Indiana Beach

Be Sure to check out my last post: A Few Days in Illinois!

Well hey there! Its been a few weeks since I've posted here, but don't worry, I'm back!

Welcome to Indiana Beach!

Located in scenic Monticello, Indiana, Indiana Beach has been a
Hoosier family destination since
1926. The amusement resort, whose slogan is "There's more than in Indiana", is located in a peninsula on Lake Shafer. From the moment you walk onto the wooden suspension bridge and see the hills of the roller coasters out over the lake, you know you're in for a different experience.

On the suspension bridge

Indiana Beach takes a step back from the bigger corporate run amusement parks and has a closer friendlier feel to it. Fences are chest high, concessions have wider more open windows, and there is minimal "restricted areas" to maximize the amount of sidewalk space for the guests. The coasters rumbled by with the screams of joy, and the traditional spin rides stretching out over the side of the boardwalk made for a truly hard to match atmosphere. If you haven't gotten it yet, I

Tacos!

really loved Indiana Beach. Sure there are not massive record breaking coasters, or high gloss buildings, but what it didn't lack was a fun and welcoming feel to it.

Our first stop was the "World Famous Taco" stand, where these cheap tacos, actually proved to be pretty delicious. With a freshly fried shell, some meat, lettuce, cheese and salsa, I was pleasantly surprised!

Next stop was a unique "attraction". Feed the Fish. OK, there wasn't a big line or some big show, but it was certainly unique to pay $0.50 to feed these incredibly hungry fish some pellets out of your ice cream cone. Check out the video of them jumping all over themselves.

Pinball Room

One of the more exciting things at Indiana Beach, apart from the coaster lineup, was the arcade games! I'm a bit of a pinball fanatic, and the amazing selection of pinball machines was hard to match elsewhere. They also had a full room just for Skeeball (which for some unexplainable reason I'm really good at). And an awesome and rare game called Fascination (Check out details on Wikipedia).

Steel Hawg Coaster

Another unique attraction was Dr. Frankenstein's Haunted Castle, voted world's best walk through attraction in 2008. While there are no scare actors inside, there are a lot of great scares inside and the hard work of the Indiana Beach staff on the upkeep of the attraction truly makes it a great experience. There is a $3.50 charge for it as it is not included with the wristbands, but it is definitely worth it.
While Indiana Beach does have a great lineup of wood coasters and

Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain

some unique steel coasters which may leave you either asking for a chiropractor or jumping back in line for more, they by no means steal the show. As you walk around the park, there are several other things to keep you busy throughout the day. From the $10 unlimited ride zip line, the water ski/Dive show, and water park, there is something to keep everyone in the family happy.


Now for a break in the day, the trip isn't complete without a visit to the "Skyroom and Roof Garden Lounge". With reasonable food prices and a great beer selection (and air conditioning for those hot and humid Indiana Summer days), its the classiest place in the park. The large glass windows provide for great views out over the park, as well as the outdoor Roof Garden Lounge has live entertainment on most evenings.

At Night on the Skyride

While watching the fireworks out over the lake, riding the Double Shot at the same time, its

An Interesting Crowd at the Beach

needless to say, I ended my first trip to Indiana Beach on a high note and cant wait to return again.


Check out some more photos of my trip to Indiana Beach over in the #LyfInFocus-Indiana Beach Album.

Be Sure to Check out my next post: A Day at Purdue!