Michigan's Adventure 8/25/12

Yesterday I made my first trip to Michigan's Adventure. The park was about the size I expected and really was everything I anticipated. Really clean, really friendly employees and a sever lack of shade everywhere. We rode Wolverine Wildcat first, and determined we did not need to return for a re-ride later. From there we hit up Shivering Timbers. Let me pause and relive my first ride on timbers. It was, shall we say, Awesome? Yes indeed! We chose the 2nd to last row, and had so much airtime, and a pretty smooth ride until the turnaround. There were a few rough patches, but overall it tracked really decently. It has definitely inserted itself in my top 10 maybe my top 5. Thunderhawk was more painful than I remember with different iterations of the Vekoma SLC's (Canada's Wonderland, Elitch Gardens, Kentucky Kingdom). We then went to the waterpark, and tried all three wavepools, the lazy river, the speed slides and the snake pit. Everything else had too much of a line (the park seemed insanely busy to me). The rapids portion of the lazy river looked like it would be fun, but it was not open. We had the all you can eat lunch option for $10.06 including tax and were really surprised with the food, it was really good. We also rode corkscrew, Zach's Zoomer, Sea Dragon, and the Ferris Wheel. The queue for Mad Mouse was full, so I did not get to experience that one. Overall it was a very nice day, despite being so crowded. Here are my overall feelings on the park:

• The park gets crazy busy after 12
• There is very little shade
• Food is priced cheaper relative to other CF parks I have been to
• Drinks are still $4 including tax, ugh, but Sports Bottles are just $7.99
• The water park was very nice, probably the best part of the park
• Shivering Timbers is awesome, and very deserving of its #9 GTA rank
• The rest of the park screams with potential, and I hope we'll see that developed over the next few years.

I'm curious about the $10.06 cent all you can eat meal. Did you have some kind of discount? And, was a drink included in that price? The last time I went the buffet was $12.95 not including the drink, which made it over $16.00 with tax, and the selection of food sucked. Just burgers, hot dogs, nachos and assorted salads, that and the ice cream machine was out of service. That was 2 years ago. Considering that most meals in the park are close to $14.00 with a drink, you found a pretty good deal.

The rest of your report is typical of a visit to MA. The warmer the weather is the more crowded it is. And, considering that the 25th was a Saturday, it could have been a lot worse. I have done that, and it was not fun at all.

Timber-Rider said:

And, considering that the 25th was a Saturday, it could have been a lot worse. I have done that, and it was not fun at all.

Where you there? Because the lot was 90% full from what I could tell from the ferris wheel, I really don't think it could have been much worse.

The food throughout the whole park was decently priced. The buffet in fact did include unlimited pop. It was located in the picnic grove on the South side of the water park. The food included: Hot Dogs, Brats, Italian Sausage, Cheeseburgers, Baked Beans, Macaroni Salad, Potato Salad, Potato Chips and Vanilla Ice Cream Cups. Elsewhere in the park I saw a Brat with Chips for $4.99, Bosco Sticks for $2.99, etc.

Also what was with the flea-market looking thing that was set up between the admission gates and ticket booths in the evening?

No I was not there on the day that you were there. But, I have been there on a Saturday when the lot was completely full. The lines for the water slides were all the way down the stairs to the ground no matter which slide you wanted to ride, and the Lazy river was body to body packed, so much you could hardly move. The line for the Funnel of Fear was over 2 hours, as was Grand Rapids. Even Adventure falls had a 45 minute line. Wolverine Wildcat had a 2 hour line, Mad Mouse was at 45 minutes, and ST had a full queue. 45 minutes. Thuderhawk was an hour, only running one train.

As for the all you can eat place, the entrance was near the Grand Carousel when we went. But, I have not been there since they built the Beach Party attraction, so it may have been moved. It's kind of in between Be Bop Blvd, the water park, and Zach's Zoomer. If I had a map I could show you exacly where it was. On my 2010 map it is listed as #7 The family Grill under food stands and restaurants. Actually closer to Winky the Whale and the drummer boy ride.

As for the Flea Market thing. I'm not 100 percent sure, but the park has been known to sell off older merchandise near the end of the season. My friend and I both got a good sized teddy bear for $5.00 each. (Actually $7.50 each, but they were $5.00 if you bought 2) They also sold t-shirts fairly cheap, but you could tell they had been sitting on the shelves a while.

They also sometimes have local merchants come in and sell stuff, to raise money for charity. But, it could be just about anything. Might even be a tent for the people protecting the preferred parking lot.

The lines for all the slides were down to the concrete at ground level, the lazy river had a few minute wait to get a tube, then to try to find room in it was a challenge. This buffet thing was right where you described it...by winky. They were advertising for some other backyard bbq, but that cost more. The line for Mad Mouse was full as was Corkscrew and Wildcat. Fortunately Timbers was not, we never waited more than 20 minutes for Timbers. There was an operational downtime on Thunderhawk due to a biohazard for a few minutes while we waited for that. It had 2 trains. Like you, I am sure, I would love to see the park get another coaster that is really good, and notable. Something along the lines of a Hyper/Giga or a good launcher would really do the park some good. Maybe some more decent flats too, because the current selection of flats is very Carnival - like and lacks a big flat. I'd love to see a big S&S drop tower! The park was nice for what it was, and $28 was a very decent price to go along with the entertainment value I got out of it.

I agree, I think a decent sized drop tower would be a good addition. Something along the lines of Power Tower only not quite as high, but certainly bigger than the one at Indiana beach. Maybe feature two towers, one drop side, and one launch side. There are also plenty of awesome flats out there. A topspin would be welcome, or ride like the carnival fireball. Even a decent hymalaya.

I think the park could hold off on another coaster. They could buy several decent flats for what it costs to build one coaster. But, a ride like Rock Bottum plunge at the Mall of America would fit in nicely. But, they need something new. Going there for the same rides every year gets kind of boring. I miss the Spider, and Chaos, those were the best flat rides there.

Man, you can have the Chaos. I'll never get on another one of those ever again. That's not how I roll.

Yeah, I don't know that smaller flats are the way to go, as they already have a ton of those, all of which are really well-presented and appear to be in a good state of repair. I think it the need is greatest for another solid coaster, even if it were to replace one of the other mediocre ones. (Wolverine Wildcat is expendable, in my opinion) I could also see any of the following add value to the park: Air Conditioned Restaurant, Air Conditioned theater with live entertainment, Signature Flat Ride (Drop tower, Windseeker, Observation Deck, Giant Frisbee, Screamin Swing, etc), or even a full planet Snoopy.

I agree with air conditioned entertainment. One of those 4-D theaters like the ones at Universal would be very welcome. Doesn't have to be spectacular, just decent and air conditioned. As for the snoopy thing, that's the last thing they need. They should focus more on thrills. There are enough rides for kids as it is. Half of the park is kids rides.