Michigan's Adventure (08/30/25 - Labor Day Weekend)

Preamble:

Michigan’s Adventure has always been a park I was curious about, but never willing to make the drive for. Even when I lived in Detroit, it would've been tough to justify a 3-hour trip just for this park. I’d rather make the same drive to Sandusky for Cedar Point. But my buddies and I were visiting an LGBTQIA+ campground in Western Michigan, and Michigan’s Adventure was only an hour away. Armed with my fully loaded season pass, I decided to sneak away from camp for a few hours and make a solo trip to the mythic Michigan’s Adventure.

The Park:

Stop me if you’ve heard this before... Michigan’s Adventure is not a large park, either in size or coaster lineup. I rode almost everything I wanted to ride, had lunch, and took photos all in about 2 hours and 45 minutes. There’s no theming or visual flair. It’s the epitome of a Cedar Fair park: pleasant, clean, but ultimately nothing to write home about. Still, I loved how beautiful the coasters looked off the lake.

The Staff:

Exactly what you'd expect from a small regional park. The staff was a mix of teens and adults, all kind and helpful. Ride operators were mostly focused on dispatching trains, but many rides were under-staffed and a few coasters ran with only one train. Luckily, the park wasn't crowded, so it didn’t feel much different from any other day at a mid-tier park.

Skip-the-Line:

Nothing new here...Michigan’s Adventure uses Fast Lane like every other legacy Cedar Fair park. That said, some Fast Lane entrances were tucked away. I thought I was going the wrong way trying to find Thunderhawk’s entrance, but nope, I was on the right path. I really wish parks would invest in reworking their queues to better accommodate Fast Lane, lockers, and single rider lines. A guy can dream.

The Food:

Standard Cedar Fair... fare. I went to Coasters and grabbed some chicken tenders and fries. They were solid. Funny story: I asked two staff members what food spot they recommended, and both said, “Oh, I don’t eat at the park.” Fair enough, haha.

The Rides:

• Shivering Timbers: If there’s one thing Michigan’s Adventure gets praised for, it’s Shivering Timbers and now I get it. Easily the best coaster in the park. It looms over the lot like a guardian watching over the property. I rode it twice right away, planning to return for a third before I left. This thing is an airtime machine, and the retracked sections are where it really shines. I loved how the airtime hills varied some were steep drops, others felt like straight Magnum-style returns. It kept things interesting. That said, it desperately needs a full retrack. The rough spots go beyond normal wooden coaster bumpiness, with 2–3 potholes that really rattle you. Once that work is done, this coaster will absolutely shine. Also, while the back seat is great, I think the front is just as much fun.
• Wolverine Wildcat: Another solid woodie that’s clearly in the middle of a glow-up. The retracked sections were smooth as glass (for a woodie), and it made for a thrilling ride. But those untouched spots? Brutal. Still, worth at least one or two rides. I did one.
• Thunderhawk: I haven’t been on a Vekoma SLC since 1998, and I couldn’t remember much...probably because I got banged around too much to form a memory. I was ready to get absolutely thrashed by this one, but it was smoother than expected. Only one or two rough transitions. The real issue was the restraints. Even without my earrings, some forces slammed my head into the harness. Not as bad as the older trains, but still enough that I only rode it once. That said, I totally understand why parks went nuts for these in the day. The layout is fun and dynamic. I’d love to ride it with the newer Vekoma trains.
• Mad Mouse: I usually skip Wild Mouse coasters because the lateral turns hurt my soul. But since this one is by Arrow Dynamics, I gave it a shot. And honestly? It’s the best classic Wild Mouse I’ve ridden. It was smooth, the turns didn’t kill me, and the airtime hills were fun. The crazy part? It only runs one car at a time. The regular line was 45 minutes, but Fast Lane got me right on.
• Corkscrew: If you go to Michigan’s Adventure, hit this one mid-afternoon or evening. When I arrived, there was a huge line and it was running one train — no thanks. But when I finally rode it later, it was fun for what it is. Surprisingly smooth with almost no head banging. Still, nothing remarkable.

Overall:

I never like trashing a park unless it’s truly bad and Michigan’s Adventure isn’t. It’s clean, approachable, spacious, and has a decent coaster lineup. But the lack of investment is glaring. Their last coaster that was created from the ground up joined the lineup in 1999. The hand-me-down Thunderhawk landed in 2008. It feels like a version of Dorney Park, except Dorney gets more love. Michigan’s Adventure is trying to put its best foot forward, hoping for upgrades, but it keeps getting overlooked. Because of that, it’s hard to justify visiting unless you’re already nearby. Still, I had fun and even met another coaster nerd. I spotted his Voyage shirt, told him I was heading there next Sunday, and boom! Instant coaster kinship. We ended up riding Thunderhawk, Corkscrew, Shivering Timbers, and Mad Mouse together.

A wild mouse running... a single car? I don't know what's more surprising... that they were only running one car, or that this "only" resulted in a 45 minute wait.

It was probably raining in Sandusky

Nice TR!

For some reason, when reading your very first sentence my brain stopped after the word "park," as if that was the end of the sentence, and it made me laugh. And because I'm feeling mischievous, I took the liberty of editing your whole post in a similar manner. For clarity.

All I did was remove words, and tweak the occasional capitalization and punctuation.

Jephry:

Preamble:

Michigan’s Adventure has always been a park. I lived in Detroit, tough to justify. I’d rather drive to Sandusky. My buddies were visiting an LGBTQIA+ campground in Michigan’s Adventure. Armed, I decided to camp for a few hours and make a mythic adventure.

The Park:

Stop me. Michigan’s Adventure is almost everything I wanted. Had lunch in 2 hours. There’s flair. It’s the epitome of a Cedar Fair park: clean, but ultimately nothing. Still, I loved coasters.

The Staff:

Exactly what you'd expect from teens. Mostly focused. A few coasters ran only luckily. The park didn’t feel much.

Skip-the-Line:

Nothing new here. Michigan’s Adventure uses entrances. I thought I was going the wrong way on the right path. I really wish parks would invest. A guy can.

The Food:

Standard Cedar Fair... fare. I went to chicken tenders. Solid. Funny story: I eat at the park. Haha.

The Rides:

• Shivering Timbers: If there’s one thing Michigan’s Adventure gets praised for, it’s easily the best guardian watching over the property. Right away, I left. The retracked sections are where the airtime hills felt like straight Magnum-style. Interesting. That said, it desperately needs 2–3 potholes. Really. Once that work is done, this coaster will shine just as much.
• Wolverine Wildcat: Another woodie that’s in the middle. The retracked sections? Brutal. Still, I did one.
• Thunderhawk: Since 1998, I couldn’t remember much...probably because I banged too much. I was ready to get absolutely thrashed. Only one or two rough restraints. Even without my head, I totally understand nuts. Fun and dynamic. I’d love it with trains.
• Mad Mouse: I usually skip my soul. But this one is shot. And honestly? It’s the best mouse. Kill me. and the airtime hills were fun. The crazy part? One car at a time was 45 minutes, but fast.
• Corkscrew: If you go mid-afternoon, I arrived. There was huge fun for what it is. No banging. Still, nothing.

Overall:

I never like a park, and Michigan’s Adventure isn’t. It’s approachable and has a decent coaster. But investment was created from the ground in 1999. 2008 feels like a version of more love. Michigan’s Adventure is trying to put its best foot forward, but it keeps getting another coaster nerd. I spotted his shirt, and boom! Instant coaster riding together.

Yeah, I think your original post makes more sense.