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Photo TR: Indiana Beach


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Despite its lack of theming (which wouldn't be appropriate in this case anyway), Indiana Beach is very nearly my perfect park: small but compact, filled with fun and unique attractions all piled on top of one another, and utterly and completely cracksmoking.

 

I'm still a bit worried about the new management--but thankfully not much has changed, so far. Hopefully, they realize and appreciate what a good thing they have.

 

I certainly do.

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Goodbye from Monticello, Indiana. And thanks for reading.

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I usually don't say stuff like this, but: Possibly my favorite photo of the trip.

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It was a great two days at one of our favorite parks. (Well, it was Misty's first visit, but it's one of her favorites now!)

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Pretty much the whole park.

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Hoosier Hurricane, among other things.

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As you might expect, it's easy and relaxing, with lots of good views of the park.

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It's a half-hour paddlewheel ride out around the lake.

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One more ride we need to get! Another one that I passed on last time, the Shafer Queen. (Photo by Speedmetal.)

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Next door to the Castle is a fun monster-themed shooting gallery. Lots of movement and not too tough to hit the targets.

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View of the park from the outside balcony.

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But I did snap a photo of the singing animatronic rock band!

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The lobby. Much of the attraction is dark, obviously.

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But it only costs $3.50, and I'm glad to pay it if that's what keeps all the stunts working.

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I foolishly passed on Dr. Frankenstein's Castle on my one previous visit, since it was an upcharge and I'm generally against those.

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Even first aid is weird and cool. (Photo by Speedmetal.)

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Air Crow is the park's flyers--built over the water, of course. Dig the maintenance man working in the middle of the ride.

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The train passes through Dr. Frankenstein's Castle twice through the same tunnel, yet the animatronic barker for the castle is different on each leg of the journey. Pretty cool.

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The train driver veers way off track. "Sir, that's the Hurricane. And we're heading for water." (Photo by Speedmetal.)

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When in doubt, make a sign.

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And Misty loved Tig'rr, declaring it the best ride of the trip. (And we rode Diamondback and Millennium Force on this trip.)

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You didn't think I mistyped that, did you? Tig'rr is actually built on the roof a restaurant. I love Indiana Beach.

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Cornball is built partially above Kiddyland, and wraps all the way around Tig'rr.

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It was still pretty darned good this time around, just not quite up to my previous rides.

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I was blown away by Cornball Express on my last visit, and probably talked it up too much.

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Remove substances from mouth. Sure, why not?

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It's supposed to be a family coaster, but it's much more thrilling than the park's "adult" woodie.

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Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to say "above Kiddyland."

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The entrance to Cornball is located in Kiddyland.

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Heading back in.

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The turnaround (above Island Golf).

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Looks kinda great, rides kinda dull.

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Built largely over the water, like so many things here. (Photo by Speedmetal.)

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Who's your hurricane, baby?

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It's actually not very wet.

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To the left is Hoosier Hurricane's station, to the right is Cornball Express track.

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I didn't shave for a couple of days so I'd look more like a lumberjack.

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Nice scenery, eh?

 

I'm not entirely sure what that sign means. It pretty clearly directed at the riders, though.

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It's basic, but good.

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Conveyor loading.

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Indiana Beach

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The entrances for the log flume and the Hurricane are right next t each other on the, er, "back" midway. (Photo by Speedmetal.)

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It was okay. A little painful in the shoulders, but not too bad. Once was enough for us, but I was happy it wasn't a lot worse.

 

Of course, if you like hangtime, you'll probably love it.

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We didn't come here for this, and we weren't expecting much.

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Even though it's right at the other (main?) entrance, it still feels really away from the park.

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Near said hotel is the park's newest coaster, Steel Hawg.

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Our hotel, inside the park. It was outdated--but clean enough--no internet access, and it cost $95 a night. But did I mention the part where it's inside the park?

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I really just have no words for this. I even tried to delete the photo, but my finger just wouldn't let me.

 

Look, just be happy I didn't include the picture of an elf about to blow a crow.

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Let's check out the gift shop and then head back to the hotel.

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"That would suck. An arrow killed you? They would never solve the crime."

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I was really happy to see this open (before Memorial Day). A proper restaurant at the park is always a big plus for me.

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The park's sky ride is completely awesome and 100% "old school safe."

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All the pinball machines were on free play. I'm not sure why, but we weren't complaining.

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Inarguable.

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Misty, um, eating the stuffed tiger...?

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Misty preparing to win a stuffed tiger.

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I just like the name "Monkey Drop."

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I wanna win some tools!

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The games are all on a card system. So what happens when you load up a card only to find that the computers that control it all are down most of the time? Park profit, baby!

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The skeleton pops up out of the barrel. I'm guessing this is an original (pre-shooter) stunt.

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The brief outdoor section.

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We rode three times. I'm pretty sure I lost this one because I was taking photos.

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Um, yeah....

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Obviously not built as a shooter, but the conversion was well done.

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Den of Lost Thieves is a really fun two-story shooting dark ride. (Photo by Speedmetal.)

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All the water park stuff was still closed. But, again, that's not what we were here for.

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A Galaxi ride op rewards himself for successfully dispatching yet another train with that equipment. (Photo by Speedmetal.)

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Yep, that's a coaster hiding behind all those waterslides.

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Unlike Cedar Point, Indiana Beach really takes advantage of its peninsula locale.

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Misty demonstrates how the car ride spends most of its time over water.

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Looking down the main midway, contemplating having a "famous" taco. They're goood! (Photo by Speedmetal.)

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Weird and brutal in a way that makes no sense and never fails to make me laugh the whole way. (Photo by Speedmetal.)

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It's kind of like riding through Spider-Man when it's out of sync, in the backseat of the Georgia Cyclone.

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You come out of the station and ascend via elevator lift. Then you're tossed around like a beanbag while the track does things no track should do.

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LoCoSuMo: Never has a ride's shorthand name been more appropriate.

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Day two was much busier, mostly with annoying school kids. But the lines were still very manageable.

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Slash Battle was closed both days, but I doubt we would have ridden it anyway.

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Thank you for clarifying.

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The first of our two days in the park was "we're the only ones on the ride" dead.

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Misty loves swing rides. Misty really loves this one.

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Maybe you'll get lucky and it'll land on the bridge.

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"Water Swing."

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Under the Giant Wheel is the entrance to a mini golf course, which is in turn underneath the Hoosier Hurricane's far turnaround.

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The bulk of the park.

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Pretty good view from up here.

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Let's start with the Giant Wheel. Ancient and terrifying ride panel? Check.

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I love crazy signs, and Indiana Beach is overloaded with them.

 

I'm not exactly sure what folks in wheelchairs are supposed to do here, incidentally. But, now that I think about it, I'm not too sure how folks in wheelchairs would be able to do much of anything at this park.

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Everyone has this picture, and everyone should.

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The park has two entrances. This is the prettier one, South.

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Awesome report! I've always wanted to get to Indiana Beach but don't have the time this year. Isn't Indiana Beach on the other side of the state from Holiday World?

 

Yes, Holiday World is located in the southern part of the state with Indiana Beach up in the northern part. Indiana is split into two regions, the hilly and forested southern part and the flat country to the north. Of course you get this same set up in Illinois, and Ohio as well.

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Great TR. This really gave me a good impression of the park Seeing how crammed it is it got me thinking what other parks that have that crammed attractions everywhere feel. Tivoli Gardens have it in some sections, and I think Blackpool Pleasure Beach also falls into this category. Any else?

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Is cornball really meant to be a family coaster? It looks pretty intense and I heard there is some nice airtime. I always love your TR's, and this one is no different. Are you on some kind of theme park tour? Or do you just hit up a bunch of random parks?

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^ I forgot about that! (Probably because I didn't have a good photo of it.)

 

Yeah, their operations training room is apparently the hotel lobby. But, then again, I would expect nothing less from Indiana Beach.

 

"Okay, so if a guest asks you what's wrong, don't say, 'You see that big arm there that holds up the ride? It's busted.' Just say it's mechanical."

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^ Yeah, I think they're adjacent. So it kind of makes sense.

 

I always love your TR's, and this one is no different. Are you on some kind of theme park tour? Or do you just hit up a bunch of random parks?

 

Thank you!

 

No, no tour. We try to go on three or four park trips a year, usually ranging from two to eight days a piece. So far this year we've taken an 8-day Atlanta/Orlando trip and this 6-day Cedar Point/Indiana Beach/King's Island trip.

 

There's a possibility that we might head over to Holiday World for a day trip pretty soon. But otherwise, we probably won't be leaving the Pigeon Forge area again until at least August.

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Great TR!!

 

Indiana Beach and Dollywood are two of my favorite parks, for very different reasons. Since I'm probably not going to make it down to Pigeon Forge this year (I say probably as I won't rule it out...), I'm really looking forward to tomorrow when PKIManJZ and I are hitting this up. Thanks for the photos, they're great!

 

Was the stunt show running, yet?

 

-James Dillaman

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Another great Photo TR from you!

 

I absolutely loved Indiana Beach as well. It has such a unique feel to it, and I thought the whole park was very photogenic. I got some nice night shots from the top of the ferris wheel.

 

I remember thinking how great Cornball Express was. I was not expecting it to be that much fun.

I'm pretty sure that I was almost flung right out of that Galaxi coaster.

I loved Tig'rr as well. Those low to the ground turns at high speeds are super fun! If Misty loved that, she must ride Whizzer at SFGAm, if she hasn't already.

 

Again, another great TR, and thanks for sharing!

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I have not been to Indiana Beach, but it looks like a lot of fun. They've done wonders with the limited space they have.

 

I, too, am a fan of silly signs. You can really have a lot of fun with those.

 

Excellent TR!

 

Eric

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Nice report and very comprehensive with the pictures. I was there for the first time on Memorial Day last week and share many of your thoughts about the park and the rides in general. I didn't get many pictures of the crazy signage, I'm glad you covered that

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Great photos! The games were only on free-play while they installed the card-swipe system. Now that it's all working, you have to pay for the games. Still, didn't stop me wasting several hours in there on opening day

 

Not sure of the condition of Den Of Lost Thieves when you went .. on opening day a lot of the targets weren't working, they have since been (mostly) fixed (I was there yesterday). With the working targets, and better guns, the ride is vastly better than it has been in previous years.

 

In fact the whole park is looking great this season (aside from over-doing the pastel paint ).

 

Cameron.

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^ Yes, the pinball did present a bit of a problem: Because it was so cool that they were on free play, it was hard to tear ourselves away. And yet, ultimately, it would be much more cost-effective to just pay to play closer to home.

 

^x6 Unfortunately, the stunt show wasn't going on yet. But, again, I was really happy about the Skyroom being open--so that kind of made up for it.

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