Stricker Grove coaster
For those of you who live in and around Cincinnati, are you familiar with the wooden coaster in Stricker Grove on RT. 128 near Ross? Has anyone ever ridden it?
Welllllll - it's not an amusement park. It's - well, sort of hard to describe. It's more like a picnic grove, but it also has ballfields and a miniature train ride. But several years back, the family that owns the grove built a personal wooden rollercoaster, and you can only ride it if you are invited by the family, or are having a company picnic there - or something like that. I don't know all the details about who can or cannot ride it, but I know the coaster is there because it is right next to the road. It isn't a big coaster, but is more along the lines of the Screechin' Eagle at Americana. Still, I was just wondering if it was a fun coaster or not, in case anyone may know.
I believe they open the park to the public twice a summer. 4th of July and either Memorial or Labor Day I don't remember which. You may want to leave one of those days open to visit. I want to get there as well.
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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer
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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer
The park is open to the public on Independence Day and on (generally) the second Sunday in August.
The park has a few kiddie rides, an Eli Aristocrat wheel, a PTC Crazy Daisy, an Eli Scrambler, a Sellner Tilt-A-Whirl, a Chance CP Huntington train, and a Rocco Flying Scooter (portable model). There are also TWO wood roller coasters! The newer of the two is the Teddy Bear, a junior coaster based on the so-named kiddie coaster that used to run at Coney Island down in Cincinnati. It's got a unique closed-side flanged-wheel train. The other, older coaster is the Tornado. It's based on a mirror image of the Rocky Glen Comet (Mighty Lightnin') that was ripped down some years ago. Both rides were apparently designed by Al Collins, who was largely responsible for much of The Beast before he retired from Kings Island. Both rides were built in-house by Ralph Stricker and his staff.
The Tornado is a good ride, a throwback to another era of wood coaster design, and a lot of fun, but probably not something to go too far out of your way for.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
The park has a few kiddie rides, an Eli Aristocrat wheel, a PTC Crazy Daisy, an Eli Scrambler, a Sellner Tilt-A-Whirl, a Chance CP Huntington train, and a Rocco Flying Scooter (portable model). There are also TWO wood roller coasters! The newer of the two is the Teddy Bear, a junior coaster based on the so-named kiddie coaster that used to run at Coney Island down in Cincinnati. It's got a unique closed-side flanged-wheel train. The other, older coaster is the Tornado. It's based on a mirror image of the Rocky Glen Comet (Mighty Lightnin') that was ripped down some years ago. Both rides were apparently designed by Al Collins, who was largely responsible for much of The Beast before he retired from Kings Island. Both rides were built in-house by Ralph Stricker and his staff.
The Tornado is a good ride, a throwback to another era of wood coaster design, and a lot of fun, but probably not something to go too far out of your way for.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
I`ve riden the Tornado and Teddy Bear. The TEddy Bear is tibier than the Beastie at PKI, but the tornado is a fun coaster. The trains on the tornado have no headrests, a lap bar like on the Beastie at PKi and seatbelts. (You need the seatbelts!) There are a few very good areas of airtime that lift you up out of the seat and painfully into the seatbelt!I`ve riden this coaster more than thirty times, and it is fun but does get boring after a while, it is nothing like the Racer or Beast at PKi though.
Didn't the chain and other lifthill parts of the Mighty Lightning go to Stickers Grove for the Tornado?
Oh how I wish I would have ridden the Mighty Lightning on one of my two visits to Rocky Glen.:( To think I was afraid of a loop somwhere in the woods. Little did I know the looping woodie wouldn't be revived for another 15 years or so.
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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer
*** This post was edited by coasterpunk on 1/27/2001. ***
Oh how I wish I would have ridden the Mighty Lightning on one of my two visits to Rocky Glen.:( To think I was afraid of a loop somwhere in the woods. Little did I know the looping woodie wouldn't be revived for another 15 years or so.
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2000 stats: 135 coasters in 26 parks
Not Too Shabby For A Summer
*** This post was edited by coasterpunk on 1/27/2001. ***
Ahh Strickers, first off, I don't know if its in the database here, but there is a website www.strickersgrove.com
The deal is that it is a picnic grounds, not unlike the early beginings of the amusement industry. The Stricker's rent the picnic grove out to various clubs, schools, churches, companies, unions, organizations, whatever, and with it comes use of the rides. Generally a company gets a 4 hour time block. (1-4, or 5-9), but I have seen some different hours. Apparently they will rent to groups of 500 or more.
Don't have a group, don't despair, as mentioned above, there are two public days, July 4 and the second sunday in august.
The amusement park element of Stricker's looks frozen in time, like I imagine a 1940's-1950's park would look. A competent selection of both major and kiddie rides, including such coaster enthusiast favorites as the Flying Skooters, and Crazy Daisey.
Most importantly are the two coasters, while nothing to spend major amounts of money and time in order to get to, they are remicent of older designs and fit the park well. For 2000 the coasters, which were previously unpainted, were given classic coaster paint jobs. White strucutres and red and blue trim.
The Tornado is very aproachable, at only 55' in height, even my Mom who hadn't been on a coaster in 20 years was willing to give it a shot. The ride is generally smooth and gentle, but features two moments of slammer air, best experienced in the back car. (As in introduce your legs to the underside of the lapbar, airtime)
The Teddy Bear is modeled after the PTC standard junior woodie, and is in fact smaller than the Beastie at PKI, the Beastie stands 38', and the Teddy Bear 20'. Teddy Bear is a fun little ride though.
The Flying Skooters are sandwhiched in between the two coasters, what a great layout.
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Da椀搀 䈀漀眀攀爀猀 㰀戀爀㸀䴀愀礀漀爀Ⰰ 䌀漀愀猀琀攀爀瘀椀氀氀攀
The deal is that it is a picnic grounds, not unlike the early beginings of the amusement industry. The Stricker's rent the picnic grove out to various clubs, schools, churches, companies, unions, organizations, whatever, and with it comes use of the rides. Generally a company gets a 4 hour time block. (1-4, or 5-9), but I have seen some different hours. Apparently they will rent to groups of 500 or more.
Don't have a group, don't despair, as mentioned above, there are two public days, July 4 and the second sunday in august.
The amusement park element of Stricker's looks frozen in time, like I imagine a 1940's-1950's park would look. A competent selection of both major and kiddie rides, including such coaster enthusiast favorites as the Flying Skooters, and Crazy Daisey.
Most importantly are the two coasters, while nothing to spend major amounts of money and time in order to get to, they are remicent of older designs and fit the park well. For 2000 the coasters, which were previously unpainted, were given classic coaster paint jobs. White strucutres and red and blue trim.
The Tornado is very aproachable, at only 55' in height, even my Mom who hadn't been on a coaster in 20 years was willing to give it a shot. The ride is generally smooth and gentle, but features two moments of slammer air, best experienced in the back car. (As in introduce your legs to the underside of the lapbar, airtime)
The Teddy Bear is modeled after the PTC standard junior woodie, and is in fact smaller than the Beastie at PKI, the Beastie stands 38', and the Teddy Bear 20'. Teddy Bear is a fun little ride though.
The Flying Skooters are sandwhiched in between the two coasters, what a great layout.
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Da椀搀 䈀漀眀攀爀猀 㰀戀爀㸀䴀愀礀漀爀Ⰰ 䌀漀愀猀琀攀爀瘀椀氀氀攀
WOW!!
You guys know a whole lot more than I do. Of course, I haven't been out that way for several years. I just knew they had a coaster out there. Didn't know about the other rides.
Any wild-fantasy thoughts that it may become a full blown amusement park?
You guys know a whole lot more than I do. Of course, I haven't been out that way for several years. I just knew they had a coaster out there. Didn't know about the other rides.
Any wild-fantasy thoughts that it may become a full blown amusement park?
john,, he's getting a Tip-Top? Wow! Where did you hear that? Actually, I'd just like to take a ride on that Loop-O-Plane that was parked in the parking lot that one day last season...
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
RideMan said:
"john,, he's getting a Tip-Top? Wow! Where did you hear that? Actually, I'd just like to take a ride on that Loop-O-Plane that was parked in the parking lot that one day last season...
--Dave Althoff, Jr."
Dave - It was published in Sean Flaharty's ACE Regional newsletter about Stricker's buying a Tip-Top. That newsletter came out a WHILE ago, but given your areas postal history you should be getting it around 2002.
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David Bowers
Mayor, Coasterville
It was on the website at one time, but its gone now.
www.strickersgrove.com
*** This post was edited by john peck on 1/30/2001. ***
www.strickersgrove.com
*** This post was edited by john peck on 1/30/2001. ***
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