Indiana Beach 5/3/09

Version 2.0
(version 1 was lost because my cat walked across the laptop and somehow closed the window, so this one will be substantially shorter)

Just got back from my first trip to Indiana Beach since moving out to the Midwest for a bit. It was a fun little park with some good coasters and decent food. We got there around 11:20 and ended up leaving around 5 (they closed at 6). The park was empty when we got there and didn't really pick up til around 2 or 2 surprisingly, though never got too crowded. The lines were reasonable, but moved pretty slow most of the day. On the way to the park we checked around some local gas stations to see if they had any Coke cans with Indiana Beach stamped on them. We never found any, but brough 2 cans in with us anyway. On the way in we asked a worker if they had any promotions. He said they don't do them on weekends, but to take the cans anyway because the people running the booths might take them anyway. It just so happened they did, and we saved about $7 between us on POP wrist bands. We also grabbed a Cool Card (which is basically like a pre-paid card for use only at the park for food, games, etc). $25 gets you a Cool Card with $27.50, can't complain so we used it for some food and a magnet as I collect them. This is also a great way for the park to get you to spend money there. It seems like a great deal, but it also is a way to make sure you spend at least $25 at the park. These cards are re-loadable and they have higher discounts the more money you put into them.

We did all the coasters first and went around later in the day to grab a second ride on some, so in no particular order here are my thoughts:

Tig'rr - Our first coaster of the day and a fun little ride. Was a walk on for the first ride, and a bit of a wait the second later in the day. They only ever ran 2 cars, with one on the track at a time so even with a short line it moved pretty slow. Overall a fun classic ride that reminds of when Wildwood had a Jet Star.

Hoosier Hurricane - A decent woodie with some good airtime in the back. We rode this in the far back first and it was surprisingly smooth. It had some nice views of the lake as well. The second ride was in the first car, second row later in the day and seemed a bit more bumpy. Not sure why, but was still fun.

Cornball Express - This had to be our favorite of the trip. It had speed, airtime, and wasn't too rough front or back. The back was our first ride, and had some really good floater air down the steep twisting first drop. It was also nice how this interacted with the Hurricane and Tig'rr.

Galaxy - Decent little ride. Like Tig'rr, only ran one car on the track at a time and even short lines had a bit of a wait. Rode this twice, once in the first car and once in the second.

Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain - This coaster surprised me with how much track they packed in there. It did whip you around ALOT, but didn't seem to track very rough. We rode this once backwards (in the second car) and once forward (in the second car). Backwards was pretty disorienting because of all the turns and sudden drops, but still fun. Forwards was interesting seeing the front car whipping around a corner or dropping away almost out of site sometimes. Overall a fun ride, but very "bone jarring" as they put it. This was practically a walk on the first time a round but got a decent line when we grabbed our second ride because of the capacity.

Steel Hawg - This coaster was pretty good. I have been on 2 other greater then 90 degree drops (Fahrenheit at Hershey and Spongebob at MoA) and it seems the first drop on these small ones are the most intense because of how quick they whip you over. Seemed a perfect fit for the park. It was down a bit in the morning with a car stuck on the break. I feel for those stuck in there because of the sun and heat. They were eventually evacuated and it was closed until around 1. We then snagged a ride, but not until after a pretty long wait. They had 3 cars, but were stacking them because from bottom of the lift until back to station, they only let one car go at a time. We never grabbed a second ride because it was the longest line in the park for a very low capacity ride.

Other then coasters we grabbed a couple rides on their double shot, a ride on Den of Thieves, ate lunch at the Dog 'n Suds, and had some ice cream. Double shot was a fun little tower with a pretty intense launch up (and down), with some nice views of the park and lake. Den of Thieves was a decent dark ride/shooter, but some of the targets didn't seem to register. Either they didn't work or I just suck, but Chris kicked my ass at it anyway. Overall it was a great start to the season and I hope to make it back again to get in some more rides and check out the water park.

Pictures here:
http://family.webshots.com/album/571700488ppuJgt?vhost=family&vhost=family

P18 said:
Tig'rr - Our first coaster of the day and a fun little ride. Was a walk on for the first ride, and a bit of a wait the second later in the day. They only ever ran 2 cars, with one on the track at a time so even with a short line it moved pretty slow. Overall a fun classic ride that reminds of when Wildwood had a Jet Star.

I heard they added seat belts to Tig'rr this season. No mention?

Wow, this is the short version? LOL Sounds like you had a great time! I am just jelous there is a jet star so close to you

Gonch, it is true that seat belts are now on Tig'rr. They are retractable, and not terrible, but one of the great things about that ride was the fear factor of no restraints... I was quite sad when I found this on Saturday. I will be posting a full TR soon.

Exactly. The mindfunk of just sitting down and going without a restraint or belt was great.

The seat belts on Tig'rr are very comfortable but I could imagine how "liberating" it would feel without them. Chris, being tall had some trouble with the Steel Hawg restraints. (the one size that doesn't fit all shoulder restraints).

BTW, Most awkward moment of the day: On star blaster, while coming down to be let off, it was still a bit loud. Chris leans over and remarks about the restraints saying "haha, that thing between your legs was pretty much up my ass the whole time". He didn't realize how loud he said it and the ride op pushing the button started busted up laughing. I think she got what he meant but it was still pretty funny.