Classic rides–with a Twist
History comes alive at Canobie Lake Park
Sure, there are water park slides, a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter coaster with a beyond-vertical drop and three inversions, a Zamperla Nebulaz flat ride, and other modern-day attractions to experience at New Hampshire’s Canobie Lake Park. But the charming trolley park, which dates back to 1902, offers a wonderful collection of rides that give guests a rare chance to step way back in time. Like the electric fountain, old-growth trees, and stately Victorian buildings that line its midways, some of Canobie’s rides are many decades old and represent living history. For this article, let’s focus on four of them.
Caterpillar
There used to be a bunch of Caterpillar rides at midways across the U.S. Today, there is only one standing. First opened in 1963, it has been generating squeals of delight at Canobie for over 60 years. The ride spins on an undulating track and generates a small pop of centrifugal force as it picks up speed–but not too much speed. Each car holds two passengers, and the seats are angled so that the riders on the inside can’t help snuggling up against the ones on the outside. At the risk of getting slightly squashed, smaller children should go for the inside position. After it revs up, a retractable canvas canopy unfolds over the passengers and cocoons them. It’s a bit of a thrill and disorienting when the cars are covered, but with light seeping in underneath the platform, it’s not a totally in-the-dark ride. When it starts to slow, the canopy furls, and passengers can spread their wings and head to Canobie’s next adventure.
Yankee Cannonball
The crown jewel at Canobie Lake Park and the first ride that visitors see when they pull into the parking lot is the Yankee Cannonball. New Hampshire’s only remaining wooden coaster, the elegant ride first began thrilling park guests in 1936. (The transplanted ride is even older; it operated from 1930 to 1935 at the defunct Lakewood Park in Connecticut.) How old is Yankee Cannonball? My 87-year-old mother rode it when she was a child and remembers being so scared that she tried to scream, but was unable to produce a sound. That was her first and last ride aboard a coaster.
It may be old, but that doesn’t mean the grand dame doesn’t hold up well to contemporary coasters. It’s still wildly popular and a park highlight. My mother’s haunting memories notwithstanding, the ride is firmly in the family thrills category. It climbs 64 feet and hits a top speed of 35 mph. That’s not to say it doesn’t pack a punch. The out-and-back ride is loaded with airtime hills and delivers some nice out-of-your-seat moments. Yankee Cannonball is a rickety wooden roller coaster in the very best sense of the phrase.
Dodgem
Folks have been bumping and dodging cars at Canobie since the 1930s. The vintage cars have poles that contact a metal ceiling grid to provide power to the vehicles. There are occasional sparks of electricity as the contacts scrape across the grid and a faint smell of graphite and ozone; these are the hallmarks of the beloved rides. Another hallmark? The satisfying thwack that riders experience when they plow into another car.
For many kids, the ride affords them their first time behind a wheel. For adults, the Dodgem lets them act on their road rage impulses with impunity. Interestingly, the Dodgem Corp. that pioneered the amusement park staple some 100 years ago was based in Lawrence, Massachusetts, which is just a few miles away from Canobie Lake Park. The company has since gone out of business, but the crash-bang-boom rides live on at parks such as Canobie.
Turkish Twist
Topped with its distinct pointed domes painted purple and gold, there’s something vaguely Middle Eastern about the structure that houses Canobie’s Turkish Twist. What awaits within is perhaps even stranger. It’s a Rotor ride. Like the Caterpillar, Rotors used to be a staple at U.S. parks. Now, the one at Canobie, which first appeared on the midway in the late 1970s, is apparently the last of its kind.
So what is a Rotor? Imagine a comically oversized washing machine drum. Now imagine guests standing along the outer edge of the drum. The cylinder starts rotating, at first slowly and then at a pretty good spin cycle clip. The centrifugal force pins passengers to the wall. When it reaches its top speed, the floor drops slightly, but guests remain pinned in place. Although I watched the ride in action (there is an observation deck), I did not experience it. With its aggressive spinning, I was a tad concerned about getting queasy on the Turkish Twist. (Like others who get up there in years, getting queasy on rides is, sadly, a thing.) But it was quite a sight. Folks seemed to enjoy the unusual experience.
There are plenty of other vintage rides at Canobie, including a lovely antique carousel that was built in 1903. Family-owned and -operated parks are becoming an endangered species in the amusement industry. Thank goodness for the three families that lovingly preserve Canobie Lake Park’s legacy and keep its timeless rides in stellar condition for older generations to revisit and new generations to discover.
Have you been to Canobie Lake Park? What are your favorite family-owned parks? What vintage rides do you adore?
This isn't related to Canobie Park specifically, but the mention of the Turkish Twist made me think of it. Carowinds used to have a similar ride called "The Oaken Bucket."
My mom likes to tell the story that she rode it on one visit and got more sick than she'd ever been before. To her surprise she found out shortly thereafter that she was pregnant with me. So technically, that may be the first amusement park ride I ever rode! =)