CANOBIE LAKE PARK

'Canobie Lake Park' is an amusement park located in Salem, New Hampshire.

Contents

Description

Rides at Canobie Lake Park

Black diamond rides

Blue square rides

Green circle rides

Other rides and attractions

Retired Attractions

Trivia

References

Description

Canobie Lake Park opened on August 23, 1902 as a trolley park for the Massachusetts Northeast Street Railway Company.^[1] The amusement park has opened every summer since then. In the park's early years, it was known for its flower gardens, promenades and gentle attractions. Today, owned by 3 different families, the park features over 50 rides, including roller coasters, a log flume, the "Timber Splash Water Coaster", a hand-painted antique carousel, a steam train, a Ferris wheel, the "Starblaster", "Dodgems", "DaVinci's Dream", over a dozen kiddie rides, a variety of foods, prize games, three arcades, live entertainment, fireworks, and more.
The Yankee Cannonball, a 1930s era wooden roller coaster, is one of the park's best known rides. The park also has a looping, steel roller coaster named "Canobie Corkscrew", designed by Arrow Dynamics. It was formerly located at Old Chicago, where it was called the "Chicago Loop".^[2] There is also a kiddie coaster, called "The Dragon".

The park also features one of the few "dark rides" located in New England, titled "Mine of Lost Souls". Passengers board a mine train and are transported into the depths of a dark mine, which begins to collapse. Another popular flat ride at Canobie is the "Psychodrome", a 12-car Sizzler ride located in a dome, with special effects lighting and music.
Located towards the back of the park, along the lake, is a classic Chute-the-Chutes ride titled "The Boston Tea Party". It is themed after the actual Boston Tea Party, a protest by American colonists in 1773. Riders board a large boat and are transported up a lift hill. They turn around and plunge down a tunnel into the water below, creating a massive wave.
Another ride that can be found in the back portion of the park is a classic Rotor ride named "Turkish Twist". Here, the riders stand with their backs to the wall of a cylindrical drum (with no ceiling, so that others can watch from above). The entire drum begins spinning, and the riders are pushed against the wall by the strong centrifugal force. The floor then drops out from beneath them, while they remain stuck to the wall.
2002 was the park's 100th season. In 2002, the park opened an S&S Power Double Shot ride named "Starblaster".^[3] In 2003 the park opened "DaVinci's Dream", a Chair-O-Planes-type ride. "Wipeout", a tropical surf theme ride, replaced "Kosmo Jet" (an SDC Telecombat ride). It opened for the last three days of the 2004 season, and was officially opened in 2005. Also in 2005, the park opened a new water park called "Castaway Island". The park also added a ride called "Skater". "Skater" took up some of the removed "Rockin' Rider" site, but has since been moved to the old location of the "Paratroopers" ride (which will be sold and has been removed from the park). In 2007, Canobie Lake opened a HUSS Frisbee named "Xtreme Frisbee" at the original "Rockin' Rider" site.
"Matterhorn" only operated during the early part of the 2006 season because wear on the arms that hold the cars could have led to dangerous results. It was removed before the opening of the 2007 season. The area is currently filled with picnic tables.

Rides at Canobie Lake Park

Black diamond rides

★ Starblaster (S&S Power Double Shot)

★ Canobie Corkscrew

★ Wipeout (Chance Morgan Wipeout)

★ Pirata (Pirate ship)

★ Psychodrome (an indoor Scrambler ride with music, and various visual effects. (Added in 1989^[4])

★ Turkish Twist (Rotor, Added in 1981)

★ Xtreme Frisbee (HUSS Frisbee)

Blue square rides

★ DaVinci's Dream (Chair-O-Planes)

★ Yankee Cannonball

★ Skater

★ Boston Tea Party (Added in 1998^[5])

★ Policy Pond Log Flume (Added in 1983)

★ Timber Splash Water coaster (Added in 1994)

★ Giant Sky Wheel (Ferris wheel)

★ Crazy Cups

★ Round up

★ Mine of Lost Souls (Dark ride)

★ Dodgems

★ Twist & Shout (Tilt-A-Whirl)

★ Rowdy Roosters (Flying Scooters)

★ Caterpillar

★ Dragon Coaster

★ Over the Rainbow (Added in 2001^[6])

Green circle rides

★ Canobie 500

★ Antique Carousel

★ Blue Heron Lake Cruise

★ Ocean Trip (Added in 2001^[6])

★ Antique Cars

★ Sky Ride

★ Jungle Bounce

★ Flower Power (Kiddie Whip, Added in 1995)

★ Alpine Swing (Kiddie version of Da Vinci's Dream)

★ Mini Dinos

★ Junior Sports Cars (Kiddie version of the Canobie 500)

★ Sea/Land Rescue (Added in 1989^[4])

★ Tiki-Maze

★ Kiddie Canoes

★ Mini-Scooters (Kiddie version of the Dodgems)

★ Vertigo Theatre

★ Canobie Express Train (Crown Steam Engine, propane fired)

★ Kiddieland (a small area with rides for children only)

Other rides and attractions

★ Castaway Island (added in 2005^[9])

★ Rock Wall

★ Fireworks

★ Games and Arcades

★ Shows at the Country Stage, Midway Stage and Dancehall Theater

★ Music by the Canobie Ramblers at the Log Flume Gazebo

★ "Canobie Critters", with names Patches, Molly, Bruno, and Dapper.

Retired Attractions

★ Matterhorn (Retired 2007)

★ The Swamp (Pretzel, Dark Ride)

★ Moon Orbitor (Added in 1989^[4], Retired 2002)

★ Kosmojets (SDC Telecombat)

★ Calypso

★ Jr. Roller Coaster

★ Paratroopers (Retired 2006)

★ The Whip

★ Swimming Pool (Retired 2007)

★ Canobie Queen (paddle wheel riverboat)

★ Skating Rink

★ USA Missile

★ Rockin' Rider (Galaxi, Retired 2004)

★ Petting Zoo

Trivia

★ The Paratroopers, Caterpillar, and the Kosmo Jets were originally purchased from Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey.

★ The number on the side of the steam engine, "1902", is the year the park opened.^[1]

★ After purchasing the park in the 1960's, the owners burned all the pins from the bowling alley to keep warm during their first winter.^[1]

★ The Yankee Cannonball's lift hill was destroyed by Hurricane Carol in 1954.

★ Despite the warning sign at the ride's entrance, the Psychodrome no longer employs strobe lights (as a result of a guest who discovered the hard way that he had epilepsy). The strobes weren't removed (and are still visible on the inside of the dome), but colored non-flashing "disco" lights are used instead.

★ The Lake and Palace Arcades feature a wide selection of antique machines, many of which are in working order.

★ ''Tiki Maze'' was formerly known as "Crystal Orbiter", a reference to the fact that the entire building is on a motor-driven rotating platform. The mechanism has been broken for many years and there are no plans to repair it. The rotation controls can be seen in the control booth just to the left of the maze entrance.

References

1. Seed, Douglas, & Khalife, Katherine (1996). Salem, NH. Volume II - Trolleys, Canobie Lake, and Rockingham Park, Images Of America. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-0438-5.
2. "Salem's Canobie Lake Park Has Given 80 Years of Fun", New Hampshire Sunday News (Manchester, NH), June 17, 1990, Colleen Cowette
3. http://www.s-spower.com/company.html
4. "CANOBIE SPECIAL", Boston Globe, April 16, 1989.
5. "For your amusement - Region's theme parks have a host of new rides to thrill and chill you", Boston Herald, July 5, 1998, Karyn Miller-Medzon
6. "More sure signs of spring: Canobie Lake Park opens", New Hampshire Sunday News (Manchester, NH), April 29, 2001
7. "More sure signs of spring: Canobie Lake Park opens", New Hampshire Sunday News (Manchester, NH), April 29, 2001
8. "CANOBIE SPECIAL", Boston Globe, April 16, 1989.
9. "Canobie's new Castaway Island water complex opens", Manchester Union Leader, May 26, 2005
10. "CANOBIE SPECIAL", Boston Globe, April 16, 1989.
11. Seed, Douglas, & Khalife, Katherine (1996). Salem, NH. Volume II - Trolleys, Canobie Lake, and Rockingham Park, Images Of America. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-0438-5.
12. Seed, Douglas, & Khalife, Katherine (1996). Salem, NH. Volume II - Trolleys, Canobie Lake, and Rockingham Park, Images Of America. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-0438-5.


★ Official Canobie Lake Park web site

★ Unofficial Canobie Lake Park web site

★ Unofficial Canobie Lake Park Appreciation site

★ Detailed review of Canobie Lake Park, circa 2001

★ Ride change info, circa 2003

★ Canobie Ramblers Official site