TR: IB and locosumo!!!

Associated parks:
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a couple friends and i (oherian being one) headed over to indiana beach on saturday before cbuzz con with the slight hopes of getting to try out locosumo. well anyways we got there, the park was crowded and the ride was just barely open with cci guys operating it. when i say barely open i'm talking scaffolding laying on the sides of the ride and cci guys standing in part of the mountain to make sure riders made it through ok. well anyways, we stood in line from about 3:15 - 3:45 then the ride broke down. they told the ride would be down for an hour. we came back at 4:30 and they told us the ride would also be down for an hour.

we hopped out of line then hit the other 4 coasters in the park:

cornball express: excellent cci, surprising airtime in unnexpected places. horrible dispatches though. on average 5-6 minute load time with one train operation.

hoosier hurricane: again, one train operation on a crowded saturday with another train sitting empty on the transfer!!! average ride.

tigg'r: pretty cool little ride, the banking was nice but the trains shook too much for my liking.

galaxy: typical galaxy, nothing really special other than the long line for it.

after riding all of the coasters we headed back over to locosumo around 5:20 knowing that our wrist bands expired at 6:00. the cci guys were still working dilligently on the ride. around 5:35 an IB employee informed me that the reason that the ride was not operating was that the oil in the elevator lift was overheating every couple hours and they were having to shut down the ride for a couple hours in between to cool the oil. well anyways the ride was still closed at this point so we decided to sit down at the entrance just to watch them work.

around 5:45 the same IB employee came over to us and asked us if we wanted to ride with maintenance! she said that the ride was still closed and to tell people that it was closed if they walked by.

we hopped on the station stairs and sure enough they sent a train of employees and then they sent us with a couple employees? and a couple from ACE.

lost coaster of superstition mountain: the elevator lift is way cool. we got to the top and i was very intimidating personally even after seeing pictures of the banking and all. the ride itself was very physical. it knocks you around in very unique ways. the trains are extremely nice considering how small they are. honestly the netting over the top really didn't effect the ride much at all for me. the pacing was cool and we had a lot of great speed in parts. the most unique coaster i've been on and definitely a very fun coaster.

this ride will definately be a hit for IB. it was installed very well and as soon as all of the theming is put in place and more consistent operations start it will be a big hit with the gp because it's something that families can ride together.

this was my first visit to indiana beach. i loved the scenery and the old time feel of the park but honestly i probably won't visit the park again because of ridiculous ride operations (excluding locosume considering cci was operating it), how dirty the park was, and the huge crowds. it was just a mess trying to get around in there i hate trying to maneuver around hundreds of flirting teenagers and parents with big strollers that move slow. lol even though i didn't care for the park much the cornball express and locosumo were both excellent rides that would be fun to ride over and over again.

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seek first to understand
then to be understood

Wow! It sounds like LoCoSuMo and Cornball are awesome rides! However, This is the first trip report that i have read which someone explained the problems with the park. I should be heading there on the 27th of June, so that is why I am interested. How dirty was the park?? Out of sheer curiousity so I know what to expect.

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X Looks Awesome! Oh Yea!!
Questions:
smles@ilstu.edu

Happy you got to ride LoCoSuMo. It was still down on our visit.

Can I give a hint on how to deal with the crowds? Don't go on a Saturday unless you've got a gun to your head. No matter what park you go to, if you're going on a summer Saturday you're going to run into the heaviest crowds of the week.

Reduce the crowds, reduce the litter, etc.

Though I do also understand that some can't take time during the week to go to parks. I just really feel sorry for you folks in that predicament.

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Sometimes it's up. Sometimes it's down.
But with God, life is one thrill ride that you'll never regret being on.

In defense of my home park IB, it is not dirty. It's not tacky like some people say. This is a top notch run operation. The reason the Cornball only runs with one train is because it is a short ride and it was designed with a one train operation in mind. It really irritates me when someone puts this park down. I have never seen the Cornball with a horrible dispatch unless the train isn't full. There is a sign in view of everyone that states the train dispatches every 15 minutes when all but 4 seats are filled and then when they are the train dispatches continually. I feel that this park is a hell of an operation. Too many people are used to the Six Flags parks and when they come to IB they expect the same thing at IB. Well, I have never seen a ride break down at IB and all the rides operate all the time, unlike Six Flags Great America. My fiance went with her freinds from work and she said there were no fewer than 6 rides down and that of course included Deju Vu- The Monument and V2. Wow does that surprise me? Heck no. So now what were your complaints about IB? Hmmmmmm... I don't feel that they are justified. Yes the park is very crowded sometimes. That is a given when you have a park such as IB that everyone loves! I love Great America too, don't get me wrong but since they decided to try to be an extreme park, it has kinda lost it's family atmsohpere i.e. taking out the Sky Whirl, taking out the Hay Baler, taking out the kiddie rides. Oh, by the way, I'm not trying to rip on you Johnathon, but, I love my IB park and i'll defend it til I start seeing problems with it. Right now I don't see any. BTW, the Hoosier Hurricane has the same dispatch sign it it's station too. They like the trains to run nice and full. Sorry if I seem mad, or ripping on people, but I really love IB. Just like STchick loves MIA. Also, this park really comes to life at night with the Shaffer Queen on the lake, the live bands in the Roof Garden, and the boardwalk, ah, yes, the beuatiful boardwalk with all the lights and spectacular atmosphere. I can smell the taffy and the popcorn.

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Beer, my soon to be wife, coasters, and the FREEDOM OF SPEECH. Is this a great country or what!!
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stoogemanmoe and places to get discount Six Flags Great America tickets!

*** This post was edited by stoogemanmoe on 6/10/2002. ***

stoogemanmoe,

i suggest that you read my signature again.

i'm not trying to tear apart IB. i'm honestly just trying to honestly assess both the positive and negative aspects of my experience there.

i realize that park attendance is much busier on saturday, but that is the day locosumo opened and that's why i was there that day.

i agree with you. the park is not tacky.

it was just dirty on saturday and the coasters were poorly operated by the ride ops. there is no excuse for 6 minutes load times on any coaster. i understand the 15 minute wait in between on slow days but this was far from a slow day. but that is a ride operations management problem.

i have no problems with the rides or the atmosphere at IB. Cornball was one of the better wooden coasters i have been on and yes, i do realize that it was intended to run with only one train. i never slammed the ride for operating with one train, i slammed the ride ops for having load times of 5-6 minutes.

i don't understand your blind assumptions that you made based upon my experience at the park. i enjoyed the rides and locosumo was a great addition. but again i must state, there were 2 problems.

1. trash everywhere

2. poor ride operations

i would dare to say that IB had probably the best scenery of any park i've ever been to and i can see how pleasant this park would be if it was a little cleaner and better operated on weekends. again, i just ask that you look at my post without making the assumptions that i'm critically slamming the park or it's rides. my goal is for my yes to be yes and my no to be no.

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seek first to understand
then to be understood

I wanted to know why HH was only running one train. CE only has one train, so it's not like they can do anything about that. But the Hurricane had long lines all day and an idle train. They 'could' have put an extra train on to speed up that line. But I didn't find CE to have bad dispatch times, they seemed to keep it going when I was in line. My problem with the park was the stupid people, there were several of them and they can detract from a day at the park. Everybody's seen a seatbelt right? They're installed on every car that's been made for over the last quarter century. Well we've got some too, but they work the same. How hard is it people? And line dynamics, I think everyone should be required to take a 5 minute class on line dynamics before entering a park.

I too went with jomathan to IB this past weekend and didn't care much for IB at all. I thought it was a rather dirty park too. The crew was very nice and the food was good but that is all i could really say nice about it.

Well, IB is not a dirty park. If ya don't like it you don't have to go. One less person that's in line in front of me. It's too bad that soem people are never happy no matter where they are at. Just enjoy the "scenery" ;). I do. HEEHEE. :)

*** This post was edited by stoogemanmoe on 6/10/2002. ***

I don't understand why you have to bash him for honest insight on the park. Everyone has there own opinions.

Everyone bashes SFWOA but when I was there Friday between CP ERT I found it to be a beautiful park with very clean bathrooms, friendly employees, and hard working employees. The problem was with only having 2 people on the platforms and everything running only one train.

To tell you the truth last summer when I went to IB I too found it dirty and Large crowds is no excuse for that. Look at CP or PKI and you can see that crowds should have no variable upon a dirty park. IB is very, how can I say, "Authentic" but it is about the most kitschy (I think thats a word) place I have ever been too.

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Does CCI know how to make a bad coaster?

As a fellow Hoosier, I must put my two cents in. IB is a great little park but it has a slightly seedy, rundown appearance. To a person used to the freshly painted buildings and clean concrete/asphault of a corp. park or the few indies like Holliday World, this is very evident. I feel that the clutter of IB for me is part of its draw, there is no better view than from the Bridge! And CBE is one of my top 5 coasters.

When I enter the food service areas I have the feeling that I have entered the coffee house at the local farm auction house, the food is great but the atmosphere is pure Cajun Rivieia.

*** This post was edited by kneemeister on 6/10/2002. ***

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