Canobie Coaster

They used to flash the alien face for a moment among the lights and have a bird effect, but now it's much better quality.

1) Lightning Rod- Perfect pacing, wild airtime, amazing setting 2) Steel Vengeance- Mixes huge and small elements flawlessly 3) Untamed- Wild airtime and ridiculously fast for a smaller ride 4) Twisted Colossus- It's like two top 10 rides merged into one 5) Wildfire- Breathtaking setting and amazing until the finale 6) Iron Rattler- 2 of the best drops ever and a unique location 7) Outlaw Run- Short, but fast paced and an amazing night ride 8) Twisted Cyclone- Short, but it backs a mighty punch 9) Twisted Timbers- So many pops of air, but felt slow to me 10) Storm Chaser- Some of RMCs strongest air 11) Wonder Woman- Short, but insane airtime in the back 12) Joker- Amazing drop & stall, but too many overbanks 13) Wicked Cyclone- Same as Joker 14) Medusa- Could be higher if it always ran at its fastest 15) New Texas Giant- Lots of airtime but not as wild as others 16) Goliath- What it has is great, but there's not enough there

If the rendering is correct and this thing has 4 trains, I think they'll need to have the moving platform. Wonder Woman had a staging area where they'd group 8 riders. When your train arrives, you enter the station single file filling the train front to back. Fiesta Texas allowed you to request and wait for a row when I rode it opening weekend.

^^ It wasn't super hot; I think it was in the mid-70s. But it was sunny.

Great report! The fact Steel Vengeance combines the tall elements of the first half with the lower second half is what makes it so special.

Mt. Olympus Is there any US park with a worse reputation than Mt. Olympus? From brutally rough woodies to piss poor operations to lackadaisical employees to questionable safety practices, I never hear anything good about this park. How can a park that costs $20 with four wooden coasters suck so bad? I decided I had to experience Mt. Olympus for myself. And I’m proud to say I made it out alive. Mt. Olympus is awful…awfully decent! Keep in mind, I went in with the lowest of expectation. I expected Clementon Park levels of badness with the dispatch speed of Fuji-Q Highland. It wasn’t hard to top that! Before I even entered the park, Mt. Olympus kicked me in the nuts. For years I always heard how cheap this place was. For that reason, I wasn’t expecting it to cost $20 to park. At least it was worth it for the views of Hades 360. 9 foot waves? A Trojan Horse? A big wooden coaster? This sums up Mt. Olympus quite well. Here we go. Before I touch on the rides, I want to discuss some generalities about the park. Dispatches- They were slow, but not legendarily slow. I found them on par with most Six Flags parks. The lone issue was the one train ops on a ride as long as Hades. Employees- None of the employees were rude or mean. They were just sort of there. Bathrooms- The one by Pegasus was perfectly fine. Atmosphere- The park had a really odd feel. It felt like a mash-up of a FEC and a water park with a bunch of random wooden coasters slapped onto a hillside. But it was clean. Safety- I never felt unsafe, but I also know not to stick my hand in front of a moving roller coaster. Honestly, the minimalistic fencing allowed for some amazing coaster shots so I’m not complaining. Clientele- It was mostly families. I did witness a lot of line jumping and unfortunately the employees didn’t do anything about it. It's so close, I could actually touch it. However, I'm not a moron, so I kept my hands off. Now this is a classy queue. A train decorated with gum and a few shirtless dudes. If you’ve read any of my reports, you know I have a pretty high tolerance for rough rides. For that reason, I was really intrigued by Hades 360. The layout is universally praised, but people say it tracks like Hell. Going into my visit, I was sort of nervous Hades 360 would be closed. The fact that it needed a full train to dispatch makes it a gamble on a lighter day. For that reason, I was never so glad to see a 30-45 minute wait. For reference, the other coasters maxed out at a 15 minute wait. This way to Hell. Even by my standards, Hades 360 was rough. However, I found it quite ridable thanks to the Timberliners. Those trains are absolute godsends. The cushioning allowed me to absorb every shock without any pain. I shudder to think what this coaster was like with the PTCs. Hades 360 begins with a sizable (50 foot?) plunge out of the station. Kennywood’s Thunderbolt does the same thing, but it doesn’t offer the ejector air of Hades 360. That’s immediately followed by a small twister section with three other pops of airtime. The last in particular is very strong. The pre-lift of Hades 360 alone is better than a good chunk of the wood coasters I’ve ridden. After a long climb, riders plunge into the depths of Hell. That first drop is incredible. It has some wonderfully sustained airtime and it leads into the famous underground tunnel. What happens in the tunnel, stays in the tunnel. It’s pitch black and a complete WTF. One moment I was out of my seat. Another I was sideways. Yes it battered you around, but I thought it added to the intensity. You then see light at the end of the tunnel and rocket through the inversion. And it took me by surprise. The inversions on most wooden coasters are heavy on hangtime. The corkscrew on Hades 360 was not. Honestly, that was my lone disappointment with the ride. Then there’s another sizable drop back underground. It’s one of my favorite parts on the ride, as this drop has some really strong and sustained airtime. The return trip through the tunnel is almost identical to the first. I had no idea what it was doing to me, but I liked it. When you emerge, you go down this funky double down, again getting some good air. That leads into a finale that admittedly isn’t the best. I now understand why it needs a full train. Remember how you start off with a big drop? You need to work back up to the station. There are a few pops of air along the way, but they’re pretty weak compared to everything else on the ride. Hades 360 is basically a ghetto version of the Voyage. Yes it beats you up a bit, but I’m willing to forgive it because of the ambitious layout and comfortable Timberliners. Without a doubt, this is a back row coaster for me. The yank on the drops back there is simply superb. 8.5 out of 10 On what days isn't Hades 360 riding aggressive? Oh my god, they sent a train out with *only* 23 riders. It's a Mt. Olympus miracle. You wouldn't think an inversion on a wood coaster would be the smoothest part of the ride, but it was. Time to go back into the BDSM tunnel. Since I survived Hades, I decided to test my luck with Zeus. This is unanimously considered one of the roughest wooden coasters in existence. So I started with the shallow end and boarded the front row. Did I ride the same Zeus as everyone else? I found the coaster (dare I say) smooth outside of the first bunny hill on the return trip. I know they did some trackwork this offseason, but I only spotted fresh wood on the turnaround. As a result, I liked Zeus. It was a fast-paced out-and-back coaster with pops of air on pretty much every hill. Like a moron, I decided to test my luck towards the back. It was the equivalent of giving the finger to a police officer. You’re just asking for trouble. I braced for impact at the bottom of the first drop, but guess what? It never happened. Zeus was smooth even towards the back. It just had less air on the return leg. For anyone who rode Zeus pre-2019 and this year, I’d love to know if you think the ride improved. If it hasn’t, please never trust my judgment if a ride is smooth or rough ever again. 7 out of 10 I guess Mt. Olympus knows better than estimate how long a dispatch will take. I'd actually contest that point. Zeus didn't seem to be that aggressive today. This shot sums up the safeguards at Mt. Olympus perfectly. It was now time to experience the “drop of death” on Cyclops. I know it was reprofiled, but I was still expecting Raven 5th drop levels of airtime with buzz bars. Needless to stay, I was a bit dismayed to find individual ratcheting lap bars. However, the employees barely lowered the restraints, so it was pretty much a non-factor! I know everyone talks about the famous drop, but how come no one talks about the first or second drops? Both those drops gave crazy standing ejector air as well. In fact, I’d say they gave as much air as the drop of death. Cyclops is short, but those three moments of airtime are incredible. Plus, it tracked as well as the Raven (I know that’s a pro for some and a con for others) and mixed in a pinch of laterals. 8 out of 10 Even in its reprofiled state, the "drop of death" was incredible. As were the hills at the start of the ride. Why doesn't anyone talk about these hills? I mean, you get a nice, close view of them. The final coaster was Pegasus. I was expecting a snooze-fest, but I should have known better. This is Mt. Olympus after all. There’s no airtime, but there are turns. There are tight, unbanked turns everywhere on this ride. I rode in the front, so I appreciated the violent laterals. However, I heard a choir of profanities behind me. 5 out of 10 Pegasus may look cute and cuddly. But it has a mean streak on these turns. Since I needed to make it back to Minneapolis for my flight home, I only had time for the coasters. Even if I had a full day, it’s debatable if I would have done anything else. I really liked the woodies. Would I return to Mt. Olympus? Believe it or not, but yes I would. Again, I went in expecting the worst. So it would have taken a true dumpster fire to fail to exceed those expectations. Mt. Olympus felt like what would happen if Six Flags bought a FEC. The coaster lineup felt like a bizarre Holiday World. For me, that’s far from the worst park in the world and it’s a place I can enjoy.

Great report! Thank you for describing Untamed's theme perfectly. All the theming in this park is strange, but it just works.

Great report! The blindfold challenge was definitely different. When I first saw riders with something over their eyes from a distance, I thought they were doing VR. Your visit sounds similar to mine last month. Untamed opened late and it started pouring at night. But riding Untamed and Goliath in the pouring rain was incredible (and just a bit cold and painful).

Great reports! Before riding the bobkart at Toverland, my only prior bobkart was the one at Skyline and I thought it was pretty dull. The one at Toverland was fast and had the theming you mentioned.

^ Yeah I was stunned there wasn't any shade in that queue. Since Coaster is the main reason for me to return to Playland, I would probably try to visit when it's not the PNE next time.

^ Canobie's was stand-up floorless and the two I've seen idle appeared to be the same.

^^^^ Electric Fire looked awesome, but I wasn't sure how early they'd close Coaster's queue so I was in line at that time. The queue was in the extension all day and took about 90 minutes each time. They ended up closing the queue at 10:45 and it was still about an hour long. Their closing process was pretty odd. They kept all other rides running until Coaster ran its last train. Then everything stopped. I've never seen anything quite like that. As for Coaster, that ride is incredible. I spent almost 7.5 hours in that queue line yesterday. It was hot and slow-moving, but Coaster was worth it.

I knew Canobie's was unreliable, but I wasn't sure if anyone else has had better luck with other versions.

KMG Tangos are one of my favorite flat rides. With all the axes of motion, they're one of the most intense and disorienting flats out there. They're a relatively rare ride to find. But for me, they're usually closed. Is this flat notoriously unreliable or am I just unlucky? Canobie had Equinox for a year before removing it. The ride had previously been on the fair circuit and it rarely worked for them. It was closed on all but one of my visits and the one day it operated, it kept closing throughout the day. Most recently I've found the ones at a Reithoffer Fairs carnival and the Washington State Fair closed.

^^ If your intentions are to only ride the coasters, they can be done in the same day. But I recommend exploring both parks more.

I thought it was running great on Memorial Day weekend and way faster than my rides in 2017. In terms of roughness, I thought it was smooth but I've been known to find rides like Zeus no problem.

Silverwood is hosting the Golden Ticket Awards next weekend with RMC so it would be perfect if they collaborated again on a project.

Apparently Silverwood is announcing something new tomorrow. This is on their Facebook.

Thank you! I asked an attendant as well and they said as long as you're in line by closing you get on. I had to make sure I don't miss out on Tremors night rides. That ride is fantastic. And I will do a TR. I'm a bit backlogged but it will happen.

Yeah the coaster lines are definitely moving slow, but I knew they only ran one train. Does Silverwood close the lines early at night?

Yes it is. I'm really looking forward to Timber Terror and Tremors.

^ I can check tomorrow. Excited to visit this park!

^ Thanks! An hour is perfectly fine with me as long as the ride is as awesome as everyone says.

I'll definitely keep the rapid pass in mind since it'll get me on everything once. But I plan to ride Coaster a few times so I'll bring some patience. I did both Oaks and Enchanted Forest. I really liked how charming the latter was and how screwed up the Ice Mountain Bobsled was. I also stopped at Seaside for the Lusse skooters and some Fascination.

Even with the concrete dome, they still station riders in the hall like it did with the air-filled dome. For the most part, the ride is identical to how it was 3 years ago with some upgrades to the projections.