massam
Roller Poster
Alright, I have always been a fan of independent, small parks (or small companies). I love places like Waldameer, Knoebels, and way back in the day, Celebration City in Branson. I knew heading to this park, it wasn't going to be Disneyworld. But holy crap, it was disappointing. Firstly, this park is a theme/water park hybrid. The parks aren't separated and are integrated throughout the experience. They have 5 rollercoasters total: XCoaster, a Mauer Skyloop model, Arkansas Twister, a wooden out and back, Big Bad John, an arrow mine train, Gauntlet, a Vekoma SLC, and Diamond Mine Run, and E&F Miler kiddie coaster. They have very few thrill rides, only a Larson drop tower, and a ride called The Hawk. The rest are either small kiddie rides, or your run of the mill amusement park rides like a log flume, bumper cars, you get the idea.
The entry fee to this park at the gate is $50, plus $20 parking. They advertise online that you can $10 on your tickets if you buy inline, however they charge you a higher tax and $6 "processing" fee (insert eyeroll). To get in this park, you are going to be paying $70, which is more than all the Six Flags parks currently, as well as most independent parks, so I was already going in with semi high expectations with the steep entrance fee. The very front of the park looked nice, the grounds keeping was really well done, however, the farther back in the park I went, the more and more it began to decline. I then noticed that half of the park was shut down. I was aware that on the website, the park stated that some rides would be closed due to staffing shortages, but then I noticed that there were rides closed that were not on the website, nor were they on the big board of rides shut down that day. Out of some 30 ish rides and waterslides, 12 were closed, including Gauntlet, which is one of their star attractions, without any warning. Arkansas Twister was closed for several hours for no apparent reason, the drop tower was closed for some time, waterslides that were said to be open were closed, and in early August in Arkansas, when it's usually 90ish degrees everyday, the log flume was completely drained. I went to ride Big Bad John, and I really liked the ride, however the employees moved very slowly and seemed very mellow in their attitudes. I then went to XCoaster which was great, except for the fact that everyone could see that the park does not take care of it. There were weeds everywhere, the paint was off color, the shed that housed the motors was falling over and half painted, and the ride ops took forever and were not paying attention to the safety protocols. The ride itself was very intense and thrilling, however it was unnecessarily rough because of the lack of maintenance. I then headed over to Gauntlet, because I was excited to ride my first SLC. I read that this one is not too bad because it has a redesigned wheel assembly making the ride smoother. However, it was closed. I asked an employee what was going on, and they said it was due to staffing issues, however, on the website they stated that this ride was open and others were closed due to staffing issues. I then went to Arkansas Twister, and the views were great, however it was very rough. And let me say, I love a rickety woodie, but this one was borderline unrideable. Firstly, it's not very exciting. There's no airtime, no special elements, and the Gerstlauer trains are bumpy and uncomfortable. The train will literally hit you from behind. It honestly felt like I was being humped from behind. The food was overpriced, the lockers were overpriced, the customer service was sub par, and the overall attitude of the park was "we don't care".
Overall this park is overpriced, dirty, ugly, and honestly has nothing special. It has almost no competition, so it has no reason to improve. If you drive by this park, don;t pull over, keep driving. There are better places to waste your money.
The entry fee to this park at the gate is $50, plus $20 parking. They advertise online that you can $10 on your tickets if you buy inline, however they charge you a higher tax and $6 "processing" fee (insert eyeroll). To get in this park, you are going to be paying $70, which is more than all the Six Flags parks currently, as well as most independent parks, so I was already going in with semi high expectations with the steep entrance fee. The very front of the park looked nice, the grounds keeping was really well done, however, the farther back in the park I went, the more and more it began to decline. I then noticed that half of the park was shut down. I was aware that on the website, the park stated that some rides would be closed due to staffing shortages, but then I noticed that there were rides closed that were not on the website, nor were they on the big board of rides shut down that day. Out of some 30 ish rides and waterslides, 12 were closed, including Gauntlet, which is one of their star attractions, without any warning. Arkansas Twister was closed for several hours for no apparent reason, the drop tower was closed for some time, waterslides that were said to be open were closed, and in early August in Arkansas, when it's usually 90ish degrees everyday, the log flume was completely drained. I went to ride Big Bad John, and I really liked the ride, however the employees moved very slowly and seemed very mellow in their attitudes. I then went to XCoaster which was great, except for the fact that everyone could see that the park does not take care of it. There were weeds everywhere, the paint was off color, the shed that housed the motors was falling over and half painted, and the ride ops took forever and were not paying attention to the safety protocols. The ride itself was very intense and thrilling, however it was unnecessarily rough because of the lack of maintenance. I then headed over to Gauntlet, because I was excited to ride my first SLC. I read that this one is not too bad because it has a redesigned wheel assembly making the ride smoother. However, it was closed. I asked an employee what was going on, and they said it was due to staffing issues, however, on the website they stated that this ride was open and others were closed due to staffing issues. I then went to Arkansas Twister, and the views were great, however it was very rough. And let me say, I love a rickety woodie, but this one was borderline unrideable. Firstly, it's not very exciting. There's no airtime, no special elements, and the Gerstlauer trains are bumpy and uncomfortable. The train will literally hit you from behind. It honestly felt like I was being humped from behind. The food was overpriced, the lockers were overpriced, the customer service was sub par, and the overall attitude of the park was "we don't care".
Overall this park is overpriced, dirty, ugly, and honestly has nothing special. It has almost no competition, so it has no reason to improve. If you drive by this park, don;t pull over, keep driving. There are better places to waste your money.
