History
The park was founded as Deer Park in 1956 by L.R. Beardsley, Dr. E.S. Gillam, Hardin Dey and Martin Kasichke. The park originally featured a petting zoo with deer, llamas, monkeys, chickens and ducks, as well as a children's area called Storybook Lane. The first ride was built in 1958, an Alan Herschell 16-gauge train called the Deer Park Special. In 1968, Roger Jourden purchased the park from then-owner Benny Bensinger for $115,000. After purchasing attractions, the park was eventually renamed Deer Park Funland in 1972. That same year, he added the first three flat rides: Tilt-a-Whirl, Merry-Go-Round and Ferris Wheel. Every few years he would add a few more attractions, with the Scrambler opening in 1975. 1976, the park's 20th anniversary, introduced the Spider, a car ride named Mutley's Putt Putts, and two rides for children. The park's first roller coaster opened in 1979, a standard model Corkscrew from Arrow Development. The park continued their relationship with Arrow when in 1983 they introduced Logger's Run, an Arrow Hydroflume. The Chance-manufactured Sea Dragon opened in 1987, along with a new C.P. Huntington Train circling the park. 1987 also marked the final year for the Spider, which was sold toTransition to Michigan's Adventure
The 1988 season marked a huge transition for Deer Park Funland, most notably the introduction of a new general manager, Roger's daughter Camille Jourden-Mark, as well as a new name, Michigan's Adventure. The largest change on the midway that year was the introduction of the Wolverine Wildcat wooden roller coaster, the first coaster manufactured by the Dinn & Summers partnership. The park also introduced a Chance Thunderbolt, two live shows and a new entrance. In 1989, the Giant Gondola Wheel replaced the Ferris Wheel, and the Falling Star and Trabant made their debut past Logger's Run. The park introduced WildWater Adventure in 1990 in order to compete with a popular waterpark in Norton Shores called Pleasure Island (Pleasure Island closed in 1997). WildWater Adventure originally featured eight water slides, a wave pool, a children's play area and a lazy river. Over the next few years, the park introduced several popular flat rides, such as the replacement of the Merry-Go-Round by the Grand Carousel in 1991 and the Flying Trapeze in 1992. Mammoth River made its debut in the waterpark in 1993, and the park's third coaster, the junior wooden coaster Zach's Zoomer, opened in 1994, replacing the C.P. Huntington Train (though a new one would open up near Wolverine Wildcat and presently shuttles people to the north side of the park). Adventure Falls, a classic shoot-the-chutes water ride, opened in 1995 at the back of the park past Wild Water Adventure. 1996 saw the introduction of Chaos and a new Tilt-a-Whirl, both located behind Logger's Run. The waterpark was expanded with a "Phase Two" in 1997, including two more wave pools, two children's play areas, a second large raft slide, and three more tube slides. The new additions doubled both the size and capacity of the waterpark. Also that year the park's miniature golf course, Rocky Point Mini Golf, opened on the lake. The most notable change in 1997 was the start of construction on a third wooden roller coaster, Shivering Timbers. When the ride opened in 1998, it was quickly considered one of the world's best wooden roller coasters. Early into the 1998 season, however, the Late-May 1998 Tornado Outbreak and Derecho damaged the Mutley's Putt Putts ride as well as a small children's ride named Drummer Boy, uprooting a lot of the trees in the park. The park began a five-year expansion program in 1999 with the introduction of a new entrance on the site formerly occupied by Mutley's Putt Putts, a new ticketing system, and three new rides. The first to open on July 10, 1999, was the Big Dipper, the park's fifth roller coaster. Shortly after that in August the park's sixth coaster, Mad Mouse as well as an S&S Frog Hopper opened on the site where the previous entrance once stood. The Scrambler attraction was also moved near Frog Hopper to make room for future additions. The first annual TimbersFest was also held in June 1999. In 1999, Michigan's Adventure was planning to build a 210-footCedar Fair/Six Flags era
In 2001, Cedar Fair purchased Michigan's Adventure for $28,000,000. Larry MacKenzie replaced Camille Jourden-Mark as general manager to help the park through the transition, but he would soon leave for Valleyfair at the end of the year, bringing Jourden-Mark back as general manager. The season's only new attraction would be the short-lived Royal Hannerford Circus. In 2002, the park introduced $5,000,000 worth of new rides, attractions and improvements. Eight new attractions were installed including the park's tallest ride, RipCord, as well as introducing the Peanuts characters and the state's largest Snoopy Boutique. 2004 introduced Swan Boats, moved from Cedar Point where they were removed for the pond turnaround on Maverick, and in 2005 the park introduced a new water slide named ProSlide Tornado, Funnel of Fear. In 2006, for the park's 50th anniversary, a new white water rafting ride calledCurrent rides and attractions
Roller coasters
Upcharge Rides
Camp Snoopy
Children's Rides
Family Rides
Water Rides
Other attractions
* Rocky Point Mini Golf, upcharge attraction. A mini golf course along the lake. This course is designed for families, but also features many difficult water hazards and sand pits. * Beagle Scout Acres. A Playground in Camp Snoopy that opened in 2021.WildWater Adventure water park
Fast Lane queuing
Fast Lane is Michigan's Adventure'sFestivals
* The park formerly hosted ''Timberfest'', a festival targeted at roller coaster enthusiasts, featuring early admission and extended ride time. Timbersfest originally ran from 1999 to 2009. Timberfest came back on May 28, 2023 after 12 years to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Shivering Timbers. * The park also hosted '' Rock the Coast'', aAwards
* In 2007 Michigan's Adventure won the tourist attraction of the year award in the state of Michigan. * Shivering Timbers has been rated in the top 10 wooden roller coasters by ''Amusement Today'' since its debut in their annual Golden Ticket Awards. * Shivering Timbers and Thunderhawk have earned places in the top 50 coasters in the world on Coasterforce.Logo and slogan
Logo
The original Michigan's Adventure logo featured a cartoonSlogans
* 1956-1972 - "Fun, Fun, FunLand!" * 1979-1987 (estimated) "It's the Good Time Place" (while operating under Deer Park Funland name) * 1991-2009 - "2 Parks For The Price Of 1!" "Twice the Fun!" * 2010–2011 - "The Fun And Only!" * 2012 - "Thrills Connect" * 2018 - "It's Amazing Here!"Incidents
* The park's Gondola Wheel once malfunctioned prior to Cedar Fair ownership, and an aerial truck from the Norton Shores Fire Department had to rescue people from the top compartments of the ride. * On June 30, 2000, a 38-year-old woman turning to photograph her relatives in the cars behind her fell out of Zach's Zoomer and was critically injured. As she fell off, she was struck by a wooden support beam. Paramedics found the woman unconscious, and she was transported to Hackley Hospital in critical condition. She suffered rib fractures and other internal injuries. * On July 27, 2001, the rotating, wheel-shaped portion of the Chaos ride collapsed with 33 passengers aboard, stranding them for several hours. 31 were taken to local area hospitals, and most were released by the following afternoon. An investigation found that bolts were loose and subsequently bent and broke during the ride's operation. * On July 11, 2014, chlorine gas was released into an area of the WildWater Adventure water park. 27 park visitors were treated and hosed off at the park, while 28 patients were taken to Mercy Health hospitals. All patients were released without any life threatening injuries. * On May 29, 2017, Thunderhawk's emergency safety mechanism shut down the ride for 90 minutes after a lift motor malfunctioned. One train was in the station, while another was moving on the track. No one was injured. * On June 19, 2021, a train with guests on the Shivering Timbers ride was stopped by the ride's computer on the final emergency brakes set on the brake run after slipping past the first set due to persistent rain. Maintenance arrived shortly on the scene and deactivated the E-Stop. This caused the emergency brakes to disengage and released the stopped train, thus colliding with the second empty train in the station. The collision was not at high speed, and none of the guests faced severe injuries. The ride was closed afterward for two weeks to repair and reinforce the damaged track caused by the collision. The ride was later reopened on July 3, 2021, with only one train in operation. The ride has since gone back to having two trains in operation for the 2022 season.References
External links
* * {{Michigan's Adventure Amusement parks in Michigan Six Flags amusement parks Tourist attractions in Muskegon County, Michigan 1956 establishments in Michigan Buildings and structures in Muskegon County, Michigan Amusement parks opened in 1956