The kickoff event for this year's Western New York Coaster Club, Coasterfest™, was at just one park, beautiful Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH. There was supposed to be an optional day at Funtown on Saturday, but it got rained out. It was an easy drive for us this time, since Canobie was less than two hours from our home. We dressed properly for the seasonably cool temperatures in New Hampshire. The forecast was for partly sunny skies and temperatures in the fifties, with gusty winds. We arrived a little after 9:00. The entrance gates were locked. So we drove down North Policy Street. (The original name of Canobie Lake was Policy Pond.). About a half-mile down the road was a parking area with a nice view of the lake. So we lingered there for a while before heading back to the park entrance. We parked in front of the gates and within a few minutes the staff opened them up and we drove into the parking area. It was strange to see an empty lot; usually when we visited Canobie, the parking lot was nearly full. We parked right in front of the entrance plaza, with the white sinuous structure of the venerable Yankee Cannonball to our right. Members of WNYCC weren't too far behind us and soon we were all accounted for. We were given our tickets and wristbands and escorted into the park and over to the Yankee Cannonball for our Exclusive Ride Time. Along the way we paused for a photo op with the park's mascots in front of Guest Services. We passed by the park's unique carousel which sported topiary figures of some of the ride's menagerie carvings. Cannonball was one of my favorite wood coasters. But I rarely rode it because usually when we visited the park, the long queue line meant over an hour's wait. And because of the station design, you couldn't choose your seat. Although I didn't always have to be in the front seat, because of my back I needed a seat that wasn't over the wheels (so, the first or second seat in any car). But since seating was completely random, I didn't want to wait in line that long only to not ride. But with ERT, we didn't have that problem. Karen and I of course sat in the front seat, and the other members filled out the rest of the train. Maybe I've gained a lot of weight, but the seats felt more snug than I remember. After we were all belted in, the train was dispatched up the lift hill. We coasted down the first drop and what impressed me was how smooth the bottom of the hill was. It was perfectly curved and smooth, with no bucking or bumping. We flew up the first camelback with a nice pop of airtime. Each subsequent hill and dip was just as smooth. Canobie was obviously taking really good care of the ride. The next hill was the L-turn over toward the parking lot. After we circled the big turnaround, we headed back to the station over bunny hops and some strong lateral turns. It was a really fun ride. When we got back to the station, Karen stayed in the front seat and I gave up my seat to Dave so that he could ride in the front. I took the front seat of the second car, and we were dispatched again. For the next ride I went back to the front seat, but this time with Bob. He mentioned how with many coasters, he could take one ride and that was his limit. He would have to take a break. But this one he could stay on multiple times and each time was just as enjoyable. I agreed. For our final ride, Yvonne took the front seat with me. This was the only time I'd ever been able to ride the Cannonball multiple times in the front seat. After that we were guided over to Untamed, the park's wonderfully themed Gerstlauer Euro-fighter roller coaster. I'd ridden it when it opened and it was too intense for me. So instead I took photos while the others rode. The coaster began with its trademark vertical lift hill. That was followed by an inverted drop into a huge loop. After that was a high-speed twisting course of spirals and helixes. The coaster was a great fit for the park, especially since there were no other rides like it in New England. While the members went for repeated rides, I watched the testing of park's newest ride, just to the right of Untamed: Time Winder, a Zamperla NebulaZ which. Those rides seemed to be popping up at parks all over the world. It was fascinating to watch, with its four vertical arms meshing together as they spun. When ERT on Untamed was finished, we were led over to the Dance Hall pavilion, which is where most of the park's shows were featured. We'd seen many great performances there, including Elvis and Michael Jackson impersonators who were hard to tell from the real thing. We met Chris Nicoli there, the park's brand manager. The pavilion had undergone a lot of restoration. He mentioned that when Philadelphia Toboggan Company rebuilt Yankee Cannonball in 1936, the company asked the park if there was any other work they needed. They didn't need another roller coaster, but they needed a ballroom. So PTC built them one. Chris showed us the new museum at the back of the ballroom. It featured dioramas of performers who'd been at the park. He told us the story of Sonny & Cher who were contracted to appear at Canobie just before they hit it big. When they rocketed to fame, they demanded the park pay them more money. But the park's lawyers showed them the signed contract and replied, "I got you, babe." There were other displays of Jerry Lee Lewis, dozens of photos on the wall and a giant statue of Lady Gaga. Chris then took us behind the scenes into a maze of rooms beyond the museum area. There were several dressing rooms and a dance studio. Chris also told us that when they remodeled the building, they wanted to save the old beadboard walls because performers throughout the years had signed their names there. So they basically built new walls in front of the old beadboard, saving the historic graffiti. The next stop was the park's old roller rink, which had been converted into a haunted house for Screemfest during the park's Halloween season. We were given a lights-on walk-thru of the entire building. It was pretty extensive. Chris said they employed about 70 performers just for the haunted house. It wasn't my cup of tea, with lots of extremely gory scenes of people decapitated and disemboweled. There were a couple of fun stunts, like a giant snake head popping out of a wall. When we finished that maze, we were taken through a second one in the same building. This one was staged as an insane asylum. It wasn't quite as gory but it certainly wasn't kid-friendly. From there Chris led us to the south end of the park for a walk-thru of the Castaway Island waterpark (which was closed due to the cold temperatures). Chris said that the demand for the waterpark far exceeded their expectations. They could keep expanding it and the demand would continue to grow. He said it takes about 180 people to staff just the waterpark. That blew my mind. When I worked at Mountain Park, the entire park employed about 200 people. We were then led over to the Sons of Liberty Tavern in the Olde Boston area and taken upstairs. The park had lunch waiting for us: pizza, salad, drinks and desserts. The pizza was delicious, thick and flavorful. Chris chatted with us as we ate. He mentioned how one of Canobie's owners is a designer and is meticulous about what an area looks like when a new ride or themed area is constructed. They try to preserve as many trees as possible. He said it took them a long time to get Time Winder built because they debated a long time to find the best spot for it. After that, we were on our own. So once we all ate our fill, we headed back out onto the midway. Karen and I walked over to the Olde Canobie Village section at the south end and queued up for the Mine of Lost Souls, a really good dark ride featuring some impressive effects. There wasn't too long a line and soon we were seated in our mine car and sent on our way. There were a few changes inside this year; mostly some doorways were added. The waterfall was really cranking and we got a little wet. Something I never noticed before was the effect about halfway through with the guy lying down who transformed into a skeleton. This time I could clearly see the video screens that created the effect. At the end of the ride, it's a shame they could never get the water effect to work correctly. But the collapsing ceiling is a good substitute. Across from the Lost Souls was the area formerly occupied by some water slides, before the park added Castaway Island. The area was blocked off and there was a large metal storage unit behind some barriers. So evidently the park has plans for that space. We walked north past the Policy Pond Saw Mill, the park's picturesque flume which didn't have many riders on such a chilly day. The nearby ice cream shop wasn't doing much business either, though the park added a whimsical waffle bench next to it, with a milk shake floating above like a chimney. We queued up for the nearby Giant Sky Wheel, which had the longest line we encountered that day. The ride had special significance for us. Canobie was where Karen and I went on our first date. When we boarded the Sky Wheel I noticed that someone had written on the post in the center of the cab, "I ♥ Jay". It was meant to be. As always, the ride gave us lovely panoramic views of the park. As we headed back toward the north, I spotted the park's fried dough stand. So we stopped by and each got one with cinammon sugar. We took our treats over to the Trellis eatery and sat at a table. It was one of the best fried dough I'd ever had, fresh and soft. From there we decided to hop a ride on the Canobie Express, the park's steam train. When we arrived, the train had just departed. So we sat on one of the benches in the station and relaxed until it returned about 15 minutes later. The ride was enjoyable as always. I was curious about the turnouts, where the track loops back onto itself, since I created a similar layout on my model railroad. I wondered how the park handled that. It appeared that there was a electro-mechanical or pneumatic piston at each one that was triggered by the train's position and shifted the track's points one way or the other. The train no longer dropped off passengers at the north end of the park. So once the ride ended, walked over to the Bear Lodge at the opposite end of the park, where I'd heard that the park still had a rare Hercules pinball machine. Sure enough, it was there as were John and Maryann Reaume and their two nieces. It turned out that John was a pinball fan like me, so we headed into the nearby Pinball Parlor where there were a couple dozen machines to choose from. I got five dollars in quarters from the attendant and John and I first headed for the Twilight Zone machine. It whipped our butts. So we went over to Rollercoaster Tycoon and his nieces joined us. It was their first time playing pinball and they did pretty well. We all played several different tables. The parlor had a few hot-off-the-press machines including Jaws. So it looked like the Pinball Parlor was successful, and I was glad to see that it was still there. We parted company and headed over for the Sky Ride. That too had a fairly long line, but it moved quickly and soon we were drifting above the midway. We noticed that the large fountain and surrounding area, which were blocked off on our last visit, had been completely renovated and looked great. There were a couple of nozzles that weren't spraying, but I assumed they'd work that out during the season. The park's vintage Caterpillar ride was still being put together as well, as was the nearby Da Vinci's Dream swing ride. We could see that the Blue Heron Cruise boat ride was operating, but it was a bit too cold for that. After debarking the Sky Ride we walked back toward the park entrance. I wanted to film another walk-thru video. Karen waited patiently on a nearby bench. Once my video was completed, we walked over to the nearby whimsical popcorn stand and Karen got a bag of popcorn for the road. By then it was about 4:30 and we called it a day. Once again we had a delightful time at the park. The staff was friendly and welcoming, and went out of their way for our little WNYCC group. That attitude carried over to the rest of the staff in the park. Everyone was friendly and outgoing. The food was great. The ride assortment is well-balanced for the entire family. And the park is visually beautiful. We couldn't ask for a more perfect park at which to spend a day.

Return to Karen and Jay's Excursions