The Western New York Coaster Club's annual Flying High event, which usually takes place just before Labor Day, kicked off at our usual place, Waldameer Park and Water World in Erie, PA. In the past, club members used to first gather at Conneaut Lake Park. But since the new owner of that property bulldozed and burned nearly the entire park to the ground, we decided not to return. And that was fine by us; Waldameer has always been a gracious host and runs one of the finest parks in the northeast. Karen and I left on Friday morning and arrived about eight hours later at our hotel, the Red Roof Plus in downtown Erie. The current inflation in the U.S. was nowhere more obvious that in hotel prices. I had booked our rooms about three months previous. The usual price of a Red Roof Inn in past years would have been between $80 to $130. This time, a basic room cost us $180. And that was about the cheapest room I could find in the area. In the past we had stayed at the charming Glass Roof Inn just down the street from the park. But they were charging a whopping $250 a night, about double their prevvious rates. The Days Inn wasn't exactly in the best part of town, but it appeared to be a fairly new facility. We were given a room on the top floor. It was nicely appointed, but in keeping with a continuing trend in the hotel industry there was no cleaning service. The room was cleaned only when we checked out. We brought our luggage upstairs using a type of luggage cart we'd never before seen: a low three-wheeled affair that looked like a combination of a baby carriage and a shopping cart. It had a squeeze handle that acted as a brake, which was handy. It was light and easy to control. We both preferred it to the awkward four-wheel carts we'd used at other hotels. We were both exhausted from the long drive. So once we were ensconced in our room, we crashed for the night. The next morning we searched online for breakfast places and settled on The Original Breakfast Place, which was a short drive from us. It evidently was a popular spot, given how big it was and how many cars were already there. I got two hot cakes and home fries. The hot cakes were light and fluffy. Just one of them would have been plenty. The home fries were more like tater tots. Karen had scrambled eggs, home fries and French toast, which she enjoyed. After we finished, it was about 9:30 so we headed over to Waldameer. We parked once again in the back lot on the west side of the park. We were only the second car there. A few minutes after we arrived, Steve Gorman, the park's president, appeared and opened up the entrance gate. We chatted a bit and then walked through the quiet midway to the Lakeside Grove at the north end of the park. We checked in and got our wristbands. Geff Ford arrived and handed out our event tags and lanyards. We were then escorted on a walk-back to the park's steel spinning coaster, Steel Dragon. Steve showed us a long corridor they had built under the station for storage. He talked about the interesting transfer track system to not only add or remove trains to or from the ride, but also how it was designed to easily get cars off the track for maintenance. We were free to wander inside the ride structure and take photos from unusual perspectives. After that we all headed over to the venerable Comet, the park's junior wooden coaster made by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company. We had exclusive ride time on it for an hour before the park's official opening. As we were standing in line, the young ride operator turned to me and exclaimed, "Aren't you Jay Ducharme, the guy on YouTube?" I was surprised, both since I'd never met him before and because I'd never before been recognized because of YouTube. I told him I was. He enthusiastically said, "I love your amusement park walk-thrus!" I thanked him and we boarded the ride. Because the trains were on the small side, Karen took the front seat and I sat behind her. The ride was enjoyable as always, smooth and with little pops of air time along its route. The park was running two trains, so all the club members had plenty of opportunity to ride. From there we wandered around the park admiring the whimsical scenery. We checked out the ACE Memorial Park at the North End. Last year, the plaques had become so faded they were nearly illegible. But for this year, Waldameer restored them to brand-new condition. After that we walked back toward the south end of the park to the L. Ruth Express, the park's miniature railroad. The queue line had park benches, so we sat and relaxed as the maintenance crew and ride operator went through their checklists. The National Anthem played and the park officially opened. We climbed aboard and went for a peaceful leisurely trip around the park. Keeping with that leisurely pace, we walked over to the Sky Ride station and drifted high above the midway. Along the way, we passed by other club members who apparently had the same need for leisure. When we arrived back at the station, it was time for lunch in the pavilion. Club members began gathering and we lined up for food, something that's always a draw for coaster enthusiasts. In the past, we've had to content ourselves with cheese sandwiches and salads. But this year, Waldameer offered veggie burgers! And they were delicious. After the meal, Steve and park owner Paul Nelson talked to the group about their plans for the next season: a large water coaster from Proslide. And they answered questions about the park. When lunch was over, Karen and I walked across the midway to the Ferris wheel for another bit of leisure. As we waited in the queue, the Ravine Flyer 3 kiddie coaster was swooping around a large water fountain. Within a few minutes we were seated and rising high above the midway. After that, I decided to queue up for the Ravine Flyer 2, the park's big wood coaster that spanned the highway next to the park. I wasn't sure what to expect this season. I knew the park had been doing a lot of track work on it. I was able to queue up for the front seat right away. (Karen passed on riding it.) I had forgotten how steep that first drop was. The train barreled down the drop, at the bottom, it was surprisingly smooth, especially considering the high speed at which the train was traveling. In a flash, we were over the bridge above the highway and into the fast convoluted turnaroud on the other side of the road. We sped back over the highway and a few bunny hops with strong air time. The tight knot of track at the end was taken at breakneck speed, and then we hit the brakes. The ride was a lot smoother than the previous year when I rode it. But was still an extremely intense and exhausting ride. The club was getting Exclusive Ride Time on the coaster after the park closed at 9:00. I wondered how many people were going to remain for that, and how many rides they'd be able to take. I guess if I were younger, it wouldn't affect me as much. But I definitely needed a breather after that one. I met back up with Karen and we decided to take a ride on Thunder River, the park's fun flume ride. It wasn't running the last few times we had been to the park, so I was glad we'd get a chance to experience it again. This had the longest wait of any ride that day, but even that was less than a half-hour. Karen sat in the front of the log and I got into the back. The "thunder" theming was carried out nicely. The long foggy tunnel we floated through had thunder sound effects and flashed of light. The drops seemed pretty steep and fast. The final plunge got us both soaked, which wasn't too much of a problem since it was a hot day. Across from the flume's entrance was the Rainbow Gardens, the park's big hall that held everything from roller skating to big bands. We had never seen the inside before. The doors were open, so we took a peek. I was surprised at how large it was. The vast hall was filled with 8-foot tables. They must have been able to seat several hundred people. At that point I realized that we had missed the club's "informal take-over time" on the Whacky Shack dark ride. The line by that point was really long, and it moved slowly. So I passed on it (although I really like that ride). So instead Karen and I queued up for the delightful Pirate's Cove walk-thru fun house. Last year I went through it seven times with our grandson, who loved it. Karen wasn't as big a fan of it though, so we made just one trip. By then it was almost 4:00. Karen wanted to get some French fries, so she queued up at the Potato Patch stand. I got a lemonade, and we sat at a shady table and relaxed. When we finished our treats, I realized that there was another meet-up: informal take-over time on the L. Ruth Express. So we headed over there and met up with the rest of the group. We had to wait a while to board the train. But eventually we were seated and having another relaxing ride around the park. As we got to the curve by the front parking lot, we could see that the lot was completely filled. When we returned to the station it was after 5:00. Karen and I bid farewell to the club members so that we could head back to our hotel and rest up for the next day. We then headed over to the park's gift shop. I had heard that they were selling t-shirts of both the Whacky Shack and the Pirate's Cove. Unfortunately for me, they must have sold well because they only had kid sizes left. I bought a Pirate's Cove shirt for our grandson and a Waldameer shirt for our granddaughter. The park was really filling up. There was even a line still waiting to get into the waterpark. So it was a good time to head out. As we drove down the entrance road, cars were parked on either side all the way down because the parking lots were full. Now that the pandemic had mostly faded from view, I was happy to see that the park's popularity had held strong. Waldameer was a park that wasn't so big as to be overwhelming, yet had a wide variety of rides and attractions for all ages. From the thrills of the Ravine Flyer 2 to the leisurely pace of the L. Ruth Express, it remained a true family park.

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