Waldameer 6-10-10

My cousin had his last day of school today and when it was time for him to leave i picked him up. After helping move an item for a garage sale for my mom we decided to go to Waldameer.

It took about an hour an a half to drive there from suburban Cleveland. We got there and started out with Ravine Flyer 2. In the past this ride had always been one of my favorite wooden roller coasters, once again it did not disappoint as we grabbed a ride in the back. The first half still hauls major you know what. Also the airtime was incredible as we came off the turnaround on the otherside of the road and through the tunnels, that is probably one of the most insane moments still I have ever experienced on any coaster.

Then it was on to x-scream that ride is a definate winner in my book as well as it really gets the dropping sensation down and really doesn't show its height well, but it provides a pretty awesome ride.

Next was Steel Dragon which seems a bit rougher than it was in the past, but still one of the better mice coasters i have rode, the spinnng is just right and doesn't get you sick.

The pirates cove was a cheap thrill and sadly it depresses me that many parks do not have funhouses, but i can see the problems caused by people stopping to gawk at everything, but it fits in a small park well.

The log flume is also surprisingly another ride that does its job well, i dont think i have ever gotten as soaked on a flume as bad as i did today, well done, as well as the tunnel having a long misting cycle which i dont believe it has ever had.

A ride on the sea dragon and the mega disko were also in there somewhere. They have really a nice collection of rides there, that many bigger parks do not even have which i like.

I also ate a square of fudge from the shop across from the carrousel and boy it was worth it, i had the creamsicle vanilla and my cousin had the chocolate and m&m one and boy i must say i strayed from my peanut butter and was pleasantly surprised by it.

My one major gripe was the change of the scanners at the entrances to all the rides. I know most employees in the past never checked wrist bands but this slows the lines down as its a struggle for some people to scan them. It also does not allow you to go into the turnstile until the employee working it presses a button, which while going into the pirates cove the employee didnt do resulting in a football running back getting stuffed by the line kind of moment.

Needless to say despite the new policies the park is still pretty much looking and riding as good as ever.

Still haven't made it up yet this year, but it's great to hear RF2 is running well. I've had some misgivings about the new wristband system, which your TR is not easing. Glad you had a good time, though.

Mike, the system is still looking to be very middle of the road it seems like some rides they would press the button and others they wouldn't. I don't know if that is operator error or what, but it doesn't really seem to slow the boarding process down that much.

The Ravine flyer was still pretty intense for the first half and the second was just ok, and not flying into the brakes like it should. The problem with that nowadays is actually how bad the brakes were, they actually jolted you to a stop slid through the first set and then jolted you again at least in the two rides i experienced today.