Canobie Coaster

I looked back at my photos from March and the theater was last used as Pacific Rim. The theater wasn't on the map and the midway leading up to it was blocked, but you could see it sitting there. I didn't go over where Voodoo was.

Morey's Piers While Morey's Piers is normally my favorite Jersey Boardwalk park, it was not my favorite in 2020. That was for two reasons. One, there were no wristbands in 2020. Two, several notable rides were closed including Great White and the dark rides. For that reason, I only wanted to pop in for an hour or two to grab the two new coaster credits, ride some of my favorites, and soak up the atmosphere. I assumed the park would be dead on a weeknight before closing, but I was wrong. The park was reasonably well attended. Combine that with glacially slow operations from the park's covid precautions (rides were wiped down after every cycle) and I was lucky to have ridden the three rides I did. That being said, some time at Morey's is better than no time at Morey's and I know the park will be operating more normally in future seasons. Stop 1 was Wild Whizzer, the SBF Visa spinner with an awesome name. I like how this one is at the edge of the boardwalk and I got some good spinning thanks to an off-balanced car, but I'm sort of embarrassed to say I had to wait a half hour for this one. 3 out of 10 Stop 2 was Runaway Tram, the new-for-2019 family coaster that replaced Flitzer. And this coaster's theme is so perfectly Wildwood with the drunk looking face on the taxi, the comical tram operator on the back of the train, and the perfectly on-cue "Watch the Tram Car Please" announcements. I thought this coaster would be as tame as a Vekoma roller skater, but it was a step up. The coaster had a tiny bit of floater airtime on the second hill and a fairly forceful turn after that. Plus the coaster gave two laps and was immaculately smooth. I wasn't too upset waiting a half hour for this one. 6 out of 10 With a half hour before closing, I was overly optimistic I could ride at least two more attractions. But those hopes were quickly dashed. Morey's had already started closing queue lines for the night,. That included rides such as Great Nor'Easter and it. I would have ridden Zoom Phloom but that ride was down for the night due to mechanical issues, something that happened in my first visit to Morey's Piers as well. I just have bad luck with that ride, which is a shame because it's an awesome flume. So I finished the night with AtmosFear. I was one of the last people allowed in the queue. These ARM/Larson towers always pack a punch on the drop and this one was no different. The freefall sensation is matched by no other drop tower. However, I didn't get the usual floater airtime on the way down since I was stapled. I didn't know the restraints could go this low on one of these drop towers. Despite that, the forceful drop combined with the awesome view and lighting package makes it a memorable drop tower. 9 out of 10 While Morey's Piers closed for the night, the boardwalk was still alive. Normally, I would have checked out the relocated retro arcade, but I passed due to a lack of enforcement of masks inside the venue. Instead, I got some delicious French Fries at Idaho Potatoes. Thanks boldikus for the recommendation! Assuming Morey's Piers can operate normally in 2021 with all the signature rides open and wristbands, I plan to come back. I just hope I have better luck with Zoom Phloom this time!

They definitely don't waste space!

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Six Flags did that considering their relationship with S&S and I imagine this ride won't break the bank. Now that you mention it, this would be a perfect fit at Six Flags New England considering they don't have a launch coaster and are pressed for space.

Very cool find, thanks for sharing! When the ride did open to riders in 2017, it had the articulating cars as seen in my photo.

One of the things I didn't realize until looking at my photos, is that Gale Force actually has a two car train. The first two rows are in one car and the back row is in its own car. It's such a bizarre design.

OzIris was my favorite invert when I rode it last year. I wasn't expecting to get the half dozen airtime moments I got in the back row and the inversions were a good mix of forceful and floaty ones. It seems like the ride has started running better when I look at recent reviews versus older ones. Monster looks fantastic, especially since it's crammed into such a tight space at Grona Lund.

^ I honestly don't mind all the brake runs since the entry and exit out of them is so sharp that it usually gives pops of airtime on both ends. My last coaster was Iron Rattler, which is still one of my favorite RMCs.

Playland's Castaway Cove I previously visited Playland's Castaway Cove in 2017 and didn't have the best visit. It's well documented that Gale Force had a lot of issues in its opening year, as evidenced by how S&S retracked the entire thing after just one season. And then Wild Waves made the delays of West Coast Racers look insignificant by comparison. The only redeeming factor of my 2017 visit was the insane Tropical Storm ride, which has since been removed, so I was a bit apprehensive to return. Let's start with Gale Force. And the operations on this coaster were really awkward for 2020. I knew the park had a strict no loose articles policy and that they would wand me down in the station. But I wasn't expecting to have to remove my mask. This was particularly comical since I could wear my glasses with a strap that was secured around my head, yet you couldn't wear a mask secured in the same manner. Two, they seemed to forego the covid precautions when the line backed up. Early in the day, they loaded one party per row and skipped a row in between parties, but once the line lengthened, they loaded multiple parties in every row. The coaster started with a shaky launch, so I was worried the coaster was no better after the retrack. Thankfully, everything after the launch was smooth. Even better, everything after the launch was downright insane. The ride was a blur of forces. The first three top hats/kick flips/hills all had powerful ejector airtime. And I also started to greyout in between these elements from the positive Gs. The final element is very close to a dive loop (I guess it officially doesn't invert though) and while it doesn't offer the crazy airtime of the prior hills, it's extremely disorienting from its compactness. Plus the coaster gives you two cycles, which was much appreciated considering the cost per ride. I went from finding Gale Force a rattling, uncomfortable mess in 2017 to loving Gale Force. I think it's among the best compact coaster models out there and it's probably the best coaster on the Jersey Shore. 8 out of 10 Circling around Gale Force is Wild Waves, one of the few adult Miler coasters. This coaster was interesting. If you rode up front, it had several good moments of airtime- most notably the strong floater on the camelback and the abrupt ejector on the 2nd to last bunny hill. Towards the back, the coaster had barely any airtime, which surprised me considering the other adult Miler coasters tend to be better in the back. My biggest issue with this coaster was the pacing. There were several brake runs that brought you to a dead halt. I'm guessing this was so the turns wouldn't slam you with laterals, but I actually enjoy that on the other adult Milers. Ultimately, this made the ride a better family coaster so I understand why that was done. 6 out of 10 I mentioned the park removed Tropical Storm, but would you believe me if I said they replaced it with an even crazier flat? That's exactly what they did with Squadron 33. This ride is the happy marriage of a Gerstlauer Sky Roller and an Enterprise. And the results are incredible. If you've been on one of those Gerstlauer Sky Rollers, you know they can be difficult to flip for first timers. You really need to have strong technique and patience to get those things flipping. Squadron 33 was much easier to flip, partially becauase this ride seemed to rotate faster. Once I got it flipping, I inverted non-stop for the entirety of the ride. While the flips were less rapid than a Sky Roller, the sensations were more varied. I often got slower inversions over the top with some hangtime/airtime and faster inversions on the pullout. This is now one of my favorite flat rides anywhere and I hope more are built! 10 out of 10 Another new flat the park added was Tidal Wave, which is one of those Techno Jump flats. Off-ride, it looked like Tidal Wave would be an airtime machine. But it only had a few faint pops of airtime. The ride was more about the rapid bounces feeling chaotic, as the ride traveled in both directions multiple times. 7 out of 10 The last ride I made sure to experience was Double Shot. One of the bizarre things about the Jersey Shore is that I think it's a rule their S&S double shots run a double cycle. So essentially I got two rides in one. This one gave a great view of the beach and the launches had nice pops of airtime at the top. 6 out of 10 My biggest gripe with Playland's Castaway Cove is that they usually do not offer a pay-one-price wristband. I'd love to visit on a day where I could lap Gale Force, Wild Waves, and some of the flats. But as it stands, it's a small but strong Jersey boardwalk park with an interesting ride lineup. That makes it the perfect pit stop if you're going between Six Flags and Morey's Piers.

While I myself would prefer a roller coaster, I completely understand why the park would want to add another attraction to their water park. It's the main draw.

Indiana Beach really needs a kiddie coaster since they quietly lost the Dragon Wagon. They have the plot ready in the kiddie area if they can find one.

I prefer the outdoor ones as well. Not having the mid-course bring you to a stop mid-ride results in a far wilder second half. That being said, I still enjoy the indoor Flight of Fear clones. The Kings Island one is a bit shakier, but I still have no issue with it thanks to those lap bars.

Nice report! Most Six Flags parks do a great job with the lights so I'm glad they could show them off in some capacity this year.

One of the big questions I have is if the 15 rides includes some of the stuff that has been SBNO and removed from the website for years. Aren't Voodoo and Mass Effect still standing dormant at Discovery Kingdom?

People must have forgotten how bad Fast and Furious was while it was closed.

^ I have to give the new owners credit, 5 of the 6 roller coasters weren't broken by the end of my visit in 2020 and a piece didn't fall off of Cornball's train. I'm stunned Indiana Beach is saving Quimera and that this is the Schwarzkopf from La Feria that was saved first. I'm certainly not complaining though since Quimera may possibly be the most intense coaster I've ever ridden. That was partially because of Mexico City's altitude and partially because La Feria ran it without the brakes. I imagine Indiana Beach will actually use the trims and run this coaster as it was designed, but that still makes it a fantastic ride on par with Galaxyland's Mindbender. I can't decide what's more shocking- Luna Park getting the first Intamin single rail out of nowhere or this. I'm going with this. Indiana Beach seems to be one of the few parks with good news in 2020. It was saved from the grave and then adds a coaster that many thought was going to be scrapped.

This one sounds like it could be run a bit faster than the one at Luna Park in NY. I rode that one last summer and I didn't get any airtime. The ride was all about the visuals for me.

Hopefully this gets built! I wonder how quiet Intamin's single rail coaster is because the RMC one definitely has a roar to it. But my biggest question with this announcement is why the back seat isn't reversed or spinning because Australia.

I wasn't expecting this, but it's a creative way to make money on the days they'd be closed and it's a contingency plan if they close. I wonder if we'll see some of their other parks try this too.

Lightning Rod wood or steel? It'll be 2021's version of the Orion giga or hyper debate, but I think it'll be interesting how this coaster is handled on polls going forward. But ultimately that's a secondary thing. Number one is actually having this ride run reliably and I hope this finally does it for the park.

One other issue with Great Escape possibly getting a big ride in the future is that the town of Queensbury has Great Escape on the hook to build new traffic signals and Route 9 infrastructure upgrades if traffic on the road increases by (as of 2019) ~500 cars during the morning hours. So if they add something that really draws crowds, they'll be paying for that ride plus the road upgrades. Post Star has published a few articles about this.

From what I saw, this won't unpause your membership by default, but if you want to visit using your membership, you have to unpause. Like you said, it may be cheaper for those who paused just to buy a day ticket (even with the parking fee).

This probably doesn't impact most of us who have Six Flags season passes and memberships, but if you visit on a daily ticket, you have to pay $15 to park. At least it's less than the usual $20 rate.

I'm glad the park found a way to reopen! Like Magic Mountain, I know the park's main goal is to try and get people to unpause their memberships for this.

Condor, Alpine Bobsled, and Flying Trapeze are the three rides always down when I'm there.