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Palace Playland (Maine) Adding a New Coaster in 2018


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Palace Playland is adding a new $4 million roller coaster next year that will replace their Galaxi coaster. The "Sea Viper" is coming from Italy and will be the "only one of its kind in the United States" once it opens. The coaster is 70 feet tall, will seat 24 riders, and is a bit larger in footprint than the Galaxi. This new coaster should serve as the premier attraction for this beachfront park.

 

The key bits from the Portland Press Herald: (Full Story)

 

Joel Golder and his son, Paul, are clearing the way for a $4 million expansion that includes buying a 1-acre parking lot next door and having a much larger coaster built in Italy. The Galaxy, built in the 1970s, is for sale once again and has at least one interested buyer, Joel Golder says.

 

The expansion plan, which is up for town approval on Thursday, is part of Golder’s longstanding effort to keep people coming to the 4-acre park that he bought from the Osher family in 1996.

 

The Galaxy will be dismantled this fall and the new coaster will be installed during the winter. It will arrive in Boston Harbor in 27 shipping containers and will be the only one of its kind in the United States, Golder says.

 

Called the Sea Viper, the new coaster will be twice as tall as the Galaxy, rising 70 feet above the white sand beach, West Grand Avenue and nearby pier. At 90 feet wide and 210 feet long, the new coaster will larger than the Galaxy, which is 60 feet wide and 160 feet long. The Sea Viper will carry as many as 24 people in six cars, compared to eight people in two cars on the Galaxy.

 

Below is a link to the story from the Boston Globe as well.

 

Boston Globe Story

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I make an annual trip to Maine for Funtown because of how cheap their twilight tickets are. This will give me something to do in the afternoon beforehand.

 

The other interesting item in the article is that Palace Playland has one interested buyer in the Galaxi. It's an older coaster, but I do wonder who was interested.

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I'm going to make a prediction on this. Fabbri is located in northern Italy and there are no currently operating coasters in the US from them (there is a SBNO spinning mouse at Castle Amusement Park). This model from Fabbri I think fits. The stats say 65 feet tall, but we all know parks will round up and coasters can be built taller.

 

Project One Coaster 58x26

This fantastic gravity family coaster has beautiful design, built with one train for 24 passengers with two trains for 20 passengers each (according to model requested). Track development is 470 M [1546’] with maximum height of 20 M [65’]. During the run it raises the max speed of 16 m/s (57 Km/h) [36 mph].

 

Coaster is delivered with a steel base (no concrete foundation is requested). It is equipped with safety magnetic slow down brakes.

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  • 3 months later...

Sea Viper is now pretty much complete.

24900087_1743337879069766_2409870223890994011_n.jpg?oh=ed15b9436af04d7fec97d34aaf282cc5&oe=5AC8F9A0

 

It does appear to be a Preston & Barbieri Anaconda 2 model. Which they seem to also share with Fabbri as seen in the link posted by bgtlover

 

There are as far as I know only 3 existing versions of this in Pakistan, Tajikistan and Romania so well of the beaten paths for most enthusiasts. Looks like a solid layout in a compact footprint.

 

Here's a nice video of the ride in Romania.

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  • 7 months later...

I stopped by Palace Playland after a visit to Funtown to check out both coasters. Because of the weather, Old Orchard Beach was pretty busy.

 

Wipeout opened on Friday. It's one of the standard SBF spinners. I think the best part is that they added it without having to remove their Orient Express kiddie coaster.

 

Sea Viper really changes the park's skyline for the better. It looks really large at the end of the midway and has an impressive lighting package. It was also quite the draw. I have never seen a wait longer than 5 minutes at Palace Playland yet Sea Viper was pulling a 15-20 minute wait all night. And that was with a 24 person train and fast dispatches. This looks like a winner for the park.

 

It's a fun coaster too. It rides similar to a Windstorm and the final drop has some surprisingly strong laterals. That is followed by a fast and forceful helix. I was wondering how smooth it would be and it tracked quite well.

IMG_20180721_220728.thumb.jpg.5d27a21a662e265a7c68748c59625d75.jpg

IMG_20180721_213056.thumb.jpg.e5a65071c0befaafb71e76fcda551702.jpg

IMG_20180721_214130.thumb.jpg.084e01ec5bb35f01b42004b3285935a0.jpg

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  • 1 year later...

Palace Playland posted an update on their Facebook that they are now open daily from 4 pm to 9 pm. This will make them the only amusement park in Maine to open this year. But there are some big caveats worth noting.

 

Only 3 rides will operate this year, the Sea Viper roller coaster, Carousel, and Ferris Wheel. The park is allowed to have a maximum of 50 guests per section at a time. For those unfamiliar with Palace Playland's layout, the park is divided in the middle by a street. So that means 50 guests can be in the section with Sea Viper at once and 50 guests can be by the Ferris Wheel/Carousel.

 

The park is not offering wristbands this year. Instead, they are tickets only. And that probably won't be an issue for them since there mere steps from the beach.

 

Three, the park apparently can't open their restrooms due to covid restrictions. I'm a bit puzzled by that one since I would have thought you can just limit capacity there, but hopefully there are some other public restrooms available nearby.

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/Palace-Playland-Amusement-Park-130171113719792

 

Our current schedule for Rides & Midway Games will be 4pm – 9pm Daily, Weather Permitting

Currently we have a limited selection of rides available:

 

Carousel

Electra Wheel

Sea Viper

 

Here are some of our expectations when you enter our facility:

-Our Park is set at a maximum capacity of 50 Persons per Section. Please WAIT for our gate attendants to give you instructions to enter

-Face Coverings are Mandatory to enter both the Arcade and the Rides Outside except for children 2 years old and younger. If you have a health condition that does not allow you to wear a mask, we currently are unable to allow entrance to our facility for your safety and the safety of our customers.

-The current ride offerings are with tickets only.

-Social Distancing must be maintained at all times while waiting in line at any ride or midway game.

-Our Midway Games operate on the same Card System as the Arcade. Self Service Kiosks are located outside for your convenience to load your Game Card to play Midway Games like our Long Shot Basketball and Ring Toss.

-Due to COVID-19 there are no public restrooms available inside the park

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