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"Cleveland: You Can't Get There From Here."
It's springtime again, and that means it is carnival season! Now, I personally don't ride a lot of rides at carnivals, mostly because it is too darned expensive. But a notable exception to that rule is the annual I-X Indoor Amusement Park at the I-X Center in Cleveland. The timing of the carnival is such that I can easily combine a visit with a trip to the Cedar Point Season Pass Processing Center, which is exactly what I did today.
I started by sleeping in. I had planned to leave home at about 9:00am, but as it turned out, that was about when I woke up. It was a quarter to ten before I managed to pull out of the driveway, and just before Noon when I made it to Cedar Point. They have streamlined their season pass processing process a little this season; now there is no typist and they are using four cameras, so the line for the photo shoot is basically gone. It's still a fiddly process, though. Someday maybe they will convert to a computerized system like most other parks (including all of the other Cedar Fair parks). I also got my parking pass. Dan Haverlock suggested that it would be nice if they had put the Magnum 10-year logo on the parking pass...let me now state that you DO NOT want a Magnum 10-year logo on your parking pass...that's on the employee passes, and if you have the logo, you can't park on busy days! 8-)
I finished up at Cedar Point and headed out for a leisurely drive to Cleveland. I stopped at a Finast (grocery) store on US-250 and bought my ticket for the I-X Indoor Amusement Park ($12). Hungry, I ended up at a little restaurant in Huron on US-6 about a block East of the road coming down from OH-2. The place is called Lemmmie's, and it is named for the Lake Erie Monster that occasionally attacks and devours sailboats, maybe. I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwich which was good; the colorful cole slaw is a house specialty and really is quite good. The kind of place that Mark McKenzie would send us to (right, Mark?). It's a breakfast-and-lunch place, though; today they closed at 2pm. I suspect that will change after Memorial Day as the demand for the local ice cream ratchets up. For a review of THAT product, consult CP Irvine, if you can find her.
Since I wasn't in any real hurry, I tried to pick out a route to the I-X that avoided the customary hassle of getting from OH-2/IR-90 to the Turnpike to IR-480. Well, I managed to avoid that hassle this time, but ended up driving all around Elyria instead. I pity you Cleveland folks, living up there where all the major roads run parallel to each other and everything that isn't Interstate is 25 mph. Yeesh! Next time I'll just take the turnpike. Why they can't put in a proper interchange from OH-2 to the Turnpike is beyond me.....!
I finally arrived at the I-X Center, where parking is now $6.00. I swear, parking fees are really starting to annoy me.....! I presented my advance-sale ticket and proceeded onto the show floor, where I began taking notes. Right inside the front door is a pair of brand-new kiddie rides that are rather interesting; both have full diamond-plate decking, very fancy enclosures including Lexan panels, and flashy lighting packages. Both are clearly from the same manufacturer. The one ride has a bunch of what look like personal watercraft which travel a climbing and diving circular path while an additional control rod extending from a mechanism at the center of the ride points the nose of the tub in or out. The other ride is a circular kiddie jeep ride with vehicles that have Hampton nameplates. Now, I don't know who built these rides, but if they are Hampton they are almost but not quite entirely unlike any Hampton ride I have ever seen before!
(UPDATE: The 4/19/1999 issue of Amusement Business says the Wave was built in winter quarters by Drew Bates)
The building is set up in a series of generally parallel aisles with rides everywhere you look. This is the largest collection of whirl-N-hurl rides you are likely to see in any one place...although it just occurred to me that there was no Tilt-A-Whirl present. Anchoring one corner of the hall is the "Space Coaster," a mid-range Zyklon portable which proved once again to be the old Holiday World Firecracker. With four cars on the track, this one was moving about 360 PPH at a 40-second interval, which is about the limit with four cars. Two additional cars were sitting on the storage track, but one was missing its front wheelset. The ride is still running well, but I must warn potential riders to beware of the brakes near the end of the ride...on the quick dip/S-curve just before the turnaround to the station. They are braking the train there HARD, hard enough that the "rolling brake" assembly just ahead of the station has almost no effect. When we hit the trim, I unexpectedly slid forward and impacted against the front of the car. Whoops! Incidentally, my memory is fuzzy...Didn't the Firecracker have latching lap bars? It doesn't now; today it just has the grab-handles and seat belts like most other Zyklons.
The adjacent corner of the hall contains a Reverchon "Whitewater" portable flume. I didn't ride it, as with little or no sunlight in the hall it didn't seem like such a good idea, but it was clearly a popular attraction. That flume is a big one, too...bigger than the Wild River, it has two lifts and two drops, and moves lots of people.
Between the coaster and the flume, they did something strange. They built a large room enclosed with drapery, and put the Eli Cycloid inside. Some of you may remember me raving about this ride last year. If you've never heard of it, it is essentially a Scrambler with the tubs turned sideways. Oh, and it goes significantly faster than the Scrambler. Anyway, they took this beautiful ride and put it in a dark hole, which they fill with fog, lighting effects, and loud techno dance music. My personal opinion is that the Cycloid is such a high-intensity ride that the effects really add very little to the experience. I think the Cycloid should have sat out in the midway while a less impressive ride got the smoke and music treatment. Oh, well...what do I know about the layout of a midway? The ride had a constant line and riders got off like the RCT sims...occasionally jumping up and down, and often riding again. A crowd also gathered at the ride exit to try and figure out what was inside; perhaps they should have included a specatator's gallery...
Hmmm...what else...Oh, they have an ARM Screamer (at least I think it's ARM), which is basically an update of the Highflyer. What they did was to remove the cage to make a near-copy of the Zamperla Hawk. There is a floorboard under each seat for access, rather thn the Hawk's lifting platform. I don't think much of ARM's seats (they have some of the least comfortable seats outside of a Hi-Roller. In my opinion, the Screamer is better than the Kamikaze but not as good as the Hawk.
They had a Quasar, which much to my suprise was operating, and to my further suprise was running backwards at about half-speed. Along the back of the hall was a series of exhibits including a petting zoo, a dog stunt show arena, a fishing pond, a climbing wall, a series of sports activities, and a roller rink. They last had an inline skating rink several years ago; that time it was delimited by the lightweight poles and drapes normally used to delimit convention show booths. That was the one and only time I ever tried in-line skates, and I was personally responsible for knocking the wall down at least once. This year, they had a much more suitable outside-braced structure. I didn't try it.
| Another of those pesky signs | |||
| One of the games set up across the back of the hall is one of those inflatable mesh-covered buildings with a board across the middle with holes cut in it. The objective is to throw a football through one of the holes. This is not immediately apparent to someone walking down the midway, though, as only the roof of the structure is visible from a distance, and the sign on top says, "Quarterback Toss." Now, I don't know about you, but I don't think I am strong enough to toss a quarterback, unless he happens to play pee-wee league....... | |||
I did wander through and generate a ride list. Some ride names appear more than once, this is because there are some duplicate rides...for instance, there were two Yo-Yo's and two Eli wheels.
Oh, speaking of yo-yos, clearly the hot toy on this midway was the light-up, centrifugally-actuated automatic yo-yo. I wonder if we will also see these things on the park midways. Oh, and strange as it may seem, I only saw one close encounter between a yo-yo wielding yo-yo and an innocent bystander. I was suprised at how responsible some of these kids were about flinging their yo-yos.
Bates Amusements puts on a really good show and this year's I-X carnival was no exception. The I-X Indoor Amusement Park [ran] through May 2.
Here's the full ride list:
| Kiddies: | ||
| Wave | Bates | Jet-ski |
| Kangaroo | Herschell | Helicopter |
| Baja | Bates? | Circle jeep ride |
| Dragon Wagon | Wisdom | Dragon Wagon electric |
| Jump Cycle | Hampton | Jump Cycle |
| Bat Fighter | Herschell | Sky Fighters w/platform |
| Swing | Eli Bridge | Swing |
| Helicopter | Herschell | Helicopter |
| Combo | Hampton | Combo |
| Fernwood Express | Zamperla | Rio Grande |
| Quadzilla | Majestic | Quadzilla |
| Raiders | Wisdom | Raiders |
| Boneshaker | ARM | Boneshaker |
| Hot Buggies | Hampton | Dune Buggies |
| Happy Viking | ARM | Happy Viking |
| Swing | Eli Bridge | The Swing |
| Little Scrambler | Eli Bridge | Little Scrambler |
| Helicopter | Herschell | Helicopter |
| Dragon Wagon | Wisdom | Dragon Wagon friction |
| Moonwalk | Moonwalk | Moonwalk |
| Family/Major/Spectacular: | ||
| Das Fun Haus | ? | fun house |
| Dizzy Dragons | Sellner | Spin Ride |
| Fun Slide | ? | Fun Slide |
| Scrambler | Eli Bridge | Scrambler T/M |
| Hurricane | Hrubetz | Hurricane |
| Super Trooper | Dartron | Super Trooper |
| Space Coaster | Pinfari | Zyklon |
| Tornado | Wisdom | Tornado |
| Tip-Top | Hrubetz | Tip-top |
| Round-Up | Hrubetz | Round Up |
| Spider | Eyerly | Spider |
| Yo-Yo | Chance | Yo-Yo |
| Carousel | Herschell/Chance | |
| Big Eli 16 | Eli Bridge | Double Eagle Wheel |
| Odyssey 2000 | Wisdom? | Moon Rocket 'simulator' |
| Heart Flip | Wisdom | Heart Flip (Frolic) |
| Barrel of Fun | Sellner | Spin Ride |
| Musik Express | Majestic | Musik Express |
| Magic Carpet | ARM | Ali Baba |
| Rock-O-Plane | Eyerly | Rock-O-Plane |
| Scooter | Majestic | Bumper Cars |
| Outer Limits | Eli Bridge | Cycloid |
| Mardi Gras | ? | Fun House |
| Super Trooper | Dartron | Super Trooper |
| Screamer | ARM | Screamer |
| Quasar | ARM | Quasar (working!) |
| Twist | ARM | Twist |
| Pharaoh's Fury | Chance | Pharaoh's Fury |
| Red Garter Saloon | ? | fun-house |
| Bear Affair | Sellner | Spin Ride |
| Eagle-16 wheel | Eli Bridge | Eagle 16 |
| Infernal Combustion | ? | fun-house |
| Whirl Wind | Hrubetz | Round-Up |
| Yo-Yo | Chance | Yo-Yo |
| Inverter | Chance | Inverter |
| Ring of Fire | Larson | Ring of Fire |
| Hurricane | Dartron | Hurricane |
| Zipper | Chance | Zipper |
| Whitewater | Reverchon | Whitewater |
| Super Slide | ? | Slide |
| Carousel | Chance | Carousel |
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
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