USA 06/22 – Michigan’s Adventure + Indiana Beach
Actually heading back in the right direction now, our next stop was everyone’s favourite park.
Day 12 – Michigan’s Adventure
I’d forgotten what it was like to have a pass that actually works again (mostly).
And we soon found ourselves at the main event for this park, #1 Shivering Timbers. S’alright.
I do really appreciate the layout on this one, nothing but straight lines and airtime hills over a ridiculous length. In terms of what each one has to offer though it’s nothing to really write home about. It provides an above average happy fun time of just ‘being’ on a wooden rollercoaster (seems the US is great for this) and the way it just keeps on going is the best part of that.
Titan Track #2 Wolverine Wildcat was a laugh. We were sat in front of a guy who kept proclaiming that it was his favourite ride, trying to impress either his date or daughter (it was a weird dynamic), and then proceeded to make some hilarious noises throughout the entire course, as though he was being destroyed by it. Which I don’t get, it ran well. I like the fast wonky hills and trick-track stuff or whatever you call it. There’s not much of a sample size, but probably the best Dinn still out there.
They may not get new investments here, but they do like to paint things. #3 Corkscrew was looking rather fresh, though the same couldn’t be said for the ride experience.
I high-fived Snoopy on the way into the queue for #4 Woodstock Express, which was probably the highlight moment of the visit. As a weird little Chance coaster it broke the mould somewhat.
Zach’s Zoomer then proceeded to break down on us, so we took an excruciatingly long and hot walk over to the SLC, which was also looking rather fresh. Was #5 Thunderhawk worth it? Of course not. There was one very questionable moment of roughness into the first inversion which didn’t inspire much confidence, but thankfully it never surpassed that. Nor have any of these managed to surpass T3 at this stage.
That’s pretty much the only ride the other side of the massive lake, so it was all the way back again to find #6 Zach’s Zoomer was fixed. Having been sunglasses on, not caring for most of the park, getting told the only option was to ‘hold onto them’ here brought back fond memories of Ice Breaker. It was somehow the roughest woodie of the park for only being 40ft tall, though I found if you sit sort of side-saddle as the only adult in a row it was reasonably different and entertaining.
I’d half been hoping that yet another example of the Arrow #7 Mad Mouse was going to remain closed as it had been all morning, but it was back. Once again it was awful, the queue was hugely disproportionate to every other in the park and full of sunburn. Worldwide set complete though, now let’s never speak of it again.
We took another courtesy lap on the Shiver, to see if anything had changed. It (or the staff, accidentally) decided to e-stop on the lift hill and thus we had an even lengthier than usual lap courtesy of 10-15 stationary minutes of silence. Through that, opinions were confirmed rather than changed and it was deemed as not worth risking another mishap – we had places to be.
It was time to hit the road.
Indiana Beach
We found Indiana, but not the beach, rather a field in which to park the car and a big, wobbly bridge to cross. The view was welcoming, the admissions staff less so.
Lets get the bad news out of the way first, Lost Coaster of Super-spite-tion Mountain was out of action. Oh and Spiter Looping is still in bits after far too long. Over the years we’ve had this trip planned the park threatened to not exist at all, so we were more than happy to take what we could get.
First thing we got was #8 Cornball Express and I adored it. I couldn’t tell which wood was which in this tangled mess off goodness, nor did I know which one was supposed to be ‘the good one’. What it was was CCI at it’s finest. Just look at that drop.
Thanks to the freedom of the buzz bar restraints it had several moments of scary, standing airtime in remarkable places. The layout is mostly left turns and drops, ending on a bunch of silly corners but it works oh so well and I couldn’t get enough of it.
There were other things to try though, #9 Tig’rr Coaster was pretty vicious and reminded me of the rawness that these old Schwarzkopfs can (should) sometimes have.
#10 Hoosier Hurricane was a bit bigger, a bit rougher and a little less fun than it’s nutty neighbour, but still solid and with great views.
I keep meaning to look up what Hoosier means, as it clearly wasn’t just a silly ride name and was plastered on signs around the state of Indiana.
The answer is less interesting than I had hoped for.
The staff were bigging up #11 Steel Hawg rather well, though it was somewhat lost on us. Got all the clones now, just need the other layout, but I’m happy to speak of them again. I rather like the funkier moments El Locos have to offer and this thing hurled itself into that first drop in a very unnerving fashion.
In an attempt to make up for a lack of big new coaster, the park also have a brand new second hand Zyklon Galaxi, #12 Cyclone, complete with an amusingly questionable clearance envelope, which it appears I forgot to photograph. We spent the duration of the lap trying to spot the dark ride.
And spot we did, Den of Lost Thieves was another Sally classic, perhaps not quite in the same league as the previous day, but I like the sheer simplicity of those cars. It’s a solo affair for adults and my gun didn’t work. Good in parts though, and changes in elevation are always fun.
In the absence of being able to complete the park beyond that, we got our fill of corn to see out the day in style. I loved the visuals here, one of those classic piles of rides on top of each other and there were some great opportunities for interaction, just a shame it was a little too quiet to capitalise on that, even on a weekend. Get those loops open.