There are definitely a few things different about the IB I've come to love over the past few years.

Most of them aren't changes for the better, either. I'm hoping that they're just "growing pains"

Actually, let's talk first about the changes that I do like- New paint on the sky ride, Galaxi, the Italian Ice stand, and various other places. They've gone away from Indiana beach's traditional heavy use of white. It gives the place more color, which isn't bad, and some of those things have needed paint for a while. The new paint on galaxi kind of looks like they threw it at the coaster, instead of rolling, brushing or spraying it on.

They've added some great new animatronic monsters in the train tunnel under Dr Frankenstein's castle. A frankenstein Monster and Grim reaper on a turntable- you see one going one way, and the other on the way back. Very nicely done.

Steel Hawg is good, but it was the Spackman family that got that ball rolling.

The water show has been revamped: The base of the diving tower now resembles a ship, and the tower itself a mast- the show now has a pirate theme.

OK- now for what I DON'T like about the "new" Indiana Beach.

Concession prices are up significanty. To be fair, they're on par with most other parks, but that has always been nice about IB- it didn't break the bank to go. Between my daughter and I, we consumed two large drinks, two chocolate shakes, and two orders of cheesy ribbon fries. total spent was 27.77

They've shuttered the game area under the giant wheel, and have opened a new area on the boardwalk in front of Galaxi- it covers the area where you used to be able to feed the fish. You can still get to feed them, but it's a much smaller area on the Galaxi gangplank.

They sealcoated all of the concrete on the boardwalk, so it gets nice and hot now.

Pronto Princess has a new name and new menu. Name is OK, menu sucks. When I think of amusement park food, Mac and Cheese doesn't come to mind. I now need to find a new place to eat when I'm there.

My biggest disappointment was the maintenance. It could very easily be that this is just a growing pain, and will sort itself out. I really hope so- I'm not going to condemn them for it just yet. Too many things were not working, more in one day that I've ever seen before:

Sky ride was down. Dunno if it was to let the paint dry or what, but they even had a sign out front announcing this.

Air Crow was down all day

Galaxi had an extended downtime period, but got back up.

The animatronic Dr Frankenstein wasn't working. The ride was working, but that stupid robot gives the place atmosphere.

Den of Lost Thieves was open, but shouldn't have been. One gun in our car didn't work, and a lot of the attractions inside were not working or unlit.

Cornball has developed a nasty shuffle in the middle. They'd BETTER not slack off on the maintenance on that coaster. It's an awesome ride, but if they're not going to take proper care of it, they may as well put it in a handbasket, if you get my point.

The trains on Cornball and Hurricane need repainting, since they took off the Coke and Sprite labels. It's been mentioned before, but the adhesive left behind looks nasty. In addition to that, the front seat on Cornball wasn't working. That's WAY wrong. It may be the worst seat on the ride, but it HAS to be open.

So, I was somewhat disappointed today, but I'm also going to be optimistic and hope that most of these things will iron themselves out. It won't be my home park that much longer, but I still hate to see it lose the things that made it special. We'll be back before too long, and I'll let you know if I see any signs of improvement.

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