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TR SFNE 9-1-02
Kim and I had to go to Providence, RI to visit our friends Beth and Aaron and we knew that if there was a park even remotely nearby, we had to hit it. Now we were supposed to go on Saturday but because we missed our flight out of Atlanta (due to bad weather) on Friday night, we had to fly into Providence on Saturday morning instead, thus pushing our park trip into Sunday. Unfortunately, because of this change in plans, Aaron could no longer go but Beth, being the good friend that she is (and not as much of a coaster fan as her husband) still took us. The drive there didn’t take us as long as we thought it would (less than 1 ½ hours) but we did miss a turn that slowed us up a little. We still got to the park a little after 10:00 a.m. though and were happy to see that the parking lot wasn’t very full yet.
We immediately ran for Superman, as this was the coaster we were most excited about riding. The line hadn’t grown that long yet, so it was only about a 15 min wait. Now we rode this twice, once at the beginning of the day and once at the end, so I’m going to talk about both right up front as we had two vastly different experiences. This was going to be our first hypercoaster and we were a little nervous. The highest drop we had done up to that point had maybe been like 160 ft. We were pressed for time, so we sat in the first seats that became available, somewhere in the middle. We went up the lift hill, went down the first drop and loved every minute of the ride that followed. I just love the layout of this coaster. It just seems so much more multi-faceted than some of the other hypers that I’ve seen, that have more of a traditional out and back layout. This one just seems to take you all over the place, which makes for a very wild ride. For our second ride, we rode closer to the front and truly found out why people consider this one of the best coasters on the planet. We discovered some incredibly powerful Gs, both positive and negative, that hadn’t been there the first time, which made for both a wild and intense ride. This was our first time experiencing Gs like this and I must say that we now know why everyone loves these types of coasters. This is just an AWESOME, AWESOME ride and is probably our new favorite steel coaster. I can’t wait to ride more.
Next it was on to the park’s other latest steel beast, Batman: The Dark Knight. This was my first time on a floorless and I was pumped. Kim had previously been on Kraken and knew what to expect. The line wasn’t that bad, so we were going to wait for the front but Beth was going to ride this one with us (she had sat out Superman) and was a little apprehensive about sitting there. The back was a walk on though and we were all cool with that so we went for it. Once again, a great first time experience. With your feet dangling out in front of you, I really did feel as though I was on a B&M invert but on top of the tracks. Very cool feeling and I just love that patented B&M smoothness. Very nice. We may have not have gone for the spectacular view in the front but we were happy with the back, as it delivered some nice positive Gs and a wild ride.
I had wanted to hit Flashback next, due to low capacity, but we noticed that The Mind Eraser was looking equally low with only one train running. Plus it was right next door so we made it our next choice. This ended up being one of the longest waits of the day at around a half hour. I had heard the talk of this thing being "The Ear Eraser" and all of that and didn’t quite know what to expect. Fortunately, the ride wasn’t that bad. It got a little rough in some spots and my ears did take a little abuse but it wasn’t nearly as bad as we had thought it might be. I must say that I really liked the foot choppers at the end too. They really came out of no where. Next up was Flashback, which we were expecting to be a long wait. Surprisingly, it was a walk on. I had just been on the Sidewinder at Hersheypark a week earlier and this was pretty much the exact same experience. BTW, this also happened to be my 50th coaster. I had wanted Superman or Batman to be my 50th but I wanted to get them done early. Oh well, what are you going to do?
The Cyclone was right next door and it too was a walk-on. Unfortunately, it also proved to be our least favorite ride of the day. Now I know that some of the drops have been changed somewhat, as you can still see the old track under them but I just really did not like the layout on this coaster. It just didn’t seem really intense in any way, with all of the drops being rather small. The only saving grace of the ride was an incredibly powerful shot of ejector air that totally blasted me out of my seat at the top of one of the hills. Very unexpected. After the Cyclone we were going to get something to eat but decided to hit The Great Chase on the way, as the line didn’t look too bad. This was pretty good for a kids coaster although it is way too short. After getting some lunch, we decided to get in line for the Thunderbolt. It was only running one train plus the ops seemed a little slow, so it ended up being the longest wait of the day. At least the coaster was fun though and surprisingly smooth. I was also able to grab a front seat on this one which helped with the experience. We next headed over to Poison Ivy. They were testing as we walked up. It looked like some kind of problem with a restraint. We got on immediately thanks to the great capacity this thing has because of its size. The train on this thing is massive. I also really enjoyed this one. One of the better family coasters I’ve been on. Finally, we did our second lap on Superman to end the day. The only ride I didn’t get to do that I would have liked to have was Scream. Drop rides are one of those that I’ll ride if I have time but I’m not going to go out of my way, unless it’s something really special.
I really enjoyed this park. It’s kind of on the smallish side but even that wasn’t too bad as at least we didn’t tire ourselves out running all over the place. Fortunately, we didn’t experience the crazy crowds that I’ve heard the park can get and for the most part the park was clean and the ride ops were good. I also liked the theming, particularly in the Looney Toons and D.C. Super Heroes area. All in all, it was a great trip and I can’t wait to go back again.
Did ya' have to borrow a kid for Great Chase or do they let adults ride? I know, I know... I'm a slave to the track record.
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Im the #1 Canobie Lake Park Fan!!!These are my top 3 coasters:
1. S:RoS @ SFNE 2. Yankee Cannonball 3. Cyclone/B:TDK
MikeMir87
We rode the Cyclone second car from the front. What's in the back that we missed? More air? If it would be anything like that one pop that I got, than it would definitely have been an much better ride. I'll keep that in mind for next time though.
The Cyclone is off and on this year - definitely not as good as it has been in the past. The back I find gives more air and provides an out-of-control ride, although the ride isn't as fast-paced as some other woodies I've been on (CCI comes to mind). Unfortunately, the back has been closed for the latter part of the season.
Regardless, thanks for the fun TR, and I'm glad you visited this park - i feel like my home park doesn't get the coverage it deserves sometimes. It's small, but has some great rides!
*** This post was edited by nelson324 on 9/4/2002. ***
Pertaining to the cyclone in your TR
The only saving grace of the ride was an incredibly powerful shot of ejector air that totally blasted me out of my seat at the top of one of the hills.
I know what your talking about, I sat in the same seat as you and did not see it coming. It just looked like we were going to slowly crest and make a little turn to the left and WAHM! One of the few times I can recall reaching for the grab bar.
Glad you liked SROS, its gives the ride of a twister and an out and back. Every time on the ride you go up and then down, there is airtime (hills, helix transitions). I just love it. But you missed where it's the best, the back. You get extreme airtime in the back, getting pulled over and through everything. The pull over the lift is the most extreme coaster experience I've ever had.
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I lost my hat on Poison Ivy. How pathetic.
Superman: Kid of Steel
Yeah, I would have loved to have ridden in the back but unfortunately the line for it was just as long as the line for the front and we were very pressed for time. Truelly my only regret of the day was not getting to ride it to its full potential (either the front or back) but then again I do feel lucky that I got to ride it at all.
Awesome TR!
Was Cyclone running 2 trains. How about S:RoS and B:DK? Too bad you didn't like Cyclone. I like it a lot even though Six Flags screwed it up.
Another happy S:RoS rider!
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SFNE Dude
Both S:ROS and B:DK were both running two trains. I'm a little foggy on the Cyclone but I'm pretty sure that it was only running one. It really seems like I rode the Cyclone in the wrong place. Next time, I'll give it a shot in the back and see if it's as wild as everyone says it is. In the front, it just didn't seem very intense at all.
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