Waldameer - July 7th, 2024

 From July 7th through July 11th, my Mom and I went on another road trip, this time visiting four amusement parks in Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts! Three of the four  amusement parks I had visited 6+ years ago, while the first park of the road trip was completely new to me!

After a four hour drive, we made it to Waldameer, our first park of the trip! Waldameer is located near Lake Erie in Erie, Pennsylvania and has been operating since 1896. Waldameer is a free admission amusement park home to many classic rides and attractions, including five roller coasters, the largest being the Ravine Flyer II! To enjoy the rides, you can either pay per ride using a wally card, or buy an all-day ride wristband like I had! Since it was my first time visiting Waldameer, I was most excited to ride the Ravine Flyer II, the Whacky Shack, Pirate's Cove, and the Spider!

While it was very hot during our visit, we managed to have a great time at Waldameer! Be sure to enjoy the photos below! 🙂

Waldameer is one of a handful of amusement parks in Pennsylvania that has a very traditional amusement park-feel to it.

While the park isn't very big, it is home to many classic rides, five roller coasters and a water park, which was quite popular during our visit due to the heatwave.

We arrived at Waldameer just shortly after 11am, so it gave us time to walk around and check it out before the rides opened for the day at 12pm.

The clock located near the Mega Vortex (Zamperla Disk'O) is a nice feature at this charming park!

Here is the Whacky Shack, the last of its kind in the World! The Whacky Shack opened in 1970 and was built by Bill Tracy, a legendary dark ride designer. Whacky Shack is a ride-through dark ride attraction that features many optical illusions, along with sound and lighting effects. It is a very neat ride an one you must experience when at Waldameer!

The Pirate's Cove is the other classic dark ride at Waldameer. Pirate's Cove was also manufactured by Bill Tracy and opened at the park in 1972. It is a walk-through fun house attraction featuring moving floors, sloped rooms, a suspension bridge, and many animatronics that you encounter as you walk through. It was really neat!

Here is a look at the train-less lift hill of the Ravine Flyer II before it began testing for the day.

The Ravine Flyer II was manufactured by the Gravity Group and opened in 2008. Ravine Flyer II is named after the first Ravine Flyer wooden roller coaster that operated at Waldameer from 1922 to 1938. The current Ravine Flyer II features a track length of 2,900 feet, 10 airtime hills, and three drops, with the first drop standing 120 feet tall! Ravine Flyer II is a rather wild ride as the train navigates the winding track! I made Ravine Flyer II my first ride of the day!

Up next was a ride on the classic Spider, a ride manufactured by Eyerly Aircraft Company. While I had been on two Monster rides, I was excited to try a Spider as they appear to have more spinning! It sure did have a lot more spinning than its larger counterparts! I really enjoyed the Spider!

After a ride on the Spider, I took a spin on the fun and amazing Whacky Shack, and Pirates Cove, followed with a ride on the Steel Dragon. This spinning roller coaster manufactured by Maurer opened at Waldameer in 2004. This was the third Maurer spinning coaster I have been on to date.

The Whacky Shack is fun to watch just as it is to ride!

After a ride on Steel Dragon, I dropped in on X-Scream, Waldameer's 140 foot tall drop tower. After an exhilarating ride on X-Scream, I took it easy on the Sky Ride chairlift.

Here is my Mom waiting below.

Here I am on the scenic Skyride.

From the Skyride, you can get a great view of the rides at Waldameer.

Here's a look at the Whacky Shack and X-Scream from the Skyride.

Waldameer's other wooden roller coaster, the Comet has been operating since 1951. Comet is a fun family wooden roller coaster featuring a layered figure-8 layout, passing closely under large trees, adding to the thrill of the ride! I would take a spin on it shortly after my ride on the Skyride.

Due to the heat I wasn't overly interested in riding too many spinning flat rides during my visit to Waldameer. Although the Chaos did look fun as it goes completely over the top! Hopefully I'll be able to experience it on a future visit!

Below is a look at the Scrambler, Music Express, and the station for the L. Ruth Express train ride.

Here is a look at the Mega Vortex, a Zamperla Disk'O ride located at the end of the Skyride.

Standing only 45 feet above the ground at its highest point, the Skyride provides great views of Waldameer.

Here are some thrill seekers on X-Scream freefalling!

During my visit to Waldameer, Ravine Flyer II was operating its red train. The wait was quite minimal as the park wasn't too busy on this hot and humid Sunday in July.

If you look closely, you can see Lake Erie off in the distance!

Waldameer is also home to a Wipeout ride that plays classic rock and pop songs of the '60s and '70s! It is a very fun ride!

I really enjoyed the Comet as it passes under large trees, giving the illusion that you might hit them! 😂

Waldameer is very rich in history, dating back to 1896. of interest, Waldameer is 100 years older than me!

My fourth roller coaster of the day was on the Ravine Flyer 3, a family steel roller coaster manufactured by E&F Miler. Ravine Flyer 3 opened at Waldameer in 2000. It features a bit of airtime when seated near the back of the train.

It features a curved drop followed by a helix before returning to the station. The train goes around the track twice.

Waldameer is also home to a classic Tilt-A-Whirl ride. This unit didn't spin too much during my ride.

With it being very hot during my visit, I was hoping to take a ride on Waldameer's Thunder river log flume. Unfortunately it remained closed despite testing in the mid-afternoon.

The fifth and newest roller coaster at Waldameer is the Whirlwind, an SBF Visa spinning coaster. This was my first-ever time taking a ride on one of these SBF Visa spinning coasters.

Over the last several years, many SBF Visa spinning coasters have appeared at amusement parks in North America. The Whirlwind is a fun family coaster featuring a figure-8 layout, allowing the cars to spin quite a bit as they go around the track five times.

Up next was a ride on the Ali Baba 1001 nights ride manufactured by ARM. This ride opened at Waldameer in 1999. Afterwards, I took another spin on the Whacky Shack followed by a ride on the Wipeout.

Later in the day we went up to the North End of the park where I rode the Flying Swings, a Zamperla Flying Carousel ride.

While up in the north End, I also managed to capture more photos of the Ravine Flyer II.

It is hard to take many photos of this awesome wooden roller coaster as most of it is from view of park visitors as it flies through the ravine!

Ravine Flyer II's twists and airtime hills are what make it really amazing!

My last few rides of the day was on the L. Ruth Express, a train ride that takes you through the park.

While on the L. Ruth Express, you can get close up views o the Comet.

Here's a look at the Ferris Wheel from the L. Ruth Express.

The Ravine Flyer II's structure is quite photogenic!

A ride on the L. Ruth Express train ride ends with a pass through a tunnel.

It never hurts to clown around at an amusement park from time to time! I do not have a fear of clowns, but for some odd reason I didn't get too close to this one! 🤣

My mom got close to it when I took a photo of her.

It isn't uncommon for you to get a cup of water at no charge when at amusement parks. But what is somewhat uncommon is the large sized cup that Waldameer gives their guests when you ask for a cup of water! Usually parks will only give you a cup a quarter of the size of the one pictured!

After a great first visit at Waldameer, it was time to head out and get some rest at the nearby hotel! Up next will be photos of our visit to Seabreeze! 🙂