Canobie Coaster

I've never waited beyond the staircase inside the station for Storm Runner. Maybe I've just been lucky.

Just like with Six Flags New England's Bizarro. It had audio and fire effects, but now neither are used. I am kind of shocked that they would remove a simple figure though since Six Flags New England has been pretty good with that over the years.

Fahrenheit and Sidewinder (if you want to ride that one) are the only two major coasters that might get really long, slow-moving lines. I highly recommend hitting Fahrenheit early since it's an amazing coaster that has a little of everything (drops, inversions, air-time) but is plagued by painfully slow loading and a dismal hourly throughput. The other coasters are really good with capacity and should be no problem at all. At worst, you might have to wait 30-45 minutes for Skyrush, the Comet, and the Great Bear.

Another ride I want to add is the S&S Sky Swatter. Six Flags New England just removed their's this year (Catapult) and now the only one left is at Thorpe Park. While the ride was fun, the restraints were kind of painful and it was frequently closed. I overheard employees by the ride talking about how much the park's maintenance staff hated Catapult and found it a pain in the you know what. I wonder if this is the main reason S&S stopped making them.

For the last coaster, keep in mind Darien Lake was still owned by Parc and not Herschend. Plus, the MotoCoaster is a production model and required a lot less time to set up than a major new coaster. If they are indeed building a new, custom coaster for next year, I would imagine that it would be announced in the next month.

I didn't notice that the flume's hill seemed faster when I was there earlier this year. Although I wasn't really looking for it. I'll keep an eye out for it the next time I'm there. Those are the typical crowds for Canobie during the summer months. It doesn't matter if it's a weekend or a weekday. The park does very well for itself. I've also found that Untamed has one of the best crews in the park. Not only are they very efficient, but they usually have a good sense of humor and really get everyone pumped up for the ride as well.

Goliath has been pretty good at Six Flags New England when I've been there. It was closed earlier this season when they were trying to get the new trains running, but when the ride has its old train on and ready to go, it has been pretty reliable. I think I've only seen it broken down once in three visits and it was back up and running after just 15 minutes. Kingda Ka meanwhile I have seen breakdowns similar to that. The first time I visited Great Adventure, Kingda Ka broke down twice when I tried to reserve it with the Flash Pass and then it broke down again when I finally got in line. It definitely helped build up some extra suspense for the coaster since I had never been on either of the strata coasters before.

I might be heading to Lake Compounce in a few weeks. I can either go on a Friday evening, all day on a Saturday, or a Sunday afternoon. I'm leaning towards the Saturday since I would get a full day at the park plus I would be able to ride Boulder Dash at night at long last since it is open until 10 on Saturdays. How are crowds at Lake Compounce on Saturdays?

I don't think I'll be there. I went earlier in the season, but Equinox was down so I was debating making a second trip. However, I made plans to go to Lake Compounce instead since I haven't been there in a few years and Boulder Dash is calling my name.

Great pictures! It's too bad Six Flags Over Texas wasn't as good as it has been in the past. I've never made it down there, but it always seemed like a very nice park from the photos and seemed to have a lot of character and charm. That's really cool about what the Windstorm's operator did! I love ops who go out of the way to help make the experience better. While I've never been sprayed with water, I've had numerous operators tell jokes and riddles during flat rides. It sounds silly, but their extra effort really goes a long way.

That looks exactly like the Flying Falcon's cycle at Hershey and I loved it. It's too bad a lot of himalayas no longer run backwards. I rode Cannonball Express before Six Flags bought the park and remember it going backwards.

Blizzard was amazing! I've never been on a faster scrambler and I really liked how the park moved it back indoors. The Cannonball Express himalaya was playing music this weekend so maybe you just caught it on a bad day.

The two guys I saw flip came off laughing thankfully. I didn't get a chance to try the outside lane personally.

That describes the cycle that I got on Hersheypark's Flying Falcon. Condor didn't stop at the top when I rode it. I personally prefer the mat racer with bumps the whole way down. The enclosed and twisted section is fun, but I prefer the bumps the whole way down, especially since more speed is built up. I did see two people on the outside lane gain enough speed that their mat flipped upside down when exiting the enclosed section.

^ I agree Six Flags New England's Mind Eraser is smoother than other SLCs. The ones at Darien Lake, Six Flags America, and Canada's Wonderland are considerably rougher.

This past weekend, I spent two days at the Great Escape. Despite being a Six Flags property, the park still maintains a good deal of its original charm and is a very nice park to visit. While the Comet may be the park's only exceptional coaster, the rest of the park has a good collection of flats and some decent coasters. Then the water park is one of my favorites anywhere. On Saturday, the park wasn't that busy. The forecast originally called for bad thunderstorms, but both the storms and the crowds stayed away. My longest waits were related to capacity and loading rather than lines. I waited about 20 minutes for Blizzard. But the worst wait was 30 minutes for the new Cliffhanger water slide when there was just 15 people ahead of me. An aqua pod speed slide, the employee at the top of the slide would weigh every rider and then spend a minute explaining the proper riding position and safety. I understand the importance for rider safety, but I think a poster or audio would greatly expedite the loading process because the expected hourly capacity at this rate would be just 30 riders. The slide itself was amazing and a major thrill. The drop was incredibly suspenseful and intense and most importantly, it was surprisingly smooth and comfortable. On Sunday, lines were considerably longer as the weather was beautiful. I didn't have too much time in the park since I had to get on the road by the early afternoon, but I was able to get several rides in on the Comet, which is still one of my favorite coasters anywhere. The coaster has impeccable pacing. Every hill provides air-time and the ride also mixes in some very strong laterals, especially on the first and final turnarounds. I think I'm at the Great Escape. Sasquatch is a pretty good S&S tower that gives some great views of the beautiful Adirondack Mountains and Lake George. I prefer the drop side myself for the better views and thrills. The Comet is easily the park's star attraction and is what really put the Great Escape on the map for coaster enthusiasts. The first drop really packs a wallop. Unlike most coasters where the lift slows down as the train approaches the apex, the Comet's train speeds up. I don't know of any other coaster that does that. The Comet's turnarounds provide some really strong laterals. There is air-time on every hill. Even during the final hills, the Comet is still flying through the course. Despite being the park's most popular attraction, it has some of the shortest waits in the entire park thanks to speedy two-train operations. The Alpine Bobsled is one of three remaining Intamin bobsleds. I was happy to grab two rides on the Bobsled. It doesn't operate past 6 PM and has a really low capacity. Oh Canada! The best photos of the Bobsled can be grabbed in its queue line. During two of the turns, the Bobsled momentarily left the track which was really unexpected and thrilling. Great Escape is home to my favorite Boomerang. It's glass-smooth from start to finish while maintaining its trademark intensity. The Steamin' Demon is the first coaster one sees when they approach the Great Escape. I enjoy Canobie's Corkscrew; however, this Arrow was considerably rougher. The first drop provides the trademark Arrow ejector air and the following loop is quite forceful. But the ride goes downhill from there. The corkscrews were filled with jackhammering and were very uncomfortable. Oops, I almost forgot the ride's sign. Splashwater Kingdom, the park's attached water park, is one of my favorites. They have a great collection of slides, highlighted by the Alpine Freefall slide complex which opened last year. Cliffhanger was outstanding. It was my first drop pod water slide. Unlike most rides, I was genuinely afraid before my first ride on this one. New for 2013 is the Screamin' Eagles. It has a very nice location next to a stream. The range of movement on these scooters was excellent. While I wasn't able to snap them, I saw one or two people snap them. Huss Condors are relatively rare, but I really enjoy them. This one isn't as fast as the others I've been on, but the views at the top of this one are superior. I've never been on the park's Sky Ride, but it travels through a good portion of the front of the park. The park's Grand Carousel is a modern, fiberglass carousel but it looks really nice. While the pumpkin coach no longer runs, the castle still adds a nice feel to the park. This is the only picture of Canyon Blaster that I got. In past years I've found it boring, but this year they reversed the back three cars and it made a major difference. It's far more enjoyable now.

Last year I went to Kings Dominion on a very hot (90-95 degree) and sunny Tuesday. I got on all the coasters without a problem. Backlot Stunt Coaster and Volcano had the two worst waits at 20-30 minutes, which is not bad at all. Intimidator and Flight of Fear had two to three train waits. Then the wooden coasters, Dominator, Avalanche, and Shockwave were all walk-ons.

I've found Mind Eraser's line to be a wild card. On some days, I have seen it's queue stretch into the covered, wooden queue house. Other times I can walk right up to the station. I've never seen a medium wait in the 15-30 minute range. It's either a walk-on or completely packed.

Adding the proposed Lake Monster coaster would definitely get me back to Darien Lake. I really enjoyed the park, but thought they needed one more awesome coaster to make them a major coaster destination and this would definitely do it.

I really like rides with great pacing. From start to finish, I want the ride to be exciting and fun. For example, Martin's Fantasy Island's Silver Comet may not provide the world's craziest airtime or craziest laterals, but from start to finish the ride has a good course and a wide variety of elements such as air-time hills, banked turns, and drops. Meanwhile, Six Flags New England's Cyclone has an insane first drop and another epic drop midway through the course, but the rest of the ride is rather slow and boring. Then a ride's smoothness is a major factor for me.

Excellent photos! That's a really strong assortment of rides. And who wouldn't love those dachshund races. The big local carnival near me, the Marshfield Fair, has pig races every year and for some reason the wiener dog races reminded me of them.

The only rides that make me feel sick are some pendulum rides like swinging ships or Huss frisbees. I'm perfectly ok on the larger and faster pendulum rides like a S&S Screamin' Swing, Technical Park Street Fighter, or a Chance Revolution, but a swinging ship will always cause me to feel a bit queasy probably due to the slower rocking speed. Then in the past two years I've found that Huss frisbees can make me feel queasy afterwards as well.

I definitely ride roller coasters for the fun of it rather than to accumulate credits just for the sake of it. When I'm at a park, I'm not thinking about how I rank coasters. Instead when I get off a ride I usually have one of four thoughts. 1) "That was amazing! I have to ride it again." 2) "That was good. Maybe I'll ride again now if the line isn't bad. If not, I'll come back later." 3) "That was ok. I'll maybe come back later." 4) "That wasn't so good. I'd rather go on other rides." Then in the offseason I rank all of the coasters I've been on since it's fun and a good way to keep the hobby going in the winter. I find it easy to rank my top 10, but after that it becomes murky as there are different types of coasters. For example, ranking between standard production models are tough. Then it's hard to compare highly themed Disney coasters such as Expedition Everest with a coaster such as the Great Bear.

My list has changed quite a bit since the last time I posted in this thread. Steel Coasters 1) Skyrush (Hersheypark)- The first drop last year was insane. The lift really throws the car over the top and I experienced the most forceful air-time I've encountered. Then halfway down the hill, the drop somehow provides a second burst of ejector air which is unlike anything I have ever experienced. 2) Intimidator 305 (Kings Dominion)- That first drop is outstanding. It gives major air-time the whole way down and is breathtaking. 3) Phantom's Revenge (Kennywood)- The second drop is deserving of all the praise that it gets, especially at night. It seems to go on forever and picks up incredible speed while launching riders out of their seats. Wooden Coasters 1) Cyclone (Coney Island)- I rode this classic in the very back seat at night. That drop absolutely blew me away and was like nothing I've ever experienced. I was completely ejected from my seat (no seatbelts) and I was completely caught off guard by how steep and violent the descent was. While old, this takes the cake for the best drop I have ever experienced on a coaster. 2) Jack Rabbit (Kennywood)- That double down is legendary. The drop gives huge ejector air and feels more like a drop on a drop tower than on a roller coaster. It's that awesome! 3) El Toro (Six Flags Great Adventure)- It's tall. It's fast. It's steep. And it completely ejects riders. What else hasn't been said?

That's a shame. I remember a few years ago how they had just repainted Mind Eraser and it looked really nice.