Canobie Coaster

I decided to be a guinea pig for Indiana Beach since I had booked a hotel in the area before photos from the opening event circulated. Here's what I saw. Temperature checks were not done when I entered at park opening, but they were when I re-entered in the afternoon. Hand sanitizer was stationed at the entrance of most rides and shops. The only place I noticed it missing was by Fascination, which is probably one of the places you'd need it most. I did not notice any cleaning breaks or wipedowns for ride vehicles. It is true that they were loading every row on the coasters like nothing was wrong. On Lost Coaster, the op would ask if you were comfortable sharing the caged car with another group. I'm not sure if that's because of social distancing or because it'd be a tight fit for 4 adults. There were social distance markers in all the queue lines. The op working the Ferris Wheel said there were more, but they were washed away when it rained shortly after they were placed. I hope they go back and re-add them especially for Lost Coaster. In terms of the crowds, it was comparable to my visit on Memorial Day weekend 2017. There was a healthy amount of people, but almost everything was a walk on. It is true that very few guests wore masks, but as I saw in Myrtle Beach, guests seemed to respect my space while queuing. On Lost Coaster in particular, I started queuing outside of the switchbacks just to avoid getting crammed in there and no one behind me had an issue. In terms of the rides, this was much better than my visit in 2017. On that visit, 5 of the 6 coasters broke down by the end of the night. On this visit, Lost Coaster and Steel Hawg just had some downtime at the start of the day. And the only rides closed all day were the log flume and Paratrooper. So in short, Indiana Beach has felt like the most normal park I have visited. But I didn't feel unsafe since people respected my distance in queue lines and I just kept using the sanitizer.

Pretty sure I met you at Lightning Run (I was in the El Toro shirt) and thanks again for warning me it was down for the day before I made the hike all the way back there. At least Lightning Run is a great way to end the day!

The Holiday World example where the big rides have a virtual queue and the less popular ones are listed as "Ride Now" seem to be the best compromise.

As far as I can tell, the only thing Indiana Beach really did during that even was a temperature check. Everything else (social distancing and masks) is encouraged but not required by staff or employees. This is surprising since a local news article said rows would be blocked off and employees would wear masks, but there was no evidence of that in the photos shared. It also says you need to reserve a visit, but I can't find anything online about having to reserve a day. https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2020/06/24/indiana-beach-prepares-saturday-reopening-general-public/3249122001/

I'm one of the biggest Splash Mountain fans so this is sobering for me to see, but after letting it sink in for a few minutes I may be ok with this. The reason I love Splash Mountain is because it's a long ride that tells a complete story (while mixing in drops). As long as Disney goes all out and leaves no dead spots with the theming, I think the retheme could be just as special of a ride. The conversion of Maelstrom into Frozen was a big upgrade in my mind. And one I was more skeptical about was the West Coast retheme of Tower of Terror into Guardians. I love the Hollywood Tower/Twilight Zone theme, but they did a fantastic job with that ride and I preferred it to the version it replaced. Disney has earned the benefit of the doubt. Although I do wish Chip n Dale finally got their own ride if I could pick what it were being rethemed to.

^ SkyScreamer and the mine train opened towards the end of the day.

^ Mr. Freeze was the worst, especially since it only had one train going and 4 rows available.

^ Very interesting and odd. Thanks for sharing!

^ It definitely looks and rides like a classic!

I tried the Live Chat and the representative was shocked there wasn't a cancel for the user. The rep was able to cancel my reservations for me.

Am I missing something on the reservation portal or is there not a way to cancel a reservation? I couldn't find a way to cancel them (just move them), so I pushed mine for the Texas parks way out in the future to avoid the penalty.

Wow these parks were ready to go once they got the go-ahead!

I feel like Swamp Fox would have gotten a lot more attention over the years if it always ran like this, so I'm not sure if they retracked it around the time they repainted it.

Pistolero Roundup was a ton of fun, but I still have to give the edge to Swamp Fox because of how well it was running.

^ It was not. I rode the same model at Adventuredome and wasn't impressed, so I wasn't too bummed it was closed.

Family Kingdom Drop Tower has been renamed Slingshot. Swamp Fox got a new paint scheme. The index's Yo-Yo photo is blank, so I have one below. Below are photos of the Antique Cars and Dodgem rides that are missing. Free Fall Thrill Park I'm not sure if you want to add this park or not, but it has a few flats in Skyfall, Sundance, and possibly a Screamin' Swing (unsure if it's being built, removed, or under rehab). Skyfall Skyfall Skyfall Sundance Screamin' Swing (unsure if it's being built, removed, or rehabbed) Pavilion Park This park has a SBF spinner plus several flat rides. American Swing Beast Beast Broadway 360 Observation Wheel Broadway 360 Observation Wheel Drop Tower Drop Tower Moonraker 20 Moonraker 20 Myrtle Turtle Pipeline Slide Rock & Roll Scrambler Speed XXL Speed XXL Wave Swinger The Rocket used to operate at the park, but I found it in pieces in a parking lot by the gas station near the park. Rocket

My SeaWorld San Diego Platinum Pass (that I paid for in full) was accepted at the parking booth, but not the front gate. I had to wait in the general ticket line (15-20 groups, 1-2 windows open) to get it sorted out. Has anyone else had a similar issue? It sounded like the error was caused by the San Diego park currently being closed. I saw multiple employees asking guests to put their facemasks back on, but guests were only putting them on until that employee looked away or wearing them below their nose. As for the operations, they were bad. Rides ran at quarter capacity with glacially slow cleaning cycles in between. I wish the park would use the hand sanitizer system of Universal Orlando or even the power washer system Family Kingdom used on Swamp Fox.

Great report! The park looks to have a great setting in the woods and I never get tired of seeing boat jump photos. Although the reason I originally heard of this park was for that bizarre, now-removed water slide (Fly Over) where you were sucked through a tube and had to hold your breath.

^ It's a solid little park. I'm not surprised Quick Draw isn't as well maintained considering it's at a Six Flags park.

^ I'm not surprised. Governor Baker was careful to schedule Phase 2 after Memorial Day weekend so I'm not surprised he'd do the same to wait until after the Fourth of July for Phase 3. I thought Six Flags was arguing they could open at some point during Phase 3 after they were originally lumped in Phase 4?

My corona coaster fast came to an end last week as I was able to visit the most successful amusement park in Myrtle Beach. There she is, Freestyle Music Park. Social distancing was super easy at Freestyle Music Park. So you can probably guess I didn't actually go to Freestyle Music Park, but I did pass by it on the way back to the airport curious to see if anything still remained. Sure enough, the sign is still there at the corner of Fantasy Harbour Boulevard and George Bishop Parkway. And you can catch a glimpse of the abandoned entrance plaza from the adjacent Crossfit complex. Family Kingdom I did however visit Family Kingdom, which by default is the most successful park in Myrtle Beach considering it still stands to this day unlike Freestyle Music Park and Myrtle Beach Pavilion. My primary reason for visiting this park was to ride Swamp Fox, the park's classic John Allen wooden coaster. I don't usually hear much about this ride, so I was expecting it to either be a super rough wooden coaster or a really slow and dull woodie. Much to my shock, it was a borderline top 10 wooden coaster for me! Unlike Freestyle Music Park, Family Kingdom is actually by the beach. The Legendary (per the park) Swamp Fox in all her glory. Swamp Fox has buzz bars and since the park instructs riders to fasten the seatbelt over the divider, you have a lot of room to experience airtime. And this coaster delivers it in droves. The first, second, and fourth drop deliver serious ejector airtime in the back. It was as powerful as the fifth drop on the Raven except with much more minimalistic restraints. Meanwhile up front, the powerful ejector airtime occurred on the 2nd hill and two turnarounds. The rest of the ride has a series of smaller bunny hills and speed hills. The first bunny hill rode normally, giving an abrupt pop of airtime. But the other bunny hills rode a bit differently. You know how RMC has those speed hills after the first drop on rides like Steel Vengeance, Untamed, and Twisted Colossus? And how those speed hills sort of throw you forwards rather than upwards? Swamp Fox's other bunny hills do the same. Except on Swamp Fox, you don't have the tight restraint. So the airtime moments throw you diagonally forwards. It was really odd to experience both horizontal and vertical airtime simultaneously. The only other coaster time I've experienced that uninhibited is on Phoenix's double down. Not only does Swamp Fox deliver some of the best airtime I've experienced with a buzz bar, but it also rides pretty darn smoothly. Sure it has some bumps here and there, but it's much smoother than you'd expect for a 50+ year old woodie. 9.5 out of 10 The second Swamp Fox crested this drop, I knew I was in for a treat. Every single hill delivers some intense airtime. I love buzz bars. And I also love chaser lights. There's a lot to love about Swamp Fox. My other interest in visiting Family Kingdom was to experience the Great Pistolero Round-Up, a shooting dark ride that is noteworthy for three reasons. One, it was Sally's first interactive shooter. Two, it was built in an old Mexican restaurant. Three, it is arguably the most politically incorrect ride you'll find in the United States. The story is simple. Some Mexicans robbed a bank and you need to help the Federales track them down in a Mexican restauarant where (and this is literally said by the animatronic in the queue line) they won't be moving too fast since they've had too much tequila. So you're given a gun and told to blast anything you see. Every single target works and reacts in some way. Sometimes you'd hit a barrel and it would spin. Other times you'd hit a mirror and another high-value target would reveal itself. Or if you shoot the woman towards the end, her skirt falls down. The only issue with the Pistolero Round-Up was its woefully short length. It was barely over a minute in length. 8.5 out of 10 Shoot the bandits who have had too much to drink (his words, not mine). Use the guns to shoot people (no really you do that). Paco's Cantina, a former Mexican restaurant that is now the dark ride's show-building. Call of Duty trained me well for this moment. And if you shoot this woman, she'll show her appreciation and drop her skirt. The other adult coaster at this park was Twist 'n' Shout, the cursed Zamperla wild mouse that killed two riders at Gillian's Wonderland Pier and ejected another rider at Magic Springs. But at Family Kingdom, it has a perfect safety record. The Zamperla mice tend to have stronger laterals than the Mack and Maurer mouse due to the lack of braking and Twist 'n' Should was no different. 6 out of 10 Few mice have better laterals than this one. The park also has a kiddie coaster, but it's off-limits to adults. But if you are really desperate for a third credit, I'm sure a few credit hunters out there would count their Log Flume since it has an uphill section (I for one don't). That being said, it's a decent log flume. For a park pressed for space, I'm impressed Family Kingdom went with a custom layout. There isn't much to see along the course (unless you like looking at a Friendly's), but the drops are solid. 7 out of 10 Like Zoom Phloom, this flume goes below ground level. Except this one immediately comes back up. The only other noteworthy attraction is the park's Carousel that is nearly 100 years old. It was relocated to Family Kingdom sometime in the 1990s. In general, the park is divided into two sections by a stream. One side has Swamp Fox and most of the adult flats. The other side has the kiddie rides and the newer attractions. I also found that the staff tended to be on the older side and they were among the friendliest I've encountered at any park. The stream in the center really gives this park a different feel than most seaside parks. And since I visited after the covid-19 lockdown, I want to also talk about the precautions Family Kingdom has implemented and if the crowd respects them. - Social Distancing- The park has markers in the queue lines, but most people were not following them. However, when people saw me in a mask, they tended to give me the 6 feet. For Swamp Fox, they were seating guests in every other row. And on other rides, you were given your own vehicle. - Masks- Most guests were not wearing masks, although this was the location in Myrtle Beach where I saw the most masks being worn. Roughly half the employees were wearing masks, but a few were pulling them down to speak to guests which defeated the purpose. - Cleaning- The park was wiping down vehicles in between cycles. And they did so quite quickly, so it didn't cause much of a delay. On Swamp Fox, they actually had a power washer to quickly disinfect the train. All rides had hand sanitizer available at the ride entrances and exits. Oddly, there was no soap available in the lone bathroom either day I visited. The Ferris Wheel was in pieces for my visit. I am unsure if that was due to coronavirus slowing their offseason work or if it's being removed. I had always considered adding Family Kingdom and Myrtle Beach onto a Carowinds trip, but I ironically made the trip down when Carowinds was closed. Family Kingdom was a much nicer seaside park than expected and Swamp Fox alone made the trip worthwhile. It took me 27 years to finally visit Myrtle Beach, but this ride will cause me to return sooner than that.

In the reopening guidelines, the restriction is if you've been on public transportation outside of NH, VT, or ME. So it looks like Massachusetts residents can go if they aren't using the MBTA to get to work.

^ Where did you see that? The site I've been using doesn't mention any quarantine entering New Hampshire. My biggest issue is the self quarantine upon returning to Massachusetts from any state. I'm willing to do it for a more distant park/longer trip, but I'm not willing to do that after a daytrip to my local park. So I'll wait until Massachusetts lifts that restriction.

^ I agree, a condensed and edited video showing the highlights is better than having an hour long vlog with a ton of filler. Huh. Not that we saw. There was no signage anywhere or anything on the app that would have suggested this was even a possibility. Those rides say XX minute wait or virtual line on the wait time page on the app. Maybe the virtual queue only happens if the queue hits a certain length? The only three that appear active today are the ones you mentioned.

Were other rides switched onto the virtual queue over the course of the day? I've seen Mummy, Kong, and Forbidden Journey as rides that could operate with a virtual queue. I really like Hagrid's and I feel awful for saying this, but I do prefer it to Dueling Dragons. That being said, I wish there was a way Dueling Dragons could have remained at the park and Hagrid's be built elsewhere.