Top 10 Tips for Families at Canobie Lake Park

See below for a Canobie Lake Park ticket giveaway!

Our family of five visited Canobie Lake Park in Salem NH for a "Summer Kickoff" visit.  We go a couple of times every summer but this is the first time we visited so early in June. It was wonderful!  The weather was sunny and comfortable, and the ride lines were short even though it was a Sunday. It did get quite chilly in the evening; be sure to bring sweatshirts (you can leave them in the car and retrieve them when the temps drop). I highly recommend bringing the family for a visit in the first few weeks of June before school lets out.

Our goal for this visit was to unearth some of the best tips for families visiting Canobie Lake Park, from ways to save money to ways to make your visit more enjoyable. I hope these tips are helpful for your next visit!

1. The Untamed ride is so popular that riders will happily wait in line for 45 minutes or more for this thrilling roller coaster. If you’re willing to ride separately from your friends, go to the side of the ride and look for the single passenger line. If there’s an empty seat on the ride (and there usually is), the operators will fill in empty seats with people from the single passenger line. 
   
   
2. Kids want to play the games but there’s not much left in your wallet?  Head over to the Wooden Nickel Arcade near the Mine of Lost Souls.  There’s a whole row of antique Skeeball machines that are only 25 cents for 6 balls. You can keep the kids busy for ages with only a few bucks.  Plus, if you reach 240 in one game, you’ll get a HUGE stuffed raccoon. My husband did it on his first try!  (Then we spent $10 trying to do it again so we could get another raccoon for my youngest.  FAIL. But it was fun!)
   
   
3. If you have small children with you but want to ride the grown-up, height-restricted rides, be sure to take advantage of the Parent Swap program. One adult waits in line and rides the ride, while the other waits at the ride exit with the children. Let the operator know you’re doing a parent swap, and when the riding adult is done and exiting, the other adult can enter the ride via the exit gate and ride right away.
   
   
4. An evening at Canobie is a fun and affordable outing; you could even drop off your responsible teens and hit the Mall at Rockingham Park for some shopping and a relaxing dinner. Admission at Canobie Lake is $25 after 5 PM, and the park is open until 10 PM most nights in the summer.  That’s five hours of rides – enough to exhaust anyone. Castaway Island, the water park, is open until 7 PM too.  Eat right before you go to save on the cost of food, and your evening of fun could set you back less than the cost of a 3D movie and snacks.
   
   
5. Another way to save money if you’re planning to go for the whole day is to bring lunch and dinner in a cooler in your car. You can have your hands stamped as you exit at the gate, go have a picnic at a local park, and then come back for more rides.
   
   
6. Canobie Lake Park has several “Free” days throughout the season, when certain individuals get in for free with a paid admission (Buy One Get One). For instance, moms and grandmothers get in for free on Mothers Day with a paid child admission; and dads and granddads get in for free (and get a free lunch!) on Fathers’ Day with a paid child admission. There are also Buy One Get One Scout days and Athletics days. Be sure to sign up for the Canobie Club to be notified about these days.
   
   
7. We’ve been to Canobie Lake Park a dozen times and somehow never stumbled across the Psychodrome ride. It’s a yellow dome, tucked in the woods behind the skateboard ride and next to the picnic tables. If you’re familiar with the Scrambler ride at midways (cars on three different arms that rotate very fast along the axes of a triangle), you’ll love the Psychodrome. Canobie Lake Park ups the ante by putting the ride inside a pitch dark dome and adding strobe lights, fog and music. My family declared it their new favorite ride in the park.
   
   
8. If you arrive early in the day, get your Yankee Cannonball roller coaster rides in right away. The lines are generally shorter early in the day.
   
   
9. If you're looking for some time to relax and enjoy a good meal, the word is that the pizza at Portofino is awesome, plus it’s fully air-conditioned, has wait service and serves beer and wine. The prices are reasonable, and the view out to the lake is lovely. 
   
   
10. Canobie Lake has beautiful fireworks every Saturday night in July and August at 9:30 PM. A perfect way to end a fun day!
    
    
11. During September and October, there is a petting zoo at The Magic Seed, tucked in behind the Untamed ride (it’s not on the map).  There are goats, rabbits and other cuddly animals. The petting zoo is open 11 AM-4 PM. Important: if you’re bringing young children in late September and October, there will be SCREEMFEST decorations and actors in the park. They can be pretty scary for young ones, even during the day.

And, a couple of fun facts:

My family was provided with free admission tickets for the purposes of this article. All opinions expressed are my own.  Note that this article was originally published in 2015; however, the giveaway is valid in 2017.


Enter our giveaway!

Click here to enter to win four tickets to Canobie Lake Park, good for a one-day admission during the 2017 season!  Giveaway closes Tuesday June 20, 2017 at 6 PM, and winner will be notified on June 21, 2017.  Our giveaway is now closed -- the winner is Jessica H. of Chelmsford!

For two bonus entries:

1. Submit the entry form
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