sowinski
Posts: 370
Registered: 6/9/2005
Rank: Silver Critic
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 11/27/2005 8:41:41 PM
Hi All,
I'm planning a trip in the North Central area of the U.S. which I define as being from Missouri/Kentucky as the southern area up to the Canadian border including Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc. I would like to exclude Ohio because I was there last summer and need a change of scenery. There will be only adults. I'm looking for maximum thrills coaster and otherwise. If anyone can suggest some must visit parks and coasters in this area, I'd greatly appreciate it.
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Cyclonic
Posts: 2636
Registered: 7/19/2002
Rank: Experiment 626
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11/27/2005 9:30:45 PM
You may want to narrow it down a little bit, there are a ton of parks in the area you are looking to travel in. Also, check out rcdb.com, they have a search feature that will help you locate parks.
Now, here are a few of my suggestions. They include:
Indiana Beach
Holiday World
Beech Bend
Kentucky Kingdom
Six Flags Great America
Wisconson Dells (several parks here)
Michigan's Adventure
Worlds of Fun
Camp Snoopy @ Mall of America
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My Track Record
Penncoasters.com
 
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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 11/30/2005 12:18:32 AM
depends on exactly how much time you have.
I would recommend the following parks for thrills with the top/unique coasters at each park:
Beech Bend (Kentucky Rumbler)
Holiday World (Voyage, Legend and Raven)
SF St Louis (The Boss, Mr. Freeze, Batman: The Ride)
Indiana Beach (Cornball Express, Hurricane Hoosier, Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain, plus a ton of great flats)
SF Great America (Villian, Deja Vu, Superman Ultimate Flight, Raging Bull, Batman: The Ride)
Wisconsin Dells (Hades, Cyclops, Avalanche)
Michigan's Adventure (Shivering Timbers)
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sowinski
Posts: 370
Registered: 6/9/2005
Rank: Silver Critic
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11/30/2005 11:00:17 AM
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sowinski
Posts: 370
Registered: 6/9/2005
Rank: Silver Critic
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11/30/2005 11:03:52 AM
Thanks for the help guys. Your are right I should have mentioned a timeframe. I'll probably be in the area for about a week, so I'll need to do a lot of driving in between. I'd like to hit 5 or 6 parks on this visit.
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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11/30/2005 11:22:57 AM
this past summer I flew into Chicago and went to SFGAm on Friday, Michigan Avdenture on Saturday, Wisconsin Dells on Sunday and Valleyfair/Camp Snoopy on Memorial Day Monday it was about 1,500 miles of driving.
If you can only go have four places you should definitely try to make sure to get to SFGAm, Holiday World, Indiana Beach and Wisconsin Dells. I love Shivering Timbers but there is not another grat ride at Michigan's Adventure, but 20 rides on Shivering Timbers is worth the admission prce alone. I haven't been to Beech Bend but a lot of enthusiasts are looking forward to the opening of Kentucky Rumbler this year.
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hrrytraver
Posts: 1270
Registered: 7/16/2005
Rank: Platinum Critic
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11/30/2005 11:48:25 AM
i am planning a similar trip. i'm passing on michigan adventure just 'cause. it's a little out of the way of the rest of my itinerary, and i can't afford admission to too many parks. other wood coasters in the mid-west interest me more than timbers...but i'd love to try it sometime, don't get me wrong.
so here is my plan-
king's island first. i'm coming from baltimore, so that would be the closest to me. in spite of all the negative sentiment, i need to try SofBst for myself. i had an exaltant spiritual experience on the beast (father) about 13 years ago and i want ride it again and see how it goes these days. i've heard bad things about brakes and this and that, but i want to see for myself. PKI will be the only corporate park i'll go to.
next up holiday world. two famous wood coasters i've never been on and a new one that has all the wood fans' panties in a bunch.
i'm passing on beech bend. again, i'm saving money and time. i'm not very excited by GCII coasters, but maybe some super psyched early reports after the coaster opens will convince me to squeeze BB in there.
next up is indiana beech. by all reports cornball express seems like my kind of coaster. throw in another big wood coaster, a wierd mine train coaster, a portable schwrzkopf, a funky old skool styled park out on a pier and i'm jonesing to get to this place.
while in indiana i want to check out dr. ted's musical marvels, a small museum collection of mechanical intruments/band organs. like adriahna, i am very spellbound by these complicated and unique devices.
next up hang out in chi town with my peeps, dig around record bins, scour thrift stores and generally chill in a great american city.
next up wisconsin dells. mt. olympus coasters all hold some mystique, in my opinion. hades seems too unique to pass up. avalanche at timber falls has gotten such feverish reports on this site i can't miss it. i need to see what the fuss is about.
while in wisconsin i plan to check out much of the roadside weirdness which the state is known for. the house on the rock for one has been described to me as worthy of a trip in and of itself...even from as far as the east coast. people are blown away by this place. it is the largest collection of mechanical instruments in the world, as well as the largest collection of tons of other rare and strange arcana from every corner of the globe. there are several wind up orchestras of automatons and a narrow room extending about a hundred feet over a cliff with no support pillars! the whole thing is is a strange architectural structure that makes frank lloyd wright's work look about as avant garde as a dairy queen.
link
http://www.thehouseontherock.com/
there's a lot of other cool stuff up there too.
then the long sad trip back to the east coast. i would try more amusement parks, but i'm also going to east coast parks next summer so i need to watch my budget. i'm trying to go to russia next summer too, so i need money for that too.
dreaming of such a trip is fun. i hope it happens! good luck on your trip too.
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Hostes alienigeni me abduxerunt. Qui annus est?
= I was abducted by aliens. What year is it?
Message updated 11/30/2005 12:17:01 PM by hrrytraver
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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11/30/2005 3:38:09 PM
hrrytraver - your point about Shivering Timbers and MiA being out of the way is a good one. I considered not going to MiA, but looked at it this way. I have fond memories of The Beast but have not ridden it in 5 years. I would have hated to have missed ridden a great coaster while it was still great. I hear complaints about the SFNE Cyclone, S:ROS and The Beast not being what they used to be. I'm lucky I was able to experience all three in their glory and heave a better reference point when discussing great coasters. The fact that I had the Cedar Fair pass made it an easier decision for me also.
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BobFunland
Posts: 7962
Registered: 8/9/2001
Rank: Site Moderator
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12/1/2005 11:08:57 PM
To give you an idea of what I am looking at doing in a week within the same area next year:
Day 1: Traveling up from Georgia, I'll hit Beech Bend in the morning and then Kentucky Kingdom in the afternoon
Day 2: Holiday World
Day 3: Indiana Beach AM POP session, travel up to Michigan
Day 4: Michigan's Adventure
Day 5: Six Flags Great America
Day 6: Wisconsin Dells, start drive towards St Louis
Day 7: Six Flags St. Louis, Drive home
(suprisingly detouring to STL on the drive home from the Dells only adds about an hour of driving time!)
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sowinski
Posts: 370
Registered: 6/9/2005
Rank: Silver Critic
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12/5/2005 12:26:24 PM
To summarize the opinions, so far, it seems that 2 tiers have emerged.
The top tier,in no particular order, consists of Holiday World, Indiana Beach, 6 Flags Great America, and Wisconsin Dells.
The second tier, again in no particular order, is Kentucky Kingdom/Beech Bend, Michigan's Adventure, World's of Fun/Camp Snoopy, 6 Flags St. Louis.
Since the first tier is must attend parks, I'll consider that part of my trip planned.
Now of the second tier, can someone rank these parks from best to worst?
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larrygator
Posts: 4654
Registered: 11/7/2002
Rank: Platinum Critic
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12/5/2005 1:15:10 PM
I've been to Kentucky Kingdom, SF St Louis, Michigan's Adventure, Valleyfair and Camp Snoopy but not Beech Bend or World's of Fun.
1 - Six Flags St. Louis is the most complete park that you can add
2 - Worlds of Fun I've heard good thing but I have never been
3 - Camp Snoopy is a most if you have kid's in tow, if not it should not be this high.
4 - Michigan's Adventure, just on Shivering Timbers alone (there is not much else in the park unless you will be doing the waterpark
5 - Beech Bend - again never been here, but the new coaster is expected to be a good one and is generating a lot of buzz.
6 - Kentucky Kingdom - Chang one of the the better stand-up coasters but the park just isn't very good
7 - Valleyfair - I hated these coasters and the park in general. Steel Venom (similar to Wicked Twister) and their S&S Tower are the best rides.
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