My favorite elements are anything that launch you out of your seat. It can be a giant camelback or an inverted stall.
Photos Courtesy of Canobie Coaster
Just over a year ago the YouTube channel Canobie Coaster started showing up frequently in my suggestions, so I decided to check out a couple of videos. Two of the earliest videos I remember watching included a TMNT Shellraiser review and one covering the closing of Indiana Beach. I was immediately impressed by the narrator’s knowledge and, pun intended, pacing of his information. I came away feeling like I learned something and immediately followed the channel. Since then, I have become a regular viewer and fan.
Over time, I have struck up a few conversations with Mike, the owner of the channel. Every exchange is fun and feels like two friends talking about what they love about a ride or a park. The Canobie Coaster channel has quickly became one of my favorites. I constantly share his videos with Sam, Greg, Chris D. They’ve come to love his content as well.
Since Mike has always been approachable online, I recently asked him to take part in an interview here on We Were Inverted. I’ve made it my goal to try to interview other enthusiasts and/or content creators whose work I enjoy. I am happy to say that he agreed and gave us a huge glimpse into his life as both an enthusiast, which will be found here in Part 1, and as a content creator, covered in Part 2. Now, let’s learn a little bit more about Mike the enthusiast!
Becoming an Enthusiast
The Early Days
Q. Do you know how old you were the first time you visited an amusement park? Was it Canobie Lake Park?
A. My first amusement park was Santa’s Village, in northern New Hampshire, when I was 2. I visited Canobie for the first time that same summer.
Q. Were there any other parks you visited at a young age? If so, which ones?
A. My parents usually took my sister and I on a trip to Santa’s Village and Story Land. These are two of the best children’s parks in the world with their theming, cheery atmosphere, and low height requirements. I also visited Lake Compounce and Riverside (now Six Flags New England) in the late 90’s, but they had less attractions for kids than the New Hampshire parks.
Q. Was it always your family who you visited amusement parks with when you were young?
A. I always went with my family until I reached high school. My dad enjoys roller coasters while my mom more enjoys the atmosphere.
Q. Could you share some of your earliest amusement park memories?
A. A lot of my early memories are me walking up to a big coaster and being told I was too small. I always loved log flumes since they usually had no minimum height limit and they had the biggest drops I could experience until I hit that magical 48-inch mark. I remember marathoning the Bamboo Chutes at Story Land and Yule Log Flume at Santa’s Village for hours.
Q. Do you know what some of the first-ever roller coasters you rode were?
A. Rudy’s Rapid Transit Coaster at Santa’s Village was my first roller coaster. I was surprisingly able to ride that one at age 2. Some of my other early ones were the Dragon Coaster at Canobie, the Polar Coaster at Story Land, and the old Galaxi at Canobie. I was only able to ride the latter in a single visit in 1996 since that was the only visit I ever saw it operate. My parents liked to visit parks on days with rain in the forecast to minimize crowds and that Galaxi couldn’t run if the track was wet.
Enthusiast Status
Q. How old were you when you first considered yourself an enthusiast? What was it that made you realize that there was an entire hobby dedicated to riding coasters and you were a part of it?
A. I can’t remember a time I didn’t love coasters. I remember repeatedly doing a Story Land puzzle before I was tall enough to ride the Polar Coaster with its 36-inch height limit. I must have been 2 at the time. I couldn’t wait until I got back to Story Land and was tall enough to ride it. I realized there were coaster clubs by watching the old Discovery and Travel Channel specials on roller coasters and amusement parks. My parents recorded all of them on VHS so I could watch them over and over.
Q. I know your credit count is quite high. Where does it currently stand?
A. 1,052.
Q. Did you count credits early on, or were you like me, and had to go back and try to track down a bunch of old ones you rode growing up?
A. I started keeping track in the late 90’s using Notepad when we got our first computer. I eventually migrated my list over to an Excel spreadsheet once my list grew. For the credits I rode in the 1990’s, I was able to piece the order together from old home videos and photos that were date marked.
Q. Do you personally rank the coasters you’ve ridden?
A. Yes I do. In the same Excel spreadsheet I use to keep track of my credits, I also rank the rides. I make a new column for each year, so I can see which rides moved up or down as I ride new coasters.
Q. What makes a coaster worthy of being among your favorites?
A. My favorite rides are fast-paced. Speed is one element of pacing for me, but I define pacing as how quickly a ride throws an exciting element at me. I also love coasters with picturesque or unique settings since the visuals add a lot to the experience for me. For ride sensations, I love airtime the most. I don’t have a preference wood or steel as long as the ride is fun.
Q. In recent years I started getting into mountain coasters. I’ve only rode six of them so far, but I’m itching to experience more. I know there are quite a few up in the New England region, not too far from Canobie Lake Park. Do you enjoy mountain coasters? Any favorites, if so?
A. I really enjoy mountain coasters. I find the Wiegand ones are the smoothest, but the ones from other manufacturers tend to be wilder. I’ve ridden all the mountain coasters in New England and my favorite is the one at Attitash Mountain Resort since it feels completely out of control with the speed, laterals, and sudden pops of airtime. The best one I’ve ridden was at Kolbensattel in Bavaria. For that one, you had to take a chairlift to the top and it took five minutes to get to the bottom.
Q. You have also been on some very unique coasters during your travels. What are some that stick out most to you? What makes them unique?
A. I enjoy seeing some manufacturers abroad that you don’t see in the United States. One of the ones that stand out the most to me is anything from company, PAX. Their coasters look like family rides, but they always have some intense elements.
Q. Obviously, with as many credits as you have, there are surely some stinkers/duds. What have some of your least favorite coasters been? Why?
A. My least favorite coaster is easily Coaster Express at Parque Warner Madrid. It’s a giant RCCA wooden twister and it jackhammered non-stop. The Intamin T-bar is one of my favorite restraints, but it was an instrument of pain on Coaster Express since the shakiness caused my calves to bash mercilessly against the central bar. Another really bad one is Blue Tornado at Gardaland. It tracks as poorly as most Vekoma SLC’s, but that one has harder restraints so it’s extra painful.
Q. Now for something perhaps more painful. What defunct coaster do you miss the most?
A. Since Indiana Beach saved Quimera, it would have to be Dueling Dragons at Islands of Adventure. The ride was extra special when it dueled, but I still loved the ride in its later years since both sides were very forceful inverts with unique layouts.
Q. Are there any coasters that went defunct during your lifetime that you wish you had a chance to experience?
A. Eagle Fortress at Everland. As I mentioned earlier, I love fast-paced rides and terrain coasters. Eagle Fortress was both those things and it seemed way wilder than every other suspended coaster.
Q. You certainly have coaster elements down to a science, as anyone can tell watching your reviews. Do you enjoy certain elements more than others? If so, what are some of your favorites?
A. My favorite elements are anything that launch you out of your seat. It can be a giant camelback or an inverted stall. I especially love when the airtime is sustained such as the camelbacks on Mako, El Toro, or Expedition GeForce.
Q. You obviously travel a ton to be able to visit so many parks. How do you manage to find so much time to travel?
A. I do a lot of traveling for work. I work for a multi-national medical company, so I often travel to other company sites, vendors, customers, and conferences. I can often squeeze parks around my work as long as I give up some sleep and take early morning or red eye flights.
Home Park - Canobie Lake Park
The Park
Q. As Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home.” Even though you have been to so many parks, do you find that a stop at Canobie Lake Park still hits “home,” pun intended?
A. Yes, I love Canobie Lake Park. I’ve been going for three decades. One of the reasons I never get tired of Canobie is that the park’s biggest strength is its atmosphere. I never get tired of the friendly staff and beautiful midways.
Q. How often do you get to visit Canobie Lake Park?
A. Until 2020, they never had a season pass, so I usually only visited once per year. After college, my office was just 5-10 minutes from Canobie, so I’d go three or four times per year with a twilight ticket. The park announced their best new addition in 2020 – season passes. I probably went seven or eight times last year, even with their abbreviated season and my pass being blocked out on summer weekends.
Q. I really need to head up north and visit Canobie Lake Park, myself. How would you describe the park to someone like me, or anyone else reading this interview, who is thinking about visiting the park for the first time?
A. Canobie is an old-fashioned park that oozes charm. It has a classic feel and a picturesque setting on the lake. Then you also have a warm, cheery atmosphere propagated by the employees and a delightful mix of old and new rides.
The Rides
Q. Canobie Lake Park is home to four roller coasters. What are your standout rides in that collection?
A. Of the coasters, Yankee Cannonball is the best. It’s easily the park’s most popular ride and while the retracking project in 2015-16 sapped the ride of a lot of its airtime, the ride is now smoother than ever.
Q. I’m sure the park’s coasters have a lot of sentimental value to you as an enthusiast, am I right?
A. Yankee Cannonball was my first wood coaster and Canobie Corkscrew was my second looping coaster. It was a magical day once I hit the 48-inch height requirement and could finally ride the attractions I had seen teasing me for years.
Q. I’m a sucker for dark rides, so I really want to experience the Mine of Lost Souls. What are some of the park’s best non-coaster rides in your opinion?
A. Mine of Lost Souls is a good dark ride for a smaller park like Canobie. The story is a bit weird, but it’s more fleshed out than your average carnival dark ride. The best overall ride currently is the Policy Pond Log Flume. This is a classic log flume, built by Hopkins, that travels through a well-shaded section of the park, past some themed water features, and down a solid final plunge. I also love the Turkish Twist, one of the last remaining rotors in America. This one was built by SDC and it’s run ridiculously fast at 33 RPM. The G-forces on this ride are top notch.
Future Enthusiast Goals
Q. With as much as you travel, do you have any upcoming trips on your agenda that you’re looking forward to? Any new credits to be claimed?
A. One trip I want to do in the near future is to Colorado to hit the Denver parks and Glenwood Caverns. I’m waiting for Lakeside to reopen before making this trip though. Beyond that, I had a Europe trip in 2020 that was postponed due to the pandemic that I hope to reschedule in the next year.
Q. Any previously visited parks and/or coasters that you’ll be traveling to, or experiencing again that you’re excited for?
A. These are two smaller parks, but I’m looking forward to revisiting Rye Playland and Seabreeze since it has been over a decade since I visited either. From what I remember, these parks had that classic amusement park atmosphere and a nice mix of rides.
Be sure to check back next week for Part 2, when Mike shares how his Canobie Coaster channel came to be, his journey since the channel’s launch, future plans, and even some advice for aspiring content creators.
