Subject: Trip report: The Great Escape (6/22)
From: mamros@ftp.com  (Shawn Mamros)
Date: Sun, 23 Jun 1996 00:07:40

When I found out I would be taking a business trip to Montreal this
month, I had a choice: get there via a relatively short flight (1-2
hours), paid for by the company, or take a 6-7 hour drive.  For most
people, this would be an obvious choice.  For me, knowing that
Lake George NY and the Great Escape Fun Park are located along the
driving route, I took the choice most people wouldn't take :-).

It took me roughly four hours to make the drive from suburban Boston
to Lake George.  Instead of the immediately obvious, I-90 to I-87
route that I used before, I went by the route AAA recommended to me:
US 3 north to the Manchester-Concord NH area, I-89 to just across the
NH-VT border, then US 4 west across Vermont and New York.  The latter
road winds through a few small towns and villages along the way, a
welcome change of pace from the sometimes monotonous interstates, for
a route that is shorter mileage-wise and equal to or shorter than the
"usual" route time-wise.

The Great Escape has somewhat early hours compared to most parks -
9:30am - 6:00pm.  I arrived just before 11:00am.  In spite of some
occasional showers and threats of more showers, the park was fairly
busy; by the time I arrived, the parking lot on the "park side" of
the street was full, and the lot on the other side was almost two-
thirds full.

First order of business: a quick walk to the back of the park for a
couple Comet rides to start the day.  For the one or two of you who
haven't heard of the Comet yet, it's a wooden double-out-n-back with
a steel structure, originally built at the late, lamented Crystal Beach
Park in Ontario in 1948 by Herb Schmeck and PTC (using some structural
members salvged from the infamous 1927 Harry Traver-designed Cyclone at
the same park), then relocated to the Great Escape two years ago.  It's
also the coaster which was voted Number 1 for two years in a row (1994
and 95) in the Internet wooden coaster poll held in this newsgroup
(even beating out the mighty Raven last year).

Even though the queue lines were only two or three deep early on, they
were running both trains, and continued to do so throughout the day.
Three cheers for full capacity!  The four-car, three-bench-per-car PTCs
still sport individual ratcheting lapbars, low seat dividers, and no
headrests; also a single orange seatbelt with metal buckle (which I
remember from last year) in all cars save the front car of the red train.
That car had individual seatbelts, black with a plastic buckle.  Those
I don't remember from last year, but my memory may not be complete.  I
don't know if that might be a sign that they're changing seatbelts again.
(When it reopened in 1994, the trains didn't have seatbelts at all, just
the orange bars.)

On those first couple runs, the Comet was running as smooth as ever,
though ever-so-slightly pokey, as might be expected for early-day runs.
I decided to give it a couple hours to warm up, during which I could eat
lunch and check out the rest of the park.  During lunch (bratwurst from
the German Beer Garden - I like how this park has menu items beyond the
standard park fare of burgers/hot dogs/pizza, though those can also be
had), a sudden shower came up - perhaps this would help loosen the Comet
up some?  We'll see...

While digesting, I wandered through an area of the park I'd never checked
out before - what I assume is the original Storytown USA area, with the
various nursery-rhyme-themed sculptures - reminded me a lot of Story
Book Forest back when I was a little kid growing up in western PA (back
in the days when that was a separately gated attraction from Idlewild
Park itself).  I also took the miniature train ride (not too bad) and
a spin on the carousel (fiberglass, nothing special), then headed for
the Steamin' Demon, an attention-grabbing Arrow loop-corkscrew located
right out front of the park (where it can be seen from I-87).  This
coaster (a refugee from the also late and lamented Ponchartrain Beach
amusement park in New Orleans) rides no better and no worse than any
other similarly-setup production model Arrow ride.

On my way back to the Comet, I hit a few more rides: the Trabant,
the Magical Mystery Ride (indoor Eli Scrambler), the Flying Trapeze
(Chance Yo-Yo), and the Skylab (Huss Enterprise).  All were running
well.  I should also mention that this park has a log flume (Desperado
Plunge) and an Intamin rapids ride (Raging River), as well as several
water slides and other water-based attractions in Spashwater Kingdom,
all of which I skipped, but that's just because I'm not much of a
water rides person.  Incidentally, one of the attractions in Splashwater
Kingdom is named Banshee Plunge.

Another quick hit-and-run shower hit just as I was walking back to the
Comet.  As I suspected, the showers seemed to help bring the zing back
into it!  The Comet was flying as superbly as ever - generous airtime
in every seat.  It's interesting to compare this one to another relocated
Schmeck double-out-n-back masterpiece, the Phoenix at Knoebel's; for
me, it's as if they're two slightly different flavorings of the same
basic dish.  Where the Phoenix is a bit more of a rough-and-tumble,
shuffle-and-slam type of ride, the Comet is more a smooth speedster,
though it still slams upstops with the best of them.  Where the Phoenix's
return runs dash through the lift hill structure, the Comet flings you
to the side with surprise (and not-so-surprise) laterals on its returns,
and has the great station fly-by to boot.  Both have front- and back-car
airtime; while the Phoenix's strongest air is arguably in the front, the
Comet's more intense in the back, IMO.  Don't ask me to pick a clear-cut
favorite, because I can't; I'm just glad we have both of them still around,
so that we can compare them if we like!

Oh, for what it's worth: unlike previous trips, where I never noticed
much problems with the lapbars ratcheting down during the ride, it
did happen a few times this time around (usually right on the first
run to the far turnaround).  Maybe some of the return springs need
replacing.  Even still, it was never enough so to cause me any pain,
or to result in the dreaded Dave Althoff Torque Lock Syndrome, though
it did tone down the airtime enjoyment a couple times.

Overall, The Great Escape proved to be, well, a great escape, as usual.
Next stop tomorrow: La Ronde, for my first-ever visit.

Reporting live from Montreal...

-Shawn Mamros
E-mail to: mamros@ftp.com