Canobie Lake Park 08 Opening Day TR

[mrceagle]

Going to opening day has become a bit of a tradition for me. So I was making plans well into advance for this day. My brother and sister in law couldn’t make it but my older brother did and I brought my friend Anya. Anya and I didn’t meet up with my brother till 2:00 but we got a lot done before that. I ran into many members of the Canobie fan site as well as Fellow ACE members throughout the day.

 

We rived at the park about 10:45 Crowds were already looking good for an opening day. I saw one of the park’s managers outside So I talked to him for a bit before we bought some future use tickets and went in the park a little after 11. I saw Carl and Anthony Bernie driving buy so I flagged then down. They confirmed that the rides are expected to be in by Memorial Day weekend. I think that most all of us know that Zero Gravity is a Dartron I got the inside scoop on the other new/upgrade ride. The new upgrade to Ocean trip is a Sartori rides Tidal Wave. It’s A crazy/flying bus ride like Zamperla/SBF make. I will post more info later. We then discuss the need for some additions for the Castaway Island Water Park.

 

Anya and I headed to Frisbee but it was down at the moment. All the rides were operating. Frisbee, Dragon and Kiddie tanks had slight maintenance issues during the day but were quickly resolved. We stopped by the Matterhorn area to look at the upcoming hot dog stand. It’s a permanent building not a themed stand. I can’t say I like the placement since it makes adding a ride later very difficult.

 

We made our way To Cannonball. There was about a 2-cycle wait. We barley made it in and ended up at the end of the line. Despite that we got front seat. We ten made our way to Star Blaster. Both these rides were first time rides for my friend Anya. We then made our way to Phyco Drome.

 

Phycodrome was operating with the floodlights. The party lights were running but you can hardly see them under the floodlights. The ride is still running at a reasonable speed but the ride experience is a bit hallow with the Floodlights on. I was later told this is now SOP and they will stay on all season. This is a disappointment. I heard many complaints about the floodlights from people exiting the ride. The ride op was also extremely slow which extended the wait for an already low capacity ride.

 

We hoped on DaVinci and the boat before grabbing a drink. I refilled my cup form last year for a Dollar. We walked around the park and looked for some changes. The Palace arcade got a lot of work. Games were removed and other shifted to other areas of the park.

 

We made our way to Ye old Canobie and rode the flume. We finally ran in into my brother at Mine of Lost Souls. I’m a huge dark ride fan but I find myself more and more disappointed in this one. Nearly every door wasn’t working. The ride badly needs a rehab. The only positive thing was the sound level. You could actually hear the “Way Down in the Mine” song.

 

The 3 of us hit the Pirata before heading back to the front of the park. Found one of the two be Smoking areas across form Old Man climbing wall against the park fence. My brother and I hit Frisbee. Rowdy Roosters was next on the list. And we hoped on the train since it was in the station. Some parents got mad at me because I called out for their son to get back as he tried climbing between a fence and the moving train. Other then that the ride was nice. We all talked to a couple families about local parks. Especially parks lost like Whalom and Salsbery beach.

 

My friend Anya wanted a snake so we got fried dough at Be Bop and another refill. The fried dough was much better then last couple of years. A little pricey though, $5.95 total. After eating we talked to a Canobie fan poster and ride op Al.

 

Anya and I Hit the Antique cars, while My brother hit star blaster. We all hit Caterpillar and skater. Skater was operating a simple program spinning only counter clockwise. But the ride length was still good. The Tilt-a while was next in line, followed by a quick look at the Canobe 500. The cars have been repainted and look great. The cars also now have crome wheels.

 

The end of the day Consisted of a ride on the Cannonball and Mine of lost Souls. We attempted to ride the carousel. The Op said she would let us on but she couldn’t since the Ride Supervisor locked the entrance gate. End of the day was not as welcoming as opening was. Rides were quickly shut down, as were games. With gates coming down before closing when multiple openings were present. They were quick at the palace Arcade to remind use they were closed. I told then I was just getting a couple shots of the Pinball Ally since the games manager brought it up. They weren’t allowing guests to use the restrooms within the park directing people to the restrooms outside of the gate. Normally they open the gate next to them and allow people to use the restrooms and then leave through the gate.

 

In all it was a good day. My friend said she had a great time. We’ll be going back, I still have 4 tickets and ACE is going to have a day. They have a few things I hope to see improved on as the year goes on. But I look forward to visiting again and hope many of you get a chance to as well.