Lake Compounce announces triple-launched Phobia Phear roller coaster

Phish approves of this ride.

As does Phoebe Snow...oh, wait...

Have to say, I am a little disappointed. These things look like fun but I'm not sure that Lake Compounce really needs another low capacity shuttle coaster, especially when $8 million doesn't seem very inexpensive. The park gets a healthy enough crowd to warrant something more significant. At this point, I was hoping the park would have added a Crazy Mouse about eight years ago and would now be working on something of the scale of Boulder Dash.

Tommytheduck said:
As for Phobia Phear, is that really any different than Phoenix Phall Phunfest. We all let that one slide, don't we? Perhaps it's just because it's so easy to say "PPP."

The difference is that Phoenix Phall Phunfest is a once-a-year special event, only really advertised to coaster geeks. Phobia Phear will be a fixed attraction with a wider-reaching marketing campaign and permanent in-park signage.

I have a phobia fear of ATM machines and PIN numbers.

Rob Ascough said:

Have to say, I am a little disappointed. These things look like fun but I'm not sure that Lake Compounce really needs another low capacity shuttle coaster, especially when $8 million doesn't seem very inexpensive.

Actually this seems like a perfect fit for a park like Lake Compounce. BGW is where you're going to run into capacity issues. And Lake Compounce is not 1/4 what BGW is.

"Ph" is the new "X"

I prefer the old "X"

CarolinaNick15 said:
For all of you saying they are cheap, they really aren't. Apparently Phobia Phear Coaster, which I somehow got through spellcheck, costs 8 million. That's Rmc money and while they aren't really expensive, that isn't that cheap, especially since they run 1 train and 800ft of track.

What is rmc money, and what rmc coaster costs 8million? I've heard people on other sites say how cheap rmc coasters cost but imo they aren't that cheap as wicked cyclone cost 17 million which is more than eltoro and superman ride of steel at sfne when it was built in 1999. I spoke with Jerry brick the gm at the lake about retracking wildcat with topper track and he said rmc was way too expensive for them to use.

The NTG refurb cost $10M but I suspect it was a little cheaper than normal since it was an unproven technology.

CarolinaNick15 said:

For all of you saying they are cheap, they really aren't. Apparently Phobia Phear Coaster, which I somehow got through spellcheck, costs 8 million.

$8 million is cheap in today's dollars. If RCDB is correct, Boomerang at Knott's cost $5 million, and that was 25 years ago. The limited pricing data I could find on Vekoma SLC's ranged from $7-10 million, and those prices were between 1997 and 2004, more than a decade ago.

Where are we getting 8 million for this ride, anyway? I read both articles and the park has declined to mention the cost. And also in there is word that a similar installation ran 10 million. Maybe I've missed something along the way.

So let's go with 8. As for bjames' point, I'd say its an appropriate ride for a park that's choosing to only spend 8 million. I mean, it's not 22 mil, right? So for a measly 8 mil they get this.

And as for Compounce I'd say it's busy enough, especially for it's size, to make this ride a potential capacity problem. Maybe it is a fourth of a powerhouse like BGW, but don't underestimate their popularity. It's a regional park known for being nice and I'd venture to say their crowd is at least in proportion to it's parking lot. My thinking is they've kind of gone a little cheap with this.

The thing we can count on is the park will get a lot of attention when the ride debuts, they'll draw a crowd, and lines will be long.

This model is already successfully running at parks with much, much, much higher attendance figures. LC is a medium sized regional park that already handles its existing crowds quite well. Mostly thanks to their already robust selection of really good quality rides and a wildly popular waterpark.

I think the folks who are saying this is going to create a "capacity problem" need to better define what they mean by "capacity problem" because at this point...I just can't wrap my head around it.

I don't have any rmc money, but I do have a pile of Monopoly money. Can I get one of these?

Just one? With the capacity issue (giggle), buy a whole bunch!

I think the capacity issue is the equivalent of a first world problem for enthusiasts. It probably isn't a super huge deal to the park or the average customer (although I'm sure there will be a number of people who wait in a "longer than desirable" line to ride it) but for an enthusiast who wants to ride it 2 or 3 times, it's a giant pain in the butt. On a Friday during opening season, SFDK's had a line an hour long from about 15 minutes past open to just about closing time while Medusa was from walk on to 20 minutes and V2 was about 30.

Most people will either skip it and be slightly disappointed or suck it up and deal with the hour wait. Enthusiasts will wait through the line multiple times and complain about it each time (no judgement, I'm probably one of them). (I walked on twice at opening and then came back the next day and was first in line for the day, but it opened late, so I didn't get to come back around).

I can only ride one at a time :-)

As I was headed back to work at Cedar Point, now yesterday morning, I spotted orange coaster track on a flatbed headed East on 80, and was really curious as to what it was for, and it turns out to be track for this

They've been getting a shipment every week and already have 7 of the 28 pieces of track. There's still 246 support columns that have to be shipped. I was told all the pieces will be at the park by the end of this month and construction will begin after labor day weekend.