Photos of Canobie Lake Park 2004-08-22

These are the photos from my August 22, 2004 Canobie trip. They are a part of the Canobie Lake Park Information Archive.

The thumbnail photos on this page and the full-sized photos to which they link are dedicated to the Public Domain. Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

Photos

Antique Cars line at 4:55pm; Airball game; Ball in Can game; HMS Beaver long shot; Bebop Diner hamburger; Bebop Diner sign; Bebop Diner sign; Boston Tea Party line at 5:22pm; Bubbler at Lake Arcade; Bubbler at Mall; Bubbler at Mall; Bubbler at Ocean Trip; Canobie 500 line at 6:27pm; card dispenser; card dispenser; card dispenser; Carousel calliope; Carousel interior; Caterpillar interior; Caterpillar on-ride; Caterpillar on-ride; Caterpillar on-ride; Caterpillar theming; Canobie Corkscrew line at 1:58pm; Coaster Chase game; Combat arcade game; Combat arcade game; Crack Shot arcade game; Crane arcade game; Crane arcade game; Crown Basketball arcade game; Crystal Orbiter interior; Crystal Orbiter interior; Dance Hall Theater; Da Vinci's Dream detail; Da Vinci's Dream long shot; Dodgem interior; Drivemobile arcade game; Electrohoist arcade game; Fastball arcade game; Firetruck arcade game; Fishing Well game; Fortune Teller arcade game; Fortune Teller arcade game; Grandmother's Prophesies arcade game; Gunfight arcade game; Gunfight arcade game closeup; Gunfight arcade game closeup; Hi-Ball arcade game; Hi-Ball arcade game; Jackpot Casino; Jungle Princess arcade game; Kiddieland Stage; Kiss-a-scope arcade game; World's Largest Pinball Machine; Lemonade and Pretzel concession; Liberty Tavern; Line Drive arcade game; Little League arcade game; Love Tester arcade game; Love Tester arcade game; Matterhorn short shot; Missile ; Mutoscope; Mutoscope; Mystic Pen arcade game; Palace Arcade facade; Paratroopers line at 5:39pm; Penguin trash can from Santa's Village; Periscope arcade game; Periscope arcade game; Periscope arcade game interior; Pirate Ship closeup; Pirate Ship lighting; Rotary Merchandiser; Rotary Merchandiser; Scale; Scale; Sea Devil arcade game; Sex Tester arcade game; Sex Tester arcade game; Canobie shoreline; Canobie shoreline; Canobie shoreline; Canobie shoreline; Skee-ball arcade game; Soccer Pitching game; Boston Tea Party exit; The Safe arcade game; topiary near skee-ball; Traveling Crane arcade game; Upper Deck arcade game; Wheel of Love arcade game; Wild West Rifle arcade game; Wipeout infrastructure; Wipeout landscape; Wipeout palm trees; Wipeout site; Wipeout site; Wipeout site; Wipeout souvenir huts; World Cup arcade game; Yankee Cannonball line at 11:26am; Yankee Cannonball line at 11:56am; Yankee Cannonball line at 12:01pm; Yankee Cannonball line at 1:18pm; Yankee Cannonball line at 5:00pm;

Trip Report

I went to Canobie Lake Park on Sunday, August 22, 2004. I took lots of notes which should make an interesting (though disjointed) trip report.

I arrived at 10:30am, just as the gates opened. Good-any-day passes need to be validated at the ticket booth before entering. The ticket booth opens before 10:30am. Does anyone know when the ticket booth opens?

One of my goals for this trip was to photograph and document all of Canobie's interesting coin-operated amusements. These mainly include old-school, mechanical arcade games and mutoscopes. I'm compiling a list for the web site.

The Kiddieland Stage has been rebuilt. It's a solid, art deco building now. It looks pretty good.

Canobie Lake Park was very crowded. At 11:26am, the line for the Yankee Cannonball extended down the ramp and down one leg of the queue. At 11:56am, the line extended through the entire queue area. At noon the ride opened. At 12:01pm, the line extended past the queue area. At 5:00pm, the line was still long, extending into the midway. At 7:50, the line was a bit shorter, reaching out of the queue area to in front of the waterfall.

At 1:58pm, the line for the Canobie Corkscrew reached back to the train tracks. At 4:55pm, the line for Antique Cars wrapped all the way to the Missile. The parking lot was packed. At 5:22pm, the line for the Boston Tea Party stretches all the way across the entrance of Sons of Liberty Cafe. At 5:39pm, the line for Paratroopers goes outside its queue area. At 7:43pm, the line for Elvis' 8:00pm show extended past the Poncho Cantina and almost to the back of Pizza Ria. The Mine of Lost Souls also seemed to have long lines.

I finally rode the Caterpillar ride. I noticed that the theming extends to the inside of the ride (and got a photo of it). I rode the Kiddie Dragon Coaster. I rode Over the Rainbow. For research purposes, I rode Tilt-A-Whirl for the first time. It has seven cars, and it is made by Sellner Manufacturing Co., Fairbault Minnesota. I rode the Canobie Queen. For research purposes, I rode the Matterhorn for the first time. It wasn't as bad (nausea-inducing) as I thought it would be. It was made by SDC. There are the only rides I rode-- in general, the lines were too long for my taste.

The Boston Tea Party exit is now guarded by an employee! The employee alternates between checking height at the entrance and holding the exit gate open when people exit.

Pirata was assembled, but it was closed for the entire day. The Canobie Express train was also closed. Starblaster was closed for a while at the beginning of the day. Rockin Rider was closed.

There is a souvenir penny press sign at the pool locker building, but the machine is not there.

To consider: create a new tree map. It would be good to create a royalty-free map of CLP. A CGI script could overlay information onto the map, to create different map views.

I visited Kiddie Land for the first time. There is a penguin-shaped trash can that apparently came from Santa's Village in Jefferson, NH. Why is it at Canobie?

Amusingly, according to the fortune teller cards the Zodiac sign between Aquarius and Aries is "Pieces". The fortunes are quite profound. My fortune: "You have been thrown into the spotlight and must show your true grit. The diamond can not be polished without friction, nor the man perfected without trials. This is more than a learning experience; it is a true test. The ultimate measure of a person is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. When you make that difficult decision for all or nothing, you might feel you need some help. Man becomes the master of difficult situations by refusing the assistance of weak persons. He relies on his strength of character. This will win the day for you."

That spinning hamburger that I spotted while riding Yankee Cannonball a few months ago? It is now found inside the Be-Bop Diner.

Is "Policy Pond Saw Mill" the name of the ride, or is that just the name of the themed building? Is the ride actually named "Log Flume Ride"?

There is a cigarette machine in the Palace Arcade. A pack of cigarettes is $4.00 and attendant intervention is required. The attendant (cashier) doesn't arrive until 11:00am. There is a Fleet ATM there. Their ATM fee is $1.25. The Pump It Up game is $1.00. Generic one-time-use cameras are $12.00 in the shops. Kodak waterproof cameras are $20.00.

I saw the Elvis show. It was approximately 25 minutes long. Elvis sang and gave scarves to some special ladies in the audience. He also shook hands with audience members at the end of his show. The Dance Hall Theater has a really nice ballroom floor. I saw that water was continually sprayed onto the roof. I suspect that the fire inspector probably requires Canobie Lake Park to do this to be able to maintain the high occupancy needed for the Elvis show. (It was the young version of Elvis.)

I ate at Portofino's. It's pretty nice, I thought. They serve Budweiser beer. The theme to The Godfather played as I ate. Chicken Parmagiana is served on pasta and served with a breadstick. It came on a real plate. However, service was cafeteria style. Sons of Liberty Cafe had Long Trail "Hit the Trail Ale", Budweiser, Michelob Light, Coors Light, and Red Hook Blonde. They also seem to have wine, Thin Ice, Bacardi R and O3, and TGIFriday mixed drinks. The entrance umbrella that broke the first day of the season does not seem to have been replaced. The Dancing Bear Canteen had only Coors Light.

Canobie's Round-Up is the 30-person capacity model.

Another goal of mine was to get prices for all concessions in the park. I'll compile these for the web site. Interestingly, at the Be-Bop Diner, Cheeseburgers and Hamburgers are $3.95 and $3.50, respectively. However, at the Trellis, they cost $3.25 and 2.95. Does anyone know if the food is any different between the two? I'm not sure why there is a price difference.

I tried to ride the Canobie Queen (actually, its smaller replacement), but the lines were long and I failed my first few attempts. According to one person I asked, the capacity of the boat is 49 people, limited by the number of life jackets. (It seemed as if fewer people actually rode. I need to confirm the ride occupancy limits.) I finally figured out the trick to riding is to just wait. The boat leaves every half-hour, but it actually begins boarding at about 10 minutes before the hour. The queue area is wide open, leading to mass confusion and line-jumping. To ride at 4:30, I advise arriving at 4:05pm and just waiting close to the entrance gate. Queue size: 5 people at 4:00pm, 25 at 4:05pm, 35 at 4:10pm, 40 at 4:15pm, about 45 people at 4:20pm. After the boat fills up and the people left in line realize that they need to wait another 40 minutes, most people leave. If you show up at this time, you can be the first person in line. If you sit on the ground near the gate, in the afternoon this is usually a nice shady spot. The Queen arrived back at dock at 4:17pm, and people started to disembark at 4:18pm. Boarding started at 4:22pm.

It's interesting that Canobie Lake Park is not very visible from the lake. You can see bits and pieces of rides, but for the most part the park is very unobtrusive. It is not too obvious that an amusement park is there. Once the trees between the lake and DaVinci's Dream grow taller, it will be even less visible. I also did not hear much noise from the Park once I was on the lake.

There seem to be new ride handicap access signs. Some have "push button for assistance" buttons, including Boston Tea Party and Dodgem (where the handicap access gates are far from the regular entrance gates).

The Park announced that they would close at 10:30pm. (But, I left at 9:00pm.)

Tip: The sun sets across the lake. If you want to take pictures of anything that faces away from the lake, do so early in the day-- in the morning if possible. As far as natural light is concerned there are extremely few opportunities to take pictures of things that face away from the lake. I got burned by this last time and this time as well (I was too busy taking pictures of arcade games early in the day).

More people should applaud when the Canobie Ramblers play (in front of the log flume ride on weekends). Not many people did. I think that the Ramblers are pretty good.

Copyright and Colophon

The text and HTML source of this page are licensed under the Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons License. Please read the license for details.

The thumbnail photos on this page and the full-sized photos to which they link are dedicated to the Public Domain. You may use them without any restriction.