Staycation Day 7 (Thursday July 23)
E felt better so we stuck with our plan to visit Indiana Beach Amusement Park. We were up very bright and early (5 am) so we could leave at 6 am as we had multiple stops to make – gas station for fuel, ice (for the cooler) and a Coke product (for discounted admission to the park), E’s house so he could grab a few things, E’s girlfriend’s house as she was coming with us, and Brother #1’s house since he was also coming with us.
We arrived at the park at 10:30 am their time which was perfect since we got free parking close to the entrance and by the time we purchased our tickets and walked across the suspension bridge, the rides were just starting since they technically open at 11 am (not 10 am like I mistakenly thought).
Unlike previous years, there’s only one wristband they sell for $31.95 which includes nearly all the rides and the water park. I had checked their site ahead of time and learned Thursday was BOGO if you mentioned you liked them on Facebook (which is funny because they don’t even have an official Facebook presence). In addition, you could get $10 off each ticket with a Coke product. Since there were five of us that meant two free admissions and one discounted by $10. So instead of paying $159.75 the total was $85.85 (or $17.17 per person); and technically it was $63.90 out of pocket since my brother paid his own way. We ended up spending more than that on food even though we did make a trip back to the car for a meal later in the day. But who can resist tacos, corn dogs, and Dippin Dots, the last of which was $25 for four people (I opted out due to lactose intolerance)?
I went on a record 8 different rides this time around (not including the water ones) –
Paratrooper (aka Umbrellas) – I hate this ride but Brother #1 insisted and threatened to drag me on the Sea Dragon otherwise.
Scrambler – I think is my fave and I’m not sure why I was too nervous to ride it last year.
Den of Lost Thieves – I “won” this point-gathering ride by 10 points, woot!
Dodgem (aka Bumper Cars) – We went on this twice, in fact, since they’re way too much fun. And the first time we had an extra long session since there wasn’t anyone waiting.
Music Express – Minus the music as it was broken; oh well, at least it was operating unlike last year.
Rocky’s Rapids Log Flume – Poor E lost his beloved Deadpool hat on this ride and they wouldn’t send someone to get it. We tried to convince him he wouldn’t have wanted it back anyway since by that point it was water-logged and had been run over by subsequent riders and likely torn up.
Antique Autos – Ugh, this ride is just dumb so I made Brother #1 “drive” while Joe and I sat in back. The line is always so long too because they have two cars in operation even though they used to have three times as many.
Train – I had to end our visit taking the train from Kiddieland back to the suspension bridge because it’s a classic.
Rides I used to go on but now avoid –
Sky Ride – You can thank Joe for scaring me into not wanting to ride this one ever again. He has me convinced it’s a death trap.
Falling Star – My stomach cannot handle this one anymore.
Hooiser Hurricane – According to Joe and E, who rode this roller coaster, it’s really bumpy. I don’t recall since it’s been a log time since I last rode it.
The Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain was not running all day which was fine because that thing throws you around like there’s no tomorrow. I think we all ended up bruised the last time we rode it. I was bummed their Grand Carousel wasn’t running either. Then again, I’ve yet to see that ride in operation.
Sometime after 3 pm we decided to visit the water park section of the park which we never have done before. It was ok. The lockers are ridiculous – $10 (but they refund you $4 when you return the key) and super small. It would have cost us $24 just in locker fees so we decided Joe and I would keep watch over the stuff on the beach while the other three went on some stuff and then we could switch off. Except they disappeared for over an hour before returning. I’m not going to lie – I was a bit annoyed because the water park closes at 6 pm and I wanted to make sure we had some time to enjoy ourselves too. Brother #1 agreed to watch our stuff while E and his girlfriend took off and Joe and I went on the Big Flush (a two-person water slide with a raft) which was a lot of fun. If the line wasn’t so long I would have gone on a second time. We also rode the Action River although the water wasn’t moving very much to be deemed a river. Plus it was a bit too shallow for my taste. The beach itself was nasty and dirty which was weird to me because I swear they used to filter the water. In any case, it was fun but I think next time what we’ll do is hit the water park earlier since by the time we arrived there weren’t any chairs left (even though there was plenty of room for them). Or we’ll rent a cabana. In any case then we can just use one locker for our valuables and we can all head out together to enjoy the water.
After changing back into our street clothes Brother #1 decided he wanted to visit the haunted house. No one was really into going, plus it’s a separate $3 fee, so I went with him. Two women visiting from California were the only other people in our group and I made my brother lead the way through the twists and turns in the dark castle since it was his idea. One of the women held onto the back of my shirt the whole time. It was rather lame save for the one part where you end up in a room full of doors trying to find the one that isn’t a dead-end. Ugh! I didn’t care for that or the part where the corridor becomes extremely narrow and it’s so dark you can’t see. It hasn’t changed much from when we were kids which on one hand is lame but on another made it less scary for me since I hate haunted houses anyway.
We ended up leaving around 9 pm their time which was the longest we’ve ever spent there for a day trip. I was dreading it after reading all the negative reviews on Yelp about how run-down it has become, but it didn’t seem too bad – I could tell they spruced up some areas up with a fresh coat of paint so if anything, it looked better than last year. There were still a lot of rides with multiple broken down vehicles which made the lines longer but it wasn’t very crowded all day so it was tolerable. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by how long we stayed and how much fun I had.
