In the Merrimack Valley: Canobie Lake Park Goes Vertical

July 2, 2011 by Marie Posted in Greater Lowell, History, Culture, Current Events 3 Comments

If your family is like many Merrimack Valley families, an annual trip to the over 100-year-old Canobie Lake Park in Salem, New Hampshire is a must. On this Fourth of July weekend this garden-style amusement park will host thousands of visitors. From the pastoral to the fast-paced – there’s something for everyone. This year there’s something new and exciting.

In today’s Nashua Telegraph, Alexandra Churchill tells us about the lastest attraction awaiting thrill-seeking visitors – “Untamed.”

Untamed is a vertical lift coaster that takes up to eight passengers in a coaster car at a time and reaches up to 44 miles per hour.

It is the first vertical lift coaster in New England and only one of four in the country. It stands at 72 feet tall and covers a range of 150-by-200 feet on the grassy lawn at the edge of the park past the antique cars track and before the Jackpot Casino. The first climb peaks at 72 feet in the air and plummets into a 97-degree drop, winding into 1,184 feet of track with loops and zero-gravity rolls.

Untamed replaces the Galaxy coaster… and joins the ranks of Canobie’s other thrill rides, including the Starblaster, the Psychodome and Xtreme Frisbee.

See more here at the nashuatelegraph.com.

PS – Some of my family members will visit Canobie Lake Park later today. I’ll report back. Stay tuned.

3 Responses to In the Merrimack Valley: Canobie Lake Park Goes Vertical

  2. Prince Charming says:

    Great but brief ride. We went on a busy day and waited no more than 20 minutes. The line moves quickly but not as quickly as the coaster. Awesome feeling – you rise flat on your back and go over the top. The upside-down is only a couple of seconds. Go for it, people.

  3. Mr. Lynne says:

    When I worked there I got some fabulous insight into the way the park was managed. When they installed the corkscrew coaster it was obvious that they were counting on it being a main attraction. Just look at the length of lines that they expected by checking out the extent of the poles the posted into the ground to hang up chains to create long feeder lines. The problem was, they went cheap. The coaster was actually the prototype model of a design that a company was offering. After testing, they determined that the whole ride was too short. They designed an extension that allowed riders the experience the whole ride a second time going backwards. They couldn’t install the extension at Canobie because the laydown would have necessitated the removal of too many other attractions.

    The comment on the length of the ride tells me that things probably haven’t changed much up there.