Photo courtesy of Arnolds Park
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This past weekend a group of sixteen RRCers met for a weekend tour of
upper midwest parks. The trip culminated in a visit to Arnolds Park -
the tiny, independently owned lakeside amusement park that came within
days of closing for good last year, only to be rescued in a
miraculous, last second, seven million dollar fundraising effort. I went to Arnolds Park for the first time last year, and I immediately fell in love with the place. It is easily one of the most difficult parks to get to, located literally in the middle of nowhere, Iowa. It was well worth going out of my way to get there, though, as it turned out to be one of the most memorable days of the year for me. It's lakeside setting and small (extremely small!), traditional atmosphere completely won me over, and the Legend roller-coaster immediately stole my heart and jumped into my top twenty list. At the time of my first visit, the park's future seemed very uncertain, even doubtful. An air of bitter disappointment seemed to sweep in off the lake and hover over the park, making the fun time I had seem bittersweet. For a complete report of that day, go to http://members.xoom.com/tripreport/6/arnold.html. Since that time, of course, Arnolds Park has undergone an extraordinary change. A grassroots, Save Arnolds Park fundraising effort, begun by locals and embraced by coaster enthusiasts and fans of the park everywhere, generated enough money to buy back the park and solidify its continued operation as an amusement park. The fundraising effort was nothing short of astounding - over seven million dollars raised in just six weeks! Some of those dollars were donated by participants of RRC, many of whom spread the word through websites and word of mouth. Some donations came from people who had never even visited the park before. And ever since word was received that the park had been saved and would continue operating in the year 2000, I wanted to go back with friends. I got my wish. On this day I was able to share this wonderful little park with some of my favorite friends - Todd Long, Dave Sandborg, Cindy Stout, Julie Stone, Geoff Lucas, Robert Ulrich, Sam Ulrich, Bill Long, Tim Melago and Shawn Mamros. Spatch and Jen decided to stay in Des Moines as they had an early return flight home and would have only had an hour to spend in the park. The others in our group - Paul and Carrie Drabek and Brad Haller, were with us earlier in the weekend and weren't able to join us on this day. And unfortunately Matthew Sullivan had to cancel his trip at the last second and was missed! But for the rest of us, we were treated to a wonderful day at a park that I think is the gem of the midwest. I am so happy to report that Arnolds Park is alive and doing well. The park looks wonderful! The best word to describe it is sunny - every building looks nice and freshly painted, the grounds are nicely landscaped, new signs have been added, rides have been updated, and everything looks bright and cheery! On the day of our visit, a classic corvette auto show brought in large crowds along the boardwalk which lines the perimeter of the park. The park itself was nicely crowded, but not so bad as to make waits for any ride longer than five minutes. All rides were in excellent shape, in fact everything in the park looked extremely well maintained. There are many things I love about Arnolds Park but one of them is its size. It is just so tiny! And yet our group had a *wonderful* and very full day. We did the things we usually pass over in other parks. We rode the little train, complete with a shiny NAD coaster train for passengers, around the small perimeter of the park. We all played minature golf. We had informal takeover time on the go-karts. We walked through the Maritime Museum and browsed over some of the historical park photos, which now take on added significance that I appreciated even more. The one thing we didn't do was take the lake cruise, which I thought would have been nice. But isn't it great that we were having so much fun that there just wasn't time to do everything? Of course my favorite thing about Arnolds Park is doing what I call the Legend let's go again run! All of us - kids, adults, we all did the same thing. Ride the coaster, run down the exit ramp, run back up the entrance ramp, and ride the coaster again!!! It is SO MUCH FUN!! The ramps are the old fashioned, step ladder kind, and because of the close proximity between the exit and entrance ramps, it is quite easy to get off the ride and get right back on without even missing a train! Even Shawn Mamros, who had only ninety minutes to spend in the park, was able to log ten Legend rides as well take in the rest of the park! It is *very* easy to log 40 rides or more on the Legend. One of the highlights of this day for me was watching my friends experience the Legend for the first time. Of our group, I was the only one who had ridden this coaster before. I have it firmly in my top twenty wooden coaster list and very near my top ten! And I have always included it in my list of most underrated coasters. But nearly everyone expressed surprise at the lack of mention this coaster gets. It really is a peppy little coaster! It is extremely violent in the backseat - not rough, but violent! And the airtime in the front is of the most violent kind of ejector air. For me, my favorite is the third seat, which combines the best forces of both the front and back. But what makes this coaster so great for me is that, as I said to Dave, "No matter where you sit, everybody gets it in the end!" And boy, do you get it good. The final turn contains a series of parabolic rabbit hills that produce extremely violent airtime no matter where you sit. In the front, the most extreme airtime hits at the top of each hill. In the back, you get thrown out of your seat on the way down each hill, and violence with which you are slammed into the lapbar and then down into your seat is actually frightening! I was with a fairly intrepid group of coaster riders - no wimps are we - and yet nearly all of us had to muster a bit of courage to face another backseat ride! For me, the best moments came from seat three - you'd get what I call a "throw down" on the first rabbit hill, a major ejection at the top of the next hill, and another violent "throw" down at the bottom of that hill. I'm fairly certain all of us have bruises on our legs from being thrown into the lap bar! I really love everything about the Legend. I love the way it wraps around the park. I love the way the lifthill is incorporated into three structures (the Wacky Shack, Fun House and Arcade). I love the stretch of straight track that runs at ground level. I love getting the chance to grab leaves as I'm thrown out of my seat! And most of all, I just love doing the Legend let's go again run! I also love the relaxed atmosphere at this park. We all took a casual, leisurely pace throughout the day and enjoyed walking through the park and the surrounding boardwalk. One of the buildings I skipped last year was the ice cream shoppe. Not this year! I think I went back three times - no, not for ice cream, but for slushies! They make their slushies not from a machine but by hand, from real ice cubes and a huge row of glass syrup bottles. They were delicious! The park also has updated their merchandise with a *fantastic* selection of clothes of souvenirs! I think we all bought what has to be the best coaster t-shirt I've ever seen - a black and white picture of the Legend train climing the lifthill and approaching the coaster's famous lifthill sign "Point of No Return." Tim Melago and Dave Sandborg each snagged a polo shirt with the original Arnolds Park logo. I also have to thank Tim for directing me to the Maritime Museum, where we each bought a limited edition print of the Arnolds Park entrance. The print is very large and Tim told me Kennywood had similarly sized quality prints priced at $100 or more, while this was only $25! It is exactly what I've been looking for - I already have a place for it on my wall! The only disappointing thing I can think to mention is the park's decision to create a new logo! The new logo looks very nice - it incorporates some elements of the old logo and updates it with a more contemporary look. But I have a soft spot for the old logo and it's classic look. I really hope they don't change the entrance sign as it is by far my favorite entrance sign to any amusement park! But if this is the only thing I can quibble about then the park is indeed alive and doing very well. And thank goodness! And thanks to everyone who contributed in one way or another to its preservation. Arnolds Park is a very, very special place. It would have been an immeasurable loss had it not been saved! I'm glad I got to visit Arnolds Park and ride the Legend with friends. This is not a park to go to by yourself - it's best shared with people who will appreciate it. And I really think the Legend is an amazing coaster and I want it to gain recognition as one of the best in the world. I suspected that, because of its hard to get to location, it was not as highly regarded as I think it should be. And as Cindy Stout noted, "I guess you just don't pay enough attention until you actually get to ride it." Hopefully those of you who haven't ridden it will get a chance to do so very soon. This day really made me happy. I was delighted to share this park with friends, and I'm thrilled that the park is doing so well. I hope all of you reading this will consider making the trip out to the middle of nowhere, Iowa. Arnolds Park is a triumph of amusement park preservation and deserves all the accolades it gets! Mark
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