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Lake Winnepesaukah Lake Winnepesaukah, Georgia Event: ACE Day at the Lake Weather: Partly Cloudy, Humid Crowds: Light Adding to an already banner year was a fun little trip to what would be my 7th new park of the season. Admission to this small lakeside park would be free for ACE members, and it would include an hour of ERT at the beginning of the day. Luckily, the *day* didn’t start until noon. We left Atlanta a bit after 10pm, making it up I-75, to the park, and on Cannon Ball (1967, PTC, Single Out and Back) in about 2 and a half hours. A front seat ride on this John Allen designed coaster provided some fun airtime, and overall on par with Blue Streak (CP). Definitely a fun ride, but nothing too overwhelming. Joining some other ACEers (our group was up from 4 to 6 now), we hit the Conestoga, a flying carpet type ride similar to DaVinci’s Cradle at BGW. Apparently it had been running better in seasons past. Our first throwback ride of the day was an authentic Roll-o-Plane. Un-freaking-real! Basically you’re on a swings ride, but inside a tiny airplane which can roll from side to side, and completely upside down. This ride takes arm strength, balance and skill! I spend half of the cycle upside down, trying to figure out how to get myself upright. After a few high-G rolls, I could hold the plane right-side up, and flip only when I wanted to. It was a little hard on the thighs, as you’re held in the plane with only an exceedingly tight seat belt. It was still our hour of ERT session, so we tried Wild Lightnin’ (2001, L&T Systems, Wild Mouse). This one is the small park model, but runs with brakes open. Brace yourself on this one; the final series of turns are brutal! One ride on this was enough, followed by one last ride on Cannon Ball in the back seat to round out the ERT session. A bit more bumpy on the back, but still worth a ride. Moving on, we swung around to Wacky Worm (no date, Preston, Wacky Worm) to whore our coaster counts. Pretty standard sarcastic enjoyment of a kiddie ride, but no line meant for a triple cycle, bonus! Heading back towards the front of the park, realizing we had done the majority of the park (save for generic flat rides) in about 40 minutes, our minds began to wander. Headed north of Atlanta, near Chattanooga on I-75 is about the halfway point to Thunderhead. That’s right, we agreed on driving 4 hours out of our way for no more than an hour or two at Dollywood. Not getting ahead of ourselves, we joined the ACE crowd for the group picture, and then gave the very old boat chute a ride. The oldest ride of its type, this custom build precursor to today’s log flumes was built as the first ride in the park in 1926. The boat leaves the station into a very dark, not to mention horrendously smelling tunnel. The boat wades along, slowly, in almost pitch dark for a few minutes, before coming to a turnaround and a single lift. Here’s where your standard log flume comes in. It’s a fun drop back down into the lake, though the relinquishment of the smell was easily the best part. We milled about the entrance of the park, deciding what, if anything, to do next. We were standing near the entrance to the Tilt-a-Whirl, and I happened to see the line had formed after us. Somewhat feeling obligated, we gave it a shot. Not my best ride, despite us cramming 3 full-sized adults in one car. Not worth it, even if it was an accidental walk-on. So that was it for the day. 6 coaster runs, two flat rides, a water ride, and a group photo, all for free, and all in just about an hour. It was just before 2, and we were off to Dollywood! Two hours later, with about 2 hours until closing, we hopped into line for Thunderhead. Running only one train because of a light crowd, we were able to walk right onto the train. If you can believe it, it is running even BETTER than it has been all season! After a pair of back seat rides and 2nd row rides, a wait had begun to form, people hitting it before their way out. Since the wait was up to 3 cycles, we headed back to Tennessee Tornado to give my favorite terrain Arrow a few rides. It also had one train, as always, but most rows were empty with only the front and back cars with pairs of riders waiting. We got a ride in the second to last car before upgrading to the last car with a reride there. Three great rides without even leaving the train. It can be a bit bumpy in spots, but for an Arrow it is definitely bearable, and the first drop, loop and sidewinder are awesome. Back to Thunderhead to finish the night, and although the line hadn’t diminished much, we were able to get 3 more rides in during the last 30 minutes of the operating day. The ride always proves why I gave it my top spot on my wooden coaster list. It also convinced us that our little out-of-the-way jaunt was entirely worth it. We were out of the lot by 6:30pm, and taking the scenic rough through the Smokey Mountain National Park, we were back in Atlanta by 10:30. I had no idea when I headed out in the morning I was going to drive 8 hours through 3 states for 3 hours of coaster riding, but there’s no doubt it was worth the effort. Back to Trip Reports
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