I'm still getting around to posting some of my trip reports from last year. I have reviewed a large majority of the more well-known coasters I have ridden and am now trying to focus on some of the parks themselves as well as the smaller coasters at those parks. Indiana Beach was a wonderful little park that I had listed as must visit destination due to the famous Cornball Express wooden coaster. In addition to their signature ride, IB has two other woodies (The Hoosier Hurricane and The Lost Coaster of Superititous Mountain), a couple of small steel coasters (Tig'r and Galaxi) and a radical new steel coaster called Steel Hawg which features the steepest first in the U.S. I have reviewed it and Cornball already on this site so if they interest you, feel free to scroll down and read the reviews. Cornball was by far the best ride in the park with a solid 9 rating while Steel Hawg garnered a very high 7 due to uncomfortable trains. The Hoosier Hurricane is an fun little out and back design which goes out over the lake. It was great fun to ride at night but is more of a family oriented type ride than a true thrill machine. I still scored it as a solid 8 which is about a point higher than most enthusiasts would probably score it. However, I am a sucker for the forces provided by fun little wooden coasters and this one was lots of fun.
The other three coasters were well below average although for different reason. The Lost Coaster of Superstitious Mountain was a unique ride offering both forwards and backwards facing seats and a strange feel vertical lift. The problem was that we waited 45 minutes on a day in which the park was virtually empty. Terrible capacity makes this average ride lose a point or so. The other two steel coasters are simply for those who want to get the coaster credits. Tig'r is a bobsled type right without any restraints....just a lap belt and Galaxi is a typical carnival type ride with normally a long line. All three of those rides score in the 5 to 6 range as being nothing really special although the Lost Coaster is a must-ride due to the unique features it possesses.
Other rides in the park include one of the most awesome walk-through spookhouses called Dr Frankenstein's Castle. It has a slight upcharge (about 4 bucks a piece) to keep teens from tearing the place apart. The gags inside are great and the path is very long. There are no live people inside to jump out and scare you, just little gags and lots of darkness.
There is also a drop ride which overlooks the lake, a pretty fun shoot-em up ride called Den of Thieves and a beach type area with lifeguards. We paid a little of 20 bucks for an unlimited ride wristband for the late ride session and had no problems doing everything we wanted to do. We also had a great meal at the restaurant overlooking the lake.
Overall, Indiana Beach was a blast. While definitely not dirty, the park was not as neat Holiday World or Beech Bend and lacked a little in atmosphere due to all the rides being lumped together. There is very little walking necessary to get from one area to the next which is another plus. The park itself scores in the high 7 to low 8 range with it being equally good for thrill seekers and families. The Cornball Express is good enough itself for a visit.
