Not really a full trip report...I just did one of those...
On Saturday (6/22) I spent the afternoon at Wyandot Lake. Just a couple of notes...
For the first time this season, I had a meal in the park...a "Bahama Mama" platter. A Bahama Mama is a spicy German sausage, licensed by a local restaurant. If you like that sort of thing (which I do), it's really quite good. Wyandot should come up with some horseradish for it, though. They served the sandwich with fries, which are fresh-cut and quite good. Quite popular, too...the stand was selling them out as fast as they could get them out of the fryers. What really got my attention was the prices at this food stand...the prices on the food items are actually comparable to what you'd pay at any fast-food establishment. Of course, the drink prices are outrageous, as at any park (though I've seen a lot worse...it's $1.45 for a 16-oz. drink or for a 32-oz. refill).
I spent a little time in the very crowded waterpark, which is looking good as usual. The new attraction, Christopher's Island, is still incomplete, but open and coming along nicely...and there is so much stuff on it that it's easy to overlook the fact that some of the slides are not yet attached. They did have the openings blocked off, of course.
They were having some trouble with the Scrambler...I clocked it at about 7.5 RPM (it's supposed to be running at 11.6 RPM, and in the past I've clocked it at about twelve). The bumper cars have been out of service until recently; they were running this weekend. The Sea Dragon coaster got a new sign board on the front of the train this year, but the "E" was quickly lost; Saturday, the sign board was completely gone. And at the end of the evening, the lift-hill tracer lights were never turned on. But that is just cosmetic...the coaster's flanged-wheel junior train tracks beautifully. By most standards, the Sea Dragon is pretty unremarkable, but it's about the most fun you can have with a 36' lift hill. And it is still the only coaster I can ride, literally on my lunch hour.
There seems to be a lot of work going on in the park. Not only is construction on Christopher's Island proceeding (it's neat to notice the manufacturer's nameplate on the palm trees...), but there is some new construction going on adjacent to the bumper car ride building, and a ladder-climb game and one of those annoying electronic high-strikers have been added.
The park is looking good. I still think they should have brought in the ex-Geauga-Lake Corkscrew, but that doesn't mean they're not doing a good job. It was a great way to spend my evening.
Next trip: Camden Park
--Dave Althoff, Jr.