Waldameer was a nice little park. In general, I had a fun time there. If anyone who has never been goes be SURE to ride Ravine Flyer 2. It made it into my top ten! A component I really liked about this park is it had some really nice flats as well as coasters. I'm sure it wouldn't be a good park to spend all day at, but it is nice to stop by there for a couple hours!

At least one poster here thinks Ravine Flyer II is more than worth the voyage. Dandy flume in that park, too!

Yeah, I have heard that Ravine Flyer 2 is a great ride!

RVII POV:

Ravine Flyer II is my favorite woodie. And Waldameer is one of my favorite parks, mainly because of the old-fashioned atmosphere.

I loved Ravine Flyer. It was such a fun and it makes my top 10 list too. Overall, Waldameer is a nice little park, it reminds me of an old park we used to have here in Medina.

RF2 is exactly what that park needed! They have a great lineup of rides for a small park, and you can easily have a day of fun there. I agree with Terpy that the flume is good, but nothing I've found so far compares to Raging Thunder at Americana. RIP

Ah, yes. Raging Thunder, the flume that was better than 2/3 of raft/whitewater rides. Barr Engineering. I so miss that thing.

Ah, yes. Raging Thunder, the flume where the ride op was smoking in the all-wooden station while telling people to get in the boats, and where they stopped every single log on the top of the lift so that they could pull the plug out of the back of each and every boat to drain it.

My one and only trip to LeSourdsville Lake was in 2002, when Mr. Couch hired that fly-by-night group of thugs to operate the rides. Raging Thunder was just one of many issues I had that day, which ended up being my worst experience ever at a park, tied with my one and only trip to Kentucky Kingdom.

Ah, yes. Raging Thunder, the flume where the ride op was smoking in the all-wooden station while telling people to get in the boats, and where they stopped every single log on the top of the lift so that they could pull the plug out of the back of each and every boat to drain it.

My one and only trip to LeSourdsville Lake was in 2002, when Mr. Couch hired that fly-by-night group of thugs to operate the rides. Raging Thunder was just one of many issues I had that day, which ended up being my worst experience ever at a park, tied with my one and only trip to Kentucky Kingdom.

If your only trip to LeSourdsville Lake was in 02, you really didn't go to LeSourdsville Lake. I remember that park being a wonderful place full of fun. It was NOT run that way in 02, but it was nice to ride the Eagle a few more times. Try to remember the rides, not those who were running them.

FYI - I've also had great experiences with Kentucky Kingdom. They were really trying hard to be a better park in the last few seasons.

The one highlight of that trip were the two or three rides I got on Screechin' Eagle. What a wonderful coaster it was. RIP

My trip to KK was about a week or two before Twisted Sisters opened, in 1998. Years later, after hearing nice things about the park from other members of this site, I figured they had turned things around and I was all ready to give it another shot in 2010, and had made plans to go their opening day. Needless to say those plans changed...

Waldameer to buy motel, build wave pool

Waldameer Park & Water World, which introduces a new attraction nearly every year, is adding something just as big this fall: more than 7 acres of land and buildings, including the Inn at Presque Isle, at Peninsula Drive and West Sixth Street.

The acquisition, to be final Oct. 2, will enlarge Waldameer to 52 acres, put park owner Paul Nelson in the hotel business and help launch an ambitious 10-year plan for the 116-year-old amusement park in Millcreek Township.

The plan, to cost more than $20 million, will feature a large wave pool, to open most likely in 2014, and the development, most likely five years later, of a secluded wooded area involving about 5 acres that Nelson's family owns at the foot of a slope that overlooks Lake Erie.

The highlight of that long-awaited project, Nelson said, will be an incline railway to carry picnickers from the main park to the lakefront hideaway.

http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012309229901

Awesome. Such a great little park. I'm very happy to hear such good news.

Video interview of Paul Nelson about purchase & expansion:

http://yourerie.com/fulltext?nxd_id=258252