Darrell KSR
06-20-2016, 01:06 PM
Have been to Beech Bend a couple of times, and made our first visit to Lake Winnie near Chattanooga this past weekend. Like both parks. Much more "our" speed than the Six Flags kind of adventures. Those are just so big, and so many people it gets to us. And nobody likes waiting in our crowd.
Anyway, a few things of note.
* We were living right, apparently, as when we walked up, the four of us were approached by a lady who asked if we had our tickets yet. When we told her we did not, she gave us two admission tickets, $33.95 each. Wouldn't take money; said they had already spent it and their son and daughter-in-law couldn't go. Their treat. Then add in that it's only $16.95 for "Seniors" at Lake Winnie--which starts at age 55!--and it made it dirt cheap for us for the day at Lake Winnie.
* Will go straight to the wooden roller coaster, my favorite things in parks (still, as an old Senior, apparently). Kentucky Rumbler is much better than Cannon Ball. I have never been on a bad wooden roller coaster, so it's all a matter of degree, and Lake Winnie's Cannon Ball was very smooth for a wooden roller coaster, but it was straight out and back, with nothing but a few hills. Got some air time, and it was 1 min, 32 seconds, which is fine for that type of ride, but nothing special. Kentucky Rumbler, to me, is special. Has 3 station "fly bys," which I think is still a record. Lot of curves in a wooden roller coaster. I'm not an afficionado, we don't go very often, but to me, one of the things about wooden roller coasters is how it seems to "sway," or "give" with the coaster because of the design build, unlike a steel coaster which is rigid. The sway is cool; a little more fun-infused. Anyway, with the various turns and fly-bys, Kentucky Rumbler has more of it. It's a little taller, the drops are a little bigger, and it's about 600 feet longer. Speed is similar.
* The other thing I like the most about these type parks is the log ride. Love 'em. The boat chute at Lake Winnie is the oldest in the country. I was really looking forward to it. Liked the design, where you go into a dark tunnel first, then come out, and splash down in the Lake itself, which is really cool. Unfortunately, it was a pretty big disappointment. The dark tunnel was kinda hot, and too long with nothing going on. Could've marketed it as a tunnel of love, I guess, but it wasn't; it was just too long to get to the splash down. The little one at Beech Bend has a couple of splashes, rather than just one. It's more of a portable ride, but big enough, and could get a whole lot more people through more quickly than the ever-so-long Boat Chute at Lake Winnie.
After those two complaints, I liked Lake Winnie a lot. Nice, "chill" sky ride over the Lake that we rode a couple of times just to relax and cool down. Having paddle boats was a nice touch on the lake, too. Most of the other rides were similar for Beech Bend and Lake Winnie--my son thought Lake Winnie had a few more "adult" sized rides than Beech Bend, but said that Beech Bend had even shorter lines (that likely had to do with different days or time of the year; my guess is that both are similar in general. When we went to Beech Bend last, true, we caught it at a great time, and we could ride the Kentucky Rumbler, come down and get off, and get back through the line and ride the very next one; same for Whitewater Express (the log ride), and others. Lake Winnie was "crowded" Saturday, which meant you had to stand in line about 5 minutes a ride. I can deal with that. If you were lucky, you could walk up to a ride, and get right on. If you were unlucky, it meant you had to stand in line while they finished loaded, watch one group ride, then when they finished, you'd be on.
You can bring your own cooler and picnic basket in, but the prices for drinks, snacks, and food was very inexpensive.
This won't interest a great many people who only have fun at Six Flags, Disney, etc., and that's fine. But many of us enjoy the small park, where you walk around, feel like you're at a county carnival, and when you decide to ride something, you don't have to wait.
Overall, considering everything, and the fact it is 1.5 hour closer to my house, Lake Winnie gets two thumbs up to match Beech Bend.
Anyway, a few things of note.
* We were living right, apparently, as when we walked up, the four of us were approached by a lady who asked if we had our tickets yet. When we told her we did not, she gave us two admission tickets, $33.95 each. Wouldn't take money; said they had already spent it and their son and daughter-in-law couldn't go. Their treat. Then add in that it's only $16.95 for "Seniors" at Lake Winnie--which starts at age 55!--and it made it dirt cheap for us for the day at Lake Winnie.
* Will go straight to the wooden roller coaster, my favorite things in parks (still, as an old Senior, apparently). Kentucky Rumbler is much better than Cannon Ball. I have never been on a bad wooden roller coaster, so it's all a matter of degree, and Lake Winnie's Cannon Ball was very smooth for a wooden roller coaster, but it was straight out and back, with nothing but a few hills. Got some air time, and it was 1 min, 32 seconds, which is fine for that type of ride, but nothing special. Kentucky Rumbler, to me, is special. Has 3 station "fly bys," which I think is still a record. Lot of curves in a wooden roller coaster. I'm not an afficionado, we don't go very often, but to me, one of the things about wooden roller coasters is how it seems to "sway," or "give" with the coaster because of the design build, unlike a steel coaster which is rigid. The sway is cool; a little more fun-infused. Anyway, with the various turns and fly-bys, Kentucky Rumbler has more of it. It's a little taller, the drops are a little bigger, and it's about 600 feet longer. Speed is similar.
* The other thing I like the most about these type parks is the log ride. Love 'em. The boat chute at Lake Winnie is the oldest in the country. I was really looking forward to it. Liked the design, where you go into a dark tunnel first, then come out, and splash down in the Lake itself, which is really cool. Unfortunately, it was a pretty big disappointment. The dark tunnel was kinda hot, and too long with nothing going on. Could've marketed it as a tunnel of love, I guess, but it wasn't; it was just too long to get to the splash down. The little one at Beech Bend has a couple of splashes, rather than just one. It's more of a portable ride, but big enough, and could get a whole lot more people through more quickly than the ever-so-long Boat Chute at Lake Winnie.
After those two complaints, I liked Lake Winnie a lot. Nice, "chill" sky ride over the Lake that we rode a couple of times just to relax and cool down. Having paddle boats was a nice touch on the lake, too. Most of the other rides were similar for Beech Bend and Lake Winnie--my son thought Lake Winnie had a few more "adult" sized rides than Beech Bend, but said that Beech Bend had even shorter lines (that likely had to do with different days or time of the year; my guess is that both are similar in general. When we went to Beech Bend last, true, we caught it at a great time, and we could ride the Kentucky Rumbler, come down and get off, and get back through the line and ride the very next one; same for Whitewater Express (the log ride), and others. Lake Winnie was "crowded" Saturday, which meant you had to stand in line about 5 minutes a ride. I can deal with that. If you were lucky, you could walk up to a ride, and get right on. If you were unlucky, it meant you had to stand in line while they finished loaded, watch one group ride, then when they finished, you'd be on.
You can bring your own cooler and picnic basket in, but the prices for drinks, snacks, and food was very inexpensive.
This won't interest a great many people who only have fun at Six Flags, Disney, etc., and that's fine. But many of us enjoy the small park, where you walk around, feel like you're at a county carnival, and when you decide to ride something, you don't have to wait.
Overall, considering everything, and the fact it is 1.5 hour closer to my house, Lake Winnie gets two thumbs up to match Beech Bend.