Great Escape 8/4

Because of my job I find myself in Upstate NY for the next month. My coaster senses are buzzing since there are a few parks that I might be able to see while I am here.

Today, work was over early and I was beat. However, I knew I had a chance to make it out to Lake George and see Great Escape so I downed some lunch and left Rome NY at noon. I have to be honest. The drive to the park was spectacular! I love this part of the country.

After a couple of detours I made it to the park by 2:30. First thing I noticed is that this park looks gorgeous with the hills and huge trees. When I walked in I noticed the nice cottage look and story themes everywhere. My daughter would have loved the Cinderella carriage pony ride. I have never seen that before.

I did Canyon Blaster first. A nice Arrow Mine ride with two lifts and a fun spiral to finish off the ride with some power.

Then it was off to Steamin' Demon...This is an old Arrow. It was fun but it has seen better days.

I found the tunnel by the Condor which gave me a quick shortcut back down the hill and I headed off to get another Boomerang credit. This turned out to be the longest wait of the day, because the pull up the initial hill is soooo long! I should have timed it. It was a fun ride. I enjoy the backwards portion of these rides. I then took a walk into one of the many Kiddie lands in this park. I saw the little tikes coaster but didn't ride because I didn't have my children with me and it was down at the time. I did do the nature walk, which was fun and another unusual attraction to find at an amusement park.

Off to the back of the park. It took me a minute to find the entrance to the Bobsled and when I did I found out it was closed. I wanted to save the Comet for last but that wasn't going to happen. So I started my hike.

As I walked to the Comet I started noticing a lot of people in bathing suits and barefeet walking all around me and I was beginning to wonder if they were lost or if I was heading the wrong way. I found out that this park has the strangest water park set-up of any place that I have ever seen. They have water attractions spread out everywhere!!! It was different to see bathing suits and bare feet mingled with shoes and full clothed people. Many of the waterslides would end quite a ways away from the water park and people had to take a nice walk to get back to the so called "main" water park area. It was interesting and people didn't seem to mind.

The Comet...The gem of this park. I road about five or six times. Once was in the front and another was in the back with other rides all over the place. The front gave excellent floater air all over the place. This coaster was moving and I even enjoyed the lift hill. I know that sounds weird but this puppy was moving and then as you got close to the top it got even faster. I thought that was really cool. The back is insane. You have some floater air in the back, but I found that the back was more about the laterals as you would get popped out of your seat and then thrown to the side especially on the very last turn. There are also a couple of moments of ejector air in the back. I loved this ride.

The Bobsled did open and I got a ride on the U.S.A. sled. I like the theme of this ride and the setting is a huge bonus. I am a sucker for these bobsled rides. I really enjoy all of them. I think they get some great speed and sometimes can feel out of control. I still hope to get to ride the real thing someday on one of my trips to see my parents in Salt Lake. If that ever happens I will tell you all about it.

My overall impression is that this is a really nice family park. Lots of stuff to do with the kids. My kids would have loved it, especially with all of the little cottages and houses all over the place. The setting is prestine! They need a new coaster and not that piece of crap from Astroworld that is sitting out on their extra land. That was my first ever hang-n-bang and I had bad flashbacks when I saw it laying there.

What these guys need is a new signature ride out front that can be seen from the freeway like Goliath at SFOG. They have the perfect terrain to do it just like SFOG and they could have it run along the front of their entire park. That would put this place on the map and be eye catching for everyone, but instead they will probably find a place for that scrap metal and add to their mediocre collection of coasters. If it wasn't for the Comet, Bobsled and setting this place would not deliver.

On that note, if you are in the area then you need to stop and check this place out. The Comet is worth it alone. *** Edited 8/5/2008 3:42:40 AM UTC by S&SFAN***

Good trip report, Im looking at colleges, and if
I get in where I want, this park will be my homepark.

Glad you enjoyed your trip there. I've always enjoyed my trips to GE... the whole park setting with the large trees, miniature houses, and whole story-book theme just brings a lot of nastalgia (probably due to the fact Ive been visiting the park off & on since 1980 during the last years of Storytown USA)

But never fret, a quote from the Post Star:

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"Last month, Shapiro announced during a visit to the Great Escape that the local facility was "one of our best-rated parks."

He also said the company is planning to add "an iconic ride" at the park next year."

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So I don't think it'll be the clunky SLC from Astroworld, so as much as something that'll actually be a new "true" signature ride of the park... not that Comet didn't have it's time in the sun, but at 14yrs old (at that location), it kind of lost a little of its status symbol since it got knocked off of #1 woodie status.

I think a B&M hyper would totally ruin this park. So much of it's charm (sorry, had to use it) is the natural beauty.

I'm also not sure if it's in the bounds of the state park which might affect zoning.

Nice TR.

Canyon Blaster was originally the Rock n Rollercoaster at Opryland. I can't even count the number of times I rode it as a kid. That triple helix at the end doesn't look like much, but it definitely packs a punch with some strong lateral Gs.

It's good to know that it's still running strong!