Park Review
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Monticello, Indiana
The Place: Indiana Beach - Monticello, IN (http://www.indianabeach.com) Indiana - who would have thought that this state would have four Custom Coasters, let alone four very unique ones (although they are custom coasters, so maybe it makes sense!)? I tried to remain optimistic that I would ride the newest one as I sped on two-lane highways and I-65 towards the town of Monticello, Indiana. The traffic was not too bad, but between the weather and my few hours of sleep after the bar, it was a bit of a struggle to not turn around when the rain came so hard I could not see the semis in front of me until they were a few feet away. The drizzle cleared as I pulled under the Hoosier Hurricane�s loading station and I prayed to the man upstairs that he would give me several rides in the few hours I had at the park. Being my first media day and first visit to the park while it was operating (I had been there three times previously, just not during the �on�-season) I followed the herd into the ballroom where I took my seat. The PR Director ran the show (I cannot remember his name, but he was funny and used to work at Michigan�s Adventure). He was quite insistent we learn the Cornball Express song, as they had paid good money for it. I believe it went something along the lines of:
To the wide Chicago shore. You can hear the engine ridn� You can hear its mighty roar, She�s a rollin�, twistin�, turnin�, So might we both suggest, You get your fannies down here And ride the Cornball Express!� After hearing speeches by the Indiana Board of Tourism, a local state government rep., Denise Dinn-Larrick of CCI, the Coca Cola rep. and Mr. Tom Spackman, Sr. (and of course I.B. Crow & Cornball Jones), we headed out to the station. This is newest coaster I have been on. Before today it was the Legend during last year�s Stark Raven Mad, but I got to see the welders putting the finishing touches on the stair supports as we walked up. After the ribbon cutting, the first train left and a few trains later I was in the back seat for my first ride on the Cornball Express. The trains were comfortable standard 2-bench PTC�s with seat dividers, personal seat belts and one individual locking lapbar. The train picked up nice speed as it left the station and did a u-turn up onto the lift. We made our way up the lift, but I barely had time to enjoy the crest because the back of the train was hauled over the top (and I was hauled up into the lapbar) for some great airtime. We sped back up into the steep second hill, did a little dive and went up into the fourth turn. This dive parallels the lake and we flew down into a great headchopper and seemingly way up into the Hurricane�s structure. After another turn, we dove out into the open and then up into the helix. Here the ride really picks up speed and gives some nice laterals. Out of the helix the train dives down, yes - more airtime, and up into the brakes. This ride is a keeper! CCI did an amazing job on the coaster, as it is out-and-out fun. It is a family coaster that everyone can enjoy, but the folks at CCI did not mistake family with forceless, and have given me another reason why �bigger is better� just does not hold true. Rant Zone: As fun as the coaster was, it also induced the only disappointing part of my day. I saw several people wearing shirts advertising other coasters, which is fine any other day. But, to me, if you are lucky enough to be invited to a media event with television stations & newspapers (both obviously using cameras), you should wear a plain-colored shirt or one advertising IB. I just found it disrespectful that a small park like this would go all out by building a great new coaster, letting people eat and drink at their park, ride all day for free and then some enthusiasts show their appreciation by advertising another park to the viewing public. Of course, some of these people were the same ones complaining later in the day that CCI and Indiana Beach did invest enough time or money into their new coaster - it was all I could do not to strangle them on the spot. I guess some people will never appreciate what they have until it is gone; sadly it might take a coaster environment like the 1930�s to make some people enjoy what is out there now. Rant Ended Because the line was long, I headed off to see the rest of the park. The lines for the skyride were not too long, so I waited about ten minutes and stepped aboard. It was an interesting journey above the midway, and I got a lot of good photos of the coasters. I disembarked and stepped on the Ferris Wheel (Chance). I got a lot of rotations, some more good pictures and really got to examine the �lines� of the Hoosier Hurricane. Even though this ride did not give the air I had hoped (more on that later), it is still has the look of a classic out and backer which (to this traditionalist) is really a thing of beauty. I hopped on the water swings next (Chance Yo Yo) and these were a blast. They stepped just ahead of Compounce�s set for my favorite swings. Where else do you get such good elevation change on a Yo Yo, a great view of the lake and a greater sense of height because the swings go out over the water? Nowhere. I could honestly spend all day on these things. However, time was limited so I headed down the midway and hopped on the Hrubetz Paratrooper. The ride was also out on the water, got up to full speed before lifting and the joint that moved the chair seemed well-lubricated; if they would have only given the brakes a little of that oil it would have fared a bit better on the ears. Lunch time was near and in the few events I have been to, I quickly learned that for enthusiasts eating is often a close second to riding, so I got back in the ballroom, and scarfed down some chicken, soda and corn provided by the park. When in a park with an Anton coaster, I just have to hop on that ASAP, so I headed over to Tig�rr. This is a Schwarzkopf Jet Star that uses a chain instead of the circular powered lift. I had heard that the park was very strict about having no singles, so I was a little apprehensive walking up the ramp. The op waved me in, asked if I was ready and a kicker tire sent us out to the lift. Now, I have always marked out for Schwarzkopf and his coasters - not just because they give fun (and often intense) rides, but because I think he was one of the few steel designers that saw designing a steel coaster was almost like abstract art. To me, that sense of wonder coupled with the look of an object of �terror� is a very interesting concept. But, I am talking about the ride itself here. For those of you who do not know, this ride uses one-car trains, with four seats each and no restraints! The ride is sort of hemmed in by Cornball now, but that only adds to the experience. Anyway, what got us here in the first place with the art thing was that Schwarzkopf placed five tiers of track almost on top of each other, so it is a very cool view ascending the lift and then looking down while the train navigates the first turn. The first drop and speed turn are a blast, and everything after that was a blur. With only one person in the cars, it had the speed changes of rides like the Coney Island Cyclone and the pre-butchered Six Flags New England Cyclone in that there are a lot of accelerations and decelerations throughout the course (and seemingly more anti-rollbacks than you can shake a stick at). This ride would be a blast with a full car on a hot day. Once the train hit the brakes I did the only thing I could - rode again! I got in line for the Hoosier Hurricane next. It was built in 1994 by CCI, was their first ride to utilize steel supports and has an out & back profile with cars very similar to Cornball�s, except here there are two trains and only one seatbelt for every two riders. The coaster took a right hand turn out of the station and headed up the lift. After cresting the lift the track, it jogs to the right before heading down the drop. I was in the second-to-last seat and did not get the airtime I expected, but it was neat to speed across the water. Then we headed up the double up where I stayed in my seat. At the top there was nice little jolt to the right and the dive down under the suspension bridge into the turnaround. The trip back was full of bunny hops, but I just did not get the airtime I hoped. Out of the two wooden coasters, I loved Cornball and liked the Hurricane. It was fun, but its younger brother really delivers in an area I expected the Hurricane to be good at. I went down to the end of the park at the Double Shot and decided to work my way up the midway, hopping on the rides that enticed me. I got several rides on the Double Shot, and this S&S ride still delivers almost painful airtime that is really amazing for such a short tower. My only complaint with the park occurred here. The ride ops on the DS let kids run under the bars after disembarking and get back in line, which is fine if there is no one there. But a lot of times, families got in line and they would have to wait a rig or two until they could get on because of all the kids that just ran in front of them. This was the only place the entire day where I had any problems with the ride ops or the GP. I got a ride on the park�s Chance Chaos next and, what can I say, I have never found this ride really intense or disorienting. The only program that ever surprised me was the one run at Six Flags New England. This version, like the one at Cedar Point, seemed to flip more often (and violently) if it was rider-induced. I looked around the Fascination room for a while (but forgot to take pictures � stupid, stupid). Then the Galaxi, a standard galaxi ride, called me for the count. This was only my second, the first being at Funtown/Splashtown last summer. It offered very little, except for the fact that the ride is enclosed by several water slides. I heard last year that this version ran two cars as a train, but today it was merely single-car operation. The most memorable part of the ride was the huge jolt as we engaged the chain lift, and from then on it ran ok, but less braked than my other rides last year. I did one more ride on the water swings for posterity and took some pictures of the wooden coasters from the suspension bridge. I hopped on Tig�rr for a few more rides, rode in 1.2 of the �Cane and finished out the day all over the Cornball Express. The front gave great air on the second (first drop), third, fourth and fifth turns, as well as on the bunny hop into the brakes. But I really do not think there is a bad seat on this coaster. Indiana Beach has every right to be proud that they have such a winner. I want to thank the park, their staff (which worked quite efficiently, considering it appeared they were understaffed because it was a Friday before school was out and crowds were probably not usually this big) and CCI for making my first media day, first visit to the park and newest CCI experience all great ones. Now I know I.B. Crow was not lying when he said that, �There is more than corn in Indiana.�
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