My First Trip to Conneaut Lake Park

I went to Conneaut Lake Park today. It was my first time being there. I've had plans to go for the past few years. But, after what they went through to get the park open this year, I felt I had to make a trip.

My initial impression of the park was great. I was driving North on 618 at about 11:30am and the first thing I see is the turn around on Blue Streak with a test train going by. I stopped for a couple pictures before proceeding to the parking lot.

Free admission, gotta love it. This gave me time to walk around the park and take it in before deciding wether to get the day pass wrist band or just a dozen or 2 tickets. As I was there pretty early, there were not many people walking around yet. This also gave me the opportunity to get unobstructed pictures.

The park was very clean. I didn't notice a lot of food choices other than your standard park items. With the atmosphere of the park, the Dippin Dots stand didn't seem to fit in. But hey, everyone loves Dippin Dots right? As I moved along into the park, I noticed there were a few rides with the infamous "Ride Down Due to Inavailability of Parts" signs. There were only a couple. Thankfuly, all three coasters were running. Or so I thought.

After walking around the entire park, it was nearing noon. I headed to a ticket booth and decided to get the wrist band. I headed straight for Blue Streak. It was down. Maintenance says maybe an hour and a half. Oy. Well, the park was still coming to life and not much was running yet. So I decided to get some lunch. I ate at the Beach Club. Not much to choose from in the beer department, so I had a Fosters. I had a burger and coleslaw. Pretty typical. But the beer batter onion rings I had were very good. 7 out of 10. I took my time and enjoyed a college baseball game. I forget who was playing but the score was 12 to 1. Lots of Homeruns.

Satisfied with my meal, I headed out to try some rides. It had only been an hour so I headed for the Toboggan. Apparently I was their first ride of the day. I got in, (very snuggly) and off I went. Or so I thought. Apparently you need to turn on the lift chain before sending the car. :p Well, whatever they did, they had to call maintenance. Luckily I was able to get out of the car and head for something else.

I decided to try the Blue Streak again. It was still down. Maybe a half an hour. I saw Fred, and decided to sit and talk for a while. For those of you who dod not know fred, he used to go to Geauga Lake all the time and the only thing he rode (to my knowlege) was the Rotor. He never got off. Well, after the Cedar Fair aquisition he stopped going. Now his ride is the Blue Streak. Before today he had already ridden it 267 times this year. That was in 5 visits. His most was 84 in one day.

Still waiting for Blue Streak to open, I rode a few flats and walked around some more taking pictures. I headed back to Toboggan and this time had a successful ride. A little rough, but still fun. I really like those lift hills. If you can call it a hill. :) More like a cliff.

Off to Kiddieland. Well, even though I just rode a Herschell Little Dipper 8 times last weekend at Little Dipper Fest in Cleveland, OH. Apparently I'm to tall to ride this one. Oh Well. It was an identicle layout to the Cleveland Version, so I guess I wasn't missing anything.

Back to Blue Streak. Still Down. No idea how much longer. By this point, it was almost 2pm. I really had gone on everything else I wanted to. Little Dipper was my main reason for the trip. So the wait began. For what ever reason the train seemed to be running to slow and was getting hung up at the final turnaround into the station.

Around 2:30 they sent a train around. Still the same problem. 10 minutes later, they sent it again but with better results. About 20 minutes later it seemed as if they were going to get up and running. The Ride Ops came over and a line formed. Yet we were still waiting. I was about 20th in line around 3pm. When the Coaster finaly got going at about 4pm, I was first in line.

My first ride on Blue Streak was in the front seat. A decent ride. Halfway decent air on the first few hills. Not much to speak of after the turnaround. Perhaps the problem was with the break block entering the turnaround. I proceded to get a ride in every seat. 8 in all. the roughest seats semed to be 4 and 6. The back seat also had better airtime than front. It lifted you out of your seat going over the hill, and you kinda with the train down the hill.

Over all, I'm glad I went today. The staff was very friendly. The crouds were halfway decent. Nothing like the opening day I read about though. I look forward to the train being finished. Maybe I'll come back next year to ride it.

Was the Tumble Bug operating?

Tumble Bug was not even put together... It was one of the "unavailable parts" signs.

I only know where it was because I remember asking someone what used to be there.

Does anyone know when the Bug will be up and running? I know that the ride needs parts made by special order. That is what KW does to keep their ride running.

Last i heard the Bug would be open July fourth. I have my fingers crossed, again.

Nice TR, Jason.

Did you ride the Scooters?

Of course :)

And here is a pic of the Tumble Bug in it's current state.

http://www.rollercoasterfreak.com/Tumble_Bug.jpg

The Blue Streak is typically not down like that, unfortunately you must have had the bad luck of the draw.

Not sure what the delay is on the Bug. It was my understanding that all of the replacement parts had been fabricated.

Has the Round Up been reassembled yet in its new location? When I was there for opening weekend, it was still in pieces.

Your next trip back, be sure and have dinner at the Hotel--gourmet quality food--the Filet Mignon is excellent! The park fries and Park Sundae are also a good treat.

Round Up was also disassembled accross from Toboggan.

Where is the hotel at? I asked at the the ticket booth about sit down restaurants, and they pointed me to the Beach Club.

The Hotel Conneaut is at the opposite end of the board walk along the lake from the Beach Club where you ate. If you like old stuff, the Hotel is a jem--like walking back in time. The restaurant (named Elizabeth's, after one of the ghosts that haunts the hotel) is in the basement of the hotel.

Your next visit also take advantage of the paddle wheel boat ride which departs from the grassy dock area near the hotel--a very nice tour of the lake and area.

Jason wow you know fred. I never knew the guys name, but he was always on the rotor he seemed kinda freaky, but he hid behind the door so the op couldnt see him. I was wondering where he went these last few years, cause i had only seen him on the double loop.

Well, I didn't know him then. More like I knew "of" him. There is another thread somewhere around here talking about it. It may have even been on pointbuzz.com On there it said he had been spending his time at Conneaut since Cedar Fair had bought Geauga Lake. He says he'll never go back. Anyway, I saw him wearing his Conneaut Season Pass and I saw the name Fred and took a shot in the dark that it was him. Nice guy. He repeats himself a lot.

I believe that it would be better if the big corporations like Cedar Fair and Six Flags would focus on the bigger parks and the smaller parks like GL, TGE, etc. would be returned to local ownership or acquired by a small chain like Kennywood or Herschend.

One case where this is happening is Wyandot Lake and this park should be much better off under its new management. Now if only the park can add a bigger coaster and some other new rides so that it isn't just for the water crowd. Meanwhile, things are looking brighter for parks like Camden, Waldameer, etc. Maybe these parks can continue to improve and to offer a different kind of experience than that provided by the big corporate parks