Amusement Park News

Saco, Maine's Funtown Splashtown recently revamped and added to a key offering at the park. That would be the iconic wooden coaster Excalibur, which opened back in 1998 as the only such roller coaster in the state. The coaster is still the tallest and longest wooden roller coaster anywhere in Northern New England, with a chain lift hill of 100 feet and a top speed of 55 miles an hour. It's drop descends an awesome 82-feet, and the track is 2700-feet long. The ride experience itself is also lengthy at 1 minutes and 58 seconds of thrill time.

For this coaster revamp, as with a previous update in 2019, the park worked with The Gravity Group, according to Funtown Splashtown's maintenance manager, Cory Cormier.

Cormier points out that one key area of change was the coaster's first drop, which The Gravity Group altered by using a vertically stacked track. This type of track provided a pre-cut steel-rail- type strength while keeping the wooden track intact. The Gravity Group surveyed the ride last year. Using the vertically stacked track specifically cut for the ride, they found that the new approach alters the first drop angle from 52 to 55 degrees, providing an additional bit of air. In another part of the ride, a precut curved track was employed which changed the curve dynamics and created a ledger adjustment to a drop of 12 inches lower than the ride had originally.



The adjustments were worth it, Cormier says, as they created what he terms “a much smoother ride,” and one that “carries more speed through the second half of the ride” due to both the first drop's re-engineering and the re-profiling of this turn area. He describes the ride experience now as “a big improvement” following these changes.

The Gravity Group notes that the curve takes place at a slightly different incline with the revamp, with the precut track re-profiled and re-banked, and one of the hills lowered.

The Gravity Group did the engineering for this revamp, but Funtown hired Texas Skilled Carpentry for a big portion of the work. Like The Gravity Group, Texas Skilled Carpentry has been a contracted partner with Funtown for many years. Both teams worked with the park to complete these upgrades in time for the start of the park's 2024 season.



Funtown Splashtown is not only delighting in Excalibur's new look and thrills but with the major kudo of receiving a top-ranking spot for its 2023-debuting Whispering Pines Haunted Hotel Dark Ride. That ride was ranked as one of the ten best new theme park attractions in the U.S. by USA Today's Readers Choice. It's the first new ride at the park for 20 years, with Funtown Splashtown's owner and senior VP William Cormier explaining that it was inspired by a previous Haunted Mansion attraction.

It was developed along with Sally Dark Ride's creative team, shaping an entirely new story and experience for park guests of all ages. William Cormier describes it as a “a one-of-a-kind ride only found here at Funtown.”

Sally Dark Rides' vice president of creative design Drew Hunter says they loved having an “opportunity to weave a tale about a wicked witch, her pair of enchanted pets, and a curse that need[s] park guests to eradicate it. Funtown is a special park, and together, we created a truly special, frighteningly fun ride.”

The ride has a storyline in which a witch places a spell on the Whispering Pines Hotel. Upon boarding, riders are told that they hold an interactive tool that can help to end the witch's evil spell, a “curse eradicator.” Along the way to eliminate that curse, riders on the four-seater ride cars venture through four different delightfully scary but family-friendly rooms, one of which includes the same patterned carpet made iconic for the fictional Overlook Hotel in the classic film The Shining.



William Cormier relates that “Families love riding together… the interactivity seems to bring out the competitive spirit in everyone. Guests almost always get back in line and ride it again.” He says the park's team is “thrilled and honored” to receive the 10 Best accolade. “It's been a hit,” he says. Sally Dark Rides chairman and CEO John Wood describes the ride as “Blending a magical, spooky theme with our company's interactive technology and unmatched theming…” He points out that the combination of tech and theming allowed the company to develop a completely original experience for the park, one that is both thrilling but also enjoyable for the entire family. Calling it a classic dark ride, he says that it comes “complete with black-light style décor and theming…a proven favorite with families due to its ageless appeal and repeatability.” The original storyline is only found at Funtown.

Funtown Splashtown had modest beginnings, starting as a drive-in dining spot back in 1960. But it's become a treasured amusement park over the years, with 14 thrill rides; 6 family rides – including Whispering Pines; and 9 kiddie rides. In the Splashtown waterpark, 12 slides and attractions appeal to multiple age groups. The family-owned park has a personal team motto of “Treat each day like a party.” In this age of corporate parks, party on, Funtown!