Timber Falls Adventure Park

After my big adventure at Little Amerricka, I had one more coaster stop ahead of me before making a run for dinner and my hotel. That stop would be Timber Falls Adventure Park in the Wisconsin Dells. Many a coaster fan would wonder why I didn't also hit Mt. Olympus. The reason is simple...they are expensive, they have no late gate (or other discernable) discount, they have no new wood coaster credits, and I'd only have an hour or two max to spend there. Couple all these things with the fact that I preferred Avalanche at Timber Falls to Hades at Mt. Olympus and the fact Timber Falls is much more reasonably priced, and you have a no-brainer.

As a couple of my pictures will serve to verify, Timber Falls pulled a fast one on me. With no notice posted on their web site, they decided to limit wristbands to five rides max on the coaster. I was not happy, and felt especially obligated to get some value out of my wristband by riding the flume for the first time and by taking advantage of their Skyscraper discount.

The five-ride limit on the coaster (which used to be named Avalanche, but is now supposedly called Hellcat despite the fact that I don't recall seeing any signs in the park refering to it as Hellcat) turned out not to be so bad after all, as the ride has deteriorated since my last visit. It had always been an aggressive ride, but now it has reached a point that it's just plain rough in spots.

The decline of this coaster has gone so far as to change its nature. I considered it a superior back seat ride when it was new. I also thought every seat on the (very short) train had something of value to offer at that time. Now, it is a much better front seat ride and riding the middle car borders on worthless.

There's still some great air on the ride, but she just ain't what she used to be and it will be reflected in my rankings accordingly.

The flume turned out to be rather interesting. It was much longer than I expected and, as I recall, would be an excellent "date ride."

This brings us to Skyscraper, I had ridden this one before, along with the one that used to be at Dorney and the one that used be on International Drive in Florida. It is an intense ride. The sensation of the wind rushing by you is seldom seen on other amusement rides (Skycoasters do it a bit on the initial drop, as do Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point and Kingda Ka at Great Adventure on the initial launch). It was an extra $10 (normally $20 without a wristband), but I just had to do it again. If you view my pics (this batch being located at http://s632.photobucket.com/albums/uu42/harrycalder/061909%20Part%202/?), you might be able to see that the passenger cars on each end of the arm are on an axel and, thus, are able to rotate. Rotate they do, often in such a way that you think the ride is going to put you at the bottom of its rotation facing the ground. Riders have a nice, snug, five-point seat belt-style safety harness to keep them in the ride. You certainly won't FEEL secure on it, but you will come back safe every time (at least I have, and I imagine that I must be testing the strength-rating of the belts a bit :) ). I also took some video of this and if I can figure out how to post it, I will. Let me get all the pics and text done first, then I'll worry about video. :)

Before I wrap this up, I must put a plug in for Ted's Pizza in Menomonie, WI. It was not only the best meal I had on this trip, it's one of the best I've had in my life! So impressed was I with this place that I actually told the chef how great his product is--not something I do on a regular basis. So yeah, if you ever find yourself within an hour drive of Menomonie, WI, make the trip to Ted's. I didn't regret it, and I don't think you will either.