EVERY ride looks brand new. The bumper car floor is so clean you can almost see yourself reflected in it. Their single coaster, the Zyklon (3 laps), gives a really neat airtime pop from the back seat. For the low $8.95 POP, this place is a definite must-stop.
I had lunch at DelGrosso's before heading out to Lakemont. The pizza there is easily the best park pizza I've ever had, and if it were to come out of a pizzaria in Pittsburgh it would stack up well with some of those... It's no Patsy's in NYC, nor Mineo's on Murray Avenue (around the corner from my house :) ), but it blows away any attempts from other parks, even including Knoebels and Holiday World...
Souvenirs: 1 DelGrosso's polo shirt
Then it was time for a quick stop at Lakemont. I was there 3 times last year, and loved it each time. I still do. It's small, not as pretty as DelGrosso's, but it's a bargain at $6.95 POP, and it has possibly the most INTERSTING pair of woodies at any park.
Leap The Dips (1 lap) -- The oldest operating roller coaster. I said in a trip report last year that every enthusiast needs to ride this at least once, and I stand by that statement. Imagine taking a huge leather easy chair, strapping wheels on it, and rolling it around in a shallow track. That should give you an idea of the LTD experience.
Skyliner (4 laps) -- This classic woodie received a much-deserved paint job over the winter, and looks GREAT. It's small, but delivers a nice airtime pop from the back seat, and serves as the backdrop for the Altoona minor league ballpark. (As an aside, catching a game there is a VERY cool experience, seeing the coaster as the outfield wall ;) )
Mad Mouse (1 lap) -- An old, small, jarring wildmouse. Worth riding occasionally if the line is short.
Lakemont also has a decent collection of flatrides (including a Skydiver), but I was rapidly running out of energy and was still facing the two hour drive home, so I left around 5:30pm, bringing and end to my first CoasterCon experience.
I may not go next year (but if not it'll be because I'm headed to the UK trip instead), but I WILL be at another Con...
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--Greg
http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/
*** This post was edited by GregLeg on 6/26/2001. ***
