Canobie Coaster

It sounds like the track is fine. From everyone's report, it sounds like it's one train that is running terribly while the other is running great as usual.

I think the question of how popular Mystic Timbers remains depends how well the park can maintain it. Some of the GCI's I've been on haven't aged too well.

^ Interesting, I never knew that there was any meaning to the names. I thought parks could just use Carousel or Merry-Go-Round interchangeably. Though on Idlewild's website they call the ride "Merry-Go-Round" so you should educate them as well.

I prefer to keep making loops around Dollywood rather than marathoning one ride at any given time.

Idlewild After missing out on Casino Pier's kiddie coaster and Steel Pier, my plan to make Laff Trakk my 400th coaster got derailed. Laff Trakk ended up being credit 399. With no new credits at Knoebels or DelGrosso's, my next credit was slated to be non other than Kennywood's Phantom! No not the awesome Morgan coaster. No the bait for a credit whore, Lil Phantom. However, on principle I really did not want that credit to be number 400. Or the dinky little coaster at Fun Fore All. Instead I found a park I had never been to in Idlewild. I had heard the park was a nice traditional park that catered more to kids. If the Rollo Coaster were open, Idlewild would have been a no-brainer but I was originally intending to pass it since the only other coaster they had was a wild mouse. When I thought about it, I decided I'd rather have a mouse as credit 400 rather than a kiddie coaster (skipping the kiddie coasters wasn't something I considered ). When I pulled into the parking lot I was greeted with a list of closed rides. Rollo Coaster. Expected. Tilt-a-Whirl. Didn't care. Wild Mouse. No! Don't do this to me Idlewild. The sign did have an asterisk next to Wild Mouse saying it would open later. I hoped later wasn't too late so I wouldn't eat too much into my time at Kennywood. I decided to take a gamble and entered into the park. With Wild Mouse down, my first stop was the most unique thing about Idlewild, the Story Book Forest. I remember seeing bits of it on Great Old Amusement Parks (still my favorite theme park special) and thought it looked cool. Though the only thing I really remember was the tiny little keyhole and I'm proud to say I fit through as well as a B&M wing coaster. Story Book Forest was the real gem of the park. This would be a hysterical and cruel go/no go gauge for a roller coaster. "You must fit through the key hole to ride. No exceptions." The area definitely seems frozen in time. Most of the sections were well taken care of despite their age. The thing that most impressed me was the size. I was expecting a short little area. Instead it was a huge, sprawling area that passed through many of the children's stories I remember loving as a kid. I think the Story Book Forest took up at least half the park's area. This definitely is a must in a visit to Idlewild and shouldn't be skipped over despite there being shiny credits on the other side of the park. It probably took me about a half hour to walk through and it was really relaxing. Shady and laid back. The area is, as our president would say, yuge. I remember when Duke was just at Dutch Wonderland. The wannabe Barney has claimed another park. I mean look at him Captain Morgan that barrel. If you stick your finger in the well, I bet you'll find the pussy. Jack be nimble. Jack be quick. Jack took the flame to the dick. The first ride I stumbled upon after leaving the Story Book Forest was Paul Bunyan's Loggin' Toboggan. The flume is kind of in a weird spot as it's off in its own little area (Hootin' Holler) along with a random spinning ride, separated from the rest of the amusement rides. This is where I learned about a major flaw at Idlewild, capacity. While I thought Lake Compounce was bad for only having 4 logs running on their flume, Idlewild beat them by running half that. Despite only having 20 or so people ahead of me in line, I had to wait almost 20 minutes. They wouldn't send out a log until the previous one returned. Aside from the poor capacity, Paul Bunyan was cute. Not the muscular logger, but the ride. This may be the shortest layout I've ever seen for a flume, but I'll take a short flume over no flume. The drop fits in with the rest of the ride as it's comparably small. I'd guess it's maybe only 20ft tall. However, it was decently steep so it was a solid drop. Overall it was a fun flume and perfect for the park, but I wasn't going to wait for it a second time as the line had gotten a little longer. 6 out of 10 Phew, glad I timed that since it would have been another 2-3 minutes for the next log. This is pretty much the entirety of the layout. The drop is equally as short but decently steep. Overall a solid flume and perfect for the park. I was planning on stopping at Kennywood's Potato Patch later in the day, but I didn't have to wait that long as I passed by Idlewild's version of the popular food stand. Typically I only get the plain fries but on this day I was feeling daring. I was in the mood for an artery clogging mountain of gluttony. Potato Patch provided that with the cheesy bacon fries. The first few were quite good. Extremely cheesy and tons of bacon bits, but by the second layer and beyond had gotten very soggy, which was disappointing. I also started to feel like I'd have a heart attack, and this is from someone who routinely orders one pound burgers at Fuddruckers. I think I'll stick to the regular fries in the future since after the first few fries, they were really diminishing returns due to the sogginess. This outhouse looking building has a name well known with theme park enthusiasts. The first layer was as good as it looked. The second layer and beyond was soggy and I could feel the heart attack. I decided it was time to check on Wild Mouse. Unlike when I optimistically walked to Jukebox Junction last month only to find a giant wooden lawn ornament, I saw an open queue line and an adorable mouse car high above the treetops. Sweet credit 400 here I come! I just wasn't expecting a 45 minute wait. Much like the flume, the Wild Mouse had a painstakingly slow line. The park only had two cars and they couldn't dispatch the next car until the previous one completed its circuit. Thankfully the line was shady and provided some great views of the ride. Credit 400! Your eyes aren't deceiving you. The lift hill is actually banked. No seriously, it is! Going in, the only thing I knew about this mouse was the awkward tilted lift hill and it was a Vekoma. I was impressed to see how expansive the layout was for a Wild Mouse. It was nicely tucked between the trees and had a custom layout with quite a few drops. Finally I boarded and everyone rejoiced for credit 400. And when I say everyone, I mean just me. The first two drops were quite fast and had really nice pops of air after, much stronger than air I've gotten on any other mouse. The turns were pretty good and the laterals got heavier and heavier as the ride progressed. Plus the ride felt much longer than your average mouse. This is my new favorite traditional wild mouse. The first two drops were really good for a wild mouse and the hills after had good air. Just look at that layout. There really is no mouse like it. The laterals got more intense as the ride progressed. Aside from the line, the only other bad part were the brakes. Typically you have to brace while riding Vekomas, but that's because most of their loopers are medieval torture devices that try and turn your skull to porridge. On this one, the brakes are brutal. The park has signs warning riders since the brakes bring the train to a full and very abrupt stop. This is most evident in the station where the operator by the unloading area is specifically warning riders when the stops are coming. Still this was a minor issue since I knew to brace myself after the first one. Overall this was a great wild mouse coaster and I just wish the capacity were higher so I could have ridden twice. 7 out of 10 They aren't kidding. Assume Vekoma brace position. I got lucky with Wild Mouse opening. No such luck for Rollo Coaster, but I knew that would be the case considering the circumstances why the ride was down. The trains didn't look any different from old photos, so I wonder if they're ordering entirely new trains with new restraints. The ride looked fantastic with the classic station and its natural setting. It reminded me of a mini Boulder Dash. Hopefully the park can get the Rollo Coaster open again soon and I'd love to drop in for a ride when it does open. Everything about the Rollo Coaster looks like a classic woodie. Hope they can get this running again soon. The Skooter has a classic arena too. Let's take a look! Boo. Those modern cars look hideous. The Olde Idlewild area is where the park keeps most of the rides. This is the area with the two coasters and a majority of the park's flats. Like the Story Book Forest, their flat collection seems frozen in time since they only seemed to have older rides and all of them were of the family-friendly variety. I took a ride on their Spider and flying scooters. The Spider was fun and the tubs were extremely easy to spin. The Flying Aces (flying scooters) was a major disappointment. With the rest of the park's classics, I was hoping for a snappable set of scooters. Instead I was greeted with a modern Larson installation, which sadly meant no snapping. They were run decently fast, but the fins didn't have enough movement to get any snapping. The cycle was also painfully short. I wish there were more spiders out there. These are some really fun flats. Sigh, Larson scooters. Well at least I got my snapping at Knoebels. The always classic Ferris Wheel. The park is very proud of their history. Several classic rides had plaques like the one found on the Merry-Go-Round. They really weren't kidding that the Tilt-a-Whirl would be closed. I'm going out on a limb and guessing this has been closed longer than the Tilt-a-Whirl. Idlewild also had 4 other areas- SoakZone water park, Racoon Lagoon kids area, Jumpin' Jungle play structure, and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. I didn't venture into the water park, but it definitely seemed to be one of the smaller ones I've been to. I was disappointed to find out Mister Rogers was replaced with Daniel Tiger. I grew up loving Mister Rogers, so finding whatever the eff Daniel Tiger is wasn't a nice surprise for me. I walked over to the area and didn't see a trolley in sight, so I decided to skip out after seeing how putrid the capacities on the flume and Wild Mouse were. Soak Zone is a pretty small water park from what I could see. These play structures are going to come in handy when I have kids. A key to getting a good night sleep. WTF is a Daniel Tiger. Please don't tell me he replaced Mister Rogers. Sigh, I was bummed to see Daniel Tiger here instead of Mister Rogers. The ride still seemed popular though. After about 2 hours, I decided it was time to hit the road to get some thrill rides in at Kennywood. Idlewild is definitely successful where it tries. The park is a paradise for kids with the family friendly rides, well-shaded pathways, and laid back atmosphere. I would have loved having this park growing up. As a thrill-seeker, this is one of those parks that I really couldn't spend an entire day at though. I will be back someday when the Rollo Coaster opens, but that will probably be on a day that I also visit Kennywood.

Obviously I really want to get on Lightning Rod, but having Tennessee Tornado, Mystery Mine, and Wild Eagle isn't a bad consolation considering this isn't a week long vacation like last time.

The trip reports (Link) I've been compiling include some missing parks and rides. New Parks Funplex- Free Fall, Fun Coaster, Fun Force, Fun Twister, Tilt-a-Whirl Missing Rides Clementon- King Neptune's Revenge (log flume), Vintage Carousel Idlewild- Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood Sesame Place- Blast Off, Captain Cookie's High C's Adventure, Elmo's Cloud Chaser, Flyin' Fish, Flying Cookie Jars, Honker Dinger Derby, Monster Mix-Up, Peek-a-bug, Sunny Day Carousel

At least it's better than the front row which has a longer wait. Lake Compounce is the worst since it seems like every other train on Boulder Dash has someone coming up the exit and they always pick the front. That wouldn't be as big of an issue if they'd run two trains.

I avoid any park on the weekends for that same reason, I always try to do parks on a Tuesday or Wednesday as these always seems like the least busiest days. But with work sometimes weekends are the only option. I like to go to parks on days with rain in the forecast since it keeps people away. I had a dead Sunday a few months back at Holiday World and Splashin' Safari and it was glorious.

Don't we all?

The ride is fine as is and definitely didn't need the VR. Maybe Joker was closed? I had pretty bad luck with that ride last year.

Great report! I almost went to Six Flags St. Louis a few months ago but switched it out for Indiana Beach and Michigan's Adventure instead. Looks like a pretty nice Six Flags park.

I would buy in advance. They do sell out on the unlimited. I would take the chance for an extra 10, especially on a Saturday. Also if it is this Saturday temps will be very hot. Heat index around 105. If you have a good pass it’s only 40. Sorry if I'm oblivious but where on the website can I buy a Timesaver in advance? Edit- Nevermind I found it on the add-ons page. I was looking by the tickets.

Haha I usually ate the food too fast to take pictures of it. I've never had anything bad foodwise there. I'm hoping I finally am lucky this time with Lightning Rod. Missed it last year, missed it last month, and last weekend's CD made me extremely nervous. Though if it's down at least I didn't plan an entire trip for it. I was down there for something else this Sunday.

I have 12 hours. I'd like to think it will run for at least an hour before the temps get too high.

Thanks! If Lightning Rod is open I am definitely getting the Unlimited Time Saver for Saturday.

How many time savers are there on a given day? Especially since it's supposedly single use for Lightning Rod unless they still aren't enforcing that on unlimited.

I think it was likely the state of the ride. It was a 30-40 something year old Arrow.

Well that's a long wait. With one train running, would that queue possibly be extending out of the ride building?

I wasn't planning on hitting DelGrosso's, but had a few free hours and it was only 20 minutes away. Since my last visit, it seems the park has focused heavily on general park improvements. It's too bad they couldn't build Libertyland's old loop-screw since they are in dire need of another coaster. I know these coasters aren't popular with enthusiasts, but when the only adult coaster is a Crazy Mouse, that would definitely fill a niche.

I didn't have tickets in my visit last month, but I also was only there for the first hour and could reride El Toro without getting off. They were enforcing everyone's favorite locker policy though.

This could open fully before Lightning Rod. I know the latter is an entirely different ride and is out of technical rehearsal, but it had a 2 year head start and it's really frustrating it still isn't running reliably.

The other thing weird with redoing Paradise Pier as Pixar Pier is that the park has two full lands to Pixar properties nearby. Anything that adds extra theming is something I'm on board with since that back area didn't feel fully like a Disney park.

This is false. Wicked Cyclone closed around this time and was ready for the next season. This. Plus Georgia won't have to deal with the New England winter, so I think they left themselves more than enough time. NTAG was a much larger coaster.

I absolutely loved Waldameer. They have one of the best rain policies I've ever seen and I had a full day there with no lines. It was amazing. DelGrosso's is a nice park, but I wouldn't really be able to spend a whole day there.