Canobie Screeemfest 2012

[u][u]I finally made it to Canobie lake Park for their Screeemfest Halloween event arriving at 2:10. I missed the 1 pm opening but arrived to a half filled parking lot. Crowds were moderate as I made my way into the park and to Equinox Canobie's new ride. Despite 3 attendants being on the ride it was not operating. As I approached to get a photo I saw a team of maintenance workers attending to the ride. I talked with the attendant that was eager to describe the ride but I knew all that was to know form covering it on the Whalom forums. I was told I could check back but he wasn't expecting to see the ride operating.

I made my way to Untamed, Cannonball has a 2/3rds Filled Queue as I walked by and as I got to Untamed I was surprised to find it a walk on. I hoped in the main queue and walked up the stairs to the ride. I was let right in for a front seat ride. As I exited I noticed the path was blocked forcing guests to walk around the ride to the bear lodge.

I walked to skater and took a ride. Phycodrome was closed despite operating last year's Screeemfest. I then made my way to Caterpillar and Davinci's Dream. In all except for Water rides and Mine of lost souls(affected by Village haunt) the only rides down were Equinox and Phycodrome. Every other ride was open.

I road Star blaster and as I exited I heard the Madonna show so I walked over there. I looked around and quickly found a few members of Canobie fan; JustplainSteve, madjennymorgan and Ben James Ben. Jimmy mass was there but I didn’t notice him too bad. Canobie#1 also admitted to being there but he was stuck in line. I did see a few Canobie staff members I know so dropped a quick high to them but missed out on meeting up with an High School acquaintance that works at the park.

All of us Canobie fans opted to hang out for a bit and made our way to the Corn maze. Later this attraction would be fogged and reopened as Terror in the corn. It was enjoyable but the path was a little muddy despite having not rained in a couple days. We also looked over the autumn fairground. This attraction was found uninspired. The attraction consisted of a couple consigned out tents and a bunch of tents run by Canobie selling miscellanies stuff. There was a Canobie museum store selling old signs and an outlet for old T-shirts and store items. One food stand offered sausage and sliders (2 sliders for $4 dollars). From the write ups and advertisements I expected much more. I also didn't get the location.

We all headed back to the midway stage were we all branched out to do our thing I left been to play the Shooting gallery which I have not used in a couple years because of the $1.00 dollar cost to play up from .50 cents. Funny at .50 cents I played at least once a trip. I then made my way to cannonball and a Full queue. Took nearly an hour and after sitting down and buckling I voluntarily moved so 2 friends could sit together. Great ride good speed given the cold temps.

Not wanting a big meal I walked over to the Poncho Cantina to get Fried Dough. The Fried Dough cost $4.50 I got a Souvenir cup refill for .99 cents. So dinner was $5.98 not too bad. The Fried dough was OK. I think it was pre fried not fresh and seemed to mess the stomach up a bit. I ate my meal while watching the mini Kiss show.

[u]Shows[/u]
Madonna - This is the better of the 2 shows. The dancers are great a few of which are back from previous shows. The Tribute artist did a good job but seemed to be a bit off from last year’s show. I later found out that much of the cast had a cold which would account for the problems. But overall it was a good show. Though I think the Prince show was just a tad better.

Mini Kiss - It's an OK show. It's more of a gimmick then a real show. The Drummer and Guitarist are the best performers and the Bass player is pretty good but the lead singer just isn’t that good. Only plus size is he seems to have memorized the song list which is better than their first year. but it pulled a crowed So I doubt it will be going away.

Monster Parade - I didn't see the parade, but with the crowds I really don't see how it can be done sadly after 5 on Saturdays.

Having seen Equinox testing earlier a bit early in the night I figured I’d head over and see that was up. The ride was still down and the parks Rides manager confirmed that it would not be operating that day. I videotaped a test run and then asked a few questions about the ride. Sound and music will play during the ride and rock movie played between rides. I asked about volume and the music bleeding into the carousel and not hearing the band organ, I was told that wasn’t their concern. Which I find disappointing! There was talk of adding Fiberglass walls to the carousel to block some of the noise. Later in the day while they had music playing I could hear it by Rowdy roosters over wipeouts music and down the midway by the tea cups.

I left the park for a bit my phone had died and I wanted to drop off my backpack. So I charged my phone for a bit. I did notice that the park has added a charging station by the lockers but it costs $3 dollars for 15 minutes of charging and it shows ads while you stand there. Though I think Sky Vodka is a bit inappropriate for a family amusement park. After 15 minutes in the car I moved forward closer to the entrance. All the after 5 traffic was being directed in to Kelly's field and the new overflow lot.

I went back in and the park was crowded by this point. In fact it was busier then my August trip. Closing shows the entire main lot used and both over flow lots used. Every ride had full likes and every haunt queue had full to over flowing queue. I invested the rest of my night from 7-11 on haunts expect for 3 more rides on Untamed using the single rider line.
Screeemfest haunts

[u]Headhunters of Cannibal Lake/Terror in the Corn [/u]
Cannibal Lake for 2012 was turned into a read haunt using the castaway island area. Well it actually only used the front and part of one side of the area. The haunt was well staffed and used heavy smock. They did use a few lighting spots were a bright light shot at you but nothing complicated. A good start but needs more. You had to use the queue and enter the corn haunt after the Cannibal haunt. I did this twice with first time was a 45 minute wait with lines starting by the kiddie swings and second was a 20 minute wait. The fog was to as thick the second time and I could see the props better.

Terror in the Corn was a simple haunt Portions of the village were moved to this a=haunt the Scarecrows the jump nest and the camo suits are now here. Fog was the main theme with a good staff count. One aggravation was the heady use of in face lighting. And all were clear bulbs. Colors would have really been appreciated and offered more variety. The haunt was still a bit muddy which is not much of an excuse since there are ways to dry off the paths and not overly expensive.

Dead Shed - nearly full Queue 35 minutes wait. The haunt is very good, good themeing but little has changed. Biggest change is at the end were they expanded the butcher room. They added bloody skeletons that hang and a torso table. Nice to see something new but needs more. I miss the cockroach/bug room that was removed a couple years back. I went through this twice

The Village - The village used the majority of the old Canobie area. 50 minutes wait the queue sent you into the flume exit and through the entire main and overflow queue as well as the added queue. The attraction starts with a black out constriction hall and works down the path. The only addition was about 50ft of expanded haunt that brought you closer to the timber splash and the chain saw guys now use this area. The second building is not in front of the mine and is now a dark hall with ah simple haunted in there with a strobe light. I felt this was the weakest of the 5 haunts with a good staffing but needs more.

Merriment Inc - 40 minutes got in line about 20ft form the queue entrance. The haunt is the most elaborate. There was a number of performers and in a variety of costumes from clowns to gas masks. The majority of the haunt is identical to last year with a few midway prices tossed in to the mix. The most changed came after the White out constriction tunnel. The park seemed to have listened to me and black light the boxes after the tunnel which drew you forward. They also has one actor at this point to scare you. They then hung midway game prizes along the wall and fence to present some sense of continuity to the haunt. Worked well no one slowed or got lost like previous years.

In all it was an OK day. I was very disappointed in the new ride. Seems withal their efforts to compete with SFNE they have done it and found themselves their own Catapult. Hopefully the ride will open soon but to and I think it will be a good overall addition but I dislike it'd location and impact to the area. I will see Canobie again in 2013.