Michigan's Adventure, Like I have NEVER seen it!

My bro and his family visited Michigan this weekend from Ohio and we decided to head up to Michigan's Adventure. They have Season Passes to CP and I have Season Passes to MiAdv, so the trip would cost us nothing. Yeah, right.

I have been to the park (MiAdv) countless times this season (8, maybe 9...dunno) and have Never, I REPEAT NEVER seen the park as busy as it was today! The line up to get to the park started on US 31. Backed up for at LEAST a mile on this major highway in Michigan. Over an hour to ride ST! The cue was open and the line STILL stretched into the midway.

The Waterpark was even worse. Full of people! We finially left JUST BECAUSE the crowds were so great. Sweaty, smelly people everywhere.

Anyone pushing for a new coaster here: MiAdv still can't deal with the crowds like I saw today. They gotta fix that before adding anything more, In My Opinion, of course. The waterpark enterance/exit was a nightmare. My brother commented that he had never seen a park more packed. Not Disney, Not CP, NOWHERE.

Hope you are "listening", Cedar Fair!

MrScott

Too bad the lines were long, that sucks. Is the park big size wise? How many rides did you get on?

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There's a large Christian music event going on this Thurs-Sat in Muskegon, so everyone was probably hitting MiA before the big-name events in the evening. Good to hear attendance is looking good; sorry you had to get caught in the middle of it :(

Do you think another midway between ST and the Sky Coaster would have made a difference? Midways too narrow? Or was it just too many people for the park in general?

1 ride. Shivering Timbers.

The park is small to midsized, compared to CP, Disney, etc.

After our ride on Timbers (my 44th this year :), we went to the waterpark because it was so hot & humid. Hit the wave pools and lazy river and the wave pools again and left, because there was no way you could even walk around or swim without running into someone else. I have NEVER been in a situation like today! Concerts, Ballgames, Nascar races, etc. NOTHING like what we went through today.

It took us a lot of time just to get OUT of the waterpark! Note to CF: This issue MUST be fixed. Tear down that damn brick entrance if you have to, but this MUST be fixed! It was INSANE! There needs to be seperate enterance/exit ways, for Pete's sake!

Yippee for CF! They surely made money at MiAdv today.

Boohoo for me and my brother/family. Not a very enjoyable time for them.

I, on the other hand, about came in my pants. I have said that this park has SO much potential for SO long that this was SO nice to see! Camille was even directing traffic into the park!

WooHoo!

MrScott

Stridjr,

That fest you mentioned probably had very little to do with the crowds today. Was probably due to the hot & humid weather.

What we saw today was worse than ANY day that I have been at Cedar Point. And I have been going there since the '70s.

Never again on a Saturday in August will I visit.

MrScott

You said that people should not push for a new coaster. A new coaster and a couple of lflats may increase attendance some but it would also spread the crowd out. The more to do, the less there are in a single area. Fire marshall's code wouldn't change much so the highest allowable guests would stay the same. Leaving more room and another great ride.;)

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Michael Gibbs,
" why can't we tear down the walls, and show the scars we're covering" ~Scott Stapp~
*** This post was edited by Iced 8/16/2003 11:53:40 PM ***

YES, I would LOVE to see a new attraction! But this park can't handle the volumes of peeps now. At least on Saturday in August. Twas a Big Mess. The parking attendants were directing people to park accross the street, for Pete's sake!

Now I understand the size of the parking lot. Never understood that, untill now.

MrScott

The #1 rule of theme parks: NEVER GO ON A SATURDAY!

Well, I went today (Sunday) and it wasnt much better. I do have to agree that the entrance to the water park is a pain. Also the changing room/bathroom, is tiny, and there was a huge wait to even change. Another thing about the park that is sort of an annoyance, Hydroblaster is located right next to the water park, but out of it. So you have to walk through that crowded entrance to get to it. I live about an hour away from the park so its always fun to go down there. The park has under gone some nice changes, since Cedar Fair bought it. It will be interesting to see how this park devolps.

It was like that once when I went to Knoebels back in June sometime, on a Sunday. Literally shoulder to shoulder with poeple. Also, correct me if Im wrong, but someone said soemthin about how Cedar Point was the "model park" to the development of Michigan's Adventure. I hope that this is true, it seems very interesting.

I was also at the park today. I didn't ride anything because of the crowds, but went instead to take pictures. It was nice to see a large crowd, hopefully with the recent weather, the park will meet the projected numbers.

I'm not sure if this has been suggested already but Tilt-a-whirl needs a queue. Currently there is nothing in place, and of course, the people formed a line across the midway to the flying trapeze.

The landscaping improves with every visit, ( 5 this year). I overheard several comments today how nice the park looks since CF took it over. Personally I'm hoping for a table service restaurant to be added soon.

I think the time of the year may have something to do with it since the kids are probably going back to school soon, I was at CP on 8/16, I will admit it was the first time I have ever been there on a saturday during regular summer hours and I've been going there since I mom was pushing me in a stroller. we regualarly have been going on fridays but due to the black out my gf didn't want to risk hitting any rolling black outs while at CP (shes a baby) because I heard that friday was one of the lightest days at CP all year so far. But I have never seen that park as packed as it was. If we didn't have season passes we would of turned around and waited for a less crowded day. When we were leaving the park we saw cars further out in the parking lot than I have ever seen before and timing is the only reason I can think of either park to be so crowded maybe along with the black out detering friday guests also?

Also is it worth driving from Cleveland to MIA, we usually have CF season passes so price would be cheap but other than Shivering Timbers what else is good there?

Check out their website for the coasters/rides available. The waterpark is a definate plus. Short lines/waits (this past Saturday excluded) are a plus.

I would make the trip from Cleveland just to ride Timbers. It's THAT good.

MrScott

Hardly anyone realizes that the parking lot size is completely necessary. For nothing else but the Saturdays in August. Do yourselves a favor and never go to MA on a Saturday in August if you actually want to enjoy yourself. This summer is nothing new. It has been that way for years. They overflow the main lot quite frequently in August (happened last Saturday also).

Do parks ever turn people away and say, "Sorry, we're full"?

They should have Saturday at MiAv!

MrScott

Occasionally, I've seen SFGAm closed... because of capacity crowds. They say something like "Park Closed. At Capacity." on the sign out in front by the Interstate...

d8 -

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"Welcome to Wisconsin... Illinois' Largest State Park."

Sounds to me like most parks have crazy crowds on Saturdays in August.

I will AVOID them from now on!

MrScott
*** This post was edited by scott taylor 8/20/2003 5:26:57 AM ***

And you didn't before?

Haahahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahah hahahahahahhahahhahahahhahahhahahaha hahhahahahhahahhahhahahHAHAHAHA!

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I'm so friggin' sick of people who think the Crystal beach Cyclone would have been a great coaster. Woohoo ! I just rode this great ride , and Now My arm is broken and my tailbone is Bruised!

See, this underscores the whole infrastructure thing I've been talking about. My local CF park is 89 acres--which is a generous estimate including the area taken up by Exalibur and TC. But when they've been packed with 30,000 plus people and have the parking lot full, people parking on the acreage between the parking lot and the dorms and people parking across the street, you could still get on a coaster in a half-hour to 45 minutes. There were still enough concession stands to ram food down people's throats, games to siphon money out of people's pockets, air-conditioned venues for sitting down, blah blah blah.

Frankly CF takes a long, hard look at how the park performs on an operational level--how efficiently rides are run, how effectively the staff is managed, etc.--before approving funds for more stuff. What's the point of adding more if people visit and get POed?

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

I agree with CPlaya 100%. CF has made improvements, but A LOT more needs to be done. The problem rests with low attendance early in the season and on weekdays, and heavy (read OVERWHELMING) attendance on weekends. How the hell do you plan for that?

Easy. You plan for the weekends and figger out how to keep people there overnight on weekdays. Hmmm...Campground to start, a budget hotel to follow, a restaurant for sure, and WA LAH! You have a reason to visit the park for 2 days.

My God, am I the next Dick Kinzel?

Oh, and don't forget some ride additions. And they really don't have to be coasters.

Interested employers may contact me at mrscott@chartermi.net