Lake Compounce 8/13/10

After hearing how great Boulder Dash is, I have wanted to try the coaster for a while but never had the chance to get to the park until we were in Connecticut for a concert and staying about 15 minutes away from the park.

The location of the park seemed strange, almost entering the road to the park from what looked like an industrial park. After paying $7 to park, we saw the lot was not that crowded and hardly any buses. We bought tickets from their website, $29.99 plus $3.00 tax, $5 less than the gate price.

Since it was only in the low 70's, we decided to skip the water park.It looked nice but there didn't look like there were a lot of slides and later in the day, even though it was still cool out and not that crowded, the slides all had long lines, especially the family raft ride.

The first ride of the day was Ghost Hunt. I was surprised that the vehicles did not have a track. The gun did not work that well but I still thought the ride was great, especially the room in the middle of the ride with the mirrors. We went back for a 2nd ride before the line got long and the gun worked better that time. This is exactly the type of ride that I feel Dorney and Great Adventure are lacking and it would be great to see both parks add a similar ride.

Next was the log flume. It was cool how the main part of the ride was on the mountain and used wooden type supports under the trough. A lot of water got in the log and my sneakers got soaked.

Then it was time for Boulder Dash. I had not watched any videos of the ride in years since I didn't want to know the layout before riding it. I also tried not to expect too much because I over hyped Phoenix based on all the excellent reviews it has gotten and was a little let down by Phoenix, I still thought it was a great coaster but I was expecting it to be better.

I wanted the front row for the first ride, it was a little less than 15 minutes. After the first drop, I couldn't believe how much speed it picked up and didn't seem to let up the entire ride. I also wasn't expecting so much air time on the hills especially during the 2nd half of the ride. I thought it lived up to the hype and was an amazing coaster.

Downtime was next, around a 10 minute wait. I wasn't expecting to be held up at the top so long even though I saw it was longer than the 6 seconds at Dorney while waiting in line. I was also surprised to see it was only a single tower since on busy days it probably gets a very long wait. I skipped the Screamin Swing as it looked like I might get sick from it.

Wildcat was closed, so we took the train ride. Normally it is a 1 way trip but because crowds were low, we got to stay on for the full circuit. It was a 20 minute ride including a 3 or 4 minute stop at the other station.

After the train ride, Wildcat had reopened. It was a little over a 10 minute wait. I had heard it was rough and probably should have gone for a non wheel seat but got the front row. It wasn't horrible, but not something I wanted to ride again since after the first drop, it felt like the whole car was shaking the entire time.

We had lunch at the Croc Pot. I was impressed with the pricing, $7.99 for 4 huge chicken fingers and a lot of fries. And of course the unlimited free soda. I never drink soda at a park since it's not worth it to me to spend $3.49 - $3.99. Here, it was nice to stop and grab a Diet Pepsi or any other drink whenever you felt like it. The only bad thing was that by the middle of the day there were bees all over the soda fountains.

After lunch we took the trolley. It was a very short ride and again got to stay on for a round trip because of low crowds. We also took a round trip ride on the boat that travels along the lake.

There was a magic show that we stopped to see, it was ok but nothing special. The bumper cars were bad. I was looking forward to them since Dorney got rid of them this past season and Great Adventure's have been SBNO since 2008. They were very difficult to control causing lots of jam ups, they kept reversing on people and the cycle was short.

I went back for another ride on Boulder Dash, this time without anyone else. It was again a little less than a 15 minute wait.

While the rest of my family went to the car ride Zoomer's, I went to the Zoomerang to get the credit. It was my 3rd boomerang coaster and I was hoping it wouldn't be too rough. It was a little strange going through the loop since it reminded me of Scream Machine and knowing how the ride is gone. It was a smooth ride (for a boomerang) and I would rank it equal to Morey's in terms of smoothness and ahead of Hershey's.

We had ridden everything we wanted to and decided to leave, especially since we stayed a little longer than we expected to.

Overall I liked the park and how it felt like a mix of older rides with some newer ones as well but I felt like it was missing something. There were less rides overall than I was expecting and I think they could use another coaster, a Mack spinner or Wild Mouse or some kind of medium family steel coaster.

I hope that in the next few years, I'll have another chance to go back and get to Six Flags New England and Quassy as well.

Did you get a chance to ride BD at night? That's when it really shines. (And sorry to hear about your experience of Phoenix. I still love that ride.)

I agree that the park felt like it was missing something, I don't know exactly what but something.

As to Phoenix, I couldn't agree more. Maybe it is because we are both big guys, but I got as much air on Phoenix as I do on Racer at KI. I thought that maybe it was just the day, or seat. But I have now ridden it on 4 different days and still just get a few little pops.

I didn't get any night rides, we had to leave around 6:00 since we were going to Mohegan Sun and going back home after that.

I still liked Phoenix, I just think I was expecting it to be better than it was. I only got 1 ride which might have been the problem too. The park was very crowded and we were only there a few hours but maybe in the next year or two I'll get back there and get a few more rides in and give it another chance.
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Regarding Phoenix, did you ride it up front? I thought it was pretty meh ride until I rode up front. Try that next time.

I did ride in the front row

I too rode it in the front, back and in 1-3 which is normally the "Magic" seat. All I got were a few pops. Still a fun ride, but nothing like the air I got on SFNE Cyclone in the back row.

Glad Boulder Dash has made a new fan. Just wait 'til you get a late night ride. The thing just gets nuts!

Wow, crazy talk about the Phoenix. Kind of like my rides on the Great Escape Comet on two different visit, except that had no airtime what so ever. Phoenix doesn't always deliver, but usually it does and usually I find it in top form on my frequent visits. Sometimes the front of the train doesn't do it for me (I think being a bigger guy plays a part as well), but the back always flings me out of my seat on the major drops, especially the double-down and usually has comparable bunny hope airtime to the front car. I love Racer, but don't find it to come anywhere close to a typical Phoenix ride.

I do agree that LC could use a coaster such as a spinning mouse or a family coaster. Speaking of family coasters, Quassy is planning to have a wooden one next year. Its being built by The Gravity Group so it should be really good even if it is small.

LC is a very nice park in a beautiful setting with the lake and the mountain. I was there this year and will probably make it my new home park now that I am more than 500 miles away from Kennywood.

Ya Quassy is adding a Wood Family coaster it will also feature the new timberliner trains. that will help it stand out even more.

LC had a Family Spinning coaster design. It was put on hold while the park pushed to get the water park expanded. when they do opt to announce it I will post the blue prints. Till then I will keep them to myself. Rumors are pointing towards a flat ride but i woudl expect it woudl be more family then thrill.

I'm just hoping it has good capacity.

You missed a couple of things. You said T&L might make you sick but actually it is pretty mild. It is very popular and adds a lot to the park. Also by doing round trips on the train, trolley, and boat you missed the south end which has the Sky Ride. Spectacular views from the top of the mountain and a peaceful 30 minute ride.

I saw the sky ride, as soon as I saw it I knew there was no way I was going to try it. I like the sky rides where you are in an enclosed car like at Great Adventure and will once in a while ride the ones where there is no floor like at Hershey but this one looked very steep and it looked like it was a long ride. I figured the Screamin Swing would make me sick because sometimes going on a regular pirate ship can give me a headache so I figured with this being a lot bigger, there was a good chance I would get a headache.