Waldameer Review

Waldameer is a small amusement park in Northern Pennsylvania, on the banks of Lake Erie. In fact, it’s located in Erie, PA.

I was really pleasantly surprised by this park! First of all, it somehow wasn’t on my Ohio-centric radar. I only found out about it through a brochure at my hotel. And when I did visit, I found it to be a lovely little park, beautifully landscaped and well-operated. Waldameer is definitely geared towards families, with large picnic pavilions taking up one whole wooded section of the park.

Admission

It’s a fantastic place for any kind of birthday or family reunion. Besides the picnic shelters, admission to the park is completely free for non-riders. And obviously, they don’t mind if you bring in outside food. It’s a perfect setup for families to do their own thing with a home base back at the food.

If you do want to ride any of the amusement rides or water slides, you can purchase a wristband or add points to a Wally Card and pay for rides individually. A 1-day wristband for only the amusement rides costs $34. For just the water park, it’s $31. A combo pass for both will set you back $45 per person. Individual rides cost from $1.50 (kids’ rides) to $4.50 (the roller coasters.) Since parking is free, you could feasibly ride just the three adult roller coasters in the park for $13.50 total.

Waldameer

Now let’s talk about the rides themselves. I had a lovely day here – the weather was perfect and all the rides are operated well, had short lines, loaded quickly, and had longer-than-average ride times. I only did the amusement park side (no water slides) on a Sunday when the park was open from noon – 9 pm, and that took up the whole day, including some food stops and only a few re-rides.

Roller Coasters

There are three proper roller coasters at Waldameer, but technically five if you include the kids’ ones. The Ravine Flyer II is the biggest coaster and delivers quite a thrill! The wooden track travels back behind the park and I like the sweeping view of Lake Erie you get from the top of the lift hill. It can be pretty jarring, however, and the tunnel is super loud. I rode it twice and left with a headache both times.

The oldest coaster at the park is the Comet, from 1951. Its wooden track is a gently undulating circular design with no big thrills. Steel Dragon is a spinning coaster, almost like a wild mouse, but not quite.

The Ravine Flyer III is a small kids’ coaster and the Whirlwind has a figure-8 layout with spinning cars, like what you can find at some arcades. I honestly don’t remember if the Whirlwind was operating during my visit. In any case, I didn’t ride it. And the kids’ Ravine Flyer looked too small for me to fit.

Thrill Rides

There are other thrilling rides at Waldameer besides the roller coasters. If we are walking clockwise through the park from the entrance, we’d find Ali Baba, a flying carpet ride with some fun airtime (and lots of lateral g’s.) Thunder River is tucked back behind Pirate’s Cove, I almost missed it. It’s a great log flume ride with a quick-moving line. It will definitely get you wet but probably not soaked.

X-Scream is a 140-foot drop tower, and if you’re on the right side (the back, more or less), you can get a good view of Lake Erie. I saw a very pretty sunset from up here! Right beside it is one of the best Tilt-a-Whirl experiences I’ve had; it was super fast!

A Spider ride is on the other side of the Whacky Shack (though I don’t think it was operating during my visit) and the Wipeout is lots of fun! It’s like a flat spinning plate that also goes up on an incline. But it’s almost more fun when it’s spinning flat and fast. And they run it in both directions!

There’s a Sea Dragon swinging pirate ship in amongst several kiddie rides. And the Flying Swings are back here too. The Paratrooper along the main midway is a lot of fun and actually offers a decent view of the park.

On the other side of the Comet is a Scrambler and the best-run Music Express I’ve ever been on! It’s legit quick, they run it backward and forwards, and they really do a good job making everyone scream to make it go faster. It’s almost the best ride in the park.

Tucked behind the train station is Chaos, a seriously thrilling swinging pendulum ride that almost flips you upside down. Over by the picnic area is a Mega Vortex spinning ride that was never open during my visit.

Family Rides

For more gentle thrills, a gondola-style Ferris Wheel dominates the back of the park. A lovely Sky Ride traverses the length of the park with some nice views of the park. And a beautiful Grand Carousel is housed in a large pavilion in the center of the park.

The L. Ruth Express Train curves around the swings area on one end and the picnic area on the other, sort of bisecting the park right along the water park divide. It features a little tunnel under some picnic pavilions, which is fun. And of course, there are Dodge’ems bumper cars (though I feel the intent is to crash, not to dodge.)

Dark Rides

What makes Waldameer so special in one regard is they have two old-fashioned fun houses! The Whacky Shack looks like a funny funhouse on the outside, but it’s a properly scary haunted house on the inside. Of the sort that you don’t really see anymore. And what you really don’t see anymore is the Pirate’s Cove walk-through funhouse! This is the spinning hallway, mirror maze, shifting floor kind that I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s a hoot!

Kids’ Rides

There are several kiddie rides for the littlest ones. A super fun-looking one is the Big Rigs track ride with kid-sized tractor-trailer cabs right in the middle of the park. Then there are several in-a-circle rides in Kiddieland near the Ferris Wheel, as well as the Ravine Flyer III kiddie coaster and a Balloon Race. Back near the swings is a small Wendy’s Tea Party ride and the SS Walley rocking tugboat.

Water World

On the water park side of Waldameer, there are five body slides, five tube slides (including one into a bowl), and one mat slide racer. There’s also a little kid’s slide area, an activity tower with a tipping bucket, a large wave pool, a crowded lazy river, and two heated relaxing pools. I chatted with a kid in line and he said his favorite ride in the water park was the “hot tub.”

You can park in a separate lot and enter Water World from that side, or walk through the amusement park and enter between the Potato Patch and the Comet roller coaster. There’s a large bathhouse and lockers at this entrance.

Food

Speaking of the Potato Patch – you can get fresh-cut fries, hamburgers, and/or hotdogs at that location, or there’s a “refreshment center” central to the park where you can get pizza, burgers, funnel cakes, and these unique crispy French waffles. There’s also a sub shop, a cookie house, a fudge kitchen, fresh lemonade, popcorn, and ice cream. I will say that they have a really good toppings bar available for your hot dogs and hamburgers.

In the Water World section, there’s the Waveside Grill with burgers and fried shrimp baskets, among other entrees. Plus, you can order from the Potato Patch from the water park side.

Parking

When directing Google Maps to “Waldameer” it first took me to the water park parking lot. I had to do some searching to get me to the main amusement park entrance, so be aware of what parking lot you’re headed to – there seem to be several. Try to point your GPS to Waldameer Park Road off of West Lake Road and 6th Street, not the one off Penninsula Drive. The Waldameer map calls this “6th & 8th Street Parking.”

No matter where you park, all parking is free. But definitely get there before the park opens to get a decent spot, it can get tight, especially in this original lot.

Hours

Waldameer is generally open from May – September, first for just the weekends in May, then almost full-time starting mid-June. But they’re always closed on Wednesdays, at least they were in 2021. It goes back to just weekends at the end of August, and by early September, they’re closed for good.

The most common open hours are from noon – 9 pm for the main park and noon – 7 pm for the water park, but it does vary some, especially in the shoulder months. Always check operating hours before your visit!

Waldameer App/Wifi

There’s currently no Waldameer phone app or wifi available while you’re in the park. It’s as old as old-school can get. Take pictures with your phone, but otherwise, feel free to put it away while you’re here.

Conclusion

I was originally in the area to scope out Conneaut Lake Park, which has a roller coaster from the 1930s in it. I drove there on a Saturday afternoon, and the place was definitely closed, so I’m not sure it’s even operating anymore. But I’m so glad I found Waldameer instead! It’s a far better amusement park experience and I enjoyed myself so much. It’s got that old-school small-park feel that’s harder and harder to find, and I appreciate how well its run.

The surrounding area of Erie, PA looks nice as well, there is camping and more attractions in the city and beaches along the peninsula. It seems like it would be a nice place to do some further exploration.