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Hello Coaster Fans!!
I finally made got time to take a 4-day trip and hit A LOT of parks that I have actually never been to! My first stop from Akron, OH was Michigan's Adventure!
I have never been to MA but I have seen many, MANY specials about it. Not to mention all the ACErs who kept saying to me, "You have never ridden Shivering Timbers?" So my Shawna and I were off!! We arrived at the park around 1pm. This park really is in the middle of no where like SFDL! I have heard many things about Shivering Timbers but absolutely nothing about the rest of the park.
NOTE: The main thing about MA that we both noticed right away is construction everywhere!!! I'm guessing it must have been VERY cold up here (go figure on the lake in Michigan). But there was sill A LOT of construction. Everywhere you looked something was being built. The main feel of the park is "Hey, come and get a sneak peek of what we are building for 3 years down the road!" This park VERY much reminds me of Geauga Lake right before SF bought them out...a nice, fun little park.
There was a brisk wind, but the sun was perfect and the day weather wise was AWESOME! We pulled up into the parking lot. We thought there was something wrong...literally. There was NO ONE in the parking lot! I'd say maybe 3 rows of cars of about 20 cars deep each. Shawna and I thought there was no way this could be possible. To make things even better we pulled around to the front gate and parked smack dab in front of it =C) The rides were running so we headed in.
I don't have anything to compare MA to before it was bought out, so I can only go on what have seen while there. After drooling over Shivering Timbers and DRAGGING Shawna (a.k.a.: The world's largest Snoopy fan) out of the Snoopy
Boutique (which the first thing you see once you pass the newly build main gates...I assume they are new), we headed for Shivering Timbers. I was expecting a 2-hour wait...that's what a good Ohio coaster would be on a perfect sunny Sunday. I got my first glimpse of PURE bliss! It was a walk up and one train wait at 1:30pm!!!! Shawna and I couldn't believe it! We waited for the front seat. This ride is almost what everyone says it is. I'm still scratching my head over how they can have that many hills! Speed all the way through. The front was fun, but I had tad higher expectations (most people say it's better than Ghostrider). We rode the back seat. NOW THIS IS THE SEAT!!! That's what I'm looking for!! Ejector air everywhere and just the out of control out of your seat feeling!! I know this coaster can run faster...you can tell that with CCI's, but the weather needed to be warmer. This ride is also as smooth as glass...front and back! We rode this 4 more times.
Next up we headed towards the Wolverine. I haven't heard anything about this ride. We walked right on to the back seat (can you tell we got a lot of rides in today). I love the pull out of the station into the tunnel.... PURE darkness and two turns, good start. This rride is VERY fun. Nothing high class but a lot of fun. Very smooth, good drops, VERY fast turn arounds, double up and down. Nice zigzag turns, and flies into the station!! Shawna and I got off both quite impressed!
We rode, what I think is a new miniature train...I NAILED my head on the roof. I know it was my own fault, but there was this little piece of sheet metal that wasn't flush with the roof, and it cut my head...nothing bad, just a big line there now. After mentally recovering and Shawna laughing at me =C) we were off on our train trip. To those who don't know. This train is very nice, but the trip is a joke...really. MA definitely has BIG plans coming for this that aren't there yet. It comes close to ST, but it's just an oval with a BIG dirt pile to look at and A LOT of weeds. I didn't know what to think...I guess they could have added some Snoopy cut outs or something?
We noticed the TONS and TONS of cement poured everywhere (the midways are going to look like CP's large cement walkways everywhere). Shivering Timbers looks like they are building a photo booth. I couldn?t get over the strange placement of kiddy rides throughout the front half of the park. I don?t know if they were there before or not. Some looked new and some just looked like they have been moved to a new location. MA really needs a ?Camp Snoopy? area (which I?m assuming they will be building within two years.
Practically built in the middle of the lake they have a miniature golf course. It was only $3 to play!! ALL parks need to take note on this price. I have never seen cheaper put-put! The arcade seems a little strange, which brings me to a point of?Why doesn?t MA having any one building that just stands out above the rest? It?s something they really need. There are little buildings few and far in between, but nothing big. They have a strangely placed arcade that had some cool games in it. Everything has this feel though that it will be moved soon.
On the back half of the park (opposite of Shivering Timbers). They have this HUGE HUGE water park. MANY slides off all types. They won?t operate unless it?s 65? though. Again this is why MA reminds me of Geauga Lakes olden days. We didn?t get to go on any waterslides do to the wind factor and slightly chilly?but nice.
Next to the Water Park in the back they have their new attraction Hydro Blaster! For those who don?t know this is dry water slide like the ones at Looney Tunes Boom Town SFWoA. Only MA?s are totally in the dark and anyone can ride. I loved these!! I got to ride both green and black with no wait!! Most people wouldn?t ride this because they thought they would get soaked, so it was a walk on. They are both a lot of fun and pick up some good speed throughout and have a good ending. These rides are also TOTALLY in the dark no little white lights or sun showing you the way. I was told I was one of the first people to ever ride this since this was the first day it was open. Cool!
Next to that is their Rip Cord. They were begging people to go on this and giving out $10 coupons. It looks smaller than CP?s but the manager said it is taller. I don?t know? It?s probably the different structure that hides it?s height. Over next to that they have adventure falls. A small chute the chutes ride with no one on it. And to the right of that they have HUGE ACRES of land. You can tell with out a doubt that a new coaster, new midway, camp snoopy, and MANY more stuff is coming right there. For those who have been to MA you know what I mean. This park feels like it won?t be complete until they expand a TOTALLY new section out there. Imagine Disney World with just the main midway open.
After our tour back there, Shawna and I went and got a few rides on Zach?s Zoomer. This ride is probably one of the best family coasters I have ever been on. Some good air in the back on the little drops! We than hit the Wild Mouse. Shawna has never been on one of these. It was a lot of fun. We rode, back and front a few times. The second ride they didn?t have the brakes on the top on so it we had some good hairpin turns. It was interesting to see the cars come so close but not hit each other. They also have some good flat rides; Falling Star, Yo Yo, Tilt-A-whirl, and few others. The Tilt-A-Whirl wouldn?t stop whirling for us so we got of a little on the blue side?what a ride!!
After riding everything once again in the park?and chasing Shawna out of the Snoopy store once again, we said good bye to all the ACErs we meant. Took a TON of pictures and 360?s grabbed a hot dog and we were off to SFGA. This was a great little park and can?t wait to see what the future and Cedar Fair bring to it!!
?The Future of Roller Coasters?
-RollerCoasterGod
http://OhioThemeParks.com
*** This post was edited by RollerCoasterGod on 5/30/2002. ***
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