Trip Report: Stricker's Grove

Dave Bowers and I, bearing witness to signs (falling) from above, escaped the crowds at Kings Island, headed across Northern Cincinnati to the public day at Stricker's Grove. Now, I've been going to Stricker's ever since the Tornado was new. I know where that park is located. I know it's in the middle of nowhere, I know it's about as close to the Great Miami River as Kings Island is to the Little Miami, and in the same direction. Which brings me to an interesting quirk about my navigational skills. I'm pretty good about knowing where things are, and positionally how they relate to each other. Which is useful, because it means most of the time I can find whatever it is I am looking for even if I am not familiar with the area in question. Unfortunately, I am not so good about remembering precise directions, particularly when there are duplicated or ambiguous route numbers involved. From the Northeast side, the quick route to Stricker's Grove is to take US 27 North to Ross, then backtrack down OH-128 to the park. I undershot, exiting onto US 127 instead, but instead of going back to the Interstate and trying again, I picked my way through the fields and forests, and ended up taking a scenic drive along the Miami River. Dave reminded me that when approaching the park from the South on OH-128, it is necessary to proceed well beyond the point where you're certain you've missed the park, at which point you're almost there. Knowing I wasn't on the planned route, that's exactly what I did: I proceeded until it felt like I had gone too far, then turned down a side road and came out literally within sight of the park.

I parked within a stone's throw of the park gate, we paid our $8 and went inside. The grills were going, the picnic shelter was full, and one group had rented out the banquet hall. It was late enough that the second ride session was well underway, so we made a beeline for the Tornado.

Stricker's Grove is a small park, with a straight midway running down the middle. Just past the gate that demarcates the ride midway, on the right is a long, open building housing a Herschell wet-boat kiddie ride, a car ride, and a rocket ship-type ride both from King. At the end of the building, a small pavilion houses a kiddie Whip, and next to it, in the open, is a Chambers kiddie Turtle ride. Adjacent to this is the Teddy Bear station, then the portable Flying Scooter. On the left side of the midway is a small Herschell carousel, an Eli wheel, a PTC Crazy Daisy, a Hrubetz Tip-Top, an Eli Scrambler, Herschell Helicopter ride, and a Sellner Tilt-A-Whirl. Finally, anchoring the end of the midway is the Tornado.

The Tornado was designed, as I understand it, by Al Collins after he retired from Kings Island. It's a mirror image of the Rocky Glen Comet/Mighty Lightnin'. It's the only full-size all-PTC train in Ohio running with drop-down lap bars. But in accordance with that apparent rule that no full-size coaster in Ohio is permitted to have a decent train, this PTC train has been unpleasantly modified. All of the upholstery has been removed, all of the cushions have been taken out, and now the whole train...seat cushion, back cushion, side cushions, and seat divider...has been re-done with high-density urethane foam. Yes, that nasty stuff that has no 'give' to it at all. That stuff that makes coaster benches feel more like park benches. Worst of all, the retrofitted seat divider is about 4" wide, meaning that the already-tight seat is even tighter. Stricker's Grove did this a couple of years ago, screwing up an otherwise perfectly good PTC train. I knew this already. Dave was a little upset.

We boarded and sat in the back seat, we fastened the shared seat belt, pushed the lap bar forward then lowered it one click, and seconds later, we were off. A quick trip up the lift, then down the first drop. The ride is still running glass-smooth in spite of the dangerously hard seat "cushions". At the top of the second hill is the first turnaround, which doesn't have much banking, but the second drop starts a little early, causing the train to lift its inside front wheels. There are two speed hills running through the center of the ride, which are perfectly profiled to go weightless over the top, but which supply no airtime. There is a hop up to a high, slow front end turnaround, then a quick drop where the ride's character begins to change. The next hill is alongside the lift hill, and crosses over the center track. There are two drops here which are almost but not quite a double-dip, and when the train hits the second peak, it drops out from under us, catapulting us forward (go figure...) and up, wrapping us around the lap bar. Whee! Landing is a bit awkward because of the ridiculously wide seat divider which proved in this case to be a literal pain in the ass. The low turnaround is followed by another pair of low hills, each one featuring an explosive burst of airtime. Then the train glides to a smooth stop in the station, the brakes expertly operated by an experienced operator.

Dave and I discussed whether we should rotate seats so as to generate even bruising. I pointed out that sitting on the left I also had to dodge the lap bar solenoid housing that aims for my outboard ankle. We'd come back to the Tornado later; for now it was time for a ride on the Flying Scooters.

Stricker's Flying Scooters are a portable model, with the close rigging wrapped around the upper tub hanger frame. Accordingly, they performed as expected, generating a whole lot of rotation but not so much translation. I almost managed to get it to "snap" once, but got the tub spinning instead.

Speaking of spinning, Stricker's has a PTC Crazy Daisy. This is a ride with two small turntables, side by side, rotating in opposite directions. Circular, free-spinning passenger tubs ride on the perimeters of the turntables, switching off at the point where the turntables meet, so they run in a figure-8 pattern. The two of us sat opposite each other, which nearly balanced the tub, and as the ride reached top speed, Dave commented that the tub wasn't spinning. I suggested that he should move slightly to his left. He did, and the next time the tub reversed direction, it began spinning wildly. There are a lot of rides out there where balance makes a huge difference in the quality of the ride you get, and Stricker's Grove has at least three of them: the Crazy Daisy, the Tip-Top, and the Tilt-A-Whirl. We continued our tour of Stricker's rides, skipping the Scrambler, carousel, and Helicopter. Yes, Stricker's Grove operates the Helicopter as an "all ages" ride, so if you want to relive a forgotten bit of your childhood, Stricker's Grove will allow you that opportunity. Incidentally, the advertising materials Allan Herschell put out when the Helicopter was new billed it as an all-ages ride; it was the park and carnival owners who decided it was for the kiddie crowd. Probably not a bad idea, but the point is that Stricker's didn't.

The Teddy Bear is, if I am not mistaken, the newest ACE Coaster Classic. Its PTC junior train is a little different from most in that the right-hand side panel of the train is a single piece. That makes things just a little interesting because on most PTC junior cars (and as Iain Hendry has pointed out, a select few adult-size articulated cars) the rear seat bench, along with its side panels, is attached to the rear axle, and can "roll" along with the axle. Because of the continuous side panel, the Teddy Bear train can't work that way, and the rear axle has to roll independent of the seat. Apart from the straight (instead of curved) loading platform, the Teddy Bear is remarkably similar to the Little Dipper at Kiddieland up in Chicago. Which is appropriate, since that ride is a mirror image of the one at Hillcrest, a park that had an awful lot in common with Stricker's Grove. Hillcrest had a bigger picnic grove; Stricker's has a bigger midway (and a bigger coaster). Hillcrest was a private picnic park, so is Stricker's. So it seems fitting that they would have matching coasters. Teddy Bear starts with a quick turnaround and a trip up the short lift, a turnaround at the top, then the first drop cuts under the lift hill with quite a decent head-chopper (though with my arms fully extended upward I can't touch anything). Like the Tornado, the track turns around at the top of the next hill. Unlike the Tornado, the second pass runs around the outside of the structure to bring the train back into the station. It's a nice ride, a great starter coaster, but it's no Tornado.

Which is why we returned to the Tornado and in the last hour of Stricker's operating day took more than a half-dozen rides, right up until the ride closed. I hate the hard seats, but I mostly love the ride. It's also worth noting that in spite of the hard seats it's still a re-rideable coaster because it is a fairly gentle ride (except for that one spot!) and above all because the track is maintained in excellent condition. Padding on the seat can cover up a lot of sins on the track, but if the track is good, it isn't quite as critical. At a few minutes past 7:00, we left the park. Waaaaay too early, but that's the way all the parks are this time of year.