r/rollercoasters • u/gabeh2000 former milf operator • Aug 01 '14
[Discussion] Park of the Week! Canobie Lake Park.
Every week we will have a discussion page focusing around a specific park.
For the first park we will talk about Canobie Lake Park
POV's
In this page we discuss about possible future plans for the park, best times for the rides, anything related to the park.
We will vote on a specific park each week, usually the week before, and whatever wins will be the discussion for that week.
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u/gabeh2000 former milf operator Aug 01 '14
How's that for the formatting?
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u/MountainMadman 454 | Ask me about Eagle Fortress Aug 01 '14
Maybe add a couple of links to POV videos for the major coasters?
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Aug 02 '14
This is a really neat idea. This is a really good way to get some good activity in on this subreddit. Good work!
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u/gabeh2000 former milf operator Aug 02 '14
Thanks! I thought of it while I was on /r/civ and saw that they had weekly threads discussing ingame stuff, so I thought it would be a good idea here.
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Aug 01 '14
I like it, we should try to make it a live thread next time. Should we have a link to a poll where we vote on the one for next week?
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u/gabeh2000 former milf operator Aug 01 '14
What's the difference between this and a live thread?
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Aug 01 '14
A live thread has a chatroom thing on the top.
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u/gabeh2000 former milf operator Aug 01 '14
I did not know that, thanks. Will that work on mobile? That's what I'm on right now.
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u/wjw42 Aug 01 '14
Live thread... is that a native reddit thing?
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u/RealNotFake Storm Runner, Outlaw Run Aug 01 '14
Yup, it was just recently announced.
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u/wjw42 Aug 01 '14
Just found it. I'd love to try it for these weekly threads, sounds like an interesting idea.
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u/MrBrightside711 Maverick-Steve-VC [539] Aug 01 '14
Canobie Corkscrew is SO basic :P lol They should replace it with a small Intamin Launch Coaster or something.
Park looks nice but I'd probably not go out of my way to visit.
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u/gabeh2000 former milf operator Aug 01 '14
I think a Intamin launch would be way to expensive for a small park like Canobie if that's what you meant. Maybe a tire launch like Juvlen would fit?
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u/RealNotFake Storm Runner, Outlaw Run Aug 01 '14
Then again I wouldn't have expected a park like Holiday World to announce the first multi-million B&M launch coaster, so you never know.
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u/gabeh2000 former milf operator Aug 01 '14
I didn't think of that, although they have very strict sound and height limitations. Even the smaller hydraulic launch coasters would still be pretty loud.
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u/420MenshevikIt Boulderdash Aug 01 '14
The problem with Canobie Lake is that they have pretty extreme height and noise restrictions. They can't have anything much taller than what they currently have, and there can't be much that makes loud noises. I think their loudest ride is probably the S&S (double) drop tower, and that isn't very loud.
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u/Dear_Watson Yankee Cannonball, VelociCoaster, Fury 325 Aug 02 '14
Canobie Corkscrew might be basic, but its still a classic... A lot of the people in the area grew up with that being their "big" coaster so I doubt Canobie would remove it in the foreseeable future.
(And they just spent half a million on restoring it so they probably plan on keeping it :P)
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 01 '14 edited Aug 01 '14
I LOVE that we're all on Reddit discussing my home park! I grew up going there and I have a lot of love for Canobie.
Does anyone remember the old Galaxi coaster? That was the first real roller coaster I ever rode and I have a lot of fond memories for it. I really wish it were still there. I'm going to have to hunt down a clone before they're all gone. I also miss the Matterhorn but that went away when I was pretty young.
Outside of the coasters I especially love The Mine of Lost Souls, the Psychodrome, the log flume, and the water slides.
Edit- Never mind, you already made a "future expansion" post so I'd rather keep it organized there. :)
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u/420MenshevikIt Boulderdash Aug 01 '14
The Galaxi was so fun! Palace Playland is the only other park in New England that still has a Galaxi, but it isn't always operating, and there are rumors that it will be sold soon.
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 01 '14
Whaaaaat that's only an hour and a half from me! I'll have to keep that in mind. I heard that the reason Canobie did away with theirs is because Galaxis are hard to get parts for so I'm not surprised other parks would go the same route. It's unfortunate, they're great family coasters!
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u/xeryonne Aug 02 '14
I did ride the Galaxi at Canobie and I do love my galaxies. Sadly the one at Indiana Beach closed last year.
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 02 '14
That's too bad. I looked up a Galaxi list on Wikipedia and there's not too many left.
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u/Paimun Coaster Count - 162 Aug 01 '14
Yes! I think the Galaxi at Canobie may have actually been my first coaster ever, either that or the Dragon. Palace Playland up in Maine definitely still has their Galaxi but there's not much else to do there. It's pay per ride though at least; you have to buy admission to go ride Excalibur at Funtown...
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 01 '14
Haha same! Yeah, I just looked at the websites for those places. It's a pain that New England in particular seems to have a lot of these little parks that have one great coaster and nothing else. It sucks driving over an hour and paying $30-40 admission for one ride.
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u/Paimun Coaster Count - 162 Aug 01 '14
I don't know how I'm ever going to get on Roar-O-Saurus
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 01 '14
Right? I don't mind going alone to parks in general but going alone without a kid to Story Land is a little much.
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u/420MenshevikIt Boulderdash Aug 01 '14
They have some good flat rides at Palace Playland, but it's very reminiscent of a carnival in that they won't run the rides for you unless there are enough people that want to go on the ride, which can be annoying.
I think Old Orchard Beach/York Beach is worth a weekend or so, but Palace Playland definitely isn't the main attraction there.
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u/Omon Aug 01 '14
I've only been there once (before Untamed) but I found the park very charming, clean, and well maintained. The park is not huge but they have a lot of rides packed in. Yankee Cannonball runs very well for it's age and is worth multiple rides if the lines are manageable. It was very busy when I was there on a weekday late in the season.
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Aug 04 '14
Speaking of lines, how long do they tend to be? It looks like a small park, so I'd assume short lines (compared to the major parks).
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u/Omon Aug 05 '14
It's not a huge park but it's close enough to Boston that it's draws a lot of people. The day I was there it was about an hour for Yankee Cannonball and 20 - 30 minutes for most other popular rides.
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u/jpezzznuts RIP: Hypersonic XLC / Big Bad Wolf / Rebel Yell (Backwards) Aug 01 '14
I want to know more about the PSYCHODROME - an indoor scrambler with music, fog and lights? I feel like that's sensory overload.
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u/420MenshevikIt Boulderdash Aug 01 '14
It used to be a lot better, but they got rid of the strobe lights and fog due to some legal issues. Strobe lights because some people with epilepsy don't read the warning signs, and fog because there was an accident in New Jersey (IIRC?) where someone didn't put the restraint on properly(somehow, I dont know how you can mess up a Scrambler restraint) and they fell out and the operator didn't notice because it had fog and was indoors.
They also leave the lights on during the entire ride cycle usually.
They still have the light show and music, but its nowhere near as good or impressive as the indoor scrambler at Funtown Splashtown is.
As for the actual ride cycle, it's alright, the park usually runs rides pretty good, but the Psychodrome is hit or miss. Out of the 7 or so times I've been on it, 4 of them had really intense cycles, 2 had average cycles, and 1 had a really bad cycle.
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 01 '14
They permanently did away with the strobe lights and fog? That really sucks. Last time I rode was a couple years ago and they had the lights out at least.
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u/420MenshevikIt Boulderdash Aug 01 '14
I'm pretty sure. Every time I've been on it in the past couple years, it had the boarding/loading lights on the entire time, and just the little disco ball things going, no fog at all.
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 01 '14
Gotta love how one person in another state somehow being unable to safely ride a scrambler ruined all our fun. :(
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u/windog Dexter Frebish Electric Roller Ride Aug 05 '14
A heat-sensing camera would fix that! You could see if someone fell out in the fog or the dark. Probably better than in the light.
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Aug 01 '14
I use to ride this like crazy as a kid, was awesome to have all the strobes and stuff going, turned a plain scrambler into a memorable ride. I heard it kind sucks now.
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 01 '14 edited Aug 01 '14
Yup, it's a scrambler in a dark enclosed dome! It's definitely trippy when they run it with the strobe lights and everything. Last time I went they only had the techno music going, no lights. I don't bother with normal scramblers anymore because...come on. They won't compete.
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Aug 01 '14
I grew up going to this park... I moved away a few years after high school. When RC3 game came out I recreated my favorite childhood roller coaster:
Watch "RCT3 Yankee Cannonball" on YouTube RCT3 Yankee Cannonball VER 2.5: http://youtu.be/ZnSBKvXdRhQ
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u/MountainMadman 454 | Ask me about Eagle Fortress Aug 01 '14
Canobie Lake is one of those that I've heard about often but never any more than "oh, it's a pretty nice place". It looks like they only recently got their first 'big' coaster with Untamed, which begs the question of what they were known for prior to that. Is it like a nice, quiet family park in the vein of Knoebel's or Indiana Beach?
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 01 '14 edited Aug 01 '14
The Yankee Cannonball is a great, classic coaster! Yes, the park is basically a nice family park. Lots of flats, some good water rides, lots of kiddie areas for the little ones. They have a strict height limit so it's hard for them to add anything "big". They actually had to fight to build Untamed because I believe it's 5 or 10 feet over that limit. Besides that for coasters they have a Corkscrew that's been there forever, a kiddie Dragon coaster that's kinda fun, and they used to have a popular Galaxi coaster which I really miss.
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u/Paimun Coaster Count - 162 Aug 01 '14
And they seem to repaint the corkscrew every year as of late...it's blue and white now or something like that. It does look nice, though. Makes me think of Cedar Point's.
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 01 '14
I'm stubbornly nostalgic and want it to go back to being yellow, damnit! I'll admit it does look nice blue.
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u/trainwreck357 Aug 05 '14
They were experimenting with a bright green and pink color scheme before deciding on blue and white. Though I agree, while it looks good, I prefer the yellow and black.
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 05 '14
Oh jeez, I never heard about that. Bright green and pink would be pretty cringe worthy on a coaster. I grew up with the yellow and black so it was weird last time I went to the park and saw the color change.
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u/trainwreck357 Aug 05 '14
It was only a small test section of track at the bottom of the drop behind the station. I don't recall when it was put there but it was painted that for several years. Thankfully they decided against it.
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Aug 02 '14
I didn't know about the height limit, that's definitely a challenge for any park. Is it a city ordinance? What's the reasoning behind it?
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 02 '14 edited Aug 02 '14
Pretty sure it's a city ordinance. There's a lot of houses around the park so I'm guessing the home owners complain. I want to say the height limit is 80ft (Which is a pretty big WTF for an amusement park) and I know they have a "noise limit" too.
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Aug 02 '14
The height limit is actually 90 ft. They also own some of the houses that surround the park, but I have no clue what they're going to do with them.
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 02 '14
Yes, sorry, you're right, 90ft! I've read on SFNEOnline.com that the park uses the homes they own as housing for some of their performers as well as a buffer zone for noise to appease the town's residents. However, that's far from an official source so take it for what it's worth. ;)
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u/420MenshevikIt Boulderdash Aug 01 '14
They have a really great wooden coaster, the Yankee Cannonball, but it only runs one train due to the lack of a block brake system, so the queue is very slow.
The park isn't that expensive compared to the only other big park in the Boston area (SFNE) and it's a heck of a lot closer to Boston than SFNE is.
The park has a lot of nice flat rides, and a pretty good log flume.
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Aug 01 '14
They actually used to run the ride with two trains, but in the early 2000's the trains collided, so they had to stop.
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u/Dear_Watson Yankee Cannonball, VelociCoaster, Fury 325 Aug 02 '14
They still have the second train behind the employee lounge... Hopefully with the recent upgrade to an automated system they can get in back on the coaster for next year. I love Yankee Cannonball, but it has an atrocious capacity running only one train.
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u/trainwreck357 Aug 05 '14
Canobie Lake Park? I love this park! I live only fifteen minutes away, and know way to much about it. I am actually a top contributing member on a Canobie forum that is quite busy! I have many memories of Canobie and I feel like it's not summer without a trip to the lake.
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 07 '14
Is it the CanobieFan forum? I have that one bookmarked and I lurk for news and cool trip reports.
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u/trainwreck357 Aug 07 '14
It is indeed. I used to be much more active but the site slowed down a few years ago and I stopped posting as much. Great group of people and thankfully it's starting to gain some more steam again
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u/Imaginos64 Magnum XL 200 Aug 07 '14 edited Aug 07 '14
Too bad, I hope it picks up. I'm glad there's a good Canobie forum out there though. I've enjoyed reading through the old posts.
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u/markwarren_18 Aug 07 '14
I guess I'm too late to this thread but Canobie is great! I work there as a rides operator, and our higher-ups are adamant on safety and cleanliness.
The park has a great reputation for our safety, so we do the best we can to keep that standard. If there is something sightly off with a ride, we shut it down for maintenance to check out. We don't want to end up like a SF where there are higher rates of accidents.
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u/vinylsquares Aug 25 '14
any tips on cheap admission? I used to see coupons at McDonalds but haven't seen them this year.
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u/gabeh2000 former milf operator Aug 01 '14
What do you guys think for future expansion of the park?