Last Sunday as a spur of the moment thing while visiting Chattanooga, I jumped over to the lake for a few minutes since the last time I had been there was at least a decade ago. It was interesting to be back.

The fair/carnival atmosphere stuck out the most, because I am so used to "major" theme parks. I had to admit that although I only spent an hour here, the collection of flat rides was interesting--and looked fun. The skybuckets (Alpine Skyway) only had one station; you go across the lake and come back. The Fly-O-Planes looked interesting, but like I said, I wasn't there long and opted to hit their two big coasters.

Cannonball: This ride is often compared to GASM because both are Allen/PTC rides. The ride uses the same trains (minus one car) as GASM with the solenoid-activated buzzbars. Great for airtime. Recently I had heard many people preferred Cannonball to GASM. I found this not to be the case for me. While it did provide airtime, it was obviously not nearly as fast paced as GASM. Trains CREEP through the turnaround, whereas on Scream Machine you get some decent lateral forces there. Oh well. I still enjoyed this ride for what it's worth. Not bad by any means.

Wild Lightnin: This was my second wild mouse, and the most intense. The layout seemed virtually identical to Ricochet (my other mouse) at Carowinds, although I'm sure there are differences. It was obvious the block/trim brakes were not being used. It was downright painful. fun, but painful. I prefer Ricochet much more because it actually USED trims. These rides are simply too intense without them for me. But I mean heck it was still fun and another must ride for this park.

The "operator" on WL was the laziest soul I have ever seen working at a park. He SAT about 3 feet from the cars and when you pulled your lap bar down, he didn't even check the restraint and pushed the button. Also you'll notice on WL there is no verifier's button. This guy really cheesed me off, just sitting at the panel not even checking restraints. Of course he had a mullet too, so that really completed the aura of redneck laziness. I mean, you think the employees are bad at SFOG until you go to other nearby parks... lawd. Well, I'm glad I had the sense to check my own restraint.

We only stayed long enough to ride the coasters, but sometime I hope to come back soon to ride the other stuff. Lake Winnie is not a bad park to stop by if you're in the area. They've got quite a collection of flats you won't see in the bigger parks of the region. Just be sure to check your lap bars.