Excalibur at Valleyfair is one of the weirdest coasters out there. This Arrow creation uses
the track and trains of a mine train, but the ride focuses on speed and power.
While the ride experience is undeniably unique, the coaster may be nearing the end of its life.
Find everything you need to know about this coaster in this review.
Excalibur opened back in 1989 as the park’s tallest and fastest roller coaster.
This ride’s placement has been both a blessing and a curse throughout its existence.
Excalibur was placed in the very back of the park. It’s not only a dead end, but it’s an egregious
dead end. The only way to access the ride is to travel through a tunnel under a service road.
Excalibur and the Thunder Canyon river rapids rides are the only
two attractions in this back section. It is an absolute hike to get back there.
However, this section can be closed for two reasons.
One, flooding. This back section of the park is located on a flood plane
and the low points of Excalibur are particularly susceptible to flooding.
Two, staffing. On a quiet day, this entire section can be closed. It’s rare to see this
ride open early and late in the season, but it does operate most days in peak summer months.
But even on those days, it has a good chance of opening late and closing early. In my recent
visit, the ride was open from just noon until 7 pm. If you want to maximize your chances
of riding this coaster, I recommend visiting between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.
On the bright side, even on a busy day, Excalibur is usually a walk-on.
This ride is so quiet that it doesn’t even offer Fast Lane. So few people stick around
this area of the park. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if people missed this coaster
entirely because of how far back it is. Very little of this coaster can be seen from
within the park’s boundaries. You can only see the ride’s lift hill and brake run. Then you also have
this awesome entrance sign with the stone logo and sword. You used to be able to get closer to it,
but someone showed off their strength a few years ago and ripped the sword right out.
Everything else about this coaster’s layout is a mystery from the ride plaza. However, this
location was deliberately selected to maximize the ride’s visibility to those outside the park to
attract prospective customers. Excalibur’s figure 8 layout was placed adjacent to Highway 101.
The park’s skyline is now dominated by Wild Thing, Steel Venom, North Star, and Power Tower,
but back when Excalibur opened, it was the park’s tallest and most visible attraction.
Now, it’s one of the most rumored ride removal candidates out there.
Back in 2015, Valleyfair submitted expansion plans.
This involved rerouting the employee road you cross under to reach Excalibur,
adding new slides to the Soak City water park, and adding a dedicated parking lot and entrance for
the water park. The latter two sound like great additions to the park, but it will come at a cost.
These will be placed on the site of Excalibur. The current status of these plans are unknown.
They could have been modified and/or cancelled at some point. But if Excalibur was seemingly
on the chopping block at one point, it’s no guarantee the ride will be around much longer.
As I mentioned earlier, Excalibur uses Arrow’s mine train system.
You have the familiar steel track and wood supports plus the boxy, 3 car trains.
Each train holds up to 30 riders. You have 5 cars, each seating up to 6 riders in two across seating.
The ride runs one train most days and still has a station wait,
but the park will run two trains on the rare days when lines demand it.
Each rider has their own individual seatbelt and lap bar combination. These U-bars have
very little padding, so it can be a little uncomfortable when you get airtime on this ride.
And trust me, you will get airtime. It’s a similar comfort issue to Cedar Point’s Gemini or Magnum.
Excalibur has also undergone a few modifications throughout its history.
The most notable change was the removal of a bunny hill after the first drop.
Now, it’s just a straightaway. There is very little footage of this hill,
but you can see it in the background of a Prime Time Live segment on roller coasters from 1990.
This hill likely gave some insane ejector airtime considering its size and speed,
but it put a ton of stress on the track and was ultimately removed after just a season.
The entry into the first turnaround was also modified
to have a smoother and less jarring entry. Excalibur also has trims on its first drop.
I’ve seen some reports stating the trims were added a few years after the ride opened;
however, that same Prime Time Live segment shows the trims present, so they were present early in
the ride’s life. This was to presumably limit the speed at which you took the
now-removed bunny hill and later elements. Finally, Excalibur was retracked sometime
after 1999. You can see the switch from old to new Arrow steel track when you
compare POVs before and after 1999. This was to presumably create a smoother ride experience.
Excalibur is still a janky ride today. The sharp transitions are rough around the edges, but I
don’t consider the ride rough or uncomfortable. Once dispatched, you’ll hear an employee without
fail recite, “Duh duh duh duh, charge!” Sometimes the employee will get into it.
Other times, the employee will say it so apathetically that I can’t help but laugh.
Excalibur begins by turning out of the station and ascending a 100 foot or 30 meter tall lift
along the highway. You don’t get the best view on the lift since you’re facing away from the park.
Once at the top, you head down the 105 foot or 32 meter tall drop. And this drop offers
really bizarre forces. The start of the drop is trimmed, so you don’t get airtime over the top.
But the drop just keeps getting steeper until it reaches the max angle of 60 degrees,
so once the train clears the trims, those in the back get a delayed and very powerful burst
of ejector airtime. It rides so differently than any other first drop that it always catches me
off-guard. This drop is the main reason I prefer to ride this coaster in the back.
You then zip along a subterranean stretch of straight track where the
bunny hill once stood. You feel every bit of the ride’s 55 mph or 88 kph top speed.
You also will feel some bumps. You’ll feel this shaking in most of the ride’s valleys.
Next is a giant turnaround. While the entry was smoothed out over the years, the apex of
the element still gives a surprise lateral jolt for those up front. If you’re in back,
you get some laterals and substantial pull on the descent. This element rides so much differently
than the perfectly profiled and fluid turnarounds on today’s coasters. It has a lot more character.
You then navigate a speedy low-to-the-ground turn. You get some weak laterals into it while also
building up a good amount of positive Gs. There are some bumps though like the first valley.
This turn leads into an s-hill over the turnaround’s pullout.
Those up front get decent ejector airtime. I remember this hill giving ejector for
those in the back as well in 2019, but it was giving strong floater for me in 2022.
But the airtime was still substantial so I didn’t mind.
You then navigate a fairly tame turnaround under the first turnaround. It’s light on the forces-
unless you count shimmying- but it does offer some nice headchoppers with the wood supports.
Next is a bunny hill. It gives weak floater airtime up front.
Towards the back, you only get marginally lifted out of your seat.
You then turn upwards into the brake run, getting some minor laterals along the way.
You then hit the brakes, round a corner, and return to the station. This ends the 2415 foot
or 736 meter long coaster. Excalibur feels short, especially because of how quickly you charge
through the layout. It’s amazing to think just how crazy this ride would be if it ran untrimmed.
So what would I rate Excalibur? I would give this unique coaster a 7 out of 10.
The ride is raw and unrefined. It isn’t the smoothest, nor do all the elements hit. But
I absolutely love this ride’s first drop and s-hill. Then the ride has a great sense of speed,
especially since it has a lot of sections that hug the ground. And there really isn’t a comparable
coaster or experience out there. Excalibur isn’t for everyone, but I genuinely like this ride.
But should it be removed? I think Valleyfair could find better use for the land. It’s hard
to argue water park reinforcements wouldn’t be more well-received by most park guests than
an old coaster that many perceive to be rough. I hope the ride sticks around and Valleyfair can add
expansions elsewhere in the park, but I still have a feeling this ride doesn’t have much time left.
So those are my thoughts on Excalibur. Do you like this janky ride as much as me?
Or do you want to see it removed for an expansion? Let me know your thoughts on this ride down in the
comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d appreciate it if you gave this video a like
and you considered subscribing since there will be a lot more roller
coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!