Has anyone been to Michigan's Adventure this year? or plan to go?

I am just curious. A bunch of my friends went memorial day weekend with their platinum passes. I didn't go, all they had to say about it was that they thought fast lane was a rip off. I guess they said it was $47.00 or something like that. but, they didn't have much to say other than it is what it is. The weather was beautiful that weekend, so I am guessing the park was busy. They went on Sunday. They are all guys in their 30's so they didn't go see the animals. they had very little to say about it, than they would have rather gone to Cedar Point. 3 of them went to Cedar Point when it opened for the season. I guess their next trip is going to be Kings Island.

I'm just curious if anyone saw any sign of anything exciting on the horizon, or maybe something they had not seen there before. I most likely will not be going to any parks this year. My car died today, the frame that holds the tires in place cracked, and it is unsafe to drive. I took it to Tuffy and they told me that repairing it would be pointless and cost around $3,000.00 They told me to get another car.

So I will be a hermit until I can drive again.

oh. I forgot to mention their opinion of the Val at Cedar Point. They thought it was good, but didn't find it better than any other coaster in the park. They said the one of the best parts, was the diving loop. They also all agreed that it had the best view of any coaster they had ever been on. But one referred to it as meh. And, I thought I was pickey. They said they liked Gate Keeper, Mforce and Raptor better.

For someone who seems to really hate the park and spends so much time trying to prove it's a ripoff, you sure want to talk about it a lot.

making conversation Jeff. the lack of posts about it shows how little enthusiasm there is about the park that is supposed to be the most profitable park in the chain. I guess I'm hoping someday someone will be able to say that MA is a great, fantastic, awesome park, with amazing rides and roller coasters. It just isn't, and it is sad because it could be a really great park. I used to have great admiration for the park.

I think the thing that bugs me the most, is that Cedar Fair made big promises when they took over the park, like saying they might build the hyper coaster that was in the parks plans, then didn't do it. And, year after year they dazzle us with lame attractions, and charge more for the same old same old. It's not hate, it's more of a feeling of being let down, especially from a company that wows it's guests at it's other parks with great attractions, and ma gets farm animals.

I know the same old argument will come up about raking in the dough, which they have no problem at doing, and excelling at. But, don't you agree that the park needs something new, something exciting? MA is like the little kid at the family Christmas party who gets a water pistol, while all the other kids get top of the line play stations. Who do you think the other kids in his neighborhood will want to play with. the kid with the water pistol is nice on a hot day, but what do you do with him when it's cold? You play with the kid with the play stations, then hang around with them as they get newer games.

Timber-Rider said:

making conversation Jeff. the lack of posts about it shows how little enthusiasm there is about the park that is supposed to be the most profitable park in the chain.

No, that's not what's going on. You don't get it. This is a site with a national audience, most of which lives nowhere near the relatively small park that is MiA. It's a nice little park, but for most of us, we don't care about it. I think it's a nice little park, but I will not likely ever go there again.

Whether it's hate or being let down, either way, I think you need to let it go and find something more positive in your life to think about.

No, I haven't been to Michigan's Adventure yet this year. I decided to wait until they get their new coaster. I just bought my plane ticket for 2038.

Jeff said: This is a site with a national audience, most of which lives nowhere near the relatively small park that is MiA. It's a nice little park, but for most of us, we don't care about it.

And yet, how many threads do we have about Conneaut Lake? :)

At least those threads usually involve actual news or information about the park. Creating a new thread solely for the purpose of bitching about the park because he didn't get the attention and validation he was looking for in the other threads where he was bitching about the park is a little different.

Timber Rider if you want to talk about Cedar Fair parks that got the shaft, let's keep in mind the horror story that was Geauga Lake. If anyone got screwed, it was the poor people who lived near it. Try to keep some perspective, at least you still have a park to visit. I grew up near GL and now I can never show my kids what it was like.

Amen to that. Regardless of who and what is to blame on that one, that closure still hurts sometimes. I am visiting Northeast Ohio this weekend and would love to take a drive over for a few rides on Big Dipper and Double Loop. CP tomorrow will be great, but I still miss that place after growing up there.

Some of the people who lived near it (really near it) considered themselves "poor" while it was open.
Just sayin'

In T-R's defense (whoa... I feel weird even typing that, haha) if you live near Geauga Lake, then you live near either Kennywood, Cedar Point, or Waldameer. Which one is closest depends on where you live relative to GL, of course, but at least one will be under 2 hours drive. But if, like T-R, you live near MIA, then MIA is your one and only amusement park option. SFGA is 4 hours with no traffic (unlikely) and Indiana Beach is 3.5 hours.

When everyone says MiA is the most profitable park in the chain what metric are they looking at? Is it the most profitable as a percent of revenue vs expense (profit margin) or does it actually pull in the most dollars worth of profit? Those can be very different numbers.

If there is any truth in that statement, it must be referring to profit margin. Michigan's Adventure definitely isn't the most profitable. It fact, it has the lowest EBITDA of all the parks in the chain.

That's what I figured...

Timber Rider... Fellow Michigander here, and also somebody else who has been visiting the park since its days as Deer Park Funland. I actually share a lot of your viewpoint regarding the park, and Cedar Fair's handling of it, and disagree strongly with many C-Buzzers' perspectives.

However, in my older age, I have come to peace with what the park is, what it isn't, and what it'll never be. It can still be a great place to take the kids for a day, enjoy some fun coasters (including one of my favorite wooden coasters!), and also enjoy an awesome water park! There are a lot of states out there that don't have anything even as good as MiA in their state, and we have it, AND Cedar Point (and a Six Flags) not too far away. Yes, we know what its potential was as the new millennium approached, but that's irrelevant now, and it's well past time to move on, and enjoy MiA for the smallish family park it is.

Specifically in regard to all of your personal troubles, I'm sorry to hear about them... I know what it's like to go through a rough patch myself... However, I think Jeff hit the nail on the head when he said you should let your frustrations with MiA go, and find something more positive to think about. If MiA is bringing you down emotionally, and mentally, then by all means, focus on something else! There is a lot of awesome stuff going on all over our hobby right now, that is exciting, and positive, so find something you really can get into, and maybe it'll lift your spirits, and help offset some of the sadness from other frustrating events in your life! Just a thought... I'm just trying to offer some helpful advice.

My home town of Huntington, WV has Camden Park. Michigan's Adventure is awesome compared to Camden Park. I lived in that area -on and off- since I was a baby. It sucks to not have a decent park close by. Kings Island was the next closest park, about 3.5 hours away, which was great. I live in PA now, but I have found myself at a crossroads since my sister died this winter.

About your situation, I totally understand more than you might know.

I hope all goes well with you.

Peace.

Woah. Woah. Woah... So, guys in their 30's are forbidden from seeing the animals?

Michigan's Adventure sucks.

Lost Kause, I am from that area too. I live in Proctorville, which for all you other peeps is across the river from Huntington. Camden Park is our only choice locally and it is a 3 hour drive to Kings Island and a 5 hour drive to Cedar Point. Camden Park is probably a lot less of a good park than what Michigan's Adventure is. However, I fully support them as my son (7) loves to go there and it has helped me to discover how much enjoyment I can have by riding other rides besides coasters. Just to see the look on his face is priceless. We went to KI this past weekend. He had reached the 48" mark. Rode all coasters in his range and loved them. Bought two on-ride photos from Beast and Vortex. The look of sheer terror on the Beast made it well worth the $13 they charge.

MIA is on my bucket list of parks to visit.

There is a warm and fuzzy place in my heart for Camden Park. I think I grew out of it myself. If I had kids, I would probably enjoy it more.

As a former West Virginian who lived 3 hours away from Camden, and that waS my closest park, I think I'd have enjoyed Michigan's Adventure very much as an only choice.