I have been a theme/amusement park fanatic since I was little. I grew up right next to Kings Island and my family still lives there, so my “home” park is Kings Island.

Now, in Indy, I have what I consider 4 options for parks in the area, though I wish Indy had a home park like Cincinnati does.

Holiday World, Indiana Beach, Kentucky Kingdom, and KI.

I haven’t been to Indiana Beach, but would like to someday.

I just wanted to ask — what parks do you frequent? What’s your go-to? Do you go even further (eg Great America in Illinois)?

(This isn’t asking for advice, just interested).

Also: who wants to build a new one in one of the outerbelt suburbs?

I loved Indiana Beach! I’d heard good things about Lost Coaster and Cornball, but I had no idea how much charm this park packs in. Fantastic coasters, unforgettable dark rides, and an overwhelming amount of character at this gem of a park. I had so much fun here.

I’ll talk about it in the coaster reviews, but buzz bars add so much to the ride experience. You can argue that rides like Cornball and Phoenix at Knoebels are a product of buzz bars, and you’d be right. But you know what, they’re amazing. Enjoy these buzzy gems while they’re still here!!

I dragged my (non-thoosie) boyfriend to a couple parks I've never made it out to and we had a great time at both! It was HOT both days, so we didn't really linger anywhere longer than necessary, but we lucked out with zero ride closures and I got every credit that I wanted.

Sorry for the repost, it didn't format the way I wanted lol

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DAY ONE : Holiday World!

What a lovely, lovely place. IMO this is the gold standard for an amusement park of this size. The rides punch way above their weight and it's just a great experience overall.

PROS: Every single roller coaster is good to unbelievable. Wait times were super manageable even on a busy Saturday because it seems like most of the crowds were at the waterpark until it closed in the evening. Free drinks all day included in admission is one of the best perks I've ever seen and I wish more parks would follow suit. Free parking too! The theming is so charming, especially on their newer stuff like Good Gravy. Almost every queue is shaded or inside of a building. Loose articles policy is consistent and they have bins on every ride. It's also really clean because they spam trash cans everywhere.

CONS: Operations were just okay. Also the park is very front-loaded and back-loaded with not much in between, so it's a bit of a walk between stuff. That's really it.

The Legend (x2): Lateral city. Like the helix is actually stupid. It was rougher than I expected based on how people talk about it and I definitely came off it feeling beat up but it's a solid woodie with a great layout. Really long too!

The Voyage (x2): What could I say about this ride that hasn't already been said? It lives up to every ounce of hype. First ride was in the back row, second was in the front, and I'm a front seat evangelist through and through. One of the best experiences I've had on any coaster, no notes. The first few camelbacks are heaven and it NEVER ENDS.

Good Gravy (x1): The theming is absolute camp and it's way more fun than it looks to be honest. Smooth as butter. Also shoutout to the air-conditioned queue!

Thunderbird (x1): I am extremely biased toward wing coasters and launched coasters so this thing was basically grown in a lab for me. Just an absolute blast and a super super close second to The Voyage for me, every single element hits. I desperately wanted to get a second ride on it but the wait was well over an hour in the evening once the waterpark closed and my BF was ready to leave, so we skipped the reride.

The Raven (x1): I wanted to like this thing more than I did. They've retracked the first drop and it's glass smooth, but the rest is pretty uncomfortably rough, especially in the second half. Involuntarily yelled "OW" a few times. The layout is so so good though, if they retracked the whole thing it would be world-class genuinely.

PARK RANKINGS:

1. The Voyage
2. Thunderbird
3. The Legend
4. The Raven
5. Good Gravy

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DAY TWO: Indiana Beach!

This park OOZES charm, it's just such a vibe. None of the rides are really anything exceptional but it's such a nostalgic and historic place and I hope it never closes.

PROS: The atmosphere. The suspension bridge over the lake to enter the park. So many classic flat rides right along the lakeshore, including a swing ride where you literally collide with other riders??? Everything is built on top each other like something out of Roller Coaster Tycoon, there's a roller coaster on the roof of a restaurant and half of the stations are like three stories in the air. Also very affordable, tickets were $37 on a weekend.

CONS: Operations. Ride ops were in no hurry and this park is allergic to any ride with a decent capacity. Every ride is one train ops and half of them are a single car that holds 2-4 people at a time.

Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain (x1): Pure jank in the best way and way more fun than it has any right to be. This thing shouldn't be real. Some of the tightest corners and sharpest drops I've ever experienced while crammed into a tiny cage backwards...inside a fake mountain...with an elevator lift. Best ride in the park.

Cyclone (x1): Pure jank in not the best way. It's a Galaxi model, nothing really exciting. The ride ops verbally warn you to keep your hands inside the car because you can easily reach out and touch the supports.

Hoosier Hurricane (x1): I enjoyed it purely for the setting, diving down and swooping over the lake is so much fun and the views are lovely. But wow does it jackhammer the absolute shit out of you. The ride op had to kick one of the seats back into place in the station and then immediately let two children hop on.

Cornball Express (x2): Most people say this is the best coaster in the park so I went in with decently high hopes. Rode it once and didn't like it so I rode it again just to be sure and liked it less. The crazy steep drops launch you out of your seat and there's tons of airtime but...ouch. Rough as hell.

Steel Hawg (x1): Really enjoyed this one, it's like a wild mouse on steroids. The dive loop with tons of hangtime, the outside banked turn, and the really slow roll towards the end had me laughing like crazy, and it was maybe the only coaster in the park I would describe as "pretty smooth."

Tig'rr (x1:): This is a cute little ride. Surprisingly intense with a lot of positive G's on the banked turns. When I got in line there were eight people in front of me and it took almost fifteen minutes to board because it runs a single car that holds two people in single file. Criminal.

All-American Triple Loop (x1): I guess they've been running this ride with limited hours? Not really sure why. It was posted at the front of the park that it would be open 3:00-7:30 but didn't actually open until almost 4:00. I rode it forwards but the last car of the train faces backwards which is pretty neat. There's a really sharp jolt at the bottom of the first drop that slammed me to the side so hard that I pulled a muscle in my neck. Would want better health insurance before reriding but I'm glad I got the credit since so many people seem to miss it when they visit.

PARK RANKINGS:

1. Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain
2. Steel Hawg
3. Tig'rr
4. Cornball Express
5. Hoosier Hurricane
6. All-American Triple Loop
7. Cyclone

Finally made it back up to this park for the first time since 2017. And… it’s weirder than I remember.

• We got there at around 10:45 since the rides don’t open until 11 anyway. We hopped right on Tig’rr and then went over to Cornball Express. They are both really fun and the airtime on Cornball is S-Tier.

• Then we went over to Hoosier Hurricane and hopped in the second row. It’s not as good as people make it out to be and was pretty forceless. But the view right in the lake was pretty fun.

• Steel Hawg opened around 11:45 so we got on quick. It’s fun and actually pretty unique. We tried to hit Triple Looper but turns out it was closed the entire day. (The entire reason I went this time)

Around noon LoCoOfSu opened and we waited about 30 minutes for it. We grabbed a couple rerides and then got out of there around 4. The park is very strange overall and isn’t worth an entire day. But it definitely has some charm to it that big parks don’t have anymore.

I’m not good at writing reviews, but I thoroughly enjoyed IB when I visited a few weeks ago. I was able to ride all the coasters I planned, although it wouldn’t be a big deal if I couldn’t. I’ll use any excuse to revisit parks, and I have a soft spot for smaller parks because I live close to one. Cornball Express was having some issue but I waited it out and I’m glad I did. It was my favorite coaster there although the views on Hoosier Hurricane are the best. Don’t skip the walk through attraction. It’s worth the additional fee.

I like laid back quirky parks like this, and it was especially refreshing the day after tromping through Cedar Point. I love CP but it’s huge and often crowded. Of the small parks I’ve been to my favorite is probably Canobie but this isn’t far behind. It reminds me a bit of Rye’s Playland with more coasters.

On this trip I also made first-time visits to SFSL, Silver Dollar City and Worlds of Fun so now I’m at 53 parks. SDC is excellent, and probably creeps into my top ten parks, although I will need further “research” to confirm. SFSL was my eleventh Six Flags park, and WoF was my eighth Cedar Fair Park. Honestly I enjoyed both. They weren’t the best of their respective chains, but they are far from the worst.

I’m glad I went in with no expectations, because I ended up thoroughly enjoying my time at this little park- it’s charming, the coasters are great, and even my non-coaster liking husband enjoyed the park. I missed that the woodies here have buzz bars still which was a nice surprise- my only experience with them was on Beastie at Kings Island. I didn’t end up getting on everything I would have liked but with only missing a couple flats, I’ll take this day as a victory.

Tig’rr: First time ever getting on a jet star and damn was this little thing fun. Nice forceful turns, log flume-esque cars, and it felt a lot faster than it looked.

Cornball Express: This took the cake for me as the 2nd best coaster in the park. Nice laterals, the backseat was giving borderline standing airtime, and it wasn’t very rough- although there was a big shuffle I noticed in the train that I didn’t quite feel right before the pop downward before the brakes. Solid coaster.

Hoosier Hurricane: A bit rougher than I expected, but nice views of the water from the higher parts and the turnaround at the end of the park was pretty good. I wouldn’t say it was a GREAT coaster but it’s one of the better woodies I’ve been on.

Cyclone: Eh, not much to say here. Fun little ride though. I did think it was funny that the ops told me not to put my hands up if I didn’t want to lose them to the support beams lol

Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain: Well, before riding some random asked me after waiting for 10 minutes for the ride “Hey, weren’t you just behind us in line?” pointing to her and I’m assuming her grandson- before I could even register what she said grandson was like “no he wasn’t” and then I confirmed, no I’ve been here the whole time… I kept hearing her grumble about it to him and as I was about to ask if there was a problem, she apologizes- but it made the ride SUPER awkward when I was stuck in the same cart as them. Anyways, I did get one of the coveted backwards rides and this was one quirky little coaster. I knew it was “funky” going in but it had sharper turns than a wild mouse coaster I swear to god. Despite all the getting thrown around, the padding on the sides helped a LOT and it was a really fun little ride.

Steel Hawg: I’d only been on one other S&S coaster prior to this, El Loco at Adventuredome. This one put that coaster to shame even with the shoulder restraints. That first drop is wicked, and I liked the heartline roll better than that “wobble roll” element as I call it on El Loco. It felt much faster.

All American Triple Loop: This thing… holy hell. I went in the last car which is turned backwards, and that was an experience. I haven’t gotten off a coaster wobbly-legged in a LONG time and this one did it to me. The forces, the loops (well really the whole ride) backwards, the removal of the shoulder restraints… yeah, I’m SO glad this coaster was able to be saved.

Honorable mention to the redditor that mentioned the water swings to me in another thread- holy hell I thought I was going to die. I genuinely haven’t felt that scared on a ride in a LONG time, and I thought going up to it “it’s a swing ride- how bad can it be?” but when most of the swings are empty and you keep getting the swings infront of you in your face while spinning really fast, and your swing is rocking back viciously and then tipping forward viciously, I severely underestimated this little ride.

I can’t say I’ll be back soon now that I’ve been on the Triple Loop- but, if I ended up back in the area like I did this time, I’d be making another stop. We’ll see if that changes as the park grows under this new ownership, it seems rather promising for them

Is it Garfield? Eagle Creek? Ellenberger? Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts.