Yeah, admittedly, one of my main complaints about the Boomerang is a terribly skewed park view: it's a cookie cutter design, cheap and compact enough that many parks can afford to put one in. I wouldn't be surprised if Vekoma had bulk discount deals with Six Flags and Cedar Fair and other theme park chains. To an enthusiast who travels a lot, they're everywhere. You end up asking yourself "Do I really want to wait thirty to sixty minutes for the same coaster I waited thirty to sixty minutes for at the last three parks I've been to?"
I realize not everybody has this viewpoint of parks. And hell, the Boomerang can give a really fun ride. I remember the first time I rode one (Six Flags over Texas) and it was awesome. I still like the tiny little crawl they take up the second lift before the release. But it does feel as if you've ridden one, you've ridden them all.
The other two big problems come from lack of maintenance which can honestly doom any ride, and the fact that many parks use older generations of Vekoma trains which cause severe headbanging and other discomforts. The seatbacks on the Boomerang train at the Great Escape had this nub, a little plastic nub of all things, where the back of your head was supposed to go. The one at the park formerly known as Riverside had these strange hockey puck-shaped things on the seat where your junk was supposed to go. (Evidently they were there to keep the wiggly shoulder restraints from constantly smashing down on your junk, so at least there was that.)
Canobie's new paint job on the Corkscrew is so strange to me after knowing it as bright friendly yellow all these years. Looks good, though, and it rides about as well as a nearly forty-year-old Arrow looper will ride. Somebody at that park really loves that coaster and thankfully they've got some kind of pull with maintenance.
The main problem Canobie has with new thrill rides is that they have to deal with not only a local government which rarely grants height variances but noise complaints from angry neighbors, both part-timers with summer homes on the lake and the year-round residents. At least that means Canobie is a perfect position to put in more moderate-to-big(gish) thrill rides. Both Untamed and the Starblaster turned out to be big hits, and they didn't have to be very high or very fast.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2014-05-21 04:01 am (UTC)I realize not everybody has this viewpoint of parks. And hell, the Boomerang can give a really fun ride. I remember the first time I rode one (Six Flags over Texas) and it was awesome. I still like the tiny little crawl they take up the second lift before the release. But it does feel as if you've ridden one, you've ridden them all.
The other two big problems come from lack of maintenance which can honestly doom any ride, and the fact that many parks use older generations of Vekoma trains which cause severe headbanging and other discomforts. The seatbacks on the Boomerang train at the Great Escape had this nub, a little plastic nub of all things, where the back of your head was supposed to go. The one at the park formerly known as Riverside had these strange hockey puck-shaped things on the seat where your junk was supposed to go. (Evidently they were there to keep the wiggly shoulder restraints from constantly smashing down on your junk, so at least there was that.)
Canobie's new paint job on the Corkscrew is so strange to me after knowing it as bright friendly yellow all these years. Looks good, though, and it rides about as well as a nearly forty-year-old Arrow looper will ride. Somebody at that park really loves that coaster and thankfully they've got some kind of pull with maintenance.
The main problem Canobie has with new thrill rides is that they have to deal with not only a local government which rarely grants height variances but noise complaints from angry neighbors, both part-timers with summer homes on the lake and the year-round residents. At least that means Canobie is a perfect position to put in more moderate-to-big(gish) thrill rides. Both Untamed and the Starblaster turned out to be big hits, and they didn't have to be very high or very fast.