I made my first trip to Michigan's Adventure on the 4th of July and all I can say is that Shivering Timbers is one of the best coasters that I have ever ridden.
I got there 10 minutes after the park opened and headed straight to the giant wooden structure that I saw as I drove in. ST looked a lot bigger in the pictures that I had seen, but once I rode it completely exceeded my expectations. It is one of the best coasters, if not the best coaster, that I have ever ridden. Seeing as how it was the 4th of July, I was expecting large crowds, but I was surprised at the lack of crowds. The longest wait I had was 15 minutes and that was for the Wolvering Wildcat, and that ride was a walk-on later in the day.
I rode all of the coasters, and besides ST the only coasters of note are the Mad Mouse, which was my first wild mouse and a very good and unique ride, and Zach's Zoomer which is a Junior coaster, but packs a lot of punch. If you can fit your legs into this coaster, I would recommend it. This tiny thing is a great ride. The other coasters were about what I expected, nice, but not great.
One thing that I did notice was that on the flat rides, MA ran most of them a lot longer than most of the bigger parks that I have been to do. Some of the rides went 3-5 minutes. The Trapeze actually was a very nice ride and it was a lot better than the swings at Cedar Point are. All the flat rides, which the exception of Chaos, are older rides that have been around for a while. It would be nice if MA would add some newer flat rides to the collection, and maybe a drop tower of some kind.
One thing that I was very impressed with was the action taken against some line jumpers. Although they were not kicked out of the park, security made them go to the back of the line that they were in. Although the jumpers put up a fuss at first, eventually they went to the back of the line. If only all parks were this deligent at catching line jumpers.
One thing that worried me was that I saw a lot of ride operators being very lax with hight requirements. I saw many kids that were not tall enough to ride the rides sneak onto them. I also saw parents of kids who were clearly under the hight of the pole tell the ride operators that the kid had ridden the ride before, so he can ride it again. Some kids were 3-4 inches under the correct height and still allowed to ride.
Another thing that I liked was the lack of stapeling the lapbar down. There were no rides where the operators jammed the lap bar down. This was especially nice on Shivering Timbers as I was able to get maximum airtime in the back cars. My only concern with this is that I saw two teenagers go on ST with the lapbar not pulled down at all, and the ride operators let them ride like that. This should not have been allowed at all, even if it is totally safe, which is probably isn't, it sets a horrible example to the kids who were all commenting about it when they saw it.
The most disappointing part of my trip occured around 3:00. I was floating down the lazy river in the waterpark, and was stung by a wasp. This would not have been a problem except that I am very allergic to them. I had to rush off to the hospital and be put on 3 different medications. Fortunatly that trip to the hospital was short, and I was only stung in the arm, and not in a deadly place like my face or neck. I was even able to make it back to the park for a few more rides on ST after I was discharged from the hospital. I have not had any side effects from being stung, but it stinks because I have to take 3 different types of meds every 6 hours to make sure that I don't have an allergic reaction to the sting. I have to take this medicine for 1 full week.
Well I can't fault the park for that part of the trip, and I really did enjoy myself there. This was the first small "family" park that I have been to, and it has really opened my eyes. Next year I want to take a trip to either Holiday World, Kennywood, or Indiana Beach. Of these three, which is the best park? I know I want to hit all of them, I just don't know if I can do all of them soon.
You asked for a drop ride, and I really see them getting one in the future because every CF park has an S&S drop ride of some sort. Glad you had a good time.
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CDNSN
Sounds like you had a fun time even with having to go to the hospital for the bee sting.
