Midwest Coaster Trip Part 1 (Arriving in the Dells)

[Robert T Ackerman]

Ok so here it goes. It might be a little on the long/photo heavy side, but I'll try to keep it simple.
This trip is up there with the "favorite trips" list. Excellent coasters, excellent friends, and excellent weather (for the majority of the trip). I'd like to thank my friends Ed and Bill for hanging out with me for most of the trip, and everyone else who made it to the event at Indiana Beach. You guys really are a blast and you make this hobby so much more enjoyable!


DAY 1 & 2 Wisconsin Dells - Knuckleheads, Riverview, Timber Falls

Ed and I took a (delayed) flight out of Newark to Chicago on the fourteenth of August. As soon as we landed, we headed over to George's to get Bill. Nice house by the way George. After "retrieving" Bill, we made excellent time getting up to The Dells. Our first stop was Culvers. MMMM I love Culvers. Ed is now a big fan as well. Our first "park" stop was Knuckleheads, a somewhat new FEC with a Minor Mike that is built with the indoor terrain and some other nifty kiddie rides.





We walked around the place, checking out this and that before riding the coaster. This place was VERY impressive and I would love to come back here with more time to do some bowling, hang out at the bar, and relax. Before riding, Bill decided to violate some stuffed Patrick's





Check out the awesome terrain!!!



After acquiring our credit, which was the best Minor Mike I've ridden by the way, we made a quick run to Riverview so Ed can get his credits in before the park closes for good.



This park is OK at best. They have 3 credits, 2 of which are coasters for the little ones. They have an awesome flat ride called Catch N' Air and a very cool Fun House with some funny mirror's in them...







Our final stop, park wise, for the night was Timber Falls, which I failed to take pictures of since it was already dark out. $15 is such an awesome deal for this place. Avalanche alone is $6 a ride, and we rode for a good 2-3 hours. The ride to me seemed a tad slower, but that was easily forgotten after our first 5 or so laps. There were a few times we ended up in the station and I was laughing/giggling uncontrollably. This ride really kicks @$$, and it did the same to me. I was pretty sore the next morning after our marathon. I finally rode the Log Flume, which was nice and we didn't get wet at all really. Ed decided to go check into our hotel. The Black Hawk, while Bill and I rode Avalanche some more, and hopped on the bumper boats for a little while.
Here's some pics I took of Avalanche while driving by the next morning.






The Black Hawk hotel was extremely nice. The staff was friendly and the place was just super clean. I would love to stay there again, and probably will in the future.





















Our room had 3 decent sized beds, a full bathroom, a fridge, microwave DVD player and some nice cabinets/tables. They offered an indoor and outdoor pool, hot tub, and fancy slides going into the 2 pools.

I am falling asleep as I write this, so I'm going to end it here for now. Day 2 (Mt Olympus) coming later...



(Oh, and if you want to cheat and look at the rest of my pics... they are at http://community.webshots.com/user/frissbeking

Enjoy, more Trip Report to come.

[Robert T Ackerman]

Ok, so since I haven't had ANY free time since I got home from the trip, I'm going to make this quick and to the point.

Highlights from the rest of the trip...

Hades is still an incredible ride. Not having to wait more than 10 minutes for any seat is also a MAJOR bonus.
Cyclops is still a hoot and gives wicked airtime all over the 2,000 feet of track.
I LOVE Mount Olympus and The Dells
The new Wave Pool that produces 9 foot waves is awesome. We didn't even go in, and had a ton of fun just watching it in action. (it wasn't hot out, and it was raining)

Little A-Merrik-A is a fun little park. They have a lot of older rides to offer and the new coaster is damn near perfect.

Indiana Beach puts on a rather fun event. ERT is fun and the food is very different from most parks event food.

SFGAm was many many steps below what I remember, I felt like I was at a larger version of SFA.

Rain in Chicago sucks.

Here are some pictures.








I'll post a few more when I get home.

[ChuckR]

That painting on the wall is awesome.