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What a happy/sad place it is. First of all, I had no idea this recreational area even existed until two years ago. A Great Lakes region in Iowa? No way! But sure enough, as we left the interstate and made our way down Hwy 71, the beautiful Spirit and Okoboji lakes came upon us and boy, was I impressed. These lakes are beautiful, and every water activity imaginable is available, even for the spontaneous day traveler, like us! Of course, Minnesota has, oh, well over 10,000 other lakes that are just as inviting! But none of them has Arnolds Park. Arnolds Park is a little, twenty something acre park sitting right on the edge of the lakeshore. You can see the roller-coaster and Ferris Wheel as you make your way across the bridge on Lake Okoboji. The park has the most charming entrance sign I've ever seen! A parabolic roller-coaster hill with a train cresting its top envelops the name "Arnolds Park" inside the structure. This image is the park's logo, and the simplicity of the design reflects the attitude of the park. This is a wonderful, unpretentious, traditional amusement park. It is in danger of being torn down and replaced by condominiums, and the mood among park employees is not an optimistic one. The sadness shared by everyone is evident throughout the park. Their concern is genuine, and not because they fear for their jobs. Their concern is a civic one, because Arnolds Park is clearly a source of pride to these people. It is a lovely, incredibly unique, uniquely American amusement park. Right next to the parking lot, a pseudo boardwalk lines the inland side of the park. Various gift shops and eateries are available. At the end of the walk is a beautiful paddlewheel excursion boat that carries its passengers on a grand tour of the lake. And just outside the ticket booths is a large display case with pictures and events detailing the history, growth and survival of Arnolds Park. As we approached the park entrance gates, we stared at the Legend Coaster's station hovering overhead. This roller-coaster incorporates the park's entrance as well as two additional rides into its structure! It wraps itself completely around the park in an odd, figure-eight design. The moment you enter the park you immediately get that relaxing sensation that only the best small traditional parks provide. There's no need to rush here, the crowd is just like you, out for a casual day in the park. The small, narrow walkways are lined with trees, providing just the right amount of shade. A children's carousel is the first to greet the newly arrived visitor. Your eye is then drawn to the train station just off to the right. The conductor blows the whistle and invites everyone to come aboard. The train itself isn't really a train at all, but a roller-coaster train! The park is clearly divided into two sections, front and back, which are connected by a short walk. The front of the park is lakeside, and while not really a midway, it's shape is fairly square. Narrow sidewalks criss-cross one another, taking you from ride to ride. The front of the park contains a beautiful ferris wheel which, along with the coaster, overlooks the lake. Of course we went immediately to the Legend's entrance ramp and waited in line to ride. At what point did the name change from Giant Coaster to The Legend? Anyway, no queues needed here. The entire day we would wait only one train before our next ride. But wait! Who's that ahead of us? It's RRCer Doug Wilson!!! Doug was in Minneapolis and decided to drive down and check out the park. He told us he'd already ridden the Legend over twenty times and was enjoying himself so much he was going to stay until closing! For our first ride we sat in the next to last seat. Apparently the backseat is coveted among locals and is usually the first to go. The lady in front of us said "You don't have to put your seatbelt on here." Susan and I looked at each other, shrugged and pulled the single lap bar down into position. And off we go! The first distinctive thing you notice about the Legend is the sound the coaster makes as it travels up the lift hill. Is it the anti-rollbacks or the chain dogs that make that sound? It's very unique and you don't hear it on very many coasters. It sounds very much like a choir of bells!
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Photo courtesy of Theme Park Review | A sign at the top of the lift hill reads "The Point of No Return" and indeed there is no stopping this baby once it takes that first twisting plunge! A fierce lateral shoved my right side into the seat as the coaster took it's twisted first drop. A nice pop of airtime followed our climb up the second hill. The turnaround was followed by a SEVERE EJECTION that sent my thighs ramming into the lap bar! That was followed by a very unusual bit of straight track which ran at ground level for quite some time. While straight track on most coasters would be scoffed at, somehow on this coaster, it works! At ground level, it heightens the sensation of speed, particularly when hurtling past two buildings on either side. The coaster then ascends the third hill, and again another nice pop of airtime. I also got my arm smacked by a tree branch! |
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The next turn......the next turn,
is..... scary. TOTAL *RE-JECTION* from our seats! I mean whoa
my God, scream your head off ejection!!! This was completely
unexpected, much like the first time we experienced the Kennywood
Jackrabbit's double dip! We then went over two large bunny hops,
both of which sent us airborne and right into the lap bar! Then
the coaster made its final turn and gently came to a stop in the station. WHEW!!! |
Photo courtesy of Theme Park Review |
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This was not what I expected today. I expected a fairly lame
little ride, with not much in the way of memorable airtime or
heavy side slamming. However, the Legend coaster REALLY
DELIVERS!!! It makes the most of its design with a truly
inspired first drop, a unique bit of straight track, and drops
that catapult its riders out of their seats! I turned to Susan
and said "We're gonna have FUN TODAY!!!" And fun we had. We rode the Legend Coaster over and over and over. All of us kids, all of us adults, we all did the same thing. Ride the coaster, run down the exit ramp, run back up the entrance ramp, and ride the coaster again!!! It was SO MUCH FUN!! The front seat is even better. After our first ride near the backseat, Doug told us "You have GOT to sit up front!" I thought he was exaggerating, but he wasn't! The front seat has *extreme* airtime on every hill! And that turn toward lakeside.....whoa. It is incredible the amount of ejector air you get. Doug told us about his unique airtime rating system, and the Legend has it all - floaters, ejectors and sustainers. What a ride!!! The ride ops were great. Doug told us that in the morning they would bark out to the people below "Hey! Come ride The Legend! The best wooden coaster you'll ever get on!" just like a couple of carnies. They were very friendly, and even had their own little fan club going in the way of several 10 year old girls. One of them in particular deliberately let people go in front of her, NOT because she was holding out for the front seat, but because that way she could spend some time talking to the ride op Terry, despite the fact that he never once answered her back.. "They wait for me after the park closes," he told me. "Sometimes they get mad if I don't wave to them when they're going up the lift hill." Come on, you gotta love this park! Now, about the people of Iowa. I don't know why, but this state has unusually open and friendly people. One of the little girls chatted with us non-stop and wanted Doug to ride in the backseat with her. Then she asked each of us individually if we wanted to ride the Rock-o-Plane with her. Now, it's not like she didn't have any friends - in fact, she was friends with just about all the other little girls. But frankly, if I were her father I'd want her to be a little less trusting. And yet, everyone seemed to be the same way as her. The lady at the museum was willing to let me draw cash over the amount of purchase from my credit card, despite the fact that I couldn't remember my pin number! The lady at the front office ended up giving me cash when the museum lady's credit machine went belly up. The woman at the souvenir stand called her husband at home and had him bring over an extra box of shirts for us to browse through. The lady at the concession stand offered to stay open late for us so our food wouldn't get cold while we went to the bathroom. The ride ops gave us free spins and screams and ran the rides a long time. And on and on and on. The people of Iowa amaze me. We rode the Legend several times, then decided to check out the rest of the park. That was when I made the big mistake of asking Susan if she'd ever been on a Rock-o-Plane. "No. Is that it?" "Uh huh!" "It looks like a Ferris wheel." "It's not, it's fun! C'mon, you'll LOVE IT!" We walked up to ride and Susan looked even more reluctant. The ride op asked if we wanted a free spin and of course Susan's politely saying no while I'm shaking my head yes behind her! The ride op strapped us in and proceeded to spin our car just over a jillion times. That was mistake number one. Mistake number two was immediately following the Rock-o-Plane with a trip on the Tilt-a-Whirl. Now I learned my lesson at Americana. On the Tilt-a-Whirl, the trick is not to do too much. If you keep leaning this way and that way you just end up working against it. So Susan and I pretty much just sat there and proceeded to spin. And spin. And spin. For over five minutes. THEN we followed that up with a walk through the Haunted House, which really isn't a haunted house at all, but a house of mirrors. This, incidentally is one of the buildings that is built within the Legend's structure! The other one is the Tilty House, which, also incidentally, was our next (and for Susan, the last) attraction. This is easily the most tilted house I've ever been in, with three different levels and even a large third floor balcony you can walk out onto. It directly looks onto the Legend's station, and it also has a lovely view of the lake! There was nothing lovely about the way Susan was feeling. By this time, her head was spinning and her stomach was churning. Poor thing. So she decided to set a spell while Doug and I indulged in a few more rides on the Legend. Then we decided to head toward the back of the park. The ride op said only kids could ride the kiddy coaster, so I took a spin on the Trabant. We also rode the swings and checked out the bumper cars. Arnolds Park also has a go kart track for an additional fee, but we decided to pass. After Susan had regained her composure, Doug shouted "The Bug House is open!!" Sure enough, the "closed" sign had been taken down and we were on our way for another, er, spin. Now this Bug House had two things going against it before we even got on. One, Susan *hates* bugs. And two, she saw the entire contraption spinning with its riders inside. "There's NO WAY I'm getting in that thing!!" she said. Doug and I walked in and sat down while the elderly man attending the ride tried to coax Susan back in. After some prompting, he told her that she'd better get in or else the marriage was off! Susan shot back "but I've got the keys to the car!" She's a feisty one. Anyway, she got in, and I don't want to spoil it for any future riders by describing what takes place inside. But I will say that the old guy standing outside was an absolute riot! He stood just outside the entrance to the Bug House and leaned against our ride and just *screamed* this old man scream!!! It was hilarious! After we got off and exited the ride he muttered "well, that's one marriage I've saved." We spent the remainder of our day riding the Legend. Ride the coaster, run down the exit ramp, run back up the entrance ramp, and ride the coaster again. We did this over and over and over. By the time nine o'clock had rolled around, Doug Wilson had ridden The Legend 46 times!!! On our last ride of the night, as we rounded the lakefront stretch of the ride, I watched the paddlewheel boat making its way to shore. The ferris wheel and roller-coaster's tracer lights reflected off the lake. It is this image of Arnolds Park that I will remember for the rest of my life. We stayed right up until they kicked us out. This was not a place I wanted to leave. I'm so sorry I never visited this wonderful park sooner. Should the new owner decide to make good on his threat to tear down the park and turn it into lakeshore property, the people of northwestern Iowa as well as the coaster loving community will have lost something truly special. The Legend roller-coaster is a one of a kind classic, and Arnolds Park is like no other as well. It is a precious, precious place. As we exited the gates and headed for the boardwalk, we looked back and sure enough, a group of ten year old girls were waiting impatiently for Terry the ride op to close up shop for the night.
Happy trails to you,
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Email: MarkinArk@earthlink.net
