Eastern Great Lakes Region (Michigan & Ohio)

It's tricky for me because so many parks I missed out on were when I was a kid, and family circumstances kept me from going most places. We went to Kings Island (and Worlds of Adventure exactly once) because company picnics were held there. I did what I could in later years, but missed most of Geauga Lake, as well as LeSourdsville due to this, and never got to Conneaut. 

Idora Wildcat. I had no idea there was an amusement park in Youngstown until I joined ACE in 1985, but by then it was too late. The coaster was lost in a devastating fire about a year before I joined. 

Wow, I didn't know this coaster existed until just now! To be fair, I was a child when it burned down, but still. What a tragedy to lose a 50 plus year old coaster and a near 100 year old park....and in our region no less!

While there's no doubt the Internet age has brought with it some huge negatives, it does have its share of positives as well. If it wasn't for the Internet I never would have known about or been able to read about this classic coaster. You have to wonder how many coaster would have come and gone without us even knowing in the last few decades if it wasn't for the Internet.

Thank you for sharing... Now I have another defunct park to read up on!

Idora Wildcat. I had no idea there was an amusement park in Youngstown until I joined ACE in 1985, but by then it was too late. The coaster was lost in a devastating fire about a year before I joined. 

Idora is FASCINATING. There used to be a group that had a little museum about it, and I'm trying to remember where they donated things to. I was supposed to go to the museum, but then Covid happened (so I guess you could also count that as a missed opportunity). I do have some merch from them, though!

Wow, I didn't know this coaster existed until just now! To be fair, I was a child when it burned down, but still. What a tragedy to lose a 50 plus year old coaster and a near 100 year old park....and in our region no less!

While there's no doubt the Internet age has brought with it some huge negatives, it does have its share of positives as well. If it wasn't for the Internet I never would have known about or been able to read about this classic coaster. You have to wonder how many coaster would have come and gone without us even knowing in the last few decades if it wasn't for the Internet.

Thank you for sharing... Now I have another defunct park to read up on!

Idora Wildcat. I had no idea there was an amusement park in Youngstown until I joined ACE in 1985, but by then it was too late. The coaster was lost in a devastating fire about a year before I joined. 

Idora Wildcat. I had no idea there was an amusement park in Youngstown until I joined ACE in 1985, but by then it was too late. The coaster was lost in a devastating fire about a year before I joined. 

I joined ACE in 1984, and I remember that I received all the past year's mailings at once.  So, I had a flier for an ACE Day at Idora for 1983 (which I missed, but learned of Idora and wanted to go) as well as the ACE News about the fire. The same day!  Still, I should have bugged my parents about going to ride the Jack Rabbit/ Back Wabbit.

Idora Wildcat. I had no idea there was an amusement park in Youngstown until I joined ACE in 1985, but by then it was too late. The coaster was lost in a devastating fire about a year before I joined. 

Mine was Edgewater Park in Detroit.  I was still pretty young (10) during its last season, and I was from a town about 90 minutes away.  My parents were not big fans of driving into a city like Detroit, so I never knew about it.

I know it is still there, but I was so close to Valleyfair and didn't stop.  I don't know if I'll be in that area again, and it isn't enough of a park to draw me there on its own.  

Hi everyone. The coaster that got away from me that I deeply regret is Screaming Eagle at Americana Park. As a matter of fact I didn't get to that gem at all. Fun fact: Last year I held the original 1921 John Miller blueprints for the coaster built at Moxahala Park near Zanesville, Ohio. That coaster was deconstructed and carefully rebuilt at Americana and subsequently named "Screaming Eagle". So in effect I "touched" the coaster in its purest form. 

Yoooooooo Moxahala name drop! That's where the name of my vlog come from! (I'm originally from Zanesville and worked at WHIZ during my college days, which is coaster related and a story for another day.) 

I went to Miami in the late aughts and by then LeSourdsville/Americana had been solidly closed for a hot second, I think. Otherwise I would have very much made the short trip. It's wild that you got to hold the blueprints; there's a story there that I'm sure people would love to hear. 

Hi everyone. The coaster that got away from me that I deeply regret is Screaming Eagle at Americana Park. As a matter of fact I didn't get to that gem at all. Fun fact: Last year I held the original 1921 John Miller blueprints for the coaster built at Moxahala Park near Zanesville, Ohio. That coaster was deconstructed and carefully rebuilt at Americana and subsequently named "Screaming Eagle". So in effect I "touched" the coaster in its purest form. 

Hi everyone. The coaster that got away from me that I deeply regret is Screaming Eagle at Americana Park. As a matter of fact I didn't get to that gem at all. Fun fact: Last year I held the original 1921 John Miller blueprints for the coaster built at Moxahala Park near Zanesville, Ohio. That coaster was deconstructed and carefully rebuilt at Americana and subsequently named "Screaming Eagle". So in effect I "touched" the coaster in its purest form. 

Hi everyone. The coaster that got away from me that I deeply regret is Screaming Eagle at Americana Park. As a matter of fact I didn't get to that gem at all. Fun fact: Last year I held the original 1921 John Miller blueprints for the coaster built at Moxahala Park near Zanesville, Ohio. That coaster was deconstructed and carefully rebuilt at Americana and subsequently named "Screaming Eagle". So in effect I "touched" the coaster in its purest form. 

Hi everyone. The coaster that got away from me that I deeply regret is Screaming Eagle at Americana Park. As a matter of fact I didn't get to that gem at all. Fun fact: Last year I held the original 1921 John Miller blueprints for the coaster built at Moxahala Park near Zanesville, Ohio. That coaster was deconstructed and carefully rebuilt at Americana and subsequently named "Screaming Eagle". So in effect I "touched" the coaster in its purest form. 

Ahhh The Screechin' Eagle at Americana/LeSourdsville Lake!  My dad worked for Cincinnati Gas and Electric his whole career.  Every year the company picnic would be at LeSourdsville Lake which turned into Americana.  It was fun to go there because we could go off on our own since it was a smaller park...felt so grown up.  I probably rode that hundreds of times.  I would just go around and around.  I was always mesmerized to watch them use the huge wooden levers to operate the coaster!  I got this shirt several years back from a vendor at a street fair in Hamilton, Ohio.

Hi everyone. The coaster that got away from me that I deeply regret is Screaming Eagle at Americana Park. As a matter of fact I didn't get to that gem at all. Fun fact: Last year I held the original 1921 John Miller blueprints for the coaster built at Moxahala Park near Zanesville, Ohio. That coaster was deconstructed and carefully rebuilt at Americana and subsequently named "Screaming Eagle". So in effect I "touched" the coaster in its purest form. 

Hi everyone. The coaster that got away from me that I deeply regret is Screaming Eagle at Americana Park. As a matter of fact I didn't get to that gem at all. Fun fact: Last year I held the original 1921 John Miller blueprints for the coaster built at Moxahala Park near Zanesville, Ohio. That coaster was deconstructed and carefully rebuilt at Americana and subsequently named "Screaming Eagle". So in effect I "touched" the coaster in its purest form.