I've been meaning to go to Waldameer for years, but was never serious enough about it until they opened the Spinning Dragons. Even then I didn't run right out and do it. But having a friend who designs wood coasters makes me inclined to get out and ride them, and Ravine Flyer II has certainly been a long time in the making.
The park definitely has that old charm to it. Granted, we didn't do any of the truly charming oldies like the dark ride, but we did get on some other great rides. They have a Paratrooper! What a great ride. I can't remember the last time I saw one other than at Kennywood (and I haven't been on that one).
We also did the drop tower, which was surprisingly great for its height. I still like free falls better than S&S towers. The Gondola Wheel was really, really fast. I think it's the same model as the one at Michigan's Adventure. Good times.
The Comet is a surprisingly good little ride. Loved it. The growth of the trees around the ride really make it special, especially with the sun peaking through. We were lucky enough to get a front seat ride. I love the good old giant brake handles. The one ride op I concluded could be me and Diana's offspring given her red hair and nose ring, and overall style (assuming she also plays volleyball). How funny is it that we would even have that kind of conversation?
The Spinning Dragons are quite fabulous. I wasn't really expecting the ride to be as aggressive as it was, though it obviously depends on just which direction the car is facing, and what your weight distribution is. Going down the first drop backward is a surprising sensation, and going back up even more so. The back-to-back seating is in some ways better than Gerstlauer's facing seats, but if you were in a group of three or four obviously facing would be better.
We witnessed a total safety no-no too. A mechanic was actually walking through the low zone from the transfer area over to the back of the station. There was one point on his walk where he would absolutely be struck by a car if it were sailing by. That made me extremely uncomfortable, especially as our first ride, but generally speaking they did a good job running rides efficiently and safely.
Of course, the thing that ultimately got us out to the park was Ravine Flyer II. I love the smell of all that lumber when you walk into a queue on a new ride like that. The queue is not a long one, and moves pretty quickly. I think for both laps we waited around 15 minutes at most. Seemed like a really great crew, and the girl at controls was particularly perky and friendly.
The ride has been pretty well documented, so I won't go into a lot of specifics. There's no doubt that the passes over the bridge do floater airtime that you'd sooner expect on a steel coaster. And what's really great is that coming off the bridge in both directions you have those crazy and sudden direction changes like those on The Voyage. The part across the road in particular is the first non-straight rise that I've been on that never lets up. I thought the ending part was kind of mediocre, but they squeezed every bit of energy out of that layout. When you park in the brakes, you can hear the upstop wheels still spinning. That's awesome.
I haven't been on all of the Gravity Group rides yet, but this one is not nearly as aggressive as The Voyage. Our ride toward the front was a little more crazy than the one in the back too. Didn't expect that. Overall it's an incredibly solid ride, especially for a park that size.
As I said, Waldameer has a lot of charm with a combination of old and new rides. At twenty bucks, the POP wristbands are a really great value. The food is cosmically average commercial service stuff mostly, and a little overpriced at that. If you want a place to see a lot of bad tattoos, apparently Erie is it. The family picnic park with rides is certainly a dying breed, but it really suits this particular place. We were there for a little more than three and a half hours, and pretty much did everything we wanted except for the Sky Ride, which moves at a glacial pace. I'm not sure we'll visit again any time soon, because while nice, we spent more time driving there than we did in the park. But by all means, if you get the chance Ravine Flyer II and Spinning Dragons are totally worth it!
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