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Strickers Grove was opened in 1924, a family owned and operated park. Originally it was built in Mt. Healthy but was later relocated to its current location in Ross, Ohio. They feature 2 family coasters along with a handful of other flat rides. The park is only opened to the public between 4-8 times a year, with many of the season being rented out for private events and weddings.

The coasters were built by Ralph Stricker, with The Tornado being a mirror image of the John C Allen designed Jet Coaster. The Teddy Bear is a copy off blueprints from The Teddy Bear from Coney Island (Cincinnati Ohio)

We had the fortune of stopping in today for their Fourth of July festival today and I got my chance to claim both ride credits today, along with my coaster enthusiast kids (5years old).

Rating:

The Tornado: a solid 7/10. We frequent the local Kings Island many times a week, so coasters aren’t anything new. Hopped in the back row expecting a “Woodstock Express” experience, and left with a “holy sh*t that was.. something else” experience. The wood? Showing age. The seats? Peeling and barely there. The track? Maybe nonexistent at certain points. But the “airtime” was, impressive for a coaster that size. We snagged the last row, but those last 2 hills/hops, had me out of my seat and then some. Not sure how rough it’s supposed to ride, but it was for sure an old wooden coaster ride. I definitely left with a smile on my face and both kids begging to ride again.

The Teddy Bear: a good 5/10. It was more what I expected “The Tornado” to be, nothing extreme or to rave about but again, the novelty of it all was nice and it is an ACE recognized classic. Had a nice lay out, good coaster for kiddos who may be scared of coasters in general. Much more tame than what Woodstock express feels like in comparison.

Overall had an enjoyable visit and hope to be able to ride these coasters again as the unique experience adds so much to the ride and loved it

any faces covered for privacy

Where do you enjoy sitting down to eat & why? Always love sitting behind Potato Works and watching Mystic Timbers & Diamondback going. Also shout out to ride ops today; they were lightning quick with dispatches and despite the heat everyone was smiling and seemed happy

TLDR: 7 hours total in the park, 2 hours of major storm shutdowns, 5 hours of available ride time, actively spent 4 hours riding, 43 minutes of total wait time, 11 different rides, 21 rides in total.

Almost every single thing was walk on today (Flight of Fear was very long during storms. Got 2 single use fast pass for first half of the day for that ride only)

Let’s break it down:

Arrived at 10:10 am, lightning/heavy rain from 12:10pm-3:20pm (which is when I did FoF with fast pass/just walked shops), left at 3:30pm, came back at 8:10pm and was leaving again by 10:10pm.

Not including the storm break of 2ish hours, was only actively riding for about 3 1/2-4 hours, with 43 minutes active wait time in lines. 30 minutes of the wait time were from lightning shut down, I knew it wouldn’t reopen, was just killing time. If I didn’t wait under Orion for those 30 minutes and just left, it would’ve been 13 minutes total of waiting in line. Anything with a 0 next to it is walk on

First half of the day I got on 9 different rides, Flight of Fear twice, totaling 10 rides.

Second half I came back for food, managed to get in 6 different rides with 6 back-to-back Flight of fears at the end of the night and last ride of the night. If you haven’t already managed to snag last ride on Flight of Fear, I HIGHLY recommend it!

Was going to try and get in all coasters & thrill rides, today and honestly, I 100% could have. But seeing as Flight of Fear being walk on, is such a rarity, I had to marathon it.

Bringing me to a grand total of 21 rides for the day despite the storms and all

My biggest tip, know how to read a weather radar/forecast. Rides shut down with heavy rain and lightning and almost any simple weather app radar will show current lightning/rain patterns. But knowing when the breaks are and when it’s done for the day will help tremendously to plan out your trip.

I hope this helps anyone looking for advice or eases any worries of those who may only have limited time to go for a trip and it falls on a rainy day like today, lightning is going to be your biggest concern but even then, most of the storms are rolling and generally aren’t an all day issue

You may see the Memorial Day Air Show flying by (taken under Orion)

This will mark almost 20 years of going. From me being a 7/8 year old, riding Beast and Vortex for the first time, to now having my own kids and sharing the love of coasters. Never realized how lucky we were to live 10 minutes from the park. I hope one day my kids realize how awesome it was/is to just go to the park for ice cream or just a ride or two, knowing we will be back again tomorrow. Absolutely love Kings Island and it will always be my favorite park