Park Review
|
Rossville, Georgia
Place: Lake Winnepesaukah The alarm rang around 7:30, and I got out of bed. As is usual for me , I slept marginally the night before I visited a new park. I hit the highway, enjoying U2's "The Joshua Tree," Rage Against the Machine's Self-Titled debut and David Gray's "Flesh" as my tires ate up the road. The trip took shorter than I anticipated at two hours, so I pulled off the highway at 11 eastern. At 11:30 I pulled into Lake Winnie's parking lot and met URC's own Atlantacoaster. I met several other ACErs in the parking lot and, after waiting a short bit, paid and entered the park for the first time. For people who have not been there, the park is laid out much like a "U", and the lake fills in the U as the park stretches around it. The front entrance puts you in the park at the bottom right-hand corner of the park. So, we walked to the left and back over the Cannonball (John Allen, 1967, coaster 104 for me). The coaster simply says that it is a classic out & back design. With its white paint contrasting with the green trees and grass around it, the coaster makes a fine visual statement. Our first ride was in the front seat with no one else in the train. We spent the next rides enjoying the front, back and my personal favorite, 1.3. As I said in my Allen history, this is one of the better-maintained Allen coasters and a great example of the large- small-large style of hills that he liked to throw together. I must say the trains looked beautiful, as they were recently rehabbed by PTC. The running boards are gorgeous, abd the park kept the single - locking lapbars but added individual seat belts and seat dividers. I really do not care (I guess I am getting used to these sad additions) if one or both of these accessories are added to a train, but when both are present it makes loading much slower. If coaster-owners are intent on adding seat belts & dividers, go the SFoG or Miracle Strip route and add one seat belt for both riders. It makes loading a breeze, and there is less to dig for within the seats. Sure, it saves only a few seconds, but those do add up over the course of an operating day, which means customers wait in less lines. Back to the coaster. After the skid brakes drop, the train meanders over a nice 180-degree right-hand turn into the lift. A quick lift to the top ensues, and shortly afterwards we were dropping down the first hill. The train flies over this, then a drawn-out bunny hop and then up a large mid-course hill that is almost as tall as the first. After the anti-rollbacks clatter, you fly down over another small hill and up into the turn-around. (Great photos of the coaster are at http://www.americanmidway.com/pictures/LakeWinnie/index.html and http://www.playride.com). The drop off the turn (which uses Allen's anchor and chain support system) is nice, and the coaster parallels itself back into the station. One of the ride's best moments is the entrance to the brake run where, much like on the Six Flags St. Louis Screamin' Eagle, it looks like your hands might get lopped off by the roof. We also got in some rides on the new for 2001 Wild Thing, an L&T Wild Mouse (coaster 105). To my knowledge, it is only the second operating L&T mouse, the first being at Jazzland. I was expecting this ride to be fun, but it really surprised me. First off, after you board, the train is pulled up possibly one of the steepest mouse lifts in existence. After that, it goes through a series of switchbacks on the top level. These turns got progressively more violent and the some of them felt as if they were right on top of the lake - the visuals were wonderful. We were lucky in that the brakes barely kissed the train before it entered the second half. This was a series of hills that featured a few glances of airtime. But the best part was the final two turns, which were taken at very fast speeds and through supports, so the cars felt like they were going off the track into the superstructure. Overall, this coaster exceeded expectations and I applaud the Lake Winnie staff, as they picked the perfect coaster for their park. We went back and forth between the two coasters until ERT ran out. I must say, Cannonball 1.3 never gave quite the air I had hoped, but we never got to experience a full train in that seat and the ride was obviously still warming up. As the ERT came to a close, Bill & I hit a flat ride I had heard stories about- evil, maniacal stories. The ride was the Eyerly Fly-o- Plane. But looking at the ride, I wondered, �Could this really be the evil experience that so many people have described?!� It looked more like a plane from the Thomas the Tank kids show than a machine to extract confessions. Puzzled, I stepped inside the small cockpit and the trademark restraint came down on me. Sitting in front of me were two small steering wheels which controlled the wings that sprouted from the nose. After everyone was buckled, in the engine started, a whirring ensued and after a few revolutions we were high enough off the ground that I dared to touch the wheel. A nudge to the left and the cockpit rolled over, with me hanging only by the seatbelt. With all of my might, I forced the wheel to the other side and the plane lurched over the top and left me upside down again. As the ride continued I got the hang of things and was rolling it like a pro. One thing that is important to remember about the Fly-o-Plane is that you need to work hard for the plane to roll well. It is a given that the cockpit will not stay upright, so you have to work to keep the ride rolling. I can honestly say that the Fly-o-Plane is one of the more intense rides I have been on (when spun fast), and I can do nothing but applaud Lake Winnie for rehabbing a ride like this (they used to have a Fly-o-Plane, but got rid of it years ago) and putting it in their park. In an age where many parks think that big and expensive are the only ways to go, the park got it right by including a ride that is little short of an American ride classic. Looking at the Fly-o-Plane it seems simple by today's standards. But I think it is important that we remember the great contribution the Eyerly Aircraft Company made to inverting amusement rides. They were the forerunners of today's masterpieces by companies like Moser, Zamperla and KMG. The "o-planes" started it all, combining safety, portability and a quality ride put together in nice, affordable package for parks and carnivals. This was my third in the Eyerly line of o-plane rides (along with the loop and roll o- planes), but still have to enjoy the "rock" version of the ride. Enough about Eyerly, on to the rest of the park. We were advised to get on the Boat Ride ASAP because the wait got long as the day wound on. We thought it a good idea and hopped on Alpine Way, the park's skyride. It has a beautiful setting and goes directly over the lake. But I felt a bit of a fool, as the other end of the skyride had not the station I had hoped for. Instead, it was like Canobie Lake's and merely had a turn-around area, which led back to the first loading area. Feeling a bit sheepish, I disembarked, we walked across the connecting boardwalk area and hopped in line. For those of you who may not know, according to NAPHA, the Boat Ride is the only existing old mill that still has its chute to finish the ride. After about a ten-minute wait, we boarded the boats, which looked more like fiberglass versions of 40's-era speedboats than standard old mill floating stock. After we got into the wooden seats, the boat was launched and we floated through one of the longest, darkest tunnels on any ride I have been on. After several minutes in the dark (with a rather unhappy child & his parents in front of us), we approached the lift. Folks, this is classic, traditional amusement park technology. The lift is not unlike modern chutes rides in that it uses a chain, but you could tell this had been around a while. In addition, the anti-rollbacks worked by having iron prongs that came out the back of the boat slide up and in grooves as the boat ascended the lift. We rode a set of tracks down the hill and out over the water (not unlike an Arrow hydroflume) before we were let down in the lake. This is another ride that I am sure costs the park a pretty penny to maintain, but it is well worth it, as the Boat Ride is a great unique experience that every lover of park history (and child-at-heart) should experience. The Pirate (a swinging ship set against the lake) came next. I am not sure who makes this, but I must say it is one of the better ships out there (not a Huss), and we got a nice, long cycle. The end pieces looked reminiscent of the shorter Intamin ships, but I do not think it was one of theirs. The carousel's beauty called us next, and after enjoying some cold Cokes, we boarded. The carousel was built in 1916, came to Lake Winnie in 1967 and, at four rows, is one of the larger PTCs carved. According to a May, 2000 "Scrapbook" section in Amusement Today, page 38, the carousel uses a calliope to produce the music. However, the park utilized speakers, and I saw cassette tapes out also, so I do not know whether the music was recorded or merely being amplified. The carousel is large, impressive and set in a nice location surrounded by water. It was a joy to sit back and allow the lumbering machine take me back to another time. I also always like to see children and parents riding together, and this carousel featured plenty of that. Directly behind the carousel is the Wacky Worm (I believe a Pinfari). Nothing too exciting here - we got two cycles and enjoyed it only for the count of number 106. Atlantacoaster, being the large consumer of park collectibles that he is, suggested we head over to the gift shop. He got a lot of stuff, and I was happy with my customary magnet. But one special treat I did get was the many historical photographs which adorned the walls. Upon hearing my love of park history mentioned, one of the gift shop workers, who I am guessing has worked at the park for some time, was kind enough to tell me about many of the pictures. Her favorite was of the Lusse bumper cars, which she said were "better than the ones today." I had to agree. After a short walk out to the car, we worked our way across the park. First up was a flat ride called the Genie. It was essentially a super Round-Up, but I do not know the manufacturer. We skipped the super slide because the line was so long (and sadly never made it back) for the well-maintained Sellner Tilt-a-Whirl. After a quick wait, we boarded enjoyed a nice, long cycle where the spinning never stopped. Further down the waterfront area was the Castle, a dark ride. From the looks of things, the vehicles were from Sally (their older versions) and many of the effects appeared in-house. There was another Cobra (or, as the crocodile hunter says, a Kabra) here; I still have not figured out why Egyptian motifs show up in so many dark rides for no reason! Even though it was not a "classic" dark ride, I was still happy to see the park have a dark ride everyone could enjoy. We walked back past the Cannonball to get some pictures of the coaster far out on the layout. It is quite unique to get shots of this coaster because you can literally go right up next to the coaster for photos; it is a different sensation being only inches from the car whizzing by. The Hrubetz Paratrooper offered an enjoyable ride, as did the Orbiter (whose manufacturer I do not know). Bill got the spinning on the Fly-o-Plane down this time, and in my plane I was thrown from side to side so fast that I tore a hole in my shorts - what a flight! Another ride on the Wild Thing. By now, the brakes were on a touch harder (still light), but the track had warmed up so the ride was essentially the same as in the morning. Yet another walk across the park led us to the Matterhorn. This was definitely one of the older versions of this ride, perhaps made by Mack. The cars were sleighs and the ride was not run as fast as my favorite version at Canobie. While waiting, Bill & I were talking about how hard it was to identify the manufacturers in this park because of a lack of manufacturer's plaques (ironically, the Cannonball still had its PTC plaque, a rarity these days). A man turned around and said that the new rides were not built as well as they used to be, because then a company called the Philadelphia Toboggan Company made great carousels, like one at his hometown park that went to Disneyland. I said, "Olympic Park?" He was a little taken a back that we knew of it, and Bill said, "the park in Maplewood, NJ." I think the fact that someone had heard of this man's hometown park made his day. (Note: Olympic Park is traditionally one of the most overlooked traditional parks. For more information, pick up "Smile: A Pictorial History of Olympic Park," by Alan Siegel.) We again tried to enjoy the boat ride, but after ten minutes it was obvious we were getting nowhere, so it was off to the Eli Bridge wheel (a 12-car portable version). It gave some nice views of the area, but the unloading took quite a while because the op decided to do some sort of staggered departure that made no sense at all. One more trip on the Genie and we headed over to Pavilion 8 for the dinner. I want to say thank you very much to Lake Winnie's PR director, Tally Rhodes, who was nice enough to let me grab a meal even after I lost my meal ticket. Thank you for that touch of kindness. All of the employees serving us (and throughout the day) were quite friendly, and it was nice to rest a short while. But I was not there to get fat, so it was time to get some rides in before departing. We took ne more in the front seat of the Wild Thing (to me, the front gave a much better ride), a ride in the back seat of Cannonball (our best of the day, due to the track warming up and a full train), and one last spin on the carousel to end the day. A big thanks to Tally and the Lake Winnie staff and Robert Ulrich for getting this event together. And a big thanks to Atlantacoaster for letting me talk too much about coasters; after all, its what I do best. So as I left I said goodbye to Bill, turned up Weezer's Green album & the AC and hit the highway for home. Adam
|