Indiana Beach, Mon, May 26

Sorry about this being so late, but I still think it's worth a read.

After visiting SF Great America the day before, I decided on the way back to MI, I’d take a detour to visit Indiana Beach for the first time. There was a lot of driving through rural countryside which is no problem with me since I’m originally from that type of environment so it was very peaceful to drive by. After getting off I-65 and going about 20 miles east into even more farmland, I approached Monticello which was bigger than I thought it would be (it looked like they were the county seat for whatever county Indiana Beach is located within).

I found Indiana Beach’s parking lot within a short time and luckily it was the southern lot which features the longest suspension bridge in Indiana. After getting my ride wristband, I crossed the suspension bridge which actually bobs up and down in the middle which was kind of cool and scary at the same time. Upon first impression, I was amazed by this park. The degree to which rides and buildings are stacked on top of each other is just ridiculous and it’s made all the more cooler by being surrounded by Lake Shafer. On this particular day, there was a lot of boat traffic in the lake so it was nice to have a lively environment around the park although it looked like the park itself had light crowds.

I rode the Sky Ride first to take in all the sights and sounds of the Boardwalk and it was very cool/scary to be riding in a chair that only had two metal bars holding riders in from a rather large drop to the ground (not that I tried to get out or anything). The park overall had a gritty unclean feel to it but there was also an honest attitude that implied that they were showing what they really were by not attempting to hide anything behind a façade wall. You could see the history of the park with the older rides and signage that was on display everywhere written in an old 1950’s style font.

Some of the rides I thought were standouts at this park were the Water Swings (I love how they go over the water, the overall speed of the ride, and locals driving their boats under the access bridge to the ride), Den of Lost Thieves (I’m a sucker for interactive dark rides), Sky Ride (so neat how it goes over water, coasters, the midway, rides, etc), Shafer Queen (very relaxing ride made more interesting with the locals coming up close in boats to take a look), and the Tig’rr (no restraints = thrilling). I wonder how much liability insurance coverage must cost for a coaster that doesn’t have restraints or seatbelts of any kind. All of the flat rides are run at maximum rpm’s which to me makes the flats at IB just as much of an attraction as the actual coasters.

As for the coasters, I really didn’t find the coasters at IB to be standouts in any way which kind of disappointed me considering the reviews I had read online beforehand about Cornball Express. That’s OK though since they were still fun and very reridable and the park’s atmosphere overall was great, which makes particular rides not so important.

I had more fun overall from this park than SFGAm which I visited the day before. I definitely plan on coming back to this park in the future and staying there longer than the 4 hours I was able to afford to have there on Memorial Day Monday.

Glad you enjoyed my "home" park. I really love the atmosphere of the park. It really feels like it hasn't been overtaken by "the man" (however I wonder how much that will change with the new ownership). Sorry you couldn't enjoy Cornball that much. It did seem a bit rougher this year than I remember, especially on the first drop, and just seemed to be a bit sluggish, but it still gave some wonderful airtime, especially in the back seat! On the other hand, LoCoSuMo seemed to be running better than ever, and I actually got off the ride wanting to ride again!

Were Falling Star or Air Crow open when you were there? Those are my favorite flats at the park, and they were both closed last weekend :(

Oh well... I will go back once Steel Hawg opens!

Great TR!

*** Edited 6/12/2008 1:17:30 PM UTC by Josh M***

So you won't be back this year? ;) The park still tells me it will open the middle of July.

Air Crow and Falling Star were not operating on that Monday, and that was slightly disappointing to me since I like both of those types of rides. Oh well, the park was still a blast nonetheless.