Wyandot Lake - 8/15/01
Associated parks:
None
Powell, Ohio
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"A classic in every sense of the word"
Ah, its time for a change of pace. Yesterday (8/14) was Cedar Point,
and 4after my shot on the Thrillshot we didn't pull out of the
Challenge Park parking lot till almost midnight, and didn't get hope
till the WEEEEE hour of the morning.
Wyandot, I knew was no thrill park, it would be a nice relaxing way to
start the morning. Besides I had a Six Flags season pass, and who
could turn down a free rollercoaster ride or three.
The nondescript entrance leads past a waterpark and into the Columbus
Zoo parking area. From now on, Six Flags parking lots shall be
operated by outside firms. Parking at Wyandot is a very reasonable
$3. The parking area is mostly gravel and between the Zoo and Wyandot.
We were soon walking towards the front gate of Wyandot, and with
Batman's asistance I was soon walking the main midway.
My host suggested I have a Caramel Apple for breakfast at the Caramel
Apple Stand. This is the Caramel Apple stand whose front door bears
the sign "We do NOT sell Caramel Apples"
We took the first turn to the right, and out there on its own little
island just past the Bumper Cars lives the Sea Dragon. The Sea Dragon
is a friendly little creature, I suppose it once belonged to the
Columbus Zoo (rideman:confirm/deny?). This particular acquistion came
from John Allen, and in fact is the oldest surviving John Allen
coaster.
Observing the queue for the Sea Dragon it was apparent that this was
youth camp day at Wyandot. Luckily the group size was small enough,
and mostly interested in the waterpark that they did not pose a threat
to our day, After a short wait I was in seat 3.2 and Rideman was in
4.1. Sea Dragon is very similar in appearance to the Junior Woodies
located at a Paramount Park nearest you (Unless, of course, that
happens to be at PGA)
With several crucial differences. Sea Dragon is truly a Coaster
Classic. The ride runs 1 PTC Junior train with manually operated
lapbars, and none of the optional equipment installed. In fact you
can still see the varnished hardwood floor in the cars. A further
look at the station revealed Big Old Brake Levers. Red, White and
Green. Closer inspection revealed that the ride was actially being
operated with the manual Big Old Brake Levers. All this and two stop
loading with a single operator put in charge of the whole attaction.
The train soon left the station , we passed under the ride safety
sign, and up the bright white coaster. Cresting the top of the lift
hill, we made the first drop, and as we proceeded on its tame family
oriented course, something appeared to be missing on the turnaround
above the station. Oh yeah, that trim brake, glad too see that not
all Ohio parks have a Wood Coaster Trim Brake Fetish. Another point
of interest occured on the final apporach into the station when the
train suddenly lurched into a dip I wasn't quite expecting. Way back
when on Beastie I recall a nice final dip behiund the Boulder Bumpers.
PKI decided a longer final brake run would fit that spot better. It
is so nice to be able to enjoy that final dip again. Then we came
into the unloading platform and were stopped smoothly by our skilled
operator on the skid brakes.
Weee, this is Fun!. It's not a thrill machine, and not a G;' force
monster, but this is pure fun laidback coaster entertainment. We
rerode until another camp group decided to hit the Dragon all at once.
Besides there is more to parks than coasters.
Deciding that we weren't interested in the water attractions, and
beyond the hand painted mural behind the rather lame bumper car ride,
we decided to head back to the flat rides area. Wyandot is an
insteresting layout. Kind of like a big cross. One arm of the cross
contains the water park, the other arm is kiddieland. The top of the
cross is the rides midway, with the front gate shops and the Ferris
Wheel at the base fo the cross.
We entered the main rides midway (Although the Dodgems/Sea Dragon and
Grand Carousel along the path to the waterpark make a might fine
midway in there own right), the midway we were headed to looked like
something out of a classic amusement park. Spider, Tilt A Whirl,
Scrambler, and Frolic. All the rides at Wyandot have either animal
or nautical themed names. We noted the Spider was out of service
today, so started with the Tilt-A-Whirl, then the Scrmabler. It was
the first time I had seen a seatbelt on a Scrambler. We slapped ahnds
on the Scrambler but only once, before the ride got up to crusing
speed.
This was the spin ride warm up, to get up ready for the King Frolic.
Frolic is an old ride, replicas of which are made by Wisdom under the
name Heartflip. The concept is real simple inside a small suspended
tub are two chairs, two seatbelts, and a wheel. The contestants, in
this case Rideman and myself clib into the hot seats, and fasten the
seatbelts. Then as the ride starts you utilize the wheel in the
center of the tub to spin it as fast as you can. Something like a
Teacups ride with suspended tubs. We had the tub going so fast smoke
was coming out of the bearings, and the surrounding park became a
blur. and everything was happy, hey I can take this. Thema certain
rider who shall remain nameless decided "Let's suddenly reverse the
rotation of the ride tub" Ohhhh, okay I'm a man I can tough this out,
I can feel the breakfast I didn't eat swimming around. Then after
another eternity the namless rider reversed the direction again. The
Frolic tried to take me down but it could not get the knockout.
This does not, however, mean that I was not ecstatic that our next
attraction was to be something a bit more tame, a pinball machine.
Wyandot has a Stern High Roller Pinball in excellent condition, and we
each played a few games of it. Rideman may get the Frolic crown, but
I think I won the Tommy Wannabe Crown. What was that Dave, i got the
REPLAY on the first ball! It was the first time I had to take a break
right there in the middle of a pinball game. You know catch the ball
on the flipper, and hold it there a while till you adreneline rush
calms down.
We much enjoyed the pinball break, and followed it up by returning to
the Sea Dragon so that we could be sent up and down hills ourselves
for awhile,
After riding the Sea Dragon we made a stop in a certain peach colored
building before heading out of the park to head to our next
destination, the Ohio State Fair. But I couldn't help but get a
chuckle out of seeing someones inner tube, with the following printed
by the handles in big letters "LEFT HAND GOES HERE" "RIGHT HAND GOES
HERE"
If you are every by Columbus, and need a that classic coaster
experience, or a wind down, from that SFWOA, CP, PKI in a weekend or
die marathon, this will help get you back into that laid back relaxed
frame of mind.
Oh, and if you see a rider carrying a pocket confuser, stay away from
the Frolic.
*** This post was edited by john peck on 8/23/2001. ***
(I'm irritated that the Rock-O-Plane was removed before I got a chance to ride it)
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everything's better with a banjo
*** This post was edited by millrace on 8/23/2001. ***
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