Four days, eight parks, two countries
Sunday, Aug. 17 – Jim had promised the kids a trip to one of the Six Flags parks to use our season passes and add some new roller coasters to our coaster counts. We initially planned on Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Disquieting reports of Conneaut Lake’s financial situation and future convinced us to visit Six Flags Darien Lake in New York instead. Lynne thought about going but opted to stay home. Jim, Michelle and Scott left early on Sunday and headed up I-71. We ate lunch at a Wendy’s near Ashland and realized it was across the street from the Amerihost where we stayed the previous year after visiting Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. I-71 traffic kept coming to a halt so we detoured on to some smaller routes and cut over to I-76 through Akron to Youngstown where we caught Ohio 11 north to Andover. From there we headed east on Ohio 85. Halfway across Pymatuning Reservoir it turned into Pennsylvania 185.
U.S. 6 took us from Conneaut Lake to Conneaut Lake Park. We rode the historic Blue Streak roller coaster, a Chance Tobaggon, an indoor Scrambler, Flying Skooters, a Paratrooper, and the Devil’s Den dark ride which features one of the most disgusting gum walls in existence, so disgusting it is internationally famous.
From Conneaut we headed east on 6 to I-79 northbound. After dinner at Subway we drove up to Erie and hit Waldameer Park. At Waldameer we rode the Comet coaster. Their Wacky Shack dark ride is one of the best-maintained older dark rides still operating. We also rode the sky ride but didn’t have time to do much more. We drove around Erie for a while because of detours, finally catching I-90 as darkness was falling. We stayed in Westfield, New York at the Holiday Motel. Both Conneaut and Waldameer are older parks and very pretty with lots of big trees.
Monday, Aug. 18 – We took I-90 from Westfield through Buffalo, stopping at a McDonald’s at a service island for breakfast. On the way back to the car we picked up a brochure for Six Flags Darien Lake and found out it opened half an hour later than we thought. We ended up arriving at the park before the parking lot was open but that guaranteed us a good spot close to the gate. Darien Lake is a pretty park with lots of lakes and well-tended landscaping featuring lots of flowers. We rode the Boomerang Coast-to-Coaster, Viper, Serial Thriller, Predator and Superman: Ride of Steel coasters. Superman was outstanding, a 205 foot hypercoaster that rides as smooth as butter over a pair of lakes. Scott and Michelle rode a few of the flat rides. We ate huge ice cream cones for lunch (Perry’s is darn good ice cream) and took a second ride on Superman opting to wait for the front seat. It was incredible.
Unfortunately time was pressing and we had to leave the park around 4:00 to head to Rochester and Seabreeze Amusement Park on the shore of Lake Ontario. At Seabreeze we rode the Jack Rabbit, a 1920 John Miller classic ride. We also rode Quantum Loop and the Bobsleds and the kids took a whirl on a flat ride called the Screaming Eagle. We ate pizza for dinner at the park. From Rochester we headed west on I-90 and took I-190 to Grand Island where we stayed at the Budget Motel of Grand Island. It was the most expensive place we stayed the whole trip.
Tuesday, Aug. 19 – Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast. We headed north on I-190 and crossed into Canada to catch the QEW to Toronto. Every exit in Ontario had at least one and sometimes two Tim Horton’s Doughnut shops. As expected traffic was heavy going through Hamilton and approaching Toronto. Jim had a typo on his directions and we missed a needed interchange which resulted in a tour of some of Toronto’s more rundown neighborhoods. We made our way to 400 stopping at a Bank of Montreal to get some Canadian money from an ATM. At Vaughan we visited Paramount Canada’s Wonderland. Michelle used her Kings Island season pass to enter. Jim had to buy a ticket and Scott had to go to guest relations to get a complimentary ticket for working at Kings Island. While we were waiting for Scott, Jim was asked to take a survey and then asked to be a secret shopper rating one of the park’s restaurants and employees. In exchange we got a free lunch. Because of the power failure the previous week, all businesses had been asked to conserve electricity. Wonderland shut down the royal fountains in front of Wonder Mountain, the centerpiece of the park.
We rode Top Gun, SkyRider, the Mighty Canadian Minebuster, Silver Streak and Scooby’s Gasping Ghoster Coaster before lunch. Silver Streak, a Vekoma junior coaster, was Jim’s 100th. We had to eat at Pizza Pizza to rate the service and food and found them both satisfactory. Besides the fountains, Wonderland also had to shut off their air conditioning and it was hot. After lunch we rode the Fly, the Bat, Vortex, Thunder Run, Wild Beast and Dragon Fire. Lines were fairly long for most attractions and we weren’t able to ride any of the park’s famous flat rides. Scott took his turn driving through Toronto rush hour traffic. We backtracked down the QEW to the border, crossed without any problems, and followed I-190 back to Grand Island and Martin’s Fantasy Island. After a go on the Schwarzkopf Wildcat we hit the Silver Comet, an outstanding CCI which was Michelle’s 100th. Scott took a ride on a Fireball while Jim and Michelle kept hitting the Silver Comet until the park closed at 8:00. It was dark by the time we left. The motels in New York were priced higher than we were willing to pay and we ended up driving to State Line, Pennsylvania, and staying at the Red Carpet.
Wednesday, Aug. 20 – The Red Carpet had a limited continental breakfast and the kids opted to skip it. We took I-90 back to Cleveland and rode the Little Dipper at Memphis Kiddie Park. Normally we would have skipped a coaster like this one but the park is a Cleveland landmark with most of the attractions dating to the park’s founding in 1952. The parking lot was a sea of minivans. From Cleveland we headed south on I-77 and east on U.S. 422 to Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. The park was packed but we were able to ride the two coasters that were not operating on our visit the previous summer, Mind Eraser and Double Loop. The lines for everything were just too long and eight parks in four days was starting to take a toll so we left the park, ate lunch at McDonald’s, and drove home on I-71. We thought Double Loop would be Scott’s 100th but found out it was his 99th when we got home. He got his 100th a few weeks later, Greezed Lightnin’ at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.
Milestones on this trip: Jim and Michelle’s 100th coasters.
States and provinces we visited: Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario.
Capital cities we saw: Toronto.
