2015 Northern New England Park Trip reviews

[CNYCoasterguy11]

This year my wife and daughter are joining some other family members and are staying a week in Old Orchard Beach Maine. We will be visiting several of the area parks, however I will not have any photos from this trip to post as my daughter is going to take most of my attention being she is about 2. I will give as detailed a report for each park each time I visit, and thankfully my daughter already has a love of the places like I do and is a budding thrill seeker. I plan on visiting Funtown Splashtown USA, Storyland, Canobie Lake Park, Palace Playland and if time Yorks Wild Kingdom.

[CNYCoasterguy11]

Day 1- Funtown Splashyown USA 8/16/15

 

So we arrived on Maine late Saturday from just East of Syracuse and decided to take a semi-easy Sunday, so after swimming in the Ocean (a first for my daughter and wife) we decided to take advantage of the After 3pm discount since we didn't see the need of paying $36 for what was going to be a half days entertainment. I would have loved to have gone to the water park but my daughter isn't really big enough to justify the time and energy needed to wade in a kiddie pool when we have the ocean 200 feet from our cottage.

 

The discount was great as we did the Funtown only for $22 and my daughter was free being under 38in. Now i had been here before when they opened the Excalibur coaster way back in '98, not much has changed in the ride park other than the Dragon's Descent and Wild Mouse additions. Now that I am a parent with a small child I have to think differently than I used too, so it was a little disappointing that most if not all of the kiddie rides were in one section and there were not many of them, it also was disappointing that they require a height of 38in or more for all the main rides they classify as "thrill". Now my daughter has ridden the tilt-a-whirl at our hometown Sylvan Beach and the turtle twirl at Storyland with us. However Funtown would not be one of those times, I know she is capable of these rides and she loves them so it was a letdown when she was not allowed on.

 

It was not a total loss of an afternoon, my daughter still enjoyed the kiddie rides she rode immensely and was able to ride the antique cars. My cousin and I were able to ride the Wild Mouse which added a credit for both of us. It was a somewhat rough experience compared to past wild mice (mouses?) The Dragon's Descent in my opinion was a very good turbo drop tower, other than the usual slow loading process it offered the best views of any tower I have been on, and it was a solid first drop, definitely the best thrill in the park. The themeing was a nice touch as well in an otherwise bland park. The real reason for going was to get a ride on Excalibur the parks premier coaster and one I hadn't seen since it first opened. The ride proved to age rather gracefully as it was somewhat rough the only time we rode but not Darien Lake Predator bad. It did provide some unexpected pops of airtime as well as some good speed being an afternoon ride with a mild heat wave helping. The one knock was a single train operation on a rather busy Sunday, it realm slowed the operations down, however they do take your carry one in between rides which helps some. The only other major ride we enjoyed was the classic Astrosphere, which just didn't seem to live up to my memories. It seemed slower than before but still had a pretty good light show, I plan to compare it to the Psycodrome at Canobie is when I go.

 

Overall I would rate the overall experience 6/10, but just the ride park, working for it were the good rides on Dragon and Excalibur, as well as the friendly ride ops and decent amount of shade and benches. Working against it was the height restrictions and several "thrill" rides that made it hard to enjoy rides with my daughter.

Coaster Ratings:

-Wild Mouse 5/10

-Excalibur 8/10

[CNYCoasterguy11]

Day 2-8/17/15

Storyland, Glen, NH

 

Coasters:

Polar Coaster-5/10

--A decent kiddie coaster that is somewhat bigger and faster than most, has a nice helix finish but otherwise nothing to special but a good fit for the park and their clientele. Well themed station, on a 90 degree day it would have been a nice touch if the station was cold as well, maybe a future suggestion : )

 

Roar-o-Saurus- 8/10

--A big surprise, this ride packed a lot into a small footprint and was an excellent ride. Full of sudden airtime pops and great speed. Was only able to ride once and rode in the back, smaller children should definitely ride in towards the front. The drop before the final turnaround was a real airtime drop with buts off the seat. The dinosaurs around the ride were a nice touch and the line going thru the ride was neat and gives a close up view of the ride.

 

It had been forever since I Las visited Storyland, and this would be my first visit actually remembering most of it. Storyland proved to be a great park for families with young children, my daughter who is a little under two loved what she did when she wasn't napping. The park was very clean and well manicured, and ride operators were extremely friendly. The one knock on the park was the pack of major food locations, some were already closed for the season which caused the Food Fair to have massive lines being the only real eatery in the back half of the park. Other than that one snafu the park hit every mark on a very hot and humid day.

 

The park blends the classic storyland of the 50s and 60s with the new of the modern era with high tech rides and attractions. The farm follies show provided much needed relief from the he's with its air conditioned theater, all while playing home to the classic show I enjoyed as a kid and now was a favorite of my daughter. She also was able to enjoy the Tractor ride, the turtle twirl, the whirlin' whales, slipshod safari, loopy lab and the Splash Battle. Surprisingly the Splash Battle proved to be a hit. If she didn't have to nap midway thru the day she would have ridden much more.

 

Her nap did provide me and my cousin a chance to ride the big four at storyland, all rides my daughter was too small for, the two water rides provided a good soaking on a hot humid day, and the coasters provided some fun thrills, especially the roar-o-saurus. The bamboo chutes were well done and very well themed, and the raft ride was quite enjoyable for being a tamed down version for the younger crowd with lots of opportunities to get sprayed and soaked. The park was a hit with all and could be on the docket for the future when my daughter is big enough for all the rides. Hopefully storyland will keep its charm in that time and beyond for her future family as well.

[coastercrazi]

Thanks for the TR!