Canobie Coaster

I thought Predator was running fantastic (albeit in the front row) on Memorial Day.

OK, who's got a truck? I'll volunteer my Honda Accord. That might work... those Honda Accord's are as tough as nails! I'll come with my Honda CRV as well. This is more of a plan than savethebigdipper.org had.

If I spend a whole day at Great Escape, I actually spend more time in their water park. It's quite good. You have a strong collection of slides, but nothing super unique. On the ride side, you have Desperado Plunge and Raging Rapids. Their rapids ride is just ok. It's long and shaded, but the water effects are laughably tacky (picture things like a punctured hose and PVC pipe). I think their flume is one of the weaker ones, but it does circle around Ghost Town.

^ I understand when an older ride has a skip-the-line pass added later like Space Mountain or Indiana Jones, but it's surprising when it happens on a new ride. That being said, both Cyborg and Pirates reused another building so I guess they made the best of the situation. I still find it funny that we're asking to spend more time in a queue line.

I don't think they'll ever get the T-bars back, but I'd love to see Intamin's newer lap bar they've been using on coasters in Europe like Taron and Red Force. But considering the ride is still the headliner, I have a feeling it'll be a while before we see them invest in all new trains.

Thanks! I was sort of hoping they'd just drop them with no warning. But that makes sense.

Six Flags New England- Cyborg Review Some Six Flags parks that take an eternity to open new rides (cough: Magic Mountain: cough). Through ice and snow, whether it be an RMC conversion or flat, Six Flags New England always seems to get their new additions open around Memorial Day. Like clockwork, Cyborg opened on May 25. However, I didn’t find myself at Six Flags New England until a month later. Yukon Striker, Holiwood Nights, and Toy Story 4 took precedent. From the park that has two boomerangs and two frisbees comes Cyborg, an indoor, next generation Chance wipeout placed next to another Chance wipeout (Kryptonite Kollider). Why are we queuing on the midway? More on that in a bit. The addition is even funnier if you know a little bit about SFNE’s history. Kryptonite Kollider used to run inside Cyborg’s building as Joker’s Wildcard. If at first you don’t succeed, try again. Thankfully SFNE learned from the sins of their past. Fire code has long been a thorn in SFNE’s side. It’s the rumored reason why Joker’s Wildcard was moved outside and why we have Gotham City Gauntlet instead of Mexico’s Dark Knight coaster. But Cyborg is good to go. The fact that Joker’s Wildcard never had air-conditioning must have been a cruel joke from the Clown Prince of Crime himself. For that reason, I was ecstatic it was added for Cyborg. But then I saw the queue set-up. Cyborg has a well-themed, air-conditioned queue. However, you barely spend any time in there. SFNE set the building’s entrance as the merge point for Flash Pass/ADA access. So despite the fact the indoor queue could easily hold 3+ cycles of riders, the park has a temporary queue set-up on the midway under the hot sun. Theming and AC makes the indoor queue quite nice. The ride itself was solid. At is max height, Cyborg gives 1-2 small pops of air. And at the end of the ride, Cyborg hits its max speed…however, it only does this for one rotation. That’s my biggest gripe with Cyborg- the cycle. It’s laughably short. I think the ride is at its max height for a total of 10-15 seconds. I’m optimistic they’ll lengthen it once Cyborg’s hype dies down. The effects are nothing special (lighting, tv monitors, and audio), but it does elevate an otherwise basic flat. I just wish the audio was a bit louder since it was near impossible to hear over the ride. This is another thing I’d love to see SFNE tweak. So in a nutshell, Cyborg is a nice addition. It’s already one of the park’s stronger flats and I think it has the potential to improve. 7 out of 10 Wow I think that may be the longest review of all time for a flat ride. I'm really impressed SFNE went the extra mile for this flat. The star of the park is still Superman. SFNE put new wheels on Superman earlier this year. This resulted in Superman running faster in April than I can remember. Since Superman notoriously speeds up in the summer, I was intrigued to see just how fast it would be running on a hot day. It was no faster. On one hand, I was a bit disappointed Superman wasn’t any faster. On the other hand, I’m thrilled SFNE found a way to have Superman run in peak form year-round. I’m sure it’d run great in December now… Superman’s layout is perfection. The first half consists of camelbacks loaded with sustained ejector. The second half then morphs into a twister alternating between high-G helices and quick pops of ejector air. Yes the restraints are still the ride’s kryptonite, but Superman is able to overcome them and deliver an outstanding ride, particularly in the front row. 9.5 out of 10 Superman was running loud and proud. I'm so lucky to have this coaster nearby. Meanwhile Wicked Cyclone was in the midst of its annual summer slump. Wicked Cyclone joins Great Adventure’s Batman as the only two rides I’ve ever seen that run better in the cold. It defies all logic. At its best, Wicked Cyclone is a middle-of-the-road RMC. It’s an aggressive barrage of airtime and hangtime. At its worst, Wicked Cyclone is arguably the worst RMC. That’s still a fantastic coaster though. It’s still glass-smooth. And you still get a ton of ejector air until the last lap. At that point, it feels like Wicked Cyclone will valley. But rest assured, it won’t. That job belongs to Flashback and Goliath. 9 out of 10 A wicked storm is coming. When Wicked Cyclone runs slow, the already amazing hangtime gets even better. It may be crawling like a baby, but it still has air. I’m glad I rode the New England Sky Screamer since it has been closed the past two visits. I go back and forth whether this or Harley Quinn is my favorite flat ride in the park. Harley Quinn is a tantalizing combo of airtime and positive Gs, but there’s just something about spinning like a top 400 feet in the air on such small chains. That’s especially the case when you ride Sky Screamer on a windy day and dance like a marionette. 9 out of 10 According to SFNE, this is still the world's tallest swing ride. I guess the one in Orlando doesn't count lol. I also got my first ride of the year on Pandemonium. Using the good ole, unmarked single rider line, I boarded in less than a minute. And I got my dream pairing- two small kids and an adult. As expected, we spun like crazy. It’s the perfect family coaster. 7 out of 10 I so wish this coaster existed before I hit the magic 48-inch mark. I also took a lap on Thunderbolt Thunder Blues. Here in Boston, we took the Bruins loss hard. We’ve grown accustomed to winning everything. At least we have our Red Sox and Patriots titles to fall back on. Thunder Blues was like the Bruins season. It was mostly positive (pops of air on most hills), but it was also bumpy at points (specifically in the valleys). 6 out of 10 Thunder Blues. At first glance you may think Six Flags needs to replace some bulbs, but this was a clever touch. I didn't ride Harley Quinn this visit, but it sure does look incredible at night. Who needs Christmas lights when you have Harley Quinn? It’s actually surprising it took me until the end of June to make my second visit of the year to SFNE. It’s not surprising that I had still yet to ride Goliath this year. I saved Goliath for my next trip. And when I say saved, I mean that there was some parallel universe where Goliath operated while every other headliner crapped the bed. I have to take a picture every time I see it running just to make sure I'm not having a nightmare.

^ I had ridden Voyage probably a dozen times before the night rides began...and I still had no idea what was happening!

If someone doesn't pull the cord, does the winch automatically release?

Glad you got on Voyage! It really is an amazing coaster.

The biggest issue I have with a Skywarp is that it is a rattly and uncomfortable experience. I have no problem if a park installs a superior version of a similar ride. I have to get used to that with SFNE as my home park.

Wicked Cyclone tends to run better in cooler temperatures. I'm not sure if they use different wheels, but it runs its best in April and October. Joker's green side is the wilder side. That side consistently gives 3-4 flips (usually on the top section) while purple tends to have less flips. When purple does flip it tends to be on the raven turns.

Wacky Mouse (a wacky worm) at the Brockton Fair. I had no shame.

Nice to see some shots of Chiapas on a sunny day since it was miserable the day we went.

^ Thanks! I updated the post and am sending the same amount your way.

Just signed up for the event at Story Land next weekend! Link to Team Page

^ Thanks! I was leaning towards more time since there were so many flats plus the coasters, but I wanted to make sure crowds wouldn't be a major issue.

^ Last week I thought the blue train was squeaking very loudly, especially in the spaghetti bowl, but it was running fast.

I'm looking forward to visiting this park in a few weeks. Assuming it's a sunny day, roughly what type of crowds does this park get? I'm trying to figure out if it would be better to visit for 5-6 hours on a Friday or 8 hours on a Saturday.

I saw the photos of two of my favorite European coasters. I just feel like I sound like a broken record saying "great pictures."

Great shots with both the fireworks and Yukon Striker! Seeing the fireworks over the falls was cool, but the display was pretty short when I saw them on Memorial Day weekend. Consider how often they shoot off fireworks, I totally get why they're short though.

And if you care to do Laff Trakk, you can get that miserable queue out on the first night (unless you rope drop it the next day).

^ A few years ago, Canobie bought a new cabin for their pirate ship (as opposed to replacing the whole ride). That being said, I feel like Six Flags would rather just buy a new ride rather than maintain an older one. What's easier to market?

Thanks! I'm not sure if a free chewing tobacco station would have been enough to keep people away from the Voyage.

Haha thanks! I agree! The only thing I can think of is marketability. So many of these parks want to advertise records or gimmicks. Lightning Run has neither; it's just a fantastic ride. The only flaw with it are the restraints being a bit restrictive, which slows down loading. It would work great in most places. I'd love one in New England.