Summer 2017- 15 New Parks!!!

Summer 2017


Hey guys! Before I head back off to school and get too busy to write this, I just wanted to tell you about my summer this year. As many of you know, I took an area supervisor position at Cedar Point. This was an amazing learning experience and I met so many fantastic people from all around the world. Not only did I make very good friends, I learned a lot more about this industry thanks to the park being one of the largest in the world! I did a TON of traveling this year, I started with Dollywood and just kept stacking up parks. I have managed to ride almost 150 new coasters this year so far. I’m going to start this TR with my thoughts and opinions on all of the great parks I had visited this year! We are gonna kick it off with one of the country’s most classical parks, Kennywood!


Here is a list of what to expect in this report

Kennywood
Waldameer
Conneaut Lake Park
Michigan’s Adventure
King’s Island
Martin’s Fantasy Island
Darien Lake
Indiana Beach
Kentucky Kingdom
Holiday World
Six Flags Great America
Mount Olympus
Timberfalls
Noah’s Ark
Valleyfair!
Nickelodeon Universe (Mall of Ameirca)



Kennywood Park: Pittsburgh, PA

With several friends who worked at this park and hearing plenty of praise about it prior, I was really excited about this place. I ended up getting a season pass and visited a total of five times! This is a great park with a nice collection of unique rollercoasters and an even better flat ride line up. This park certainly has a ton of history and nostalgia jam packed inside which makes it that much more memorable. Although the history is nice, you can tell a lot of the rides need major overhauls and the landscaping is nowhere near as well kept as its sister park, Lake Compounce. I’ll go ahead and get started with some ride reviews.


Phantom’s Revenge:

We might as well start off with the best ride in the park, right? This was no doubt, one of the most highly anticipated coasters of the summer for me, personally. This coaster is truly a unique gem and it absolutely belongs in the top rankings. The ravine drop is something you will never forget once you experience it. With tons of airtime, speed, drops and turns, Phantom delivers right to the very end. 10/10

Sky Rocket:

This coaster was honestly exactly what I was expecting it to be, just plain fun. It’s really nothing groundbreaking but it has a very enjoyable launch and the first half of the ride is fantastic. The second half really doesn’t make any sense, but I was told it was designed like that because of budget cuts. Lol Typical palace….. 7.5/10

Racer:

This coaster was a pleasant surprise for sure. The station is flat out gorgeous, it’s a recreation of its original design from back in the day. The ride offers a great dueling aspect, with drops, turns and some nice pacing. It’s butter smooth too. It’s nowhere near the largest of the racing coasters, but it just goes to show how fun these smaller coasters can be. Out of the three woodies, this one is easily in the best condition. 8/10

Jackrabbit:

To be completely honest, I was kind of let down by this one. Yes, the double down is nice and all that, but it really doesn’t do anything else. I LOVE how it still has those original trains and it’s a very smooth ride, but it seems to be a little “over-hyped” in my opinion. I still loved it though, but mainly for its historical value. 7/10

Thunderbolt:

Out of these three old-school wooden coasters, this one was the best. The century flyer trains were so awesome! With the rides unique landscaping, it offers great views of the ravine and the phantom. The drops will literally get you standing up in the back row, which I loved! Once again, this coaster was very smooth but definitely the most “wild” of the three. A wooden gem, I loved it! 9/10

Exterminator:

The final coaster I’ll be reviewing here (yes I got the lil’ Phantom credit) is the Exterminator. I gotta say, I never understood why everyone was praising a crazy mouse in the dark until I actually rode it. It TRANSFORMS the ride into something way better than just your average crazy mouse. The theming inside is fantastic! It has cool lights and moments where you’re in the pitch black, spinning like crazy. If you’re planning on coming to this park for the first time, I highly recommend riding this first as the line can get very long. Great ride and a total surprise! 8/10




Other notable rides:

Volcano- By far the bests Enterprise I’ve been on. It runs a very nice program and lifts all the way to a 90 degree angle!!! Most of them don’t do that these days!

Baryne Curve- My favorite flat ride of all time! Holy crap this thing kicks so much a$$!! It’s fast, intense and relentless! This ride is also in great condition!! I give Kennywood so much credit for keeping this around, even though it’s a total maintenance nightmare, they still maintain it nicely!

Black Widow- This was my first Giant Discovery and I can comfortably say that this thing destroys Max Air!! Can’t wait for New England to get theirs!!!!

Garfield’s Nightmare- This was embarrassing for them….None of the props even worked and the ride was unbelievably outdated. I hope the Old Mill restoration comes sooner than later.

Kangaroo- This was EPIC. So much airtime!!!! Another classic ride that you can’t find anywhere else.

Log Jammer- This is one of my new favorite log flumes. This arrow classic has a very unique layout and an awesome first drop!! Hopefully the park will put some money into this ride to restore it.

Noah’s Ark- What a gem this thing is. It was much better than I expected and a lot longer too! The attraction’s props were all working and the sets were in great condition. They did a fantastic job restoring this amazing attraction!

Turtle- This ride was super fun! Nice whip to it and a very long cycle. Also, this ride is a great place to watch the phantom! Another ride that you barely see these days!


Overall, Kennywood is a great park. I’ve been on all the rides at the park and other than the ones that I already talked about, they have a great rapids ride, a fantastic paratroopers, an old school car ride that you can’t find anywhere else, a fun whip and a surprisingly awesome shooting dark ride with some amazing theming!

There’s a lot of attractions and scenery that you just can’t find at any other amusement park anymore. Unfortunately you can tell where Palace has laid its mark and the operations aren’t anything to be “wowed” about. Kennywood is certainly a park of its own, offering a fantastic line-up of overall attractions. If you’re a fan of classic parks, this is one that you cannot miss. It’s definitely worth the stop and has lived up to its name. Kennwood was one of my “go-to” parks this summer and I am really going to miss it.

We have been to all but 2 of the parks on your list. But it was done over many years. To do all that in one summer is amazing!! I think you were pretty much spot on with Kennywood. Looking forward to the review of all!

Awesome report, im surprised you didn't ride the whip which is my favorite out of all the ones I've been on. I'm glad you liked log jammer as it's my #1 flume ride. The best time to hit parks imo is the beginning of june and during the weekdays because the operations are better and the parks are less crowded.

Always have wanted to visit Kennywood and think after 5 years of begging I'm going next summer. This report made me extremely excited. Can't wait to hear the reviews of the other parks!

Waldameer:

This park was by far one of the best surprises of the summer! Thanks for it being so close to Cedar Point, I ended up visiting the park five times total. It was a fantastic blend of Canobie, Funtown Splashtown and Knoebels in my honest opinion. I even met the owner of the park who was incredibly friendly. Its so nice to see parks like this thriving as it was always busy when I went and all of their rides and attractions are maintained very nicely.

Ride Reviews:

Ravine Flyer:
Wow this thing is totally under the radar! By far a top ten wooden coaster and the night rides were UNREAL. The park keeps this ride in great shape, its smooth, fast and the two train operations kept the line moving quickly! The airtime on this thing is insane in some spots, especially after the big turnaround and back into the ravine. Its incredibly re-ridable and one of the best new credits of the summer. 10/10

Steel Dragon:
This was my second of these types of spinning coasters and tons of fun! Although its not superior to Laff Traks, the ride is just plain fun. A huge hit with the families and thrill seekers alike. This was another ride that they did a great job with operations! 8/10

Comet:
This ride is in AMAZING condition. It's by far the best family wooden coaster that I've ridden and it actually has some great moments of airtime. Not to mention this ride is super smooth! I applaud the park for keeping this awesome ride in such good condition! 9/10

Whacky Shack:
Another classic ride in amazing condition! This was one of the coolest old-school dark rides that I have ridden. Some really neat features and all the scenes were always working correctly. This is something I want Canobie to add eventually! 10/10

Flume Ride:
This was one bad ass flume ride!!! Not only was it in great shape, but it had an excellent layout for such a compact space. The drops were fun and the tunnel was a pleasant surprise! 10/10

Musik Express:
Holy Sh** this was by far the most insane musik express out there! It's brand new and goes forwards and backwards. The thing has a fantastic ride cycle and runs insanely fast. By far one of the best flat rides I've ever been on! Its a must for anyone who goes to this park! 10/10

Pirates Cove:
This will be the last attraction that I talk about in depth but certainly not the last ride worth riding! Pirates Cove, just like its big brother Wacky Shack, had working props in every scene and was just as amazingly tacky! The floor effects were a nice touch and it was surprisingly long! 10/10


Along with these rides, they had a spider, ali baba, x-scream free fall, paratroopers, sea dragon, wipeout, mega disco and a scrambler that all ran to the absolute max!

Waldameer was such a fantastic park. All of their flat rides run to the max and the park was very clean. The water park just got a major new expansion, with a new wave pool and massive water play area. It's great to see these little parks thrive and continue to invest their money back into their parks, as it was very obvious Waldameer is doing exactly that. If you have the chance, make this place a mandatory stop if your in the area, you wont regret it!

^Gotta love Ravine Flyer II!! Crossing the road is way cool too.