Associated parks:
None
I'll start with Wild Adventures, which for all intents is a park with some great potential that just seems to be growing too fast. It's location is out in the middle of nowhere (you actually have to drive several miles on a small 2 lane road to get to it). The layout is actually not too bad, although quite cramped at the front. The worst thing is their lack of "comfort areas". What I'm talking about here are indoor shops (larger than a closet), more than 1 or 2 indoor eating areas (again larger than a closet), real restrooms (not those portable trailers with a fake front), and AIR CONDITIONING! Other than the main gift shop at the front (nice sized, but the only one) and 2 small food outlets (also at the front), you were left in the sweltering heat to fend for yourself. The day was very crowded when we went on Saturday (to be expected) and with better planning for comfort, we would have been able to last longer than 4 hours.
We rode the train (very small, low capacity) and Cheetah coaster. Cheetah is another of those Steel frame Woodie hybrids. While I didn't care for Villain at SFWOA last year, Cheetah was lots of fun. It's a bit short for my tastes, but has some great airtime pops and some decent turns. No photo op on the ride (I like to get as many on-ride pics as possible), so that was a disappointment. But they're still working on the landscaping and areas around the ride. Perhaps this will be added later.
Off to eat at a walk up stand with a tent to sit under. At 1:30pm, we had to wait for almost 40 minutes to order a sub. As I noticed, all food locations seems to have only 1 cash register. Not good planning. I think we left after that due to the lines being way too long and we were soaked from sweating. Good thing they have the 2 days for one price.
Day 2, we decided to wait until 3:00 to head over, and it turned out to be a good choice. The parking lot looked full again, but this time many people were already leaving and we got a great spot near the front. More people leaving and the heat of the day behind us meant an easier time at the park.
We finished up the rest of the coasters in pretty good time. Even the kiddie coasters are pretty fun (especially Ant Farm Express). Bug-Out is their Wild Mouse offering and it's fun as well. I still get freaked out on those tight turns, but I love them just the same! Boomerang is a ...well...boomerang. If you've done one, you've done them all. Always seems rougher in reverse. And finally Hangman, which I guess if you've ridden Serial Thriller, it's the same thing. They were the only ride that wouldn't let me wear my shades (my signature for on-ride photos). Still not sure why. I've never lost a pair on a coaster yet (no matter how rough it was). Oh well, I complied just so I could ride.
The rest of the park is traditional park/fair stuff, such as the double shot, shoot the chutes, scrambler, etc. But I have to mention their Tazmanian River Rapids (the rafting ride). Although once you get past the first part of it, the ride gets pretty boring, the initial idea and layout is fascinating. You start at the highest point and travel down a slight slope and around some turns to a huge whirlpool. You then flow around the whirlpool 1 1/2 time until you get near the center, then down a steep drop in the middle where you actually go under the track. In sense, you're going "underwater". Unfortunately, after that things become a lazy river at best and you really don't get wet except for a bit of mist. Still worth checking out if you go.
All in all, a park that has some issues to address if they want people to stay for more than a couple of hours. We had gone to see Pat Benetar in concert (my wife and I are children of the 70s and 80s) and their outdoor venue is OK. They invite you to bring your own lawn chairs, which is nice. She put on a great concert as always (seen her many times). But I digress. If you want to go, it's $26 for two days. I'd suggest going during the week or at the very least, waiting until mid afternoon to go. Especially during summer months.
-Shady
-----------------
How long is the wait time from this point?
You must be logged in to post