Michigan's Adventure, 08/04/05

So after a four hour drive to Detroit, getting lost in a ghetto, going to the hottest concert I've ever been to [it seriously must've been about 135 degrees in the venue, with no air conditioning and an over-sold show], driving to Lansing at 3AM, and driving to Muskegon the next day on three hours sleep, my girlfriend and I made it to Michigan's Adventure.

The first thing we noticed when we turned into the parking lot was the massive structure of Shivering Timbers. I didn't expect to see it when I made the turn, so I just gasped and exclaimed, "Holy ****!" Now, I've been waiting to ride Shivering Timbers since I first heard about it in 1998, so this is kind of a small dream come true for me even being here. But seeing it in person, even if it's not nearly the tallest, longest, fastest woodie ever, made my jaw drop.

Naturally, we headed right there, for a front seat ride - waited one train! I literally laughed the whole ride as I was tossed up and down and back and forth. Just an amazing trip, and it was totally worth all the hardship we had faced up to the moment of riding. The front provided some great air, probably the most I've ever had. But then we hit the back up - and wow, launched out of our seats over every hill. The third hill after the lift, the drop on that nearly killed me every time - just the WHOOSH downwards. Wow. We took nine rides on the Timbers throughout the day, in various seats throughout the train [I think we hit each car at least once], and I think we both agreed that the front was the best place to sit. As we were going up the lift, I mentioned off-hand to my girlfriend that the Voyage was supposed to have MORE airtime than Timbers, we both thought about it for a second, clearly in awe.

Yeah, Holiday World, you better watch out for us!

Anyway, we also did other stuff, too! I had expected Wolverine Wildcat to be a painfully jarring ride with little upside. To my surprise, it was not jolty, jerky, or rough at all - it just really did nothing. It was almost like a glorified children's coaster. No air, no real speed, barely even any hills. The double up and down was the best part - but since there is so little velocity going through it, it loses it's steam. So yeah, better than I had hoped, but that's not saying much.

Corkscrew was what it was, and that was all that it was. I'm not even sure it was worth the 30 seconds we had to endure standing in the blistering heat of the cramped station.

Mad Mouse looked amusing - but riding it, it certainly appeared to be more like a Generally Unamused Mouse. There is almost no speed through the turns, and it's quite jerky. The restraints also do very little to help the enjoyment of the ride.

Big Dipper was one of the worst kids coasters I've ever been on. Really jerky, and does not suit an adult at all. There was a moment where I was predicting a small pop of airtime, but it never came.

Zach's Zoomer was basically the same layout as every junior woodie I've ever been on, but unfortunately, it wasn't riding as well as any of them, and thus left me unenthused. Watching the ride operators try and coax people into coming into the completely empty station to ride was probably my favourite part of it.

We also went on the Flying Trapeze, the Tilt-a-Whirl, Be-Bop whatever [the damn cars that drive around], the Falling Star, and Logger's Run, which is quite the odd log flume, built almost entirely in the air. I don't know if any other flumes are like this [and if there are, you guys should hook me up with some pictures], but I found it incredibly weird. We also played mini-golf [and of course, I dominated because I rule at life]. One more note, is the train that runs in this park the most useless train ever, or what? It runs through a small patch of blank land, with a few plants spread throughout dirt and sand, and then through a tiny tunnel. Barely any scenery - except Shivering Timbers.. but I can't even imagine how boring this was before there was THAT to look at. Wow.

All in all, the park was very small, and didn't have a lot of non-water-based attractions, but it exceeded the [admittedly minute] expectations I had for it. It was clean, well-landscaped, the queue lines were more aesthetically pleasing than the normal black poles, and the park on the whole was very nice, with little ponds spread throughout, and trees everywhere. It's definately not worth the seven-hour drive from Toronto for a return visit, but it was worth this trip, especially to get on Shivering Timbers.

Next up: Six Flags Darien Lake and Seabreeze! Two parks, seven hours of driving, one day! Can we do it?

Edit: I think I've said "jerky" more times in this TR than during any other period of my life. *** Edited 8/6/2005 3:30:17 AM UTC by grind your soul***