This summer I went to three amusement parks and one water park. I'll describe them here:

Canobie Lake Park in Salem, NH--June 23, 2009

You have no idea how excited I was for this park. I spent all my free time looking at the rides online. I talked to my friends about it constantly, to the point where they were this close to just yelling "SHUT UP!" and running away. My grade (7th grade) was going as an end-of-the-year present. The 8th graders got to go to SFNE, and the poor 6th graders only got a field day.

The night before, I made a schedule for me and my friends, explaining what rides to go on at what times, and the reasons why. Finally, the day arrived and the bus got there. Everyone was talking about one ride--Yankee Cannonball. The only ride I didn't plan on riding was Xtreme Frisbee, and that's because I didn't want to ruin my day by throwing up.

Yankee Cannonball looks three times as big in person. One of their trains was not working so I waited twice as long in line. My friend and I sat somewhere in the middle. I got so scared of it. The whole time in line I was scared. I put my seatbelt on and it was way too loose, but I couldn't pull it any tighter. My left hand helt on to the lap bar; my right was squeezed tightly in my best friends, to the point where our hands were turning white. We went down the first drop, and my stomach went nuts. It felt hugely that dropping feeling that everyone loves except me--I think it's called airtime? Anyways, I felt that on every single hill. I tried screaming, exhaling, closing my eyes and opening them, and nothing worked. I now believe the reason was that my seat belt wasn't tight enough because I'm very small, so I felt like I was standing up more, thus giving me more "airtime." I couldn't go on any more rides. My day was ruined. And to make things worse, my best friend, and all my friends in different seats, were screaming and having the time of their lives. I was completely and totally alone.

All my friends went on Zero Gravity and I sat out because, like I said, I didn't want to throw up to add to the sucky time I was having. We began to ate lunch and I contemplated what I should do--and then my friend showed up. She broke her neck three years ago, and almost died, so she couldn't go on bigger rides because it could aggravate her neck injury. She had already gone on Boston Tea Party twice, and she dragged me on with her.

After the Yankee Cannonball incident, I was scared for my life on Boston Tea Party--or, rather, my stomach's life. I was strapped in much tighter on this ride. We went up, turned, and dropped. I had my eyes closed and my butt was glued to the seat and my stomach was glued to my insides, right where it should be. I got splashed just the right amount. I decided to go on again, with the exact same experience. I was passing by, exiting the right, when I got SOAKED. About four times as soaked as if I had actually been on the ride. I spent the rest of the day soaking wet--and it was extremely rainy. Not rainING, but gray skies and cold weather.

I tagged along with my neck-injured friend for the rest of the day. We went on kiddie rides, like Dodgems and the balloon ride where you're up in the air XD We had fun being little kids again. We would've gone on DaVinci's Dream but it was closed. I wanted to go on Turkish Twist and Pirata (I love airtime on pirate ships, actually feels good for once) but she didn't want to so that idea was screwed.

All in all, Canobie sucks. If you're a fan of old and rusty rides that haven't been maintained for 50 years, and the stomach-dropping feeling, go right ahead, but all in all, it sucks.

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Hershey Park for life!

Water Country in Portsmouth, NH--June 25, 2009 and July 25, 2009

One day after the last day of school, and two days after Canobie Lake Park, I took my best friend (the one on Yankee Cannonball with me) to Water Country (not to be confused with Water Country USA) as an extremely belated birthday present. Exactly one month later, I went as an unexpected surprise with my sleepaway camp in NH.

The first time I went, the first rides we hit were Thunder Falls and Wild Canyon. They have about 3 family tubes each for these rides, and we waited about a half an hour--long time for a 26-acre water park. These rides were fun but IMO they're rather mediocre.

After that, we hit Shoot and Screamer. Screamer is a ride where you shoot straight down, but you're in a tube. My friend and I went on that and after the Yankee Cannonball incident I was scared of the stomach drop feeling. I didn't get it. Shoot was my favorite ride in the park. It's a black tunnel slide where you go alone on a single tube. It's a squiggly line--short drop, then straight, then big drop. What I find humorous is that when someone goes down you hear "Aah...AAAAAAHH!!!" This ride was wicked fun because it was dark--I love dark rides.

Next came Warp 8 and Black Hole. These were amazing, as far as water slides go. Nothing special from your average water slide, but still really fun.

Then, we went along to Dragon's Den. I was so scared for this ride. We waited 45 minutes in line. I thought the drop was gonna kill my stomach after the YC incident. There is a curve before the drop. We got on the slide, curved, and I sat there, waiting for the drop to start...
And then we were in the toilet bowl. We spun around once and then exited via the slide at the bottom, where we had to quickly get out so our tube could be used by a person who thought this ride was actually worth a 45-minute wait. What just happened? Nothing did. It was a complete rip-off. Definitely skip it.

After that we went to the lazy river. While getting on my tube, I fell off so that was kinda scary. We also went on Racing Rapids and the Plunge. A long line for a couple of not-so-exciting slides, but if the line is short definitely worth checking out.

Then we came to the biggie: GERONIMO!! This slide shoots you straight down. My best friend went on once and I didn't wanna look like a baby so I got in line. I went down and my stomach didn't drop--but I did get a huge wedgie!! Totally worth it though. I went down twice.

After that we had to leave. I couldn't go on Double Dive Boggan because it was closed. When I went a month later, though, it was open and I went on it. It was nothing special. I also went in the wave pool--great waves but they're hardly ever there.

It's a great water park if you live close by. If you live anywhere in NH or in the Boston MA area it's definitely worth checking out.

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Hershey Park for life!

Hershey Park in Hershey, PA--July 10, 2009

I went to Hershey Park on July 10. The park was absolutely amazing. Here's my trip story.

First, we went on the Wave Swinger to warm up. Normally I love these kinds of rides, but this one made me kinda dizzy. I went on twice. After, I went on the Pirate ship. I normally hate the stomach drop feeling but I sat at the back of the ride, and also kept my hands up and my eyes open (two things it's almost impossible for me to do on rides). I felt the stomach feeling but I loved it. After the YC incident I tried to keep my butt on the seat by putting less weight on my feet, and that helped a lot. Because there was no line, we went on twice. Fun both times.

Then we went on the Howler. This ride wiped out my whole family. We all had to rest and take a drink. I wouldn't recommend it. Too much spinning and not a special ride. I kept begging my family to go on Wild Mouse because it looked fun. We decided to stop at the Pirate one more time and then move on to Wild Mouse.

Wild Mouse scared the living crud out of me. The HP website describes it as "riders are given the illusion that they are falling off the track..." I thought, big deal, I knew the ride was gonna stay on. Oh, I felt like I was falling, all right...falling OUT! I thought I was gonna get thrown out of my seat. I legit thought I was gonna be the first ever death at Hershey Park. I was so relieved when the ride was finally over. Strangely, I actually loved it, despite how scary it was. We bought the picture and now it's hanging on our fridge.

We decided to go on Trailblazer. It was boring, but fun at the same time. I don't know how to describe it. My sister and I sat in the second-to-front row and I guess it was good, for all it's worth.

After that we made a stop at the water park. It was SWARMED. That explains the almost-no-line for most other rides--it was the water park that held most of the crowds. After 30 minutes waiting in line for a slide at East Coast Waterworks, we decided we'd had enough, and headed on to Lightning Racer.

After the YC incident, you can only imagine how scared I was for this extremely similar ride. The seat belt on this one was actually too tight--but that's a good thing. I didn't get any stomach feeling on this one. It was bumpy, like when someone's slapping your back and you go "A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a" instead of "Aaaaaaaaaa." But it was still really fun. I rode on the Lightning side and won the race.

On to the final ride of the park--Great Bear. I wasn't as scared as I was on Lightning Racer, but still pretty darn scared, but it was a great ride. It was my first ever loop other than a corkscrew and really fun. I would've gone on Fahrenheit and maybe Storm Runner but by that point we had to leave.

You really need to stop at Hershey Park. By far the best place I have ever been and my first choice for a vacation, no questions asked. I only wish it was closer to home.

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Hershey Park for life!