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"{Hey! The fourth car is back!"
Fridays during the summer, my office closes at 4:30pm, so it's a good time to go to Wyandot Lake. Or would be, if Wyandot were actually open in the evenings. I knew that Paul Drabek and family would be visiting, but I also knew that they had probably already gone on to Erie by the time I got off work. It also didn't help that a particularly nasty car crash on the outerbelt had traffic snarled all over Northwest Columbus, so it took me an hour to get from OH-315 up to the Zoo. That should be about a fifteen minute trip at rush hour!Well, I finally arrived, stopped in the season pass office to get my pass processed, then entered the park. There was a very light crowd, but tonight the park would be hosting a special event, a local concert that would keep the midway open until midnight.
I wasn't really interested in that, but I did want to get a couple of rides on the Sea Dragon. When I got to it, the first thing I noticed was the train. It's red now. When I climbed aboard, the extent of the changes became clear. It looks like all of the plywood panels, that is to say, the car bodies, have been replaced, as have all the interior cushions. Better still, the cushions are still the upholstered sponge cushions the ride has had since the day it opened...none of that miserable injection-molded stuff here. I am a little concerned that there are no edge moldings on the side panels, but they aren't splintering (yet). The new panels and upholstery are held in place with all new hardware.
Once the ride started, it became clear what has NOT been replaced on the train. The loose axle shaft on the third car has been fixed, but it looks like there is no new mechanical stuff on the train at all. This became really obvious on the lift hill when my lap bar popped open. Knowing how important the lap bar is on this coaster (i.e. not at all) I figured I would leave it alone so that I could show the operator when the ride ended. Of course, by the end of the ride it had re-latched. So much for show-and-tell. I did mention it, and the operator left the seat empty for a while, but before long he was back to using all eight rows, and apparently the problem did not recur.
The waterpark had just closed, dumping a few people onto the midway. I took a ride on the carousel just so that I could say I had. This carousel of unknown origin got the same stupid little belts attached to it in the off-season that the carousel at Geauga Lake got last fall. The difference is that at Wyandot, they were pretty much universally ignored.
Back down the midway, it appeared that nearly all of the bumper cars were actually operating, which is a significant improvement from last season. These are the circular RDC bumper cars with the tank-style steering. Across the way, a stage had been set up for the evening's concert. I strolled through Kiddieland, past the Wet Bo--
Hey, wait a minute!
Last summer there was an Allan Herschell wet-boat kiddie ride here. Today there is...er...nothing! I looked around a little more carefully. The Bulgy, the Rodeo, the Dune Buggies, the Turtle and the elephant ride are all present and accounted for (and suddenly I can't remember if there was a Skyfighters or not). So it looks like we've lost yet another ride with no replacement. Over the years, Wyandot Lake has lost the Kiddie Wheel, the Midge-O-Racer, the wet boats, a kiddie Swing, a Hampton kiddie, a set of bumper cars, and a Rock-O-Plane. Those rides have been replaced with a Tilt-A-Whirl, a kiddie Turtle, the elephant ride, the Bulgy, and a set of bumper cars. That's a net loss of two rides...the kiddie wheel and the wet boat. If Six Flags keeps up with this aggressive capital improvement plan at Wyandot, pretty soon there won't be anything left!
On down the midway, the Frolic has been painted, and new diamond-plate adorns the bottoms of the tubs. It looks pretty good for a 50-year-old ride. Next to it, the Scrambler has been repainted again, and the cover over the motor and gearbox assembly has been replaced. Wyandot Lake bought a lot of plywood this winter! The ride still has that annoying bounce as it goes around, so the improvements are apparently only skin deep.
Across the way, though, the Spider felt like a new ride. The tub bearing was a bit stiff, as the tub just did not want to turn, but the two center actions were smooth enough to rival the Camden Park and Holiday World machines.
At the center of the park, in addition to the concert stage, there was a temporary food booth set up by Schmidt's Sausage Haus, where I obtained a sausage sandwich platter. Oddly enough, the particular sausage I had was once available from the Wyandot Lake food joint located right next to the Schmidt's tent, but Wyandot discontinued that item back in the mid-1990's.
The concert began, conducted by a well-known local band. I don't know much about them, but what I heard while I was there was mostly 60's cover tunes. I stopped by the funnel cake stand on my way out and had an order of fried Oreos. Yum!
It was a bit chilly for the waterpark, and I arrived too late to take advantage of that anyway. But they have made some minor improvements in the dry park. By the time I left, the park was crowded, so people will come to the park. All the elements are in place, with any luck, this will be a good season. All they need now is some really hot weather.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
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