Canobie Coaster

Or, they could be do the same bait-and-switch that they've done before - remove a ride, yes, but install an identical new ride in its place. That's fair. I can't think of a time Knoebels removed a ride and didn't replace it in some way.

Parque Warner Madrid After a week of cool and rainy temperatures, I was in for a rude awakening at Parque Warner Madrid. I had already started to melt earlier that morning at Parque de Atracciones Madrid, but that park had lots of shade. Parque Warner Madrid did not, which was a problem on a 100+ degree day. I was actually stunned to learn this used to be a Six Flags park. It looked far too nice! The only things reminding me of Six Flags were the DC and Looney Tunes characters. This park looked too nice to have once been a Six Flags park. Even the bumper cars are very well themed. Pressed for time, I grabbed a skip-the-line pass and immediately ducked into Aventura de Scooby-Doo for some glorious air-conditioning. It was also a decent shooter. It wasn’t too long, but all the targets worked. This was essentially Boo Blasters. The funny part is that the Cedar Fair Boo Blasters started as Scooby-Doo dark rides. I always thought those rides must have stripped out a ton of theming when they were converted, but it was indistinguishable from this ride. 6 out of 10 Ruh roh Raggy. The AC was refreshing, but I needed a more permanent solution. So I took a ride on Rapidos ACME. As a river rapids ride, this ride is a failure. The rapids do nothing. In fact, the most powerful rapid is oddly located in the station itself. But it succeeds as a soaker. Rather than using rapids, this one uses Looney Tunes themed sprayers and waterfalls. I actually prefer this approach for the uniqueness. Story Land does something similar with Dr. Geyser’s, but this one was considerably longer, wetter, and better themed. 9 out of 10 Usually I'm praying the waterfalls miss me. Not today. Soaked to the bone, I figured it was a good time to ride the junior coasters. Adults dread sitting in wet seats, but kids eat that sort of thing up. So I felt no guilt riding them. Correcaminos Bip Bip surprised me. I was expecting something along the lines of a roller skater, but this thing had some good yank on the first drop and a pop of air midway through. Plus, it’s themed to Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote so it gets bonus points from me. 6 out of 10 Silly coyote, you can't catch the Road Runner. Tom y Jerry is your typical Zierer Tivoli, but this one is dressed up quite nicely. Since you’re supposed to be the size of a mouse, you weave through and around all sorts of oversized items. 4 out of 10 Too much pulp. Up next was my most anticipated ride in the park, Rio Bravo. And it didn’t disappoint. I was always fascinated by this flume. It looked massive and was tucked inside a faux mountain like all my favorite flumes. But the highlight was a surprise element in that mountain. SPOILER I knew this flume went backwards. And per usual, the backwards section began with a drop. What I didn’t know was that there was an airtime hill with a bonafide pop of ejector airtime. Keep in mind this occurs in total darkness and you have zero restraints. END SPOILER Most of the course is extremely well themed. The outdoor bits pass through a western town and all the indoor bits (except the 2nd lift) have props to look at. The ride also mixes in a few rapids. In fact, I’d say the rapids on this flume are better than those on the park’s river rapids ride. Last but not least, the climactic final drop was quite good. You really felt the size and it even delivered a tiny pop of air. And the splash was just what the doctor ordered on a hot day. It was soaking! This flume is the complete package. It has thrills, spills, and theming. 10 out of 10 This looked like a cross of Splash and Big Thunder Mountain. If you’ve read my reports, you know I can tolerate almost any wooden coaster. Taking a look at the worst coasters on TPR’s 2018 poll. Hades 360? Amazing. Predator and Zeus? Great. Grizzly, Wilde Beast, & Mighty Canadian Minebuster? Not good, but smooth enough. Bandit? Bumpy, but rideable. I finally hit my limit. Coaster Express is the worst coaster I’ve ever ridden. The scariest part is that Parque Warner knows this thing is brutal. They’ve pulled out all the stops to slow it down. Trims? Of course. Slow lift? Better, you come to a complete stop at the top before crawling over it. But none of this matters. This ride will destroy you. I always thought Coaster Express was another Cyclone clone. But this is something much worse. It’s a 120 foot, 4500+ foot long twister. I can't recall any specific element, I just remember the constant jackhammering and concussive blasts. I never rode Son of Beast, but I have to imagine Coaster Express is like that ride minus the loop. In a weird twist of fate, one of the biggest issues are the beloved Intamin T-bar restraints. On a smooth ride, these minimalistic restraints are incredible. But on a ride that constantly jackhammers, it's a major problem. My legs mercilessly kept slamming into the center bar. I’d say Coaster Express needs to burn in the Spanish sun and combust into flames, but I’m holding out hope RMC can do something with this colossal structure. 0 out of 10 I now know the true meaning of pain. I needed the glass smooth ride of a B&M, so I boarded Batman: Arkham Asylum. For those who thought running Batman backwards was too much, what about putting VR on the Caped Crusader? The thought of greyout-inducing vertical loops, oppresive heat, and a phone screen an inch from my face did not sound appealing, so I rode Batman in its original state. This Batman was every bit as forceful as the ones stateside, but it had this weird, audible rattle. I never felt a rattle, I just heard it. SFFT’s Goliath does the same thing. 8 out of 10 VR on a Batman coaster was not for me. Compare that to Superman la Atraaccion de Acero. There, the rattle is very tangible. I always heard this was one of the best floorless coasters, but I think it’s one of the worst. The one thing Superman did well was airtime. Unlike most B&M loopers, this one had a straight drop with floater air more reminiscent of a hyper coaster. The drop off the MCBR and the final bunny hill also had great floater airtime. Beyond the rattle, the inversions on Superman simply are not good. And that’s a problem for a ride that goes upside-down 7 times! The zero-G roll had some decent hangtime, but the other 6 inversions were unbelievably forceless. Superman is still fun, but it was quite a disappointment. 6 out of 10 I'd say the sun messed with this photo, but Superman's track is really that faded. Usually I don’t look forward to riding a clone featured at my home park, but I was looking forward to Stunt Fall. If you’ve ever perused the SFNE thread, you’re almost guaranteed to find someone whining about the Premier trains on Goliath. And you know what? It’s 100% warranted. Those trains blow. They turned a smooth and enjoyable coaster into a painful and unreliable mess. Meanwhile, Stunt Fall still had the original Vekoma trains. And the result? I enjoyed it! It wasn’t perfect since there was some headbanging throughout, but I’m willing to accept that for such an intense ride. I particularly love the first drop on these giant inverted boomerangs. 6 out of 10 100% free of Premier Rides trains. Thank the Lord. I was running out of time, so I made my way back to the Wild West for one last ride on Rio Bravo. But then, a dangerous thought crossed my mind. “Just how rough could Coaster Express be in the back row?” I was morbidly curious. I knew I was basically putting a hand to a hot stove, but I just had to know. I didn’t think Coaster Express could get any worse, but it did. The front was non-stop pain. But at least the pain stopped when the ride ended. In the back, it felt like I broke my back. That’s exactly what I wanted to feel like before boarding a 7 hour flight home. I needed this pillow after Coaster Express. I definitely wished I had more time at Parque Warner. I love parks that go all-in on the theming like Parque Warner. Except unlike most parks that do this, Parque Warner focuses on thrill rides. The lack of a signature coaster is the park’s biggest weakness, but they have a structure ready to be converted into a top 10 ride. Please Parque Warner. Get Alan Schilke and RMC on the phone.

Knoebels is hinting on Facebook that one of their rides may not be returning next year. Any guesses? I'm thinking it's probably a flat. My best guess is that it could be the Italian Trapeze since I have seen it dismantled or closed on my past few visits.

I agree it's a very busy place with all the lights. The spotlights look better in person.

I threw together a compilation of off-ride footage that includes Sandy's testing as well as the three operational coasters.

One thing to note though they were using S&S Sansei dummies on halfpipe when it was testing, dont know much about this, does intamin not make their own dummies or something? I can confirm Sandy's was using dummies that said S&S Sansei.

My friend from NJ said it's common this time of year for the area's malls to have guards with K9 units and bulletproof vests patrolling. So maybe that also had something to do with it. I'm used to the Paul Blarts of the world back home.

I'll just drag Emily there next time once all the stores open. Bringing her to one of the country's biggest malls should be an easy sell.

I was in the area, so I decided to stop into Nickelodeon Universe. It's a nice-looking park (no trees like the Minnesota one, but it's bright and vibrant) and the ride lineup should be great once everything is up-and-running. I got there at opening at the place was dead. I made a lap hitting every attraction in less than 1-1.5 hours. I strongly recommended this approach since their operations are quite slow as of now. When I left midday and returned around 4 and the place was packed with families. Shellraiser was still a walk-on, but rides like Slime Streak, the swings, and the monorail had full queues. I knew Sandy's hasn't opened yet (saw it test though) and that the flipping bumper cars have been down, but I was surprised Shredder and Skyline Scream were closed all day. Half-Pipe and Atom Smasher have had a lot of issues all-day, but I did get on them. Last but not least, I felt very awkward there as a single adult. This is coming from someone who is fine going to Story Land or Sesame Place alone. I was asked by security multiple times why I was there alone and asked to show my ID. This happened if I took photos of any rides or they saw me alone on the midway. I know they're doing their job, but I definitely am feeling paranoid after it happened for the third time (they came up to me again while I was sitting on a park bench writing this).

We went to a Physics Day at Canobie Lake Park back in middle school. The park had an educational science show called Newton's Revenge, which was a game show where Newton rose from the grave to teach us about his 3 Laws. The highlight was when one of our teachers was called up and made a fool of himself.

Great report! I was only there for an hour during the day last weekend so I missed all the lights. Nice to see what I missed.

I'm sort of surprised they'd shift the hours to have one less with the lights.

The Hyena Falls slide complex was fine, but it just wasn't worth the walk over there. I agree that spot would be better served by the dry park.

^ Per the website it appears to be one. Photo from Parque de Atracciones Madrid website

Great report! The flume at Yokohama Cosmoworld was actually my favorite ride there. It had some airtime on the drop and you come off completely dry. Plus you can scream for a score. It's something to look forward to if you make it back.

Thanks! Coasters are about the only thing I can photograph correctly.

Thanks! I definitely visited Untamed on a warmer day and the track was slick too from the rain. Bob felt identical to Alpine Bobsled, just in a more wooded setting. And I feel like that ride will meet a similar fate to Bob in the next few years. Tornado definitely wasn't as good as a B&M invert in terms of forces or smoothness, but it still was a fun ride. Absolutely. The only other spinner I can think of that focuses on drops that big is Dragon's Fury.

Great report! Getting there early and those skip-the-line passes can really make or break a visit to Fuji-Q.

Parque de Atracciones de Madrid El Train de la Mina should be named TNT Tren de la Mina. Paw Patrol should be named Patrulla Canina. Pergola has been renamed Tiovivo. Banca Pirata, Caballos del Oeste, Fantasia, La Reine de Africa, La Turbina, Noriavision, Rio Encantado, and T.I.R. have all closed. Ford T no longer exists. Aventura de Dora may be this ride renamed, but I'm not sure. Parque Warner Madrid Batman la Fuga has been renamed Batman: Arkham Asylum. Carrousel was renamed Cartoon Carousel. Here's the sign for Cine Tour. Here's the arena for Joker- Coches de Choque. Here are two additional missing rides. Sillas Voladoras de Mr. Freeze Tazas de Te de Scooby-Doo

^ That would make the most sense, but I wasn't sure since I've seen member previews at other parks run open to close. Granted I think most people have passes and memberships anyway.

On December 23-January 5, West Coast Racers is open to members and pass holders until 6 or 7. However, the park is open until 8 or 9 each night. Are they going to open West Coast Racers to all for that final 1-2 hours?

New for 2019 after all! Although I bet they advertise it as new next year as well.

From photos, it looks like Intamin's newer lap bar like Taron. If it's like that, it's ridiculously comfortable.

It was the Santa Monica West Coaster. There was no traffic around LA and I had an extra hour to burn before going to the airport.

While none of these things alone would get me to return to the park, this would be something I'd love if I were a local and grew up with the park.