Michigan's Adventure, June 2022

I went with the wife and two kids under 7 to Michigan Adventure in June 2022. I hadn't been to the park before. I've spent 20 plus years thinking "I need to ride Shivering Timbers". Well finally two kids later, I made it.

I did break away to ride Shivering Timbers. Good speed and hills, I see why it was rated so highly when it was built. I think it was re-tracked 10 years ago or so but certainly has rough and abrupt spots.

But the main focus was to take the kiddos to the kids areas. The Camp Snoopy area is a few years old but looks new. All of the kids rides were open and the majority of the ride ops were in a good mood and professional.

Only one inside, air-conditioned food option (Coasters). Food was better than I had remembered at Cedar Point. Took a while, and it is costly. But we appreciated the chocolate milk and side options.

I wish MA was closer to... civilization. I'd go back. For the kids my age, it was a good park and a cheaper option than CP or KI. I wish I could have broken off to ride a few more coasters but it just wasn't to be.

My two-year-old loved Woodstock's Express. I got my older kid on Zach's Zoomer but he isn't digging roller coasters.

It was only open 11-7, I wish it was open later. But we opened and closed the park and had I thought overall it was a good value in a well-run, clean park.

Thanks for the TR. Sounds like you had a good time.

I made my first visit to Michigan's Adventure 2 weekends ago as well and my overall opinion of the park was it was just kinda there. Shivering Timbers was outstanding. While it was only running one train, I had FastLane and managed to get on a few times with minimal wait. The airtime was crazy and I was shocked at the smoothness and strong laterals of the helix finale. There are some rough spots along the course, but overall the ride found its way into my Top 10 Wooden Coaster list.

Wolverine Wildcat however, was the exact opposite of Shivering Timbers. Despite having a GCI Titan Track first drop and climb into the first turnaround (which was glass smooth), the rest of the ride was just a jackhammering mess reminiscent of Mighty Canadian Minebuster at Canada's Wonderland. Considering the layout was inspired by Knoebels' Phoenix, this ride really isn't a great tribute to the Elysburg classic.

I rode Corkscrew, Zach's Zoomer, Lakeside Gliders, and the train and pretty much called it a day (yes, I drove 6 hours one way and past Cedar Point to get to Michigan's Adventure!). The park itself is pretty bland, but seems to be well kept. The flat rides like Trabant and Scrambler ran rather slow and short cycles, so that reminded me I was at a Cedar Fair park. And the layout of the park is a bit odd as it has two dead ends that they could probably connect with a pathway. But the employees I encountered were all very friendly and aside from Mad Mouse, all the rides were running. So overall, I'd give MA a 5 out of 10. It's an average park that I am glad I visited but probably won't return to since as the previous poster mentioned, it really is in the middle of nowhere (I chuckled at the sign that said "Amusement Park" pointing the way to the entrance) and aside from lakeside activities in Muskegon, there isn't much to do in the area.

At least I didn't have to park "mid-Timbers"... which I finally understand after all these years! :)

Thanks for the report.

I haven't been there in ages... probably more than 20 years ago, but we will be there in 2 weeks.

I was curious how it had changed and I'm a little surprised that more rides haven't been added since it's a CF park now.

Around here we maintain that Mi Adv puts the primary focus on the waterpark, and for that matter, so do the visitors.
With not much of a local customer base, they rely on summer vacationers, most of whom are campers or are in cottages. The season is short with the action ending with the season, around Labor Day. They don’t even do Hallowe’en.
So it’s a two sided coin concerning the rides. Yes, the flats are state fair quality, but some are difficult to find these days. The coasters are fine, but don’t recieve a lot of love or attention. I think all the majors are pre-Cedar Fair days, except the SLC which is a transplant. That, the raft ride, the kid’s area, and the Flying Scooters are the most recent major additions.
One thing’s for sure- Michigans Adventure knows it’s audience and most of us here feel they act appropriately. It’s nice there. When I visited I remarked the place seemed like a small-version Valleyfair. I made the trip once and concluded something awfully big would need to happen before I went back.

I have always wanted to make the trek for both Shivering Timbers and to get my last "used to be at Geauga Lake" credit for Thunderhawk, which was always one of my favorites at GL despite being an SLC.

Every time I have been on a Cedar Point trip where I have thought about doing it, there's just something about the four and a half hour drive each way that makes me stay in Sandusky.

Didn't see the need to put in my own trip report for this but wanted to make some quick comments since my family and I just returned from 3 days camping/Michigan's Adventure time. Crowds were pretty low on Saturday, July 2nd, but jammed packed on Sunday the 3rd. People were still flowing in late in the afternoon.

They really need to take advantage of more Cedar Fair options. I don't know why their pictures are not FunPix (which I have the season pass for). Also, the waterpark is way better than I remember. We spent the majority of our Sunday there. Overall, it needs one or two more big rides and it could be a lot better, plus they seem to have the room for it. The dead-end at the back of the park also seems pointless, I think it could easily be looped around, but I'm sure it's that way for a reason. Here are some of my thoughts on the coasters:

-Shivering Timbers is still a great long ride. A little rougher than I remember, but a fun time.

-Wolverine Wildcat was butter smooth on the first part, some re-tracking has made it great! It needs a 2nd train car for sure.

-First time on Thunderhawk. It was ok, but the kids loved it and rode a few more times.

-I have legs that are way too long for Zach's Zoomers! I should have ridden alone, so I had room to spread out. :)

-Mad Mouse was always the most popular ride with the longest wait. It was a really fun mouse coaster, definitely one of the better ones I've ridden on.

-Corkscrew is fun but way too short

Longest wait doesn’t equal most popular. It could just have bad capacity.

If I recall, that Mouse was fun. It’s an Arrow ride, identical to the one in Cal. that was the subject of the latest fake CP rumor, and that wasn’t so much fun.