Lake Compounce 8/22 "How was your Ride?"
Associated parks:
None
On a recent trip to the east coast, I set aside Thursday for my first visit to Lake Compounce, arriving around 1 PM and staying to closing time or 8 PM. My fiancee joined me for this trip, and she enjoys coasters at much as I do!
Weather: A bit of sun in early afternoon, then cloudy with 75-80 degree temperatures.
Crowd was described as "a little busier than usual for a weekday, but not overcrowded".
Positive: Boulder Dash, enthusiastic ride operators, free soda, reasonable food prices
Negative: Bees/yellow jackets, slow loading of some water rides, water in water park a bit chilly
Closed Rides: Top Spin Flat Ride (mechanical), 2 Tube slides in water park, Stern wheel boat ride (low lake level).
Total coaster rides: 8 on Boulder Dash, 2 on Wildcat, 1 on Zoomerang
We wasted no time to go directly to their signature ride, Boulder Dash. Both the red and yellow trains were running, and wait was about 15 minutes.
Boulder Dash: 10/10
First ride in front row--Wow, what a smooth ride!! Nothing on wood has ever been smoother. Airtime was abundant, with more than 10 air filled moments through the course of the ride. Lateral g forces in the twisting first drop, turnaround and the little "dog leg" on the return trip, and great speed throughout nearly the whole ride, only slowed briefly by uphills, not by brakes. And to be surrounded by trees as well--amazing!! The operators' question on our return to the station "How was your ride?" would be a familiar quote throughout the day, and was often met with cheers. I had previously rated GhostRider as my favorite wood, but I am now giving that title to Boulder Dash. Second row was a little rougher, but still an excellent ride.
Next ride was their Vekoma Boomerang, the Zoomerang. Wait was less than 10 minutes.
Zoomerang: (4/10)
This was a little rougher than other boomerangs, with the head rest a little uncomfortable for me. Still, the "how was your ride"
After the Zoomerang, we found a free soda station. This was a huge money saver for us, even though it wasn't a hot day, with the only side effect being the increased number of bees and yellow jackets hovering around these stations, as well as the picnic tables (soda cups left behind) and trash cans. Fortunately, neither of us got stung.
The Saw Mill Plunge log flume was next. This ride had the longest line of the day, almost one hour. The logs load and unload slowly. The flume is nestled among the trees which adds to the ride enjoyment. I got a surprise double soaking on the final plunge (sitting in the back of the front seating section).
After a quick lunch and soda stop (nice to see most items such as hamburgers and other sandwiches below 4 dollars), the next was their 75 year old white wooden coaster, the Wildcat. Only one train runs, resulting in a slower line with a 25-30 minute wait. Seat selection is semi-random, and with the front row occupied, we tried the back row.
Wildcat: (3/10) -- back row
(7/10) -- front row
Ouch, what a rough ride in the back! Lots of up and down, chest shaking bouncing. The cheerful ride operator (Lauren) was working up the crowd well and seemed to be enjoying her time.
Later in the day, we gave the Wildcat a second chance. Lauren was still there chatting it up with the people in line and on the ride. In order to get the front row, we let some kids ahead of us so we could get first choice on the next train.
Front row was much better and smoother, with a few airtime moments but more lateral g's and short hops. It was a decent ride, compared to the "human basketball" experience in the back.
In between Wildcat rides we tried out the water park. Wave pool water was kind of chilly, but the cloud cover may have contributed to this. The Mammoth Falls tube slide had a slow loading process with a relatively short line taking almost 45 minutes. The trip down was fun, I was facing forward, my fiancee was backward for most of the trip down the chute. The cold water was enough for her so I headed over to the body slides solo, completing all three slides in 30 minutes.
After riding the carousel and the "Twister" spinning flat ride, we returned to Boulder Dash to end the evening, riding until closing and trying different rows, sticking to the front half of each car. Wait was still short, in the 10-15 minute range. All rides except one were on the yellow train.
The near-darkness added another exciting dimension to the ride, and we got the treat of a double ride to close our evening. After going around the first time, we started the "One More Ride!!" chant, and the operators teased us with a re-ride, but stalled a bit and instead challenged us to yell and scream louder in order to "earn" another ride.
This ended the enjoyable day on even more of upbeat note, and would be a nice feature for other parks to adopt consistently.
Lake Compounce was a nice fun park without overwhelming crowds (at least on a weekday) and is worth a visit again in the future. Some of the attractions that we missed included the Ghost Hunt dark ride, the Thunder Rapids raft ride, the Sky Ride up the side of the mountain, the train around the lake, and their shows.
Welcome aboard.
Thanks for the nice TR. LC is on the list of parks that I'd really like to visit, and always enjoy reading about.
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"The perfect machine, you seemed to be, when I built you up in my mind..." - Reverend Jon Autry
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1.Fire Dragon 2.Raptor 3.Ice Dragon 4.Batman Knight Flight 5.Kraken
RRR, wow, great TR....thanks for posting! Hope to see more of you around the 'buzz...Like chris, I have yet to visit this park, although I foresee a trip next year for several of the New England-area parks....chris, does late Spring work for you...
FDL, I lived through mufflehead swarms at CP (even ate one, yummy)...I can withstand some bees as long as I don't get bit...
edit: I would be "remiss" if I failed to indicate my overwhelming desire to see more of those "enthusiastic" ride ops....the first line of Guest Relations and the best way to keep your customers happy....AND coming back again...
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If you're not watching "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", you're just watching the news....
*** This post was edited by rollergator on 8/30/2002. ***
Welcome To Coasterbuzz! Nice TR!
Doesn't Lake Compounce have the best employees? I've never seen ride ops so happy, nice, and funny. They are awesome!
How is the park looking this season?
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My Six Flags New England Site-Updated
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S:RoS ( SFNE ) rules!
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I lost my hat on Poison Ivy. How pathetic.
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