Description
Canobie Lake Park opened on August 23, 1902, as a trolley park for the Massachusetts Northeast Street Railway Company. 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. From the 1930s to the early 1950s, Canobie Lake Park’s Dancehall Theater became known as an entertainment destination hosting names such as Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra; in later years, such acts as later, Sonny & Cher and Aerosmith appeared. Today, owned by three different families, the park features over 50 rides, including roller coasters, a log flume, 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 the Canobie Corkscrew, designed by Arrow Dynamics. It was formerly located at Old Chicago, where it was called the "Chicago Loop". There is also a kiddie coaster, called "The Dragon".
The park also features one of the few dark rides in New England, titled "Mine of Lost Souls". Passengers board a "mine car" and are transported into the depths of a dark mine, which begins to collapse. Another flat ride at Canobie is the "Psychodrome", a 12-car Scrambler ride located in a dome, with special effects lighting and music.
Located towards the back of the park, along the lake, is a Chute-the-Chutes ride titled "The Boston Tea Party". 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 large wave.
Also in the back portion of the park is a rotor ride named "Turkish Twist". Riders stand with their backs to the wall of a cylindrical drum (with no ceiling, so 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.
In 2001, the park opened "Ocean Trip", which has been replaced by "Boston Harbor Patrol" (to fit the "Boston Tea Party" theme).
2002 was the park's 100th season. In that year, it opened an S&S Power Double Shot ride named "Starblaster". In 2003 the park opened "DaVinci's Dream", a Chair-O-Planes-type ride. "Wipeout", a tropical surf theme ride, replaced "Kosmo Jets" (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.
In 2011 the park added Untamed, a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter 320+ model. This is the fourth Euro-Fighter to be added to the US and the only one that resides in the North East. It is the first roller coaster to be added to Canobie Lake since the Canobie Corkscrew, which opened in 1987. The ride features a 72-foot vertical lift and a beyond vertical drop at a 97 degree angle. Untamed also takes riders through three inversions, a vertical loop, an Immelmann maneuver, and a Zero-G-Roll. The ride reaches a top speed of 43.5 mph and has a length of 1185 feet.
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