Canobie Coaster

We're kind of spoiled by the Yankee Cannonball up here with how well Canobie maintains that old classic.

I saw that on Facebook. One of the lucky riders commented the ride isn't as smooth as you'd expect. I don't mind if it isn't glass smooth; I just want it to be ridable and have some airtime.

I've only been on one (Rollie's Coaster) but if they can screw up a galaxi to the point that it comes with OSTRs, I shudder to think how bad their other rides could be.

I agree on SFOG. I loved that park as well. But I'd add Fiesta Texas to the mix too even though it's a newer park.

Someone should check Mt. Olympus for construction markers. This seems like a ride that would be right up their alley.

^ It's actually the drop into the halfpipe that gives most of the airtime, but the rest of the ride is still good in that area by water park standards. I think Whale's Tale has one of the older bowl slides so I hope the latter ones smoothed out the bowl area. And yes the no count drop pod was glorious. Whale's Tale has the best collection of body slides I have come across.

I said that for years, but decided to finally bite the bullet. I just made sure to have an efficient visit and get in and out as quickly as possible. I've ridden inverting frisbees before, but this is the first one with the rocking seats. The rocking seats really need to be experienced.

Brockton Fair *As a disclaimer, I wrote this the day of the accident at the Ohio State Fair. After hearing of the tragic accident, I wanted to wait a few days before posting this because of some of the carnival jokes I made. In terms of Reithoffer's rides, they all appeared to be in good shape.* For anyone unfamiliar with Massachusetts, Brockton may sound like an innocent little town. However, anyone who knows of Brockton knows that it is anything but innocent. To say it's a bit of a rough city is an understatement. I try and avoid that city like the plague, but unfortunately it is also home to one of New England's best carnivals in the Brockton Fair. 90% of New England carnivals are provided by Fiesta Shows, but this one is done by Reithoffer Shows (possibly since Fiesta knows better than to come to Brockton) and Reithoffer has several roller coasters on their circuit. I survived the Brockton Fair. That should seriously be a shirt. My parents refused to take me to the Brockton Fair growing up since they said it was dangerous. There were *only* 1-2 stabbings or shootings per year and they always seemed to happen at night, so I tried to argue that the odds of being seriously maimed during a daytime visit were slim but they didn't have it. Now that I'm an irresponsible adult, I was willing and able to risk my life going into the definition of the ghetto for a ghetto carnival. A few days before I went, there predictably was an altercation in the parking lot. Instead of making me question my life choices, it instead was one of the funniest stories I've ever read. Some stupid teenagers thought it would be funny to steal a giant teddy bear. However, they weren't able to escape the carny's lazy eye and were caught. Instead of calling security or the police, the carny called his buddies and did the most carny thing you could think of, challenged the kids to a fight in the parking lot. The kids thought they would have the upper hand when they whipped out their switch blades, but the carnies started beating on the kids with metal chairs. They close combat quickly ended and turned into a full-on rock throwing riot until police showed up to end everybody's fun. If that's not one of the best stories you've ever heard, you clearly haven't been to enough sketchy carnivals. Knowing that almost all of the altercations occurred in the official Brockton Fair parking lot (I'd get pissed too paying $20 to park on a rocky field only to have my tires stolen), I circled the fair looking for alternate parking. Strip mall. Nah. Strip club. Definitely not. How about the church with the girl scouts in it? They don't look like Brockton so I'll park with them. For a reasonable rate of $5, I was close to the fair's entrance. All I had to do was cross the street and try not to step on any syringes or needles. I got a wristband since Reithoffer had a pretty impressive lineup. As opposed to most carnivals where the rides were packed into a single line, the Brockton Fair's rides were arranged in a loop around the massive demolition derby arena. I'm actually being serious about the demolition derby area, I'm not referring to the parking lot (though that probably is a demolition derby lot too). The carnival midway was huge! And yes that's a KMG Speed that you see. Unfortunately it wasn't included on the wristband like it is at the Big E. My first stop was on the Galaxy. The first thing I noticed was that the coaster actually spelled Galaxy correctly. Who would have thought carnies could spell better than theme park workers? One of those Interpark coasters that have been popping up lately (Fiesta added one to their lineup this year as well), Galaxy was pretty average. The drops did give tiny pops of air, but the helixes were slow and uneventful. Still for a carnival coaster, it's pretty good. 5 out of 10 This is a "big" carnival coaster for me. All you Europeans are probably laughing at that statement as you see Alpina Bahn or Olympia Looping on your circuit. Indy 500 was an experience. A Flitzer, I rode alone and about 3/4 of the way up the lift, my car came to a stop despite the chain continuing to run. I looked back and saw the operator raise his hand. I wasn't panicking or anything, but was just curious what was going on. Well the operator grabbed a piece of wood and walked up the lift. Praying he wouldn't beat me with it, the operator began pounding away at the underbelly of the train. Not quite sure what he was doing, but 10-15 seconds later my car started moving again. I always knew I could die someday in Brockton, but didn't expect it to ever be at the hands of a coaster. After cresting the lift, the ride was identical to the one I rode at Morey's 2 weeks before that. No real drops, but the headchoppers and tunnels are enjoyable albeit forceless. 4 out of 10 Start your engines! No real drops, but it's an ok little coaster. There was also a kiddie coaster that I of course rode. Called "Ride Your Dragon" (yes that seriously was the name), it was your basic Wisdom Orient Express. I planned to snap a photo after I rode, but decided not to since the operator was giving me a pretty hard time for actually making him get up to operate the ride. I'm sorry I'm a sad and pathetic coaster whore Mr. Carny and I know it's hot out, but I had a right to get the credit since I met the height requirement. Well it was a pretty rough ride and can't say I'd ever ride it again. 1 out of 10 With the three credits out of the way, I spent the rest of the time hitting a few flats. They had a frisbee ride called Wild Claw that was a major disappointment. Usually carnival rides are known for their long cycles and the KMG frisbees are usually pretty intense, but this one only had two full swings. 4 out of 10 There was nothing wild about this claw. I also saw an Air Race, which was something I had never seen at a carnival before. This ended up being the second best ride that I rode at the fair. I love Air Races and would like to see these at more parks. The rotations alternated positive Gs and hang-time and these are disorienting rides. This one also had a long cycle that went clockwise, counterclockwise, and clockwise again. 9 out of 10 The world needs more Air Races. What was number 1 you ask? Stinger, a Technical Park Loop Fighter. Due to the lack of people at the fair during the early afternoon, I had a bit of difficulty getting on this one since they needed four people to start the ride. After about 10 minutes, we finally had enough people. I thought the half-cage seats were pretty weird. They looked like they would rock or do something, but they remained perfectly stationary as the ride began rocking back and forth. The first half didn't give any air which was a surprise. Instead the swings delivered some incredibly powerful Gs. Then halfway through the seats unlocked and all hell broke loose. The seats flipped and rocked like a Zipper cage. One moment I was staring at the sky. The next I was flung towards the ground. While the Zipper moves fairly slow when you watch it off-ride, Stinger is traveling significantly faster on the downswing which resulted in a completely disorienting and bonkers ride. 10 out of 10 Stinger was the star of the midway for me. No airtime, but the rocking seats during the second half made for one of the most disorienting and intense flats I've been on. The carnival also had the standard mix of spinning rides and fun houses. I tried the Sizzler which was an intense little scrambler since the smaller rotations were notably faster than on the Eli Bridge versions. I was disappointed that there weren't any sketchy dark rides. Those are fairground staples yet Brockton didn't have any. Check out that custom Brockton backdrop. Let it go. I wanted to leave before the rowdy crowds arrived and also had a birthday party to attend, so I only stayed for 1-1.5 hours. Amazingly my car was still in tact with all 4 tires. Brockton is a pretty easy target for me since they're a frequent flyer on the nightly news with stabbings, shootings, and all those fun things, but in all honesty it's safe enough during the day if you exercise standard street smarts. The ride lineup at the Brockton Fair is probably the strongest in New England (just a tad better than North American Midway at the Big E) so if you like sketchy carnivals, the Brockton Fair is the place for you.

^ I remember Goliath being only 2 rides on the Gold pass, so I'm guessing there'd be a restriction on the Platinum one as well.

I think screaming and being loud is part of the park experience. I remember being floored a few years back when one of the Scandia parks built a Skyscraper and kicked you off the ride if you screamed due to the park's proximity to a neighborhood.

Great report! I had so much fun there last year in the half day that I went back for a week long family vacation this year. Between all the tourist trap activities, Dollywood, and the mountains, there was more than enough to stay busy for a week. Was there construction for the zipline at Rowdy Bear Mountain? When I was there in early June, it looked like they were still finalizing the coaster building since it looks much nicer now.

Dark Knight may not have all that great of theming, but it still is a very good mouse coaster since it's mostly unbraked. I haven't been on Justice League at Great Adventure, but the ride pulls pretty long lines at Over Texas and Great America. I'm guessing it may be the same at Great Adventure.

Great photos! Your Lightning Rod photos are teasing me after I missed that ride. Someday, someday... I loved Hillbilly Golf when I visited. I'm a sucker for the old-fashioned courses that rely heavily on obstacles and every single hole at Hillbilly had that. Then the inclined railway brought the course over the edge. Were you still able to see a ton of fallen trees from the windstorm the area experienced earlier this year?

Disneyland is my favorite with Knoebels and Cedar Point close behind. I can't go against Walt's original park. There's just something magical walking through that park and then all of the rides are so well themed and immersive. Least favorite park is trickier. Probably the worst single visit I ever had to a park was Enchanted Forest in Hope Valley, Rhode Island. The park has since closed and I went when I was 8, but remember the place being a charming dump. Picture lovely story book characters and scenic walkways if they fell into a state of disrepair. That's Enchanted Forest. I don't remember the employees being friendly, which is a big no-no for me at a children's park. My parents said they looked like convicts on parole with their tattoos. I think the real telltale sign how bad the park was is this. My girlfriend is from Rhode Island and her family never heard of the place. One of my dad's coworkers lived in the town of Hope Valley and didn't even know the park existed.

Mystery Mine has some jerky points in the first half, but nothing that ruins the ride. Granted I know it's coming so I can brace myself to have a pain free ride.

I enjoyed my visit to Gillian's last month. I thought the Flume and Giant Wheel were great. Sure the park lacked thrill rides when I visited but it was clean and had friendly employees.

It's still suspenseful as heck having the floor drop with a countdown but this took it to a new level. Shhhh don't talk about the alpine slides disappearing. I have a feeling we may not see new ones now that the mountain coaster is a thing, but it was certainly a nice change. I refuse to wait in line for the Bobsled because of how painstakingly slow that queue is combined with the fact that it could shut down at any moment. I usually try and sneak there in the first half hour that it's open and in past years, I could get 3 or so rides in without any wait. That park really needs another good steel coaster. Or any other good coaster to with Comet for that matter.

There are actually two Water Wizz parks and they are very real. I've been to the larger one on Cape Cod. They have a few decent speed slides and some great mat slides on a hill. They also have a small one in Rhode Island right by the beach. Water Wizz is actually the park shown in the movie Grown Ups if you have seen it. Though if you haven't, don't watch that movie since it's terrible. Kevin James acts out Water Wizz very well if you catch my drift. I tried not to think about the name while I was there and avoided the wave pool at all costs.

Whale's Tale I have been to every major amusement park in New England. I haven't quite been whorish enough to make it to Ocean Beach Park & Atlantic Beach Park (I could stoop that low sometime in the next year though), but otherwise I have been to every amusement park. However, I haven't been as thorough on the water park front. I've been to all of the ones attached to amusement parks, but in terms of the individual ones, I had only been to Aquaboggan and Water Wizz. That meant I was missing New England's two largest water parks, Water Country and Whale's Tale. The former, while big, didn't have any truly unique slides for me and also appeared to have a strict double rider policy on many of the park's best slides. The latter was an hour from Story Land (aka Roar-o-saurus) and had a body bowl slide that I was looking forward to trying. Whale's Tale also claims it's New England's Favorite Water Park because why not? Nothing like a claim that requires no evidence. So sure enough, on the way home from Story Land I took advantage of the park's after 3 pm special. When you can't claim you're the area's biggest water park, you go with the claim that requires no objective evidence, New England's Favorite Water Park. Whale's Tale has an amazing setting, nestled in the White Mountains. The park itself is relatively compact, but it's well landscaped. The parking lot is also right by the main entrance, so after you change you can easily store everything in your car to avoid getting a locker. So after changing and covering myself in layers of sunscreen since the sun hates me, I was ready to slide. My car was less than 100 feet from the entrance, so a locker wasn't needed. My first stop was the slide I came for, Eye of the Storm. While I had been on several of the bowl slides riding in rafts, I had never been on a body slide version. I will openly admit that I am not the world's best swimmer, so the prospect of being flushed out of the bowl and then having a sizable plunge in any body orientation was pretty intimidating. Because I went later in the day and it had cooled down to 75-80 degrees, the park had pretty much cleared out so everything was a walk-on. When I reached the top of the tower, I was given the thumbs up and began the descent. The initial drop into the bowl was long and very fast. Then came every child's worst fear, being flushed down the toilet. You could definitely feel the sections of the slide when you entered into the bowl, as it was pretty rough on my back. No long term pain, but enough to slow consecutive rerides. The plunge into the pool was the scariest part, but it turned out to be the best. I made it about 2 turns around the bowl before my momentum slowed and I slid towards the exit. Sure enough, I went head first into the water and gracefully flopped into the pool like an athletically challenged whale. I rode Eye of the Storm, 6 times and I believe I went head first on 4-5 of my rides. I was always told I had a thick skull, so I guess that's where most of my weight is. I really liked my first body bowl slide and outside of that jolt entering the bowl, it was fantastic. 9 out of 10 This slide reminded me how ungraceful I am in water. Next door was the Banzai Pipeline, a half pipe slide. Unfortunately, they had a no single rider policy. It seemed every single group at Whale's Tale had an even number, so I didn't see an opportunity to pair up with a stray rider. It would be awkward to ask to borrow a child at Story Land, but I think it would be even more awkward to do so at a water park so I ruled that out. Dismayed, I rode Eye of the Storm again. When chatting with the operator at Eye of the Storm, he tipped me off that the off that the on-break life guards hang around one of the body slides and most of them would be willing to ride with me. That's much better than riding with a child! More weight in the raft and no chance of a lawsuit. Sure enough I found a taker. Actually I found his supervisor who volunteered someone for me. The employee I rode with had a great sense of humor. The slide itself was great. The drop into the half-pipe wasn't as good as Aquaboggan's half-pipe slide (one of my favorite slides anywhere) since the latter feels steeper and lets you ride in reverse. It was still quite steep and gave a pop of air though. With two adults, we rose high up the halfpipe, which was definitely thrilling since this one had no edge/barrier like the others I've been on. The tiny little hump after the half-pipe looked tame off-ride, but it actually gave a pop of air. 10 out of 10 Remember how I said the employee I rode with was volunteered? After we got off, he jokingly mentioned how his supervisor screwed him over, as he had to bid farewell and sprint across the park for a shift. Let's just say that wouldn't be the last I saw of him. What a great slide! I prefer these halfpipe slides to the Tornado slides. And that's because the employee I rode with was manning the speed slide complex on the other side of the park. I didn't realize the park had added a drop pod slide, so that was a pleasant surprise. Named Poseidon's Voyage, this was one of those dropbox slides with the near vertical plunge and flat turn. After boarding the drop pod, the employee was having a grand ole time scaring everyone. He would pound on the drop pod or get right up against the glass. While waiting, it was absolutely hysterical to watch, but it did intimidate some of the younger riders. When it was my turn, I boarded the drop pod. I made sure to stare at the employee stone-faced as I awaited the countdown. However, our staring contest ended prematurely as I dropped. Every other drop pod slide I've been on has a countdown, but Poseidon didn't which completely caught me off-guard. I personally enjoyed not having the countdown since it kept me completely off-guard like a drop tower. The initial plunge was breathtaking. I could barely feel the slide on the way down and was praying for a smooth transition back onto the slide since I had badly sprained my ankle playing ultimate frisbee a few weeks back and it was still sore. So of course going on an extreme body slide was just what the doctor ordered. Thankfully the transition was very smooth. The slide effortlessly caught my falling body and immediately sent me around a blazing fast turn. I rode Poseidon 7-8 times and it was definitely the park's best slide. Honestly, I think it's the best drop pod slide I've been on because of the unknown plunge start and crazy initial plunge. 10 out of 10 The multi-colored slide on the left is the drop pod slide. I was absolutely shocked there was no countdown. It was great! Also on Poseidon's tower were a few older body slides. In the center are two speed slides named the Plunge. It's a shame they used Plunge already since that would have been better after Poseidon than Voyage. All naming aside, the Plunge was thrilling. The second drop had some good air. However, while Poseidon's Voyage was smooth, the Plunge was not. The transition from the slide into the runoff pool was extremely brutal on my back as there was a noticeable lip between the two sections. I've never seen a speed slide like that before as it's usually just one continuous slide. 6 out of 10 Downpour is the serpentine body slide next door and thankfully was a much smoother slide. The slide started slow, but had three drops that built up speed. The final drop is very sudden and surprised me each ride since the turn before it splashes you face with hyper-chlorinated water so you're blinded and busy wiping your face. The turns after this drop are fast and furious before you enter into the most awkward runoff section ever. The slide had a wall on the right side, so you spilled sideways into the pool. I've never seen anything like it. While weird, it wasn't uncomfortable. 9 out of 10 Whale's Tale has some very awkward runoff areas on their older body slides. I got one ride on Harpoon Express, the only other tube slide adults are permitted to ride. They allowed single tubes, but since the slide was designed for the 3 person inline rafts, I traveled relatively slowly down the slide. The high turns and wide trough did have the benefit of spinning my raft around which helped make up for less sliding on the turns. I would have loved to try this in the inline raft afterwards, but didn't feel like petitioning for partners since the body slides were likely better slides anyway. 6 out of 10 Lots of twists and turns, but no drops. I also tried the park's newest attraction, Yakua Beach. This is one of those flow riders. I went on one 9-10 years ago back at the Great Escape Lodge and didn't really enjoy it. I spectacularly wiped out and then had the boogie board shoot into my chest like a diet Pespi-Mentos rocket. Was it any better this time? I did the first part again since with age I've become even more uncoordinated in the water, but at least I Matrix dodged the boogie board this time. Overall, Whale's Tale is a very good water park. Like most of us, I am more of an amusement park person and wouldn't really want to spend an entire day at a water park. The after 3 special is a very good option since the park is small enough that you can easily hit everything and if the lines I encountered on a Sunday were any indication, you won't have to wait long either. The park has a great collection of slides, looks nice, and has some awesome employees.

Visited the park yesterday and like Fiesta Texas, it's definitely in the top tier of Six Flags parks. They have a great coaster collection and have maintained some charm that's missing from other Six Flags parks. New Texas Giant was fantastic. While not quite as extreme as the other RMCs in terms of the individual elements, the ride was still more intense than 95% of the coasters out there and had a longer ride time than the other RMCs. I'd rank it 3rd out of the 6 RMCs I've been on (behind Iron Rattler & Twisted Colossus). Has anyone else had the problem I had on Mr. Freeze? I have never had any back problems and can endure rough wooden coasters in the back. But for some reason on all 3 of my rides on Mr. Freeze, my lower back hurt on the transitions at the bottom of the spike and inverted top hat. I absolutely loved the ride outside of that issue, which I found weird because the ride was smooth.

That doesn't sound good. Wasn't Saturday night season pass holder ERT night too?

Updating the list to reflect the 3 I've ridden this year (Goliath, Iron Rattler, & New Texas Giant) 1) Iron Rattler 2) Twisted Colossus 3) New Texas Giant 4) Wicked Cyclone 5) Storm Chaser 6) Goliath

Of the RMC's I've been on (6), Wicked Cyclone is in the middle but it's still a top 10 steel for me. On a slow day, the train peters out on the last few hills after the last zero g roll but it still amazing to that point. Then 2 years ago, they had a vibration issue with the trains but I haven't experienced that issue this year. For reference, I rode Storm Chaser last year and that one hauled through the course. I rank it below WiCy though since it is missing the insane RMC first drop. The barrel roll drop is cool, but I prefer that first drop. Shame about Superman being down. Hopefully they can get it back up and running soon.

I can dream that they fix that shaky launch area during the time it's closed.

I have to throw Six Flags Fiesta Texas in there. They have 9 coasters (for now) and it's anchored by Iron Rattler.