thepoint4life23 Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 I live three hours from this park and still have not made it. Hopefully next year i can Go then hit up Cedar point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prozach626 Posted September 23, 2020 Share Posted September 23, 2020 They decided to put a net over the roadway instead of a tunnel, for loose articles. I wouldn't think anymore into it. Great TR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted September 23, 2020 Author Share Posted September 23, 2020 I live three hours from this park and still have not made it. Hopefully next year i can Go then hit up Cedar point It's well worth a side trip! They decided to put a net over the roadway instead of a tunnel, for loose articles. I wouldn't think anymore into it. Great TR. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted September 29, 2020 Author Share Posted September 29, 2020 Storybook Land Every once and a while, we do thing we aren't proud of for a coaster credit. I thought going to Storybook Land would be one of them. But I have to be honest, I loved Storybook Land! It's no Six Flags Great Adventure (or even Six Flags America), but the park oozes charm. In many ways, the park reminded me of Oregon's Enchanted Forest. The entire park is underneath a dense tree canopy, there are adorable figures all throughout the park, and there are a large number of walkthrough attractions. Sound the alarm, Disneyland's castle is no longer the smallest! Storybook Land has a confusing name for me since one of my local parks is Story Land. And there are a lot of similarities. Both parks have a Humpty Dumpty sitting atop the park logo. Such a pretty park! All the shade was very much appreciated the day I visited. If I remember correctly, it was in the 90s with max humidity. But it felt 20 degrees cooler at Storybook Land underneath all those trees. Not only that, several of the rides are built under pavilions as well for double protection. I can't decide if my favorite tilt-a-whirl is this one, the one at Belmont with ice cream, or the one at Holiday World with turkeys. It was so hot, the park was giving out free ice creams. The highlight for me was of course Bubbles the Coaster. This is one of the best kiddie coasters I've ever ridden. The ride has the same layout as Kozmo's Kurves, which is already one of the more aggressive kiddie coasters. But Bubbles needed to live up to its name so on the first drop, the ride blasts riders with bubbles. 5 out of 10 Least intimidating name ever for a dragon. If there was an award for the best kiddie coaster, this would be a contender. The park was also supposed to get a SBF Visa spinner called the Cinderella Coaster for 2020, but I saw no evidence of the ride anywhere. There was no visible land clearing nor track visible. I'm guessing the pandemic delayed this ride a year or two. At first glance this may look like an actual work zone, but this is just a cute display with an animatronic crane. Outside of Bubbles, the only other attraction I rode was the antique car ride, which was extremely well landscaped. I spent most of my time in the park admiring the walkthroughs and displays, so I'll let the pictures do the talking. Would I recommend visiting Storybook Land? If you have kids, absolutely! It's one of the best kids parks I've visited. And even though it's on the smaller side, it's still worth visiting as an adult if you appreciate good theming or want a coaster credit. Even the smaller rides are well-landscaped. I'm late, I'm late! For a very important date! Don't forget to duck your head! Is Slide to Wonderland a euphemism for LSD? The experience ends with a maze. This maze is a lot easier than the ones I used to make in Roller Coaster Tycoon. This one actually had an exit. This was the best baseball I saw all year since the Red Sox were embarassing. Goats on the roof! And just like the beloved Pigeon Forge attraction, you can crank them up some food. You know what they say about people with big shoes... Snow White's lovely home. Snow White threw a party like it was 2019. Sleeping Beauty threw a party like it was 2020. Clearly the writers of Little Red Riding Hood have never tried to put clothing on an animal. If my beagles are any indication, it doesn't end well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyUD06 Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 Nice report! I've probably driven past this place a hundred times, as it's on my way to AC. Please tell me you stopped into White House Subs while you were in the area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted September 29, 2020 Author Share Posted September 29, 2020 Thanks! Unfortunately I did not. I didn't know White House Subs was a thing. I saved my appetite for boardwalk food down in Wildwood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyUD06 Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 Yeah, White House is about the only redeeming quality about Atlantic City (especially with the pandemic), but they make the best cheesesteak I've ever had (and I frequent Philly!) as was as some banging cold subs too. There's also two really cool retro video game/toy stores (Level Up in Hamilton Mall and Farpoint on Route 40 east of the mall) right in the area, too, if you're into that sort of thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoshiFan Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 Great pictures. I used to really like visiting Storybook Land when I was a kid. It’s good to see they added some family rides like the Tilt a Whirl and mini drop tower. Except for the train and antique cars, it was all kiddie rides when I used to visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted September 29, 2020 Author Share Posted September 29, 2020 Yeah, White House is about the only redeeming quality about Atlantic City (especially with the pandemic), but they make the best cheesesteak I've ever had (and I frequent Philly!) as was as some banging cold subs too. There's also two really cool retro video game/toy stores (Level Up in Hamilton Mall and Farpoint on Route 40 east of the mall) right in the area, too, if you're into that sort of thing. I was in and out of Atlantic City in a half hour for Steel Pier. I still need to try a good cheesesteak since I've since learned Pat's and Geno's aren't the best for them. Great pictures. I used to really like visiting Storybook Land when I was a kid. It’s good to see they added some family rides like the Tilt a Whirl and mini drop tower. Except for the train and antique cars, it was all kiddie rides when I used to visit. Thanks! I'm glad they've been adding more rides parents can enjoy with kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 6, 2020 Author Share Posted November 6, 2020 Steel Pier I had tried going to Steel Pier once before in 2017, but the park closed shortly before I arrived. This is one of those parks that has a rolling closure depending on attendance. So this time, I made sure to arrive midday. I parked across the street at the Hard Rock Casino and made my way to Steel Pier. Like many of the Jersey Boardwalk parks, social distancing and mask compliance was an afterthought to most guests. However, the park was reasonably dead in the afternoon on a weekday, so it wasn't an issue for me. I was in and out of the park in less than an hour. The park is home to two coasters, most notably a historic Reverchon spinning coaster. This was the prototype that was relocated from the defunct Dinosaur Beach. And I have to say, it's one of the best compact spinners. This one has a great location alongside the Atlantic Ocean and this one spun a lot...if you got the right vehicle. There was one vehicle that consistently wouldn't spin, so I made sure to avoid that one. 5 out of 10 Just a warning for any enthusiast going to Steel Pier by themselves, Crazy Mouse doesn't allow single riders, a restriction you won't find anywhere on their website. It's also laughably sketchy. You have these sun-faded, ragtag signs alongside the station. The vehicles collide into each other in the station. And best of all, there was an employee atop the station manually taking the on-ride photos since the automatic one was down. That's something you'll never see at a corporate park! The other coaster is Loco Motion, a SBF non-spinning coaster. This coaster was surprisingly shaky for a kids coaster and it kept sending me around and around much to my chagrin. I definitely earned this credit! 1 out of 10 The only other ride I experienced was their giant observation wheel which is creatively named the Wheel. It was pricey, but the views of the park, the ocean, and Atlantic City were spectacular. 9 out of 10 Unless Steel Pier adds a new coaster, I probably won't be back here. It's fine for what it is, but it's a pricey pit stop for some off-the-shelf rides I can experience elsewhere. I'd prefer to spend my time at the other Jersey boardwalk parks. And that's especially true since Atlantic City isn't really appealing to me as a whole. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grsupercity Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 interesting colors on that mouse lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 6, 2020 Author Share Posted November 6, 2020 It stands out more now, that's for sure. It used to be white for a while and then a faded purple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaellynn4 Posted November 6, 2020 Share Posted November 6, 2020 I went there years ago when in AC for Wheel of Fortune tryouts. I encountered the same single rider issue, but fortunately there was a group of two behind me who didn't mind me on the other side. I also remember it spinning like crazy, too! Didn't realize it was a prototype, that's kinda cool, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 6, 2020 Author Share Posted November 6, 2020 While I'm not the biggest fan of the ride, I can't deny it was a great add for a lot of smaller parks once it was introduced so it's neat to say I rode the first. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 9, 2020 Author Share Posted November 9, 2020 Twisted Timbers is my new number one roller coaster at the Land of Make Believe. Land of Make Believe The Land of Make Believe in Hope, New Jersey is a small park primarily targeted for kids. And this was a really weird park. In some ways, it reminded me of Knoebels. The park is located in the middle of a forest and has no paved walkways. In other ways, it reminded me of Storybook Land or Story Land with the non-ride attractions such as the petting zoo, play areas, and walkthroughs. But then you had some really head-scratching policies that made me want to rip my hair out. The first was the fact that this park does not accept major credit cards due to their policies on consumer fraud. Fortunately, I had some cash in my car that was reserved for parking at the boardwalk parks, so I was able to avoid a trip to the First Hope Bank. Second, the park's covid precautions were annoying. All guests were asked to wear masks unless they were in the water park. However, none of the employees were wearing masks anywhere. The closest I saw was the ride operator at Twisted Timbers wearing his mask as an arm band. I thought that was a pretty bad double standard during a pandemic to have guests wear masks in the dry park, but not hold the employees to the same standard. Third, I had a cloth mask I wanted to wear in the water park while walking around and queuing for water slides. I planned to store that mask in a zippered pocket whenever I actually rode a water slide. However, employees told me I wasn't allowed to wear a mask anywhere in the water park for safety reasons. Thankfully, the park was dead so it was extremely easy to social distance. Now that I have the negatives out of the way, let's focus on the positives. This small kid's park has not one, but two coaster credits. The older credit is Thriller, the Miler kiddie coaster. This one wasn't overly wild, but it was smooth. 2 out of 10 Twisted Timbers was the "star" roller coaster. It was the best Twisted Timbers I rode in 2020. Unlike its namesake at Kings Dominion, this Twisted Timbers is not an RMC loaded with airtime. Rather, this Twisted Timbers is your garden variety SBF Visa spinner. Though this one does give a very long cycle, so as far as SBF spinners go, this one is elite. 4 out of 10 If you visit Land of Make Believe, solely for the coasters, it's a pricey pit stop. Beyond the coasters, the only other exciting ride for me on the dry side was the Scream Extreme 360, an extremely disorienting, miniature inverting frisbee. This one didn't run as long of a cycle as Quassy's Frantic, but it still had a ton of hangtime and made me very dizzy. 6 out of 10 The rest of the offerings were understandably targeted towards kids. You had some standard flats plus a few intriguing walkthroughs; however, the latter were closed due to covid. And the park also had a cute looking castle stage, but I didn't see any shows taking place, which also could have been due to covid. But if you like water parks, Land of Make Believe is well worth the price of admission. While the dry side is filled entirely with kids rides outside of the inverting frisbee, the water park has some intense water slides. Most notably, there are two drop pod water slides called Pirate's Escape and Pirate's Revenge. These ones are shorter than the ones you'll find elsewhere, but the initial plunge is shocking as ever, the turns pull some good Gs, and it's very smooth on your back. It was the best ride at the park without a doubt. 8 out of 10 The other notable water slide for me was the Sidewinder half pipe slide. I always enjoy the abnormally large drop on these things. However, I'm spoiled by the version I grew up with at Aquaboggan in Maine since that one allows you to ride it backwards. This one did not. But it was still quite thrilling experiencing a drop that big and steep for a tube slide. 7 out of 10 The rest of the water park offerings weren't anything special, but the lineup was deep with some regular tube slides, a body slide, and a bowl slide. If you have kids, the Land of Make Believe is a no brainer. If you enjoy water parks, the Land of Make Believe is well worth experiencing. If you're a dirty credit whore seeking two junior coasters, come on down. Just know, you'll be paying for those credits if that's all you care about. But I personally enjoyed my 1.5 hours there mostly because of the water park, despite the frustrating policies this park had in place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grsupercity Posted November 9, 2020 Share Posted November 9, 2020 Its not everyday I read about a park I have not heard of. Looks neat. I love drop pod slides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 10, 2020 Author Share Posted November 10, 2020 Same here! Although I still prefer master blasters/water coasters more as far as water slides go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 Gillian's Wonderland Pier Ocean City, New Jersey is home to two amusement parks within a half mile of each other. The first I visited this year was Gillian's Wonderland Pier since it opened an hour earlier. And I needed far less than an hour. The park was dead and since the park wasn't offering wristbands, I quickly rode what I wanted to with the pay-per-ride option. And before talking about the park, do not miss the Tee Time mini golf next door. It was just $5 and it was one of the best mini golf courses I've ever played. Every single hole had some sort of obstacle, including a few I had never seen before. Gillian's is split into a small indoor section and a larger outdoor section. The indoor section is comprised mostly of kiddie rides, the park's classic carousel, and a weird monorail. For the most part, Gillian's is your typical boardwalk park absent of theming. But for whatever reason, they decided to give their monorail a themed station. As for the ride itself, it circles the entire park, so it's a good way to preview the park or get some aerial photos. 6 out of 10 The other ride that's themed is the Canyon Falls Log Flume. And it's easily the park's star attraction. This flume starts below the deck and it passes through caves and through several scenes. This one only has one drop, but it's a really good drop. It gives a tiny pop of airtime and it has a fantastic headchopper when it dives back below the deck. 9 out of 10 The park was in the process of installing a Huss frisbee during my visit, so the newest operating ride was their ARM/Larson drop tower. And since Gillian's was jealous of Cedar Fair's drop tower names, the park decided to name it Drop Tower. While the name is laughably lazy, the ride is fantastic. It gives a wonderful view of the beach. And then the drop is absolutely gut-wrenching. You drop like a rock and float the whole way down. 10 out of 10 But what name could be better than Drop Tower? Dark Ride! Again, the name is laughably bad, but it's a solid dark ride. This is not your average tacky carnival haunted house. This one has a lot of scenes with jump scares, but the one criticism I have is that it's a bit too well-lit, so you can see some of the scares before they happen. 6 out of 10 If you want coaters, Gillian's unfortunately removed their largest coaster, Runaway Mine Train, a few years ago. So the only remaining coaster is a Wacky Worm. I got this credit in 2017, so I didn't feel the need to pay for it a second time. Having visited during the covid-19 pandemic, I have to give the park credit that almost every ride was running. The only exceptions were the under construction Frisbee and the Tin Lizzy bumper cars, which were comically on their side like an obese turtle. Ocean City, NJ is a really fun boardwalk. While I'll never make a trip exclusively for Gillian's, I'll most likely pop in to ride that flume and drop tower whenever I find myself there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 Playland's Castaway Cove I previously visited Playland's Castaway Cove in 2017 and didn't have the best visit. It's well documented that Gale Force had a lot of issues in its opening year, as evidenced by how S&S retracked the entire thing after just one season. And then Wild Waves made the delays of West Coast Racers look insignificant by comparison. The only redeeming factor of my 2017 visit was the insane Tropical Storm ride, which has since been removed, so I was a bit apprehensive to return. Let's start with Gale Force. And the operations on this coaster were really awkward for 2020. I knew the park had a strict no loose articles policy and that they would wand me down in the station. But I wasn't expecting to have to remove my mask. This was particularly comical since I could wear my glasses with a strap that was secured around my head, yet you couldn't wear a mask secured in the same manner. Two, they seemed to forego the covid precautions when the line backed up. Early in the day, they loaded one party per row and skipped a row in between parties, but once the line lengthened, they loaded multiple parties in every row. The coaster started with a shaky launch, so I was worried the coaster was no better after the retrack. Thankfully, everything after the launch was smooth. Even better, everything after the launch was downright insane. The ride was a blur of forces. The first three top hats/kick flips/hills all had powerful ejector airtime. And I also started to greyout in between these elements from the positive Gs. The final element is very close to a dive loop (I guess it officially doesn't invert though) and while it doesn't offer the crazy airtime of the prior hills, it's extremely disorienting from its compactness. Plus the coaster gives you two cycles, which was much appreciated considering the cost per ride. I went from finding Gale Force a rattling, uncomfortable mess in 2017 to loving Gale Force. I think it's among the best compact coaster models out there and it's probably the best coaster on the Jersey Shore. 8 out of 10 Circling around Gale Force is Wild Waves, one of the few adult Miler coasters. This coaster was interesting. If you rode up front, it had several good moments of airtime- most notably the strong floater on the camelback and the abrupt ejector on the 2nd to last bunny hill. Towards the back, the coaster had barely any airtime, which surprised me considering the other adult Miler coasters tend to be better in the back. My biggest issue with this coaster was the pacing. There were several brake runs that brought you to a dead halt. I'm guessing this was so the turns wouldn't slam you with laterals, but I actually enjoy that on the other adult Milers. Ultimately, this made the ride a better family coaster so I understand why that was done. 6 out of 10 I mentioned the park removed Tropical Storm, but would you believe me if I said they replaced it with an even crazier flat? That's exactly what they did with Squadron 33. This ride is the happy marriage of a Gerstlauer Sky Roller and an Enterprise. And the results are incredible. If you've been on one of those Gerstlauer Sky Rollers, you know they can be difficult to flip for first timers. You really need to have strong technique and patience to get those things flipping. Squadron 33 was much easier to flip, partially becauase this ride seemed to rotate faster. Once I got it flipping, I inverted non-stop for the entirety of the ride. While the flips were less rapid than a Sky Roller, the sensations were more varied. I often got slower inversions over the top with some hangtime/airtime and faster inversions on the pullout. This is now one of my favorite flat rides anywhere and I hope more are built! 10 out of 10 Another new flat the park added was Tidal Wave, which is one of those Techno Jump flats. Off-ride, it looked like Tidal Wave would be an airtime machine. But it only had a few faint pops of airtime. The ride was more about the rapid bounces feeling chaotic, as the ride traveled in both directions multiple times. 7 out of 10 The last ride I made sure to experience was Double Shot. One of the bizarre things about the Jersey Shore is that I think it's a rule their S&S double shots run a double cycle. So essentially I got two rides in one. This one gave a great view of the beach and the launches had nice pops of airtime at the top. 6 out of 10 My biggest gripe with Playland's Castaway Cove is that they usually do not offer a pay-one-price wristband. I'd love to visit on a day where I could lap Gale Force, Wild Waves, and some of the flats. But as it stands, it's a small but strong Jersey boardwalk park with an interesting ride lineup. That makes it the perfect pit stop if you're going between Six Flags and Morey's Piers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKI Jizzman Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 Forgot about that coaster. It's so odd to see a single square train going around that twisty track!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 One of the things I didn't realize until looking at my photos, is that Gale Force actually has a two car train. The first two rows are in one car and the back row is in its own car. It's such a bizarre design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 15 minutes ago, Canobie Coaster said: One of the things I didn't realize until looking at my photos, is that Gale Force actually has a two car train. The first two rows are in one car and the back row is in its own car. It's such a bizarre design. I may be wrong here but for some reason I recall that the original trains were a single car and the last row didn't articulate individually, which may have been a part of some of the issues that led to the delays. I can't find any pictures of that anywhere but I do remember that for some reason and thinking that the train looks huge for a single assembly. Either way this is a super funky ride and I love everything about it lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper39 Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 Update, I found a picture and was right, that was a modification. I'm not sure what I'm allowed to post video wise but if you look up testing videos on youtube from 2016 or so you'll find some videos of the original train, and that thing looks like a king size mattress or something without the last row articulating lol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 Very cool find, thanks for sharing! When the ride did open to riders in 2017, it had the articulating cars as seen in my photo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grsupercity Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 Gale force looks so fun. I wouldn't mind six flags popping them down in some smaller parks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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