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"Are you ready?"
Sunday was Stricker's Grove's famous Family Day. This event happens annually on the second Sunday in August and is one of the best deals in the amusement industry. Stricker's Grove is normally open only by special arrangement (usually group outings, company picnics, and the like), but for this occasion the group consists of anyone willing to part with $5. That's right $5 for a P-O-P session.
My original plan was to go to Kings Island in the morning for a couple of rides, then over to Stricker's for the early-afternoon ride session. That plan got scuttled in favor of a nice family breakfast featuring yummy Belgian waffles. But as 1:00pm approached, I collected local coaster nut John Peck, and we headed for Stricker's.
Now John has been riding coasters for a while, and was apparently raised on the Geauga Lake Big Dipper. So he knows a thing or two about such things as "airtime". But I am not sure he knows on sight what a double-dip is. He was about to find out. We arrived at the park a little late, so we proceeded directly to the Tornado.
The Tornado is, of course, Ralph Stricker's in-house masterpiece. It's a shade over 50' tall, and although it is a full-size coaster, its layout has a certain familiarity to it. "Like the Sea Dragon, only bigger," John suggested. The comparison is a fair one, but not strictly accurate, as John would soon find out.
We positioned ourselves in the back seat for our first ride of the day. Off we went, up the lift, and down the first drop. "That was some pretty good airtime!" John remarked on the turnaround. I downplayed it as we glided over the two perfectly-profiled parabolic rabbit hops leading to the second turnaround. This hopped us up and around. We were approaching Tornado's double-dip.
"Are you ready?" I asked.
"Yes," replied Tornado's latest victim.
Now, for those of you unfamiliar with the Tornado, it is a mirror-image adaptation of the Rocky Glen Comet (Mighty Lightnin' if you prefer). Now, that coaster was recently demolished [Footnote 1], and I never had a chance to ride it, so I don't know how the Tornado compares. What I do know is that after the second turnaround, in a bit of track just inside the first drop, there are two quick drops. A closer look reveals this structure to be a bit of a double-dip. It's not a smooth structure like the one on the Kennywood Jack Rabbit...instead of coming down, straightening out, then continuing to the bottom of the dip, Tornado's double-down is built as two separate hills. So it doesn't really look much like a double-dip. But when you ride it, the action is unmistakable. Remember also that the Tornado has one train of three 3-bench PTC cars. 3-bench PTC cars with traditional lap bars.
John was clearly not prepared.
We sailed down the first part of the drop, then felt ourselves catapulted upward with such force that I felt the seat belt draw tight. This was at least in part because John was busy crashing into the lap bar with tremendous force. To tell the truth, I've ridden Tornado many times, but even I was not entirely prepared for that moment! But then, I don't usually ride in the back seat, either.
After a couple of rides on the Tornado, we headed over to the Teddy Bear, Stricker's junior coaster. This one is more like the Sea Dragon, only smaller. Maybe it is just my imagination, but it seems to be running more quietly than in the past as well. Perhaps the flanged-wheel trains are finally getting broken in a bit. It's not a particularly remarkable ride, but it is a lot better than the Allan Herschell coaster it replaced. And it does have a particularly good headchopper at the bottom of the first drop. Though it opened in ...ummm... I believe 1997, I think this one might be an ACE Coaster Classic. Particularly since it is essentially a copy of a ride that used to run at Coney Island (OH), and it runs a reproduction train styled after PTC kiddie trains of the 1920's or so. Matt, do you have details on that?
I had expected to encounter Jim Scudder and Darren Mullins on this trip; it seems they both never fail to visit Stricker's if given the opportunity. We exchanged greetings, and headed for the Crazy Daisy.
"The orange tub doesn't work right," we were warned, and accordingly, by the time we got to the ride platform, the orange tub was the only one left. The four of us squeezed into it. While none of us is huge, none of us is exactly svelte, either. And the tub on that ride is pretty small. The ride is a PTC Crazy Daisy, which is a small (two-table) Cuddle-Up with free-wheeling cars that circle between the two interlocking, counter-rotating tables in a figure-8 pattern. For an exercise in higher mathematics, there are six tub-latches on each table...what is the maximum number of tubs that can operate on the ride without tubs crashing into one another? [Footnote 2]
Well, we got a lackluster ride, so we changed tubs. We still got a somewhat lackluster ride, but it was better the second time, when we weren't in the orange tub. I've still had better; I think we just had the tub overloaded. We decided to proceed to the Scrambler, then to the Flying Scooters.
Stricker's Flying Scooter is interesting. It's the portable model, comparable to the one at Holiday World. But unlike most of the Flying Scooters I have ridden, this one has a more elaborate control system including a cycle timer, a speed regulator (you can hear the motor kicking in and out while the ride runs), and a brake. Interesting. I got lots of swinging action, but no cable snaps. And I wasn't even in the orange tub. 8-)
We watched from the Tornado queue as the CP Huntington train...except for its last car...backed empty down the railroad tracks; we concocted theories about what was going on. We were a little disappointed that the cable-drive Tilt-A-Whirl had no drive cable. And just before dinner as we were hoping for a train ride, I noticed our host dealing with the main drive on the Ferris wheel. So for park operations it was an unusually busy day at Stricker's. I think it is important to mention, though, that in spite of the difficulties the park faced this day, everything is beautifully maintained. Tornado would not even consider squealing around the track as some wood coasters do. I had hoped to chat with Mr. Stricker for a few moments, but he was called away on an urgent matter involving hamburger buns. Clearly a hands-on park manager!
We took a bunch of rides on the Tornado, and finally headed for the train station just as dinnertime approached. Unfortunately we didn't make that train, which runs around the perimeter of the park.
Two other notable items...in the field adjacent to the parking lot, a few carnival rides are stored...a carousel and a couple of funhouses. I have no idea what those are about apart from the signage on them identifying a carnival operation. Second and more important, as I left the park I saw a flyer. Apparently there will be yet another public POP day next month, on a day in September when Kings Island is not open. Perhaps I'll see some of you there then!
Ride List:
| Majors-- | ||
| Tornado | Stricker's Grove | Wood Coaster |
| Flying Scooters | Bish-Rocco | Flying Scooters R/M |
| Scrambler | Eli Bridge Co. | Scrambler |
| Teddy Bear | Stricker's Grove | Wood Junior Coaster |
| Tilt-A-Whirl | Sellner | Tilt-A-Whirl |
| Crazy Daisy | Philadelphia Toboggan | Crazy Daisy |
| Merry-Go-Round | Allan Herschell | Carousel |
| Train | Chance | CP Huntington |
|
Kiddies-- | ||
| Kiddie Whip | Mangels | Kiddie Whip |
| Swing Ride | King | Swing Ride |
| Car Ride | King | Car Ride |
| Boat Ride | Allan Herschell? | Wet Boat Ride |
| Helicopter | Allan Herschell | Helicopter |
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Footnote 1: December 7, 1994: A Day which will Live in Infamy... [Return to text]
Footnote 2: The answer is six, if my thoughts are correct... [Return to text]
--DCAjr.
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