My cell phone's alarm went off at 8:30, and we both got up and ready to head out. We both showered, then took a peek in the little store in the hotel to see if we wanted to get breakfast there or out somewhere. They didn't have a big selection, so we decided to find something on the way. When we asked how to get to Great America from the hotel, the lady said it was directly across from a Burger King, which solved the problem of where to eat breakfast!
The Burger King was very easy to find, and I got a egg and cheese croissant and hash browns and mom got the same thing but with bacon. As we went to the park, the line for the parking booth was huge! Once we got in, we parked at the very end of the very last row in the center section of the lot, so we'd easily remember where the car was parked.
As we approached the turnstyles...holy cow, it was JAM PACKED! Surprisingly, it took no time at all to get through the gates and through security. There was some sort of Looney Tunes character show going on in the courtyard in front of the double decker carousel, but not many people seemed to be paying attention.
At this point mom did another one of those things that makes her increasingly difficult to travel with. When I first suggested this trip, I said that we'd need to split up in the park so I could ride coasters and she could do whatever she wanted without having to wait for me all day. So she gets a map and says that we need to stop and figure out what we will go do first and when we will meet and stuff. I said that I needed to hurry and get started on the coasters before the lines exploded, so she should just call me later when she wanted to meet up. So she starts moping saying that she wants to do this and that with me, and see this and that show...then goes "Whatever, I'll just follow you all day I guess." This is classic Mom guilt trip in action. She tries to guilt me out of going on the coasters just so I can spend time with her...but it doesn't work! I tell her no, I am walking this way to go ride something, and that she needs to call me at some point in a couple of hours when she's in between rides and we will meet up for lunch. If she followed me, she would complain after every ride that she's waiting on me for too long and having no fun, and that I should be more considerate of her, and I wasn't going to have that happen. So I walked off towards Raging Bull, and I don't know where she went from there.
When I got to Raging Bull, the line was posted at an hour, and the line looked every bit of an hour long. Viper was posted at the same legth, so I decided to save those two for later in the day when hopefully the lines would be smaller. I passed Chubasco along the way, which I destictly remembered riding in '96, and also loving the name.
I walked up the center of the park, hoping to get on Demon instead. This next credit was #150 for me, and I figured that Demon was a fitting choice for a small landmark like #150. In 1996, I almost rode Demon, but I remember watching it from the triple ferris wheel thingy and talking myself into being scared of it, so I didn't ride it. This time it looked like nothing, so I hopped in line for it. There was about a 2 train wait...so much nicer that Raging bull's hour wait!
The ride was unexpectedly good...very smooth, and the inversions through rockwork also added excitement to the ride. There was also a light up blinky tunnel that I had no idea was there! I was glad I'd chosen this one for my #150, as I really enjoyed it.
I walked on and came up on American Eagle next. Again in 1996, my mom videotaped American Eagle's train going down one of the drops, and all of us were like "I'd have to be crazy to ride that!" haha. To my surprise, this coaster has two tracks...a forwards and a backwards...bonus credit!!! It has a really long line, and some very ambitious extended queue that I bet hasn't been used in decades. Once I got in line for the forward side, it broke down for about 5 minutes while I was standing behind an extremely stinky redneck man. Once the ride was going again, don't you know that I ended up sitting directly behind him, so I was downwind of him the whole time! hahaha
As soon as I went down the first drop, I knew American Eagle was something special. It felt just the way a classic woodie should feel, and had fantastic floater air on every hill. This was definitley a coaster that I could ride all day, and that I wish was within an easy drive of me. It was just a perfect blend of everything that a good woodie should be. As soon as I left the forward side, I went around and did the backward side, which was just as great as the forward side. This coaster is definitely in my top ten woodie list, since it shares so many great qualities with Great American Scream Machine at SFoG.
Iron Wolf was next door, so I hopped in line for it next. I waited probably about 20-30 minutes for it, which wasn't terrible considering how crowded the park seemed. This was the only of the coasters at the park that I wouldn't ride frequently. It wasn't bad, but it was definitely the roughest coaster they have (that I rode), and stand ups aren't my favorite genre of coasters anyway.
When I left the line, I was feeling a little overheated, so I got an orange Icee and sat down in the shade.
This was my view while cooling off. I'm straight, and even I noticed all the hot chicks in the park.
I tried to call mom to see if she wanted to meet up for a few rides, but I couldn't get a hold of her. About 10 minutes later she called me, and we were actually right across the same area from each other. I met up with her in an air conditioned gift shop, and she said she wanted to get some lunch since she was hungry. I wasn't hungry since I was still in the process of downing my large Icee, but decided to go ahead and eat anyway. We stopped at Wascals and both got chicken strips and fries baskets. I ate all of the chicken but not many of the fries since I was pretty stuffed because of the Icee.
When we left, I rode Spacely's Sprocket Rockets since it was on the way, then rode the chairswings (whirligig...what a great name haha). After the chairswings, my stomach wasn't feeling so good, so I said I needed to go inside and cool off and let my meal digest a bit more before going back out in the heat. We went in an arcade and I sat down in a driving game until I felt a bit better. When we left, we got as far as a covered walkway at the entrace to the Mardi Gras area, and I had to sit down again. I waited another 5 minutes or so, then I was fine, and we went on about business. Mom said she'd ridden the Jesters Wild Ride and liked it, which I found so funny since she swore she didn't like the Rockin' Tug at Beech Bend, and it's the same ride system!
As we passed Condor, I decided to jump on for a ride. Mom was hesitant at first and had to watch it through a cycle, but finally decided to go. She seemed to have the exact same reaction as she did to the Rockin' Tug. She seemed to be struggling through the ride, but later she asked if I wanted to ride it again! I distinctly remember riding this in '96 when the condors on it were black, and thinking that it was just about as big a thrill as I wanted to experience!
As we got to the front of the park, we hopped on the carousel...
...where I rode a pig. Feel free to insert your own fat joke here.
After that we went to the simulator. I don't get why it still has Space Shuttle America theming all over it, yet it's the same crappy Stargate SG300 film I've seen at three different parks already this season! The theater and queue for this one are much nicer than the others, and it was also nice that I didn't have to wait through the mind numbing preshow this time.
We went on Sky Trek Tower next, and I always enjoy this kind of ride. This one was air conditioned thank heavens, unlike the one at Cedar Point!
We were actually able to spot out car from the top of the sky tower!
Just to remind them who's boss, I e-stopped the sky tower on the way out.
After the tower we decided to meet up for the 4:15 Circo Magico show, which was 45 minutes away. I'm not sure what she did, but I figured that I could sneak in another coaster in the meantime, so I went to ride Viper.
The line was posted at half an hour, which was just about exactly what I waited. This was another excellent woodie...one I would be proud to have in my home park. As I left, I had 5 minutes to get to the theater before showtime, so I grabbed a glass of ice water and booked it over there. Of course mom was mad that I hadn't shown up early, but I pretty much just told her to get over it because we still got good seats and didn't miss anything.
The show was good...Cirque Light. They had ribbon flyers...
...and a girl who spun cloth on her feet while standing on her head...
and two guys who did some strength moves that were almost homoerotic! One of the lady ribbon flyers fell as she was running along the edge of the stage to take off. It looked like the box that holds the ribbons in place wasn't up high enough, so the ribbons weren't tight enough, which caused her to fall. I bet she was pretty pissed after the show!