Beautiful old park full of character
Written: Oct 08 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Well maintained, historic park. Lots to do, especially for the young-uns.
Cons: ?
The Bottom Line: Large traditional-style park with a small park feel and an emphasis on simple pleasures and older rides.
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| millrace's Full Review: Idlewild Park |
All summer, I’ve been eager to leave Columbus, Ohio, and make a visit to some Pennsylvania amusement parks. Now, having acquired and read a new book by Jim Futrell, entitled Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania, I was more ready than ever to experience some old-fashioned fun. My fiancé Sara and I made the decision to go to Idlewild, near Ligonier, Pennsylvania. I had heard a lot of good things about this park, had read about it, and had seen it on TV. It was beyond time for a visit.
Thanks to a couple of misbehaved pet cats, we got off to a late start on Saturday, but eventually began the 4-hour drive to the Ligonier Valley. We were making pretty good time on I-70, but luck was not on our side as a misbehaving gas gauge caused us to run out of fuel just outside of Washington, PA. We sat in the car for a while, hoping that a cop might drive by, or somebody with a cell phone would let us call AAA. No such luck, so we were forced to walk down the interstate for about two and a half miles to find a gas station. This little hike ranks up there with one of the scariest things I’ve ever done. It also added one and a half hours to our travel time, but what’s a journey without a little adventure? Fortunately, the rest of the trip went smoothly. We turned off I-70 at the junction with US-119, took that to the junction with US-30 at Greensburg. US-30 is a pretty ugly road through the outskirts of Greensburg and Latrobe, but it eventually descends into a heavily wooded and scenic valley. It wasn’t long before I spotted the (very full) parking lots of Idlewild through the trees. The time was now 3:30.
Yikes – the sheer number of cars was unexpected. It was a warm day, and with any luck, most of the guests would be in the waterpark. We drove past what looked like the main entrance - and it may have been at one time - but now it was an exit only. The entrance was a bit further down the road. We pulled in and were faced with a row of parking booths. Wait – doesn’t Idlewild offer free parking? Turns out that you pay your park admission charge at the parking booths and parking is, indeed, free (or at least concealed in the admission fee). Idlewild is a little unusual in that it has no main gate. The parking lots sprawl all along the length of the park in the wooded area between the park and US-30. The parking lot was really full and we drove through the winding parking lot roads for quite a while before finding a space. Despite the large sprawling lot, there really isn’t a bad parking spot, as you can enter the park from just about anywhere. We ended up at the far end of the park and entered down a steep path behind the park’s wooden roller coaster and near the entrance to Soak Zone, Idlewild’s Water Park. Soak Zone was indeed crowded but the rest of the park also looked quite full.
Idlewild has seven themed areas. In addition to Soak Zone, the other areas are “Olde Idlewild,” the original park where most of the rides are located, Raccoon Lagoon kiddy ride area, Hootin' Holler – a western themed area, Jumpin' Jungle – an elaborate playground, Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, and Story Book Forest. Looking at the park map and guide, we noted that Story Book Forest, Jumpin' Jungle, and Soak Zone closed at 7, while the other attractions would be open until “at least 9.” Deciding that we were not interested in water rides or the playground but were interested in Story Book Forest, we headed there first. Unfortunately, it was at the other side of the park. We contemplated walking, but then thought this would be a perfect opportunity to take the train ride – the Loyalhanna Limited. We crossed the bridge over Loyalhanna Creek to the Raccoon Lagoon area to board the train. The train, a Chance C.P. Huntington, takes its riders on a scenic winding path through the forest and ends up at the Hootin’ Holler Station. We disembarked and headed for Story Book Forest, passing by the interesting looking Jumpin’ Jungle playground. Story Book Forest is a delightful stroll through a wooded area populated by re-creations of the characters and sites from children’s nursery rhymes. Costumed characters interact with the children and several displays broadcast the nursery rhymes. Live animals such as goats, lambs, pigs, and chickens are present where appropriate for the story. Caution to adults: The doorways here are low and some of the nursery rhymes may get stuck in your head for days (“Old King Cole was a merry old soul…”).
We left Story Book Forest and walked back through the Jumpin’ Jungle Area. A large number of picnic pavilions are located in the area and most of them seemed to be in use. We came upon Hootin’ Holler. This nicely done “Old West” area consists of a number of rustic buildings housing games and shops. A large complex dubbed the “Mineshaft Kitchen” was a neat area themed to an old mine that housed a number of different food stands. In addition to the train station, Hootin’ Holler is home to two other “rides,” one of which is Confusion Hill, which stands just across from the Mineshaft Kitchen. We got in what looked like a small line, but soon saw that they were only letting in groups of 20 at a time for a guided tour. We had to wait quite a while for our turn and once we got inside, we realized why the wait was so long. Our guide, using a thick, hard to understand hillbilly accent told a story about Confusion Hill and attempted to get the group to interact. The group was uncooperative and she spent a long time staring down guests and scaring the children. Finally, we began the tour. This attraction is one of those tilted house deals where various optical illusions are performed. It was interesting enough, but the wait was excruciatingly long.
The other attraction in Hootin’ Holler is Dizzy Lizzy’s, another optical illusion attraction whose location seemed like enough of a trick. The entrance to the attraction is not visible from the center of Hootin’ Holler and is instead facing the entrance to Olde Idlewild. It also doesn’t have a very prominent sign, but a line of guests tipped off its location. The wait for this wasn’t nearly as long as that for Confusion Hill and our tour guide was a little easier to understand, even if his story was a bit hard to swallow! It seems that Dizzy Lizzy’s lies at the intersection of the four sections of the Earth’s “Quadrasphere,” resulting in some strange occurrences. Our group of 20 was ushered into a room made to look like a Hotel Lobby, complete with memorabilia of the “rich and famous” who stopped by to witness the strange occurrences. Several magic tricks were performed before we were moved into the next room. We sat at long bench facing each other. After a brief speech by the ride attendant, we were slowly turned upside down – or were we? Just an average occurrence of the Quadrasphere!
It was finally time to hit the meat of the park. Olde Idlewild, the original section of the park where most of the rides are located. It is a fantastic area filled with trees, white picket fences, and old wooden midway buildings – most of which date back to the park’s early years. The paths are a mix of both pavement and gravel. Everything is clean, with no litter in sight. Up on the hillside sit more picnic shelters, including a grand old pavilion complete with a bandshell. This part of the park has so much character, I would have almost been content to just wander around, or sit on a bench and soak it all up.
Anxious for a coaster ride, we headed towards the park’s Vekoma Wild Mouse. The ride is hidden in a dense grove of trees and situated right against the banks of Loyalhanna Creek. The queue was about half full when we got in line. The shaded and scenic location made the wait easy and the ride was so much fun to watch that the line seemed to move quickly. We noticed that the cleverly themed mouse cars tilted to the right as they rode up the lift hill. It was a bit unnerving at first glance, but a closer inspection reveals that the track was designed this way. We boarded our little mouse in the rear seats and started up the lift. We observed while waiting in line that the amount of on-ride braking seems to be a crapshoot. We lucked out and got a very minimally braked ride. All the trees under, above, and next to this coaster really make the ride fun. It looks like you’ll get a face full of leaves on more than one occasion! The ride ends with a couple of hard quick brakes – you really need to hang onto the bar.
Next up was the park’s 1938 woody, Rollo Coaster. Two-train operation and a short line made for a very quick wait. We boarded the handsome old PTC trains with nice, thick upholstered seats with no dividers, or any active restraint – just a stationary grab bar! This coaster is small, only 27 feet high, but its location along a small ridge and the trees that surround it make it seem bigger and faster than it really is. The out-and-back ride has some nice curving drops and some hints of airtime. The outbound leg of the ride is markedly more exciting than the return, as the train seems to limp back into the station. After Rollo Coaster, hunger overcame us and we headed back towards Hootin’ Holler for some food at the Mineshaft Kitchen.
Stomachs full, we excitedly crossed Loyalhanna Creek, and headed for Raccoon Lagoon next. Sure, it’s a kiddyland, but it’s got an adult version of the handcars. I’ve never ridden these before and was very excited to find a version I could fit onto. There was virtually no line and we hoped on board. The operator gave the car a small push and off I went. You can really pick up some speed on these things, as they are very easy to crank. Stopping them is another matter. I somehow calculated how much room I’d need to coast to a stop; Sara wasn’t so lucky, and crashed into the car stopped in front of her. I wouldn’t mind a set of these for the backyard! We took note of the Mister Roger’s ride, and noticing the long wait, opted to skip the attraction for the time being
We took some time to try out a few of the park’s classic rides and soon found ourselves at the entrance to the Caterpillar. This classic ride has the operating canopy as well as a blower under a section of the track. A complicated tangle of wire attached to the canopy and wrapped around the ride’s center column seems to control the opening and closing of the canopy, though I couldn’t quite comprehend how it worked. Neat ride. Idlewild has a beautiful carousel that sits under an equally beautiful pavilion. There is a band organ and a calliope, with the calliope providing the music on our visit. We wandered past the Tilt-A-Whirl, the Paratrooper, Roundup, and the Scrambler and ended up at the Whip. This 12-car model would be the 6th Whip I’ve ridden. Idlewild’s would be the first without a pavilion over it. We waited about 2 cycles before boarding the fiberglass cars (which aren’t as comfortable as the traditional upholstered steel ones) and got a very good ride. Fast and with really good whipping action. A big improvement over my previous Whip rides at Lesourdsville Lake in Ohio.
The time was now nearly 8:30, darkness had just about fallen, and I remembered the signs that said the park would be open until “at least 9.” We decided to head for Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, assuming that it would probably be our last ride of the day. A small crowd had gathered in the waiting area for the Neighborhood trolley. This queue had the benefit of benches, a very nice touch. It was also under a cover that would make a wait in the hot sun a lot more tolerable. The children were full of energy and ran around the grassy area in front of the ride. An attendant came around and assigned everyone seats. We were to be seated in the front of the trolley. The trolleys are beautiful brass and wood vehicles that, according to Jim Futrell, were originally built as horse drawn trolleys for the Indianapolis Zoo. But they proved too heavy for the horses, and so ended up at Idlewild. Coincidentally, they are almost identical to Mr. Rogers’s trolley. The ride began with the trolley backing up and going forward a bit to mimic the way the TV trolley “communicates.” We entered the tunnel and soon emerged into the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. King Friday XIII urged us all to invite the rest of the neighbors to a “Hug and Song” party at the Castle Courtyard. Our trolley stopped at each of the character’s houses, and with the help of our guide, we invited them to the party with a hearty “Come along, come along, to the Castle Hug and Song!” It was a charming ride on a beautiful trolley through the woods, but I don’t think the teenage girls on the seat next to us were as quite as ”charmed” as we were.
It was now after 9 and we thought the park would be closing up. It wasn’t, and everything was in full swing, so we opted to take another spin on the Wild Mouse. This ride isn’t located far off the midway, but the dense surrounding trees make it a great ride in the dark. We exited the ride and wandered around the midway. The old Skooter building intrigued me. You don’t find too many bumper cars operating in a cool old building like this. Unfortunately, the “cool old building” held a set of slow-running bumper cars that really were not much fun. We skipped the ferris wheel, spider, and balloon race, and went for another spin on Rollo Coaster. Like the Wild Mouse, the trees really make this an excellent night ride. By this point, it was nearing 10 and the park still wasn’t showing any signs of winding down, but we had a bit of a drive and thought it best to leave. We could have used a lot more time here. Sara stopped for some Ice Cream, I played a few rounds of Skee Ball, and we walked through the gift shop to purchase a couple of postcards before heading out. We left the parking lot at 10:30, and the park was STILL going strong. When does this place close anyway? Amazing that a park designed primarily for the under 12 set would stay open so long. We drove out of what is probably the most heavily wooded parking area I’ve ever seen, and we were on our way.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
millrace
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Location: Columbus, Ohio
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Interests: hiking, camping, nature study, gardening, railroads, model building, amusement parks, writing, and history.
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