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What a day to open Canobie Lake Park. The Weather report had the day being sunny and 83 degrees, perfect for a park day. Turned out to be much warmer, heard it was 92 degrees mid day. The park was really busy. I have never seen an opening day this busy, though it’s never been this nice on an opening day before. It was about 11:20 by the time we all got in. I was told the park opened up at 10:30 instead of 11 to let in the crowds.
Off the bat I quickly noticed changes within the park. The side wall of the Trellis was knocked out and they built in a window. Seems Fried dough will be sold out of this site. The park will be getting a 3D sign. The park also has a one man band performing around the midways.
I talked to Al, a ride op that is a member of Canobiefan, he was on the rowdy Rooster but they were down. They were down for the day along with the Vertigo Theater. The kiddie land had 3 rides down as they Work on that section of the property.
I meet up with a number of people form Canobie fan also saw a few ACErs during the day. I also noticed that a few rides had problems but maintenance got them back up ASAP. The Corkscrew, Flume, Dragon coaster, from what I saw. But the park was all out working on Capital improvement this year. Onto of the new stand and kiddie land improvement mentioned above. They are rebuilding the deck at the Gables Grill. The park also removed 3 smaller games and has new game coming. I could not get confirmation on the game they wanted it to be a surprise. But I did get word that the prices will be major.
The park also removed the old Worlds fair lights. They kept one up by the carousel as a reminder of the classic lights. The new lights are all round the park. The park also had to add new speakers since the old lights had both lights and speakers. I didn’t geta chance to see how the lights looked since the park closed before dark. The Speakers were a little on the quite side.
The park also removed the lobster trap game. The New game is a Rink toss game. After talking to the Attendant Jalica I got the scoop on the prices. $2 dollars for 7 rings, $5 dollars for 40 rings, or $10 dollars for a fuzzy hat full of rings (you keep the hat). I checked back in at the end of the day and she said it really picked up after the first hour. In the 10 minutes I was there I watched 5 people play. That’s more people then I saw play Lobster trap in the last 5 years.
Going into the day I planed on doing the park with my brothers, sister in law and my nieces. But after they took off twice and I spent and hour waiting for them I moved on by myself. The day turned out pretty well. In all it was a good day for rides. Despite a solid crowd the lines were never more then a 1 to 3 circuits long. Cannonball was 40 minutes. I made out well throughout the day.
I got a single ride in on Mine of lost souls, Flume, Zero Gravity, Whip out, Star blaster, Skater, Over the rainbow, Boston Harbor Patrol, Twist&Shout, Canobie Express train, Caterpillar and Davinci’s Dream. I got 2 rides in on cannonball. I willingly skipped Timber splash and Boston Tea Party despite the hot weather. I also didn’t bother riding Phycodrome after hearing the flood lights are still being used.
Another big change this year is the park switched from Coke to Pepsi. You can find Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and Sierra Mist at the stands. Aquafina can be found in the vending machines around the park. Bottled water is $2.75, while Fountain drinks are 2.65 plus tax, basically 2.86 after tax. Not sure if anyplace offered Root beer.
I took advantage of the opening day sale and bought 2 tickets to use later in the season. Those tickets as well as the day ticket cost me $67 Dollars. That was a little bit discouraging since I could buy a season pass to story land, Santa’s village, or Clarks for that price. For the price of a 4th ticket I could have purchased a season pass to any other New England park. They really need a season pass
In all it was a really good day. Talked to alt of people while in line, they all seemed to be enjoying their day. A few were checking out the park for the first time Since things are looking good to an event in October I will go 3-4 more times before the season is over.
See Photos on my trip report posted here: http://z6.invisionfree.com/New_Whalom_Park/index.php?showtopic=455
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