Pt 1: Whalom Park/Canobie Lake Park
Photo courtesy of Chris Lucht
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What a privilege it is to travel to so many great parts of the
country. This was only my second visit to New England, and I find it
to be the most unusual part of our country. It is an area full of
surprising contradictions. It has a sophisticated, wealthy image, yet
the unsightly infrastructure plaguing each city creates the impression
of an economy in ruins. The people here are incredibly rude, in your
face, even mean, yet the New England friends I've made through RRC are
the nicest people I know. The gardens that line almost every house
are manicured with such care, yet there's trash all over the place.
And the charm of New England lies in its architecture, but everything
seems to be falling apart! I arrived at Boston Logan International Airport on Saturday morning. What a dreadful airport. I walked off the plane and encountered aisle after aisle before finally arriving at a narrow walkway and the exit to my "gate." It was the skankiest terminal I've ever seen! Cindy Stout met me there, and we proceeded outside into construction heaven (and tourist hell). Downtown Boston cuts an impressive figure across the skyline, yet at street level the area looks like it's crumbling and the roads are nearly unnavigable. I have never seen such old, decrepit roads and unsafe looking bridges. The traffic patterns are also bizarre, with strange ramps and multiple lane changes that only a local could logically navigate. I doubt I'll ever visit downtown Boston because it's just too big a mess! Enough of this madness, get me out of here. We rented our luxury Kia Sportage (be patient with the bipolar accelerator as it doesn't respond well to pressure) and we're off to Whalom Park! We arrived at 1:30 p.m. only to find Robb Alvey and family on their way out. This was their first visit to Whalom and they were clearly overjoyed. To be leaving. Sarah gave me a look that had "eww" written all over it. I had visited this park last year and I remembered what it looked like, so I understood why they might have had those feelings. Whalom was, indeed, a dump. There were old, spare ride parts sitting right alongside the midway. There was an old rusty slide that looked like it hadn't been used in a decade. Cindy called it a junk yard. Of course the Carousel was in terrible shape, and other rides, including the roller-coaster, were either half-painted or just plain drab looking. The entire park had a very depressing aura about it. So I nodded my head in sympathy to my friends' disappointment over the park. They left and Cindy and I walked in. WOW! Whalom got a facelift! The entire park got a fresh coat of paint, including some bright new colors on the flying scooters! The crumbling Carousel and slide has been removed, along with all the other spare ride parts and trashy remnants of last year. Everything looked bright and cheery! This didn't impress the Alveys? Wow, what would they have thought if they had seen the park last year! We got no further than halfway up the midway when Spatch comes running up, carrying a welcome wagon glass of Cranberry Dry! I took a sip (okay, a guzzling gulp) of my favorite drink and thanked my friend profusely. The thing I like most about Whalom is their food. Cranberry Dry - who could NOT love this drink? Somebody told me they had Orange Dry as well, and I'll definitely have to try that next time! Whalom also has great french fries and the BEST jumbo hot dogs! I got one right away, and it was every bit as good as last year. But wait, something's different: it's the bun! They're making hot dog buns now out of white sandwich bread that is glued together at the bottom to form a hot dog bun! It was good and I liked it but at the same time I kind of felt like poor white trash. We rode the Flyers first. I love these Flyers! They've been harnessed in a new way this year, but nothing stops the cables from snapping and riders from having a great time. The ride op was pulling double duty, operating both the Flyers and the roto jets. I noticed the same thing occuring further down with the Yo Yo and Scrambler. Is it that hard to find help or is this Whalom's way of staying afloat? After a couple of rides we were joined by RRCers Chris Lucht, Tim Melago, Dave Sandborg, Adam Revesz, TwisterBret, Ted Ansley, Alan Weiland, Spatch and Shawn Mamros. This group was a lot of fun and we rode the Flyers several times. We also rode the backwards Scrambler and Tilt-a-Whirl. Sadly, Cindy and I never did the Whip! Whalom has the BEST Whip I've ever ridden! We took one ride on the Flyer Comet. This coaster is the only attraction that wasn't finished being painted. The ride is a lot of fun - the "black on the hole" tunnel is outstanding and by far the best part of the ride. But after one ride I was ready to bolt and head for Canobie Lake. Why? Because as much fun as Whalom's flat rides are, and as much as I wanted to participate in this portion of the WNYCC's Coasterfest, I simply fell in love with Canobie Lake during my first visit last year. And I had to go back. It only took forty five minutes to reach the park. There is no parking fee, and Cindy and I were treated to complimentary guest passes, courtesy of Shawn Mamros. Thank you so much, Shawn! Canobie Lake is the most beautiful park in the world. It has a pristine look, with immaculately groomed grounds and landscaping (the flowers and bushes are straight out of a Disney park), huge evergreen trees that completely shade the entire park, and a lighting scheme that is breathtaking in its sophistication. Every single ride has a lighting package that is unique and complimentary with the rest of the park. The rotor, for God's sake, is a wonder to look at - it is the most elaborately decorated and lighted rotor you will ever see! Beautiful pink globes light and line the walkways in one area of the park, while retro, multicolored cubes light the main midway. And at every ride, every walkway, you won't find a single bulb burned out. Cindy commented on the Dodgem bumper cars and how fascinating the lights were, while Tim noted the lighting scheme on the Kosmo jets looked straight out of Lakeside park in Denver. As for me, I was enthralled with the rotor, here called the Turkish Twist, and another ride in Kiddieland in which the entire building is lit from within. I can think of no other park that looks this beautiful, day or night. We were joined by the Alveys as well as Steve O'Brien (Bodsnvimto), Spatch, Tim and Dave, and later Fred Beidermann. I was *very* sorry I didn't get a chance to meet Greg Morrow, who works at this park and posts to RRC. It's funny, we really didn't ride all that many rides during our time at Canobie. We did ride the Mine of Lost Souls (how did an Egyptian pharaoh end up in a New England mine?) and the Caterpillar. I would have loved to have ridden the Galaxi but it's still down, what gives? Mostly we took a casual stroll through the park and kept things at a very nice, relaxed pace. It was great fun to be here with good friends. It is easy to lose yourself in the environment here, and I enjoyed myself immensely. This is one place, like Kennywood, where I would be happy just to come and sit on a bench and soak up the atmosphere. Of course we rode the Yankee Cannonball! And *WHAT* an improvement this ride has received over last year! The retracking work has been completed and the result is a smooth ride with jolts in all the right places! And the refurbished trains - thank you thank you thank you!!! Gone are the outrageously oversized seat dividers that kept riders from experiencing all the delicious airtime this coaster has to give. The trains are wonderful, and the crew dispatches faster than any other coaster I've ridden (although they have a bad tendancy to run only one train even if the crowd is spilling out of the queue. Get with it, guys!) And the ride - YAY! It is SO WONDERFUL! The Yankee Cannonball is a simple dog leg out and back - it lasts only ninety seconds. But the quality of this ride is so good and so much fun, it is a pure delight. It's in my top twenty. At the end of the night, as we were rushing like mad to get back in line for one last ride on the Cannonball, an announcement was made over the loudspeaker that the park would remain open for another half hour extra. YAY! More fun!!! We rode the Yankee Cannonball non-stop for the final hour. The front is fine, but the backseat delivers the goods. I enjoyed every moment I spent at this park. This was Dave Sandborg's first visit, and I know he was equally impressed. Likewise for Tim Melago, who had been here once before but never seen the park at night. I think this place gives visitors everything they could want in an amusement park - a beautiful, otherworldly environment, great rides, short lines and a clean, safe atmosphere. It's now one of my top ten parks, and I cannot wait to go back. I think this is a park that everyone should experience at least once, if only to see a traditional park that successfully incorporates theming to enhance the traditional atmosphere. It's a truly unique and special place, and I'm developing quite a soft spot in my heart over it. Canobie Lake doesn't do everything right, but it sure is trying. Up Next: Lake Compounce and the Western New York Coaster Club's Coasterfest 2000!
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