Saturday being such a nice day here in the Northeast, with temps in the mid 70's and low humidity, that I decided to take a long ride on the motorcycle from South Jersey to Altoona, PA, some 275 miles away. It was a great ride, but that's a story for another time (and group).
Lakemont is not a large park by any means. The area around the park is nice and hilly, but the park itself is rather flat and all the walks are covered with crushed stones, which do not make for a pleasant walking surface. The admission to the park was only $2, and another $5 bought me a ride-all-day pass.
For the most part, no TPM (theme park mentality) was present, except that I was not allowed to take my camera on the Skyliner :-(. I don't mean to slam the park, but it just didn't do anything for me. I generally like small parks, I enjoyed Idlewild, Whalom and Clementon Lake, among others. For some reason, Lakemont was just kind of 'there'. Devoid of personality. Remember, I'm basing this on one visit of only a few hours, but that's what I felt.
There were a bunch of flat rides, including a Scrambler, a Tilt-a-Whirl, a Round-Up, and Octopus (or Monster?), and others. They also have 5 roller coasters, 4 of which are running.
Exactly what the name says, a small steel wild mouse coaster. Small one or two person cars whip around a track filled with hairpin turns and small, violent dips. I really enjoyed this ride, particularly the dips toward the finish. The car seemed to fly down the dip off the rails, and crash back onto the track at the bottom. I know this is not what happens, but that's the sensation. The hairpins were pretty fun, but not nearly as good as Idlewild's Wild Mouse.
Ah, memories. The toboggan was one of my earliest coaster memories, and I got another chance to relive some of them at Lakemont. The Toboggan (made by Chance) consists of a vertical enclosed lift hill (your car goes up a tube making an incredibly loud clacking noise) with a spiral section of track winding around the tube for the descent (sort of like the threads on a bolt) and some small hills at the bottom. Lakemont's Toboggan is much smoother than the only other one I've found, at Ocean City, MD. The ride is good for a laugh (and some genuine concern over whether the car will remain on the tracks), but only for a ride or two.
A small steel kiddie coaster, similar to the High Speed Thrill Coaster at Knoebel's Grove. Because the ride is so short, you get 2 laps around the circuit (KG's kiddie gives you 4 (or 5?)). Strictly a stats coaster, but it does feature some strong lateral G's on the 1st turnaround. Also of note, this is the coaster that featured on the _Rescue 911_ story, the one where the ride operator ends up losing his leg. For the record, the train still has problems catching the lift chain, and the ride operator still has to push alongside to get the train to catch.
Ah, that's more like it. A nice traditional woodie, with great PTC trains that lack seat dividers, headrests, ratcheting lap bars and seat belts. Just a lap bar and lots of padding. The Skyliner is a medium-size ride, with a lift hill in the 50-foot region (don't quote me on that).
The station is small, and any sort of a line for the coaster ends up going down the entrance ramp. You can wait for whatever seat you like, and there are no airgates or individual seat queues, just a yellow line not to cross.
You take a left u-turn out of the station and take a jaunt up the lift hill. After reaching the top, a 90-degree left hander sets you up for the first drop, which gives *MAJOR* airtime in the back seat. Real up-against-the-lap- bar airtime. Enjoy it, 'cause that's the only time you'll be out of your seat.
After the 1st drop, a slow u-turn to the right sends you to another drop, nothing special. A slow 90-degree right turn and some more drops, and then to the 2nd turnaround, which is the only decent turn on the ride. It's a descending turn, similar to the turnaround on the Wild One, but somewhat less intense. Still some strong lateral G's though, particularly in you're riding solo. A couple more hills and some turns and you're back where you started, including a fast whip into the brake run. Definitely a good coaster, but not top 10 material. Liked the trains, the first hill and the above turnaround. Didn't like the slow turnarounds and ho-hum second half.
Looking sad and neglected. The newly-refurbished PTC car is in the front of the station on display, and there are some plaques and drawings hanging on the walls. Looks to me (and I don't know what I'm talking about) that it will take a lot of major work to make this coaster run again. I only hope it really happens, even if only for the chance to ride in those trains - they look gorgeous! As always, comments and flames welcomed at denton@rowan.edu.