Michigan's Adventure 2012

We made our annual pilgrimage to Muskegon, Michigan, and as usual, the trip included a visit to Michigan's Adventure Amusement Park. 

The park is owned by Cedar Fair, and it was a great weekend to go.  Everyone else must be picnicking or out on their boats, because there were short to no lines.  They have 7 coasters, including Thunder Hawk, which they describe as a two seat version of one of Cedar Point's popular coasters (can't think of the Cedar Point coaster's name), and Shivering Timbers, one of the largest straight line wooden coasters in the country.  (I think they say it's the third largest in the US.) 

It was opening weekend there, and so the park is nice and clean and everything is running.  Sometimes it seemed like there were more employees around the place than guests, but then when you look at the parking lot, you realize that there must be a LOT of people in the wet parts of the park - the water park (included in the admission price) and the Adventure Falls/Grand Rapids section.  Their Grand Rapids raft ride (one of the few that my kids didn't go on) was the only one I saw with a substantial line. 

It's an interesting attraction in that it seems to literally be in the middle of nowhere.  You're driving north of Muskegon on a tree-lined divided highway (US 31) and finally you see a sign for Russell Road and Michigan's Adventure, and so you get off the highway (which seemed already like you were in the middle of a deep woods), and drive a little distance through forested lands, seeing a few ramshackle houses along the road, and then on your right, you see the long wooden trestles of Shivering Timbers and the entrance to the parking lot - also seemingly in the middle of a deep woods.  It comes out of nowhere...almost literally.  I tried to post a satellite view of the location from Google Maps but can't figure out how to do so, so, if you are interested, go here:  https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=michigan's+adventure&ie=UTF-8

I know it gets busier later in the summer, because we've been there in mid-August and the lines for rides are substantial.  This is not a Disney type of park; there aren't any shows and very little cohesive theming.  It's focused on the rides and on the water park.  Still, it's a fun park to visit, and we will likely continue to visit it in the future...

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