Waldameer to announce biggest expansion in its history
Posted Thursday, January 15, 2004 9:13 AM | Contributed by Jeff
Waldameer is set to announce its biggest expansion this morning. The park has not said if the Ravine Flyer II, which has been subject to regulatory scrutiny for years, will be part of the project.
The article says that the ride will be the most expensive in the park's history, so I can't imagine what else it could be. I doubt that they are adding a steel coaster or a tower ride (probably "too tall" for the neighbors to approve).
If it is the Ravine Flyer II, I wonder if it will wind up being Gravity Group's first project?
The biggest expansion in the parks history. So the neighbors were finally defeated!! After all this time, ol' Gertrude & Phil (names changed for the sake I don't know their real names) have finally lost the long-standing battle that should have never occurred in the first place.
With Waldameer park generating revenue for the city of Erie, PA... there should have never been a dispute. It's really the only "fun" thing to do there besides their indoor waterpark.
I can't wait to see what it's going to be. Their last few years, "new" consisted of new midway games, new bogus shows. I think their last DECENT ride was a Huss Rainbow... their ride after that was a Frog Hopper (kiddie)... so I'm excited, despite only being to the park once back in 1999, I think it was.
I loved their log ride, though... that was one of the coolest I've been on.
what evr they announce, this is a gresat little park. Its right on lake Erie and Prescile and is a very nice little park. For all that have not been there thay have a nice junior coaster and One of the best long fumes going . Very new ,built only a few years ago. If you are planning a Lake erie trip. on The Pa side. Check it out,. And with this mystery exspandion for 2004 . It will make the trip worthy.
Dawgbyte: I'm not sure if the neighbors were defeated... I wish that I could find something on what the annoucement was, since it was supposed to take place yesterday according to the article. I was just saying that I can't imagine the annoucement being anything but the new wooden coaster, since that has pretty much been the owner's dream for the past decade.
If this does come to fruition, then this is looking like a banner year for wooden coasters, with Dollywood, Clementon, the Dells and Waldameer and that ski resort in Canada all getting wooden coasters.
Naah... couldn't be a flat or two... if it's the biggest expansion in the parks loooong history (it's 108 yrs old, is it not?), wouldn't the log ride have been a big expansion?
If it's the "most expensive ride" ever installed in the Erie area, then it's got to be bigger than the log ride, which in and of itself probably cost upwards of a million or so... so I'm guessing it's got to be a decent ride, and SHOULD be the Ravine Flyer II.
But... for the love of God, I sincerely hope it's not Quantum Loop, which was for sale at Seabreeze in Rochester, NY. It's a big coaster, it's portable, and it was dismantled this year.... and it's not that far from the park. Please don't be Quantum Loop... Please don't be Quantum Loop.
Or, heaven forbid, Rye's old Windstorm ;)DawgByte - I hope my sources are wrong, too...but they all say RFII is not part of the expansion.
Don't forget, part of expansion costs are infrastructure. And we've overlooked an obvious place for expansion: their waterpark. I interpreted the hint from one source as a flat ride but it could easily describe a waterslide as well.
We'll know soon enough.
mOOSH
*** This post was edited by Mamoosh 1/15/2004 1:07:04 PM ***
It could really be just about anything- a Spinning Mouse, a Frisbee-type ride, a bowl-style water slide... the possibilities are endless. But, I assume the ride will cost over $1.5 million since that is what I believe the park paid for the Hopkins flume ride in 1996.
No matter what it ends up being, I'll be there next summer. Waldameer is a great little park with a fun junior Schmeck woodie, a very well-kept dark ride, a rare walk-through funhouse, and the best Chance Gondola Wheel I've ever been on. The view of the Presque Isle area and Lake Erie is simply beautiful.
As much as I would like to see Ravine Flyer II, I doubt that this will be it. IF this is in fact going to be for summer 2004, I believe it is a bit late to start on a wooden coaster installation... especially with the winter weather the shores of Lake Erie gets. If it is a coaster, that Spinning Coaster that has been hinted at or one of those removed from SeaBreeze or Playland make more sense considering the time frame involved.
