Excalibur

    

Excalibur climbs into the Maine summer.

          When Palace Playland's Cyclone closed in 1949 it left the state of Maine without a wooden coaster to call its own.  That changed when the Kormier family hired Custom Coasters, Inc., to build a ride for their park, Funtown Splashtown USA.  I visited the park in the summer of 2000 and the ride still tracked like it was new.  C.C.I. was definitely asked two things by the park.  First, it appears as if the Kormier's wanted a coaster that the entire family could ride and they wanted a unique layout that would stick out in the minds of coaster enthusiasts and the general public alike.  I think they got their wish!  Excalibur is not the fastest, tallest or most intense coaster out there.  But, it is the perfect addition to this park.  Funtown already had a small Galaxi coaster, but this ride helped put the park on the map.  

Part castle, part queue, the line for Excalibur is always reasonable and fun.

          The ride starts out with a station that is well-themed to a castle from days of yore (well, at least as well-themed as a station holding a Philadelphia Toboggan Company train and queue can be).  After entering the station, riders can get in separate lines for the front or back seats, or pop a squat somewhere else in the train.  The brakes release and the train (sadly the park only has one train on this coaster) eases out of the station, down a small incline (where it picks up a lot of speed) and up the lift.  While heading up the lift hill look around.  You get a great view of the beautiful Maine coast and woods, a view that will be beaten only by their 220-foot Turbo Drop.  But, there is little time to look as the train crests the lift hill and makes a turn to the left before dropping down eighty two feet. 
The train dives down the coaster's second drop.

The train ascends Excalibur's lift hill.

          After the first drop you are pulled out of your seat as the train dives down the second (and my favorite hill) , then it is down a nice, floating bunny hop into another swooping turn.  The first half of the ride is great, but after that I can really tell the C.C.I. did not get as intense as they could have.  The train then drops into a large helix that feels more like two drawn-out turns instead of the intense finish I had hoped for.  Again, I am not saying this is a bad coaster (I know it was built for families), just not as intense as some of the other CCI coasters in parks similar to Funtown (such as Holiday World and Silverwood).  Overall Excalibur is a perfect fit for the park and hopefully the Kormier's and Funtown Splashtown will continue to grow in its beautiful setting.  I wish the park the best of luck and hope to get back soon to experience Maine's only wooden roller coaster.

Excalibur heads into the swoop turn before the final helix.

 

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Adam Sandy, Copyright 2001.