Waldameer (July 9 -12 2009)

Even though my family and I went there everyday, it was not all day everyday. We did other non-park related stuff during this trip.

This was my first time to the park, even though I only leave 2 hours away. It was a great little park.

Day At The Park:
Thurs = 7:00 PM admission
Fri = All day plus Waterpark
Sat = 7:00 PM admission
Sun = 7:00 PM admission

Rides:
We pretty much rode everything, with the exception of Wipeout. Our stomachs can no longer handle it. I will not get into the details of every ride, I will just highlight the main experiences.

Ravine Flyer II was fantastic. This was my first modern day wooden coaster.The newest coaster I have been prior to this is Mean Streak which is full of suck... After riding this six times, I am not sure why Mean Streak is still even standing. CP needs to replace that pile of pain with a Gravity Group machine that has three to four 90 banked turns.

Steel Dragon was enjoyable our six times. Different ride each time.

8 laps on Ravine Flyer 3 with my 3 year old. We also did multiple on the Comet. The Comment is a nice coaster that kind of reminds us of Rollo-Coasters at Idlewild. Comet was my Three year old first non-kiddie coaster and she loved it.

Thunder River (Log Flume) was nice. W liked the misted tunnel, double hills and water bombs. Would have liked to take some better pictures if the water mill was functioning.

Dark Rides reminded me of the old days at Kennywood when LeCachot was still there and pre half ass remodel of the ark. These are some great Bill Tracy rides. Wacky Shack was fun, just needed some better lighting around some of the stunts or some stunts were not obvious, since they were up and not in plan sight. Pirates Cove is a nice walk through. However during the day, the kids are horrid on this. They run trough it like it is a marathon. I almost feel bad for cross checking a 15 year old boy for running down my three year old. Almost feel bad, but don't... He was not running after that. The ride facades are great also. The only thing I would change is the big pirate. I would have him as a skeleton pirate that has some moving parts.

Food:
I asked about this prior to going on here. The prices were much better than CP. The quality was not as good as Knoebals or Kennywood. However, I did not mind its quality. I had a few meatball hoagies that I think are better quality than a Subway for the same price. The pizza was a little above OK for a park. The patch fries were pretty good also. All in all I was pleased compared to CP. The prices were low to moderate compared to CP and of better quality. They however need more varitey, such as gyros, tacos, steak hoagies and chicken on a stick.

Waterpark:
Nice classic style slide. Water was not heated and a little cold. I have a hard time in water under the lower 80's. Lots of chairs for and places to lay out. I did not feel like I was going to need to fight over chairs.

Overall Park:
Nice park and for the most part competent staff. There were a few could use help in the food area. Ride lighting which I am very picky on was done very well. I did not see to many burnt out lights. The only ones I can remember are Spider and Tilt-A-Whirl and Scrambler, but not that bad. The crowds were not bad, but there seemed to be a few bad apples. The worst was Friday, which I believe was Public Housing free day for the area (from one of the staff). Nothing like spending my hard earned money on a day that I have to share with a##### that spend life on the system that my taxes pay for. Would not be bad if they acted half decent while getting their freebee at the park.

Were We Stayed:
Two minute walk from the park at the cottage near there. These were rustic and you needed to bring things like TV's. They however had full kitchens with appliances and such. We had an eat-in kitcken, living room, full bath and two bedrooms, sun deck and outdoor grill. I cost around $135 a night with taxes. I do not recommend this option for people who want every amenity of a hotel, but I love this experience. Please PM if you are into these types of places and I can forward you a link to these cottages. To me, they are worth every penny (Hell I paid over $300 a night last August for a lakeview room at Breakers, these cottages were a win for me given that).

Overall a great trip. I am actually planning on going back for four more days over Labor Day weekend and staying at the same place. They are also starting to prep the area for their new Zamperla Wave Swinger, which will be a nice addition for this park. I hope they add the rumored Wave Pool the year after (with some heaters overt he whole waterpark). Other than that, they could add one upside down flat like a Huss Enterprise or Hawk 24.

I was so happy to see another nice report about this park. I love the place and try to get there every year. (I live 125 miles from the park).

I agree that more variety is needed regarding the park food. Also I agree that one upside-down flat would be welcome. One other possibility for such a ride is a Power Surge since none of the western PA parks have one. As for the waterpark, the wave pool would make it complete. Warming the water would be a good idea too given the nature of Erie's climate.

Someone recently mentioned that he didn't think the park was clean enough. I never saw any problem here. All in all, this is a park that is worth visiting if you live anywhere near it or if you are passing through the Erie area. Its one of those classic traditional parks that has kept up with the times while preserving much of the past.

I also did not see any real issues with cleanliness. The bathroom were clean as were the midways. Any garbage was a result of ignorant quests. I witnessed a few times people just leaving garbage on tables. I even seen people throwing water bottles from Steel dragons queue into the bushes. There were also people throwing their garbage in Thunder River. Not much the park can do about this but follow these idiots around to clean up after them. Personally I would remove them from the park and fine them for littering, but that is just me and probably one of the reason why I do not run a park. :)

There may have been one or two full garbage cans also towards the end of the night. No big deal though.

Some of the landscaping pots and the garden in front of Ali Baba could have used some attention that makes them look dirty. the flowers or weeds really needed a watering and some mulch.

I think I am the one that made mention of the park not being that clean. When we were there, it wasn't. I never once saw a sweep or anyone emptying trash cans. We have spent 24 days so far this year at amusement parks. This was by far the least kept park we had been in. Hopefully it was just a one time occurrence.

This being said, we still had fun at the park and Ravine Flyer II is incredible. Would I stop again sure, would I go out of my way or make this the only destination, probably not.

I emailed the park when I was in line for Ravine Flyer 2 avoiding a pile of puke on the ramp leading to the station. From overhearing the ride ops it was there for a few hours. Disgusting.

That said, Ravine Flyer is outstanding! Were the cottages the ones right by the parking lot?

Yes, they are the ones right next to the parking lot. I sent you a PM with their website address. I am not sure if I would be allowed to link in the main topic.

they are old and not filled with amenities. I however like that every once and awhile. It is the closet to camping I will get. I must have electric and hot water. :)

I have a question and did not think a new thread was worth it.

Who is the manufacturer and what is the model of Waldameers drop tower?

I keep a spread sheet of all the rides I have been on and models. I am missing this data for this one. I forgot to look around the ride like I usually do for this information.

This article should answer your question.

http://www.iaapa.org/industry/funworld/2007/feb/features/TrialRun/trialrun.html

Thanks, that was a great article.

I actually feel really dumb though not identifying this as a ARM. I just seen one of there mobile versions at Big Bulter fair on the fourth. I should have known the structure was same, even though the drop car is different. The one in the articles picture is what they had at the fair.