Michigan's Adventure

Did MiA used to be called Deer Park?
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Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Are your ready for some speed? We've got 120 miles per hour! Are you ready to get vertical? We've got 420 feet. Are you ready for the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the world?! ARE YOU READY FOR TOP THRILL DRAGSTER?!?

Yes TopThrill240, way back in the olds days MiA was known as Deer Park Funland.

MrScott
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"If we go any faster, she'll blow apart for sure!"

You can see something going on from the top of the wildcat, it looks like a path connection the area by the ripcord over by shivering timbers, would complete the square, but then again this area could have always been there and i haven't noticed it, but it does apear they might be doing something next year...

-Jeremy

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Born To Ride The Rollercoaster

Don't forget that the Wildcat was unleashed this year. I swear that thing was running like a bullet train when I visited back in early June.

MA sits on 270 acres and the park is only 60 plus of it!! Lots of expansion in the works I'd say!

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http://www.msu.edu/~armbrus9/cp.html
Will this kid ever sleep through the night?!?

I would LOVE to see some web cams around Michigan's Adventure!

I went there with my kids and a nephew on 7/3. I'll post a proper trip report at coasterbuzz if I have time, but we had a lot of fun. The crowd seemed fair; the main parking lot was about half full, which based on prior trip reports sounds like a very busy day. Our longest lines were Mad Mouse (about 30 minutes) and Be Bop Blvd (about 15).

There aren't as many food outlets or as much variety as you might like, though we didn't get a chance to sample the "family grill", which might be better than what we found.

While there isn't a tremendous amount of shade, there are new trees planted just about everywhere. In five to ten years, the park will be very nicely shaded. They could use more in the way of annuals; I only remember flowers in a few places.

There are some pretty unique rides for the munchkins. I'm not sure of the carousel's vintage, but there is a tremendously cool dragon figure on it; a pretty rare animal on carousels as far as I know. They have an around-n-around that consists of free-floating boats connected to a center engine via poles that I thought were cool. My 42" fearless daugther liked Zack's Zoomer very much and *loved* the Mad Mouse--the coaster offerings for her are much better here than at CP. My daughter was hands-up the whole way on Zack's while Mom had to hang on on the first drop ;) Zack's is awfully short on legroom; it was a tighter space than the new and "improved" CCMR.

The waterpark is very nice. If you've never been to Soak City, and aren't sure you'll like it, MiA is a good way to "test-drive" a waterpark. I'd rather pay a few more dollars at the gate than rent a tube, though; Soak City's model of tubes everywhere you need them for the taking is better than having to keep track of "your" tube.

I was hoping to compare their scrambler's cycle to CP's, but alas it was in pieces. I liked the Mad Mouse and Zack's Zoomer more than I thought I would. I didn't think that Timbers lived up to the reviews I've read, but it was a fun coaster that I only caught once, near mid-day, so it may not have been up to form just yet.

The concessions and games prices are all lower than you'd find at Cedar Point. If you've always wanted to play something but never have at CP, you might find it more affordable here.

The employees were great, for the most part, starting from the full-time employee who struck up a conversation with my kids in the season pass center while I was getting our tickets. (You can't enter directly with a CP season pass; you have to get comp tickets at the Season Pass center first.)

This park is well worth a visit, and it seems CF is committed to improving the feel of the park with the standard bright paint, better landscaping, etc.. As for new rides, my bet is that until this park can start meeting its attendance expectations, it's not going to get much, room or no room. Of course, your visit will help this. ;)

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It's not war, famine, or pestilence; it's only downtime.
*** This post was edited by Brian Noble 7/7/2003 4:37:20 AM ***

30 minutes for Mad Mouse is insane. You hit the park on a fairly busy day. It's still less crowded then CP though! :)

We hit it at a bad time of the day, too; it looked like the line was down to 15-20 minutes by the time we got off. But, my daughter wanted to ride her first "grown-up" coaster, and who am I to say no? ;) On the flip side, I waited a whole 10 minutes for Shivering Timbers.

She got downright tearful when she heard the autospeil say she had to hold on, and couldn't keep her hands up. She's a chip off the old block!

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It's not war, famine, or pestilence; it's only downtime.
*** This post was edited by Brian Noble 7/8/2003 10:47:07 AM ***

First off, me and the wife will be going to Michigans Adventure over the first two weeks of July 2005. We will be riding a Harley and stopping at the park around the July 4th holiday.

My questions are:

1. From the post i read from Brian Noble from 7/3/2003, the wait for Shivering Timbers(which is the main reason we will be going) is very light even around the July 4th holiday. Is this still correct? We need to know if we should make this a one day or two day(at the park) trip. We would like to ride Timbers a good 10 times or more i would imaging, and we will be going a few days before or after the july 4th holiday. Also, do they have a nightime fireworks display?

2. What else is fun to ride, beside the water park? I know it is not Cedar Point and am not expecting it to be. We just like fun rides big or small. Is this Mouse coaster like the old wild mouse coasters where they do the 90 degree turns and beat you against the side of the cart?

3. If anyone has been on the Raven at Holiday World, Cornball Express at Indiana Beach, or the Racers at PKI please relate how they compare to Timbers(especially airtime) so we will have an idea, we are very excited about riding Timbers from the pictures we have seen.

4. My wife does'nt care for Maggie to much because it hurts her legs from the airtime, because of her hieght(about 5'4), she says the lap bars are at a point where they are to tight and basically cutting off circulation, or to loose and slamming her thighs into the bar(then after a few hills tight and cutting of circulation)because they click into the next tighter position. Does Timbers act this way? Does the lap bar hurt your thighs?

5. We need info on good hotels, around Michigans Adventure,(We are talking hotels that are quiet, without people coming and going and doors slamming all hours of the night) so we can sleep. These hotels can not be very far away at all, as we do not like riding the bike at night. Also look at # 7.

6. Can we rent Waverunners or Jet Skis anywhere near the park?

7. Please give us some info on some quiet hotels to stay at when we go to Cedar Point. I know all the teenagers go to party and have a good time when the parents are not around(just like we did also). Call me OLD im 34, but after riding on a Motorcycle for 6 hours to get to the Point, we are looking for a place to sleep, AND i mean SLEEP. We have not found it yet.

Also, after going to the Point all day, then going to the hotel and being kept up all night by rowdy teenagers(which is fine, we would just like to stay somewhere else where the rowdy teenagers are not). If anyone could give us some info on nice quiet hotels near the point, but not to far away(once again we do not like riding the Harley at night), that would be appreciated. I would gladly pay the premium to stay at Breakers or Sandcastle, but are they QUIET at night? Or the same old kids running around the halls? Get in early passes is GREAT but not if you can't sleep the night before! Me and my wife have had to leave the Point early Twice out of Four trips the last two years because of loud people(KIDS) running around Breakers Express the last TWO years running.

Finally thanks for this site Jeff(Hey, invite us to stay at your house), i do not post often but read almost daily. When i am looking for the real answer,i always scroll down untill i see your response. I think i saw you in line for MF two years ago in a slight mist on a friday.

THANKS FOR THE HELP

1) You can do the park in one day, easy. No fireworks.

2) The Wild Mouse is, well, a mouse ride. Not my favorite, but I wouldn't miss it.

3) Timbers alone is reason enough to visit the park.

4) Timber's lap bar is not painfull.

5) There are countless hotels in Muskegon & Whitehall which will suit your needs. Since I live in the area, I haven't stayed at any of them.

6) I'm not sure.

7) Staying on Point is the best. Lighthouse Point is awesome and very private. It's worth the cost for a good night's sleep.

MrScott

1. No fireworks, one day is plenty.

2. The Mad Mouse is an Arrow mouse ride, look it up on RCDB.com. As for other rides, don't miss Sea Dragon, it's still my favorite swinging ship in the country.

3. Think... Racer @ PKI, on STEROIDS with an attitude. There's that much airtime. Sit in both the front and back seats and you'll see what I mean.

4. Timbers is very comfortable no matter what your size. Wolverine Wildcat is the same way. As for the other four, it depends on your size...

5. http://www.miadventure.com/lodging.shtml has information on the nearby hotels. Best Western Plaza is a nice hotel if you ask me.

6. Yes. There is a place where you can rent jetskis nearby, but the name evades me. Sorry.

7. Comfort Inn Sandusky, 5909 Milan Road. I love the hotel and it's a very nice place to stay.

ST is the amazing. I'm not one of those wooden coaster lovers, but this ride is truly a work of art. Mean Streak doesn't even compare, at all. The airtime is constant, the lateral g's on the turnaround and the helix at the end. I was there on a somewhat busy day and the wait bordered around 15minutes. I got 6 rides, once in the front and a few times in the back. The park isn't worth another trip to me. It's to small and not much there for a 3 hour drive. They need another food location by ST, another thrill ride (a tower ride would do well), and get rid of the really annoying jingle.

Timbers will absolutely kick your ass if you ride it toward the back on a day that it's running well. A few years back I was able to do two or three laps back there and went back to the middle of the train.

Make sure you sit in the front seat for your first ride on Timbers. There is nothing better than the first ride on ST and you want to take full advantage of it. Then out some of the other seats as well, and see what your favorite is. The airtime in the front is more of sustained airtime while the back is more of ejector airtime, and doesn’t last nearly as long but is more intense, and rougher.

The lab bars have never caused a problem for me nor have I heard of them causing a problem, or uncomfortable like magnums except in the back seat, but that is still un common and is normally do to people not having their seat belt properly on. For the smoothest, longest airtime, and in my opinion by far the best rides go for the front. While the ride has gotten considerably smoother than it was two years ago, the back will still give you a pretty intense and rougher ride, but nothing that I would consider painful.

As far as lines go, they normally vary from anywhere from walk-on to 20 minutes around that time of the year. They also vary quite a bit during the day during days with the Water Park open. On Hot Days the crowds are normally pretty thin during midday on the rides part of the park with most of the crowd in the Water Park.

If you are looking for a good firework display in the area, the city of Muskegon has its Summer Celebration around the 4th of July and has a great Firework display on the 4th at Heritage Landing on Muskegon Lake. http://www.summercelebration.com/

I found ST. to be a bit painful.The trick track caught me off guard the first time.Great ride though.Intense the whole way.I will be back to ride it this summer on my way home from CP.

Man, you must take a round-a-bout way from CP back to Canada. Even if it was easier for you to go up through the Sault to Canada, Muskegon still isn't on the way. But I'm glad you're willing to stop by MA for a couple laps on ST. I just absolutely love that ride.

It is quite a bit out of the way. I think it adds three hours to the drive home but last year we had some extra time and thought we'd check it out.It would seem a shame not to go back this summer as we bought seasons passes to C.P., so admission would be free.It's a nice little park with a slower pace.I think its worth the extra drive once a year anyway.

Also remember that Timbers takes a good 2-3 hours to really warm up. Don't judge it by the couple rides you get in the day. Judge it by the last rides you get before closing.

The trick track is the worst part of the ride, IMHO. Initially it was ok, now it just feels like a mistake.

Looks like the "shot across the bow" that CF fired may actually work. Those poe dunk blowhards up north need to understand the CF runs a business and doesn't care about small-town egos. Be glad they are willing to invest in your community and give them the infrastructue that they need to do so.

This issue should have been resolved years ago.

http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-6/110787930051320.xml?muchronicle?NEM

MrScott
*** Edited 2/9/2005 6:19:08 PM UTC by MrScott***