Six Flags New England, Lake Compounce, & Quassy Friday, June 21, 2013

It was now day three of my coaster trip and I was off to visit Six Flags New England, Lake Compounce, and Quassy Amusement Park. Before my visits to those parks though, I had to get up there. The night before, I left Six Flags New Jersey parking lot a little after 9:30pm after trying to figure out my direction of travel and getting a soda from the cooler. I tell you that having a cooler full of ice cold water and soda was a life saver on this trip. With all the walking I was doing it was nice to hit the car after my long day at the parks and relax with a cold drink.

After stopping to grab a bite to eat on the way out of the park I hit the road for my drive up to Massachusetts. I ended up on the New Jersey turnpike which was fine. I was in awe that I was actually driving past New York City. I had been to NYC before by plane and then using public transportation however never driving by it in a car. It was a surreal experience. It was about 11pm at night and there were cars everywhere. I am still surprised I didn’t get off course with all of the cars and lane changes I had to do.

I hit the George Washington Bridge and found out I had to pay the $13 toll! Oh well, I knew I was going to pay tolls at some point on my drive up so I was prepared. I finally hit some construction traffic just inside Connecticut and after sitting in what was almost standstill traffic I found an exit and took it. I managed to get back onto the interstate and make it to my destination in Enfield, CT where I stayed at another Red Roof Inn.

I woke up and headed towards Six Flags New England to be there by opening at 10:30am. I got there and decided to park in the $3 parking lot outside the park. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this type of bootleg parking at an amusement park but it was nice. It saved me $17.

I decided I would head to the back of the park where Bizarro is located. Again, another go to roller coaster on my trip. I ended up riding the Gotham City Gauntlet Escape from Arkham Asylum (longest name for a coaster award winner) first however for fear of longer lines later in the day. It was an ok ride. It was braked a little more than the Mad Mouse coaster at Hersheypark which was my favorite mouse ride on the trip.

Next up was Bizarro. Oh my goodness. Yes this coaster lived up to the hype! I loved the lift hill beside the river and the nice 221 foot drop into the tunnel. The next big hill was great, and the many hills after, that await you on the ride. I think I counted 11 airtime hills total. I really loved the misting tunnel towards the end of the ride as well. Also, the last hill before the final brake run was perfect. It was the best steel coaster I rode on this trip. There was pretty much no line so after my first ride I rode 5 more times. I probably could have just ridden this ride all day but I had to get at least of a couple of coaster credits here.

Next up was Cyclone. I waited longer for this ride than Bizarro. They were only running one train so the wait seemed very long. It was an interesting ride. The first drop was different and the layout was also different. It was an ok ride but not one of my favorite wooden coasters on the trip. Thunderbolt was next and it was a very good ride. I really enjoyed it. I also thought the signage for the ride was really cool. I then rode Batman, Mind Eraser, and Catwoman’s Whip. I wish my ride on Mind Eraser could literally be erased from my mind because it was the worst coaster I rode on my entire trip. I was in the front seat and it was still very rough. There was a lot of head banging. I knew something was up when I approached the station and saw next to nobody in line.

It was approaching 2pm at this point so I figured I had better close my day at SFNE with a mini marathon on Bizarro. There was next to no line which was amazing. I ended up riding six more times. I had only planned to spend about 4 hours in the park because I wanted to make a stop at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. I left SFNE without riding Goliath (operations were horrendous and the line was long), Flashback (what looked like a long line), and Pandemonium (also longer line). I enjoyed my visit to SFNE mostly because of Bizarro. That ride is amazing. I also really liked Thunderbolt and wish I could have ridden it more but they only had one train running and the line was fairly long.

I got to my car around 3pm and headed towards Springfield, MA to the Basketball Hall of Fame. I arrived there at 3:15pm and got a discounted $9 ticket, (normally $19) since they closed at 4. I am a huge basketball fan so this place was right up my alley. They had displays of jerseys, championship rings, shoes, nets, and many other neat basketball items. They also had a nice basketball court you could play basketball on and lowered rims that you could dunk on. It was a very nice stop on the trip. When planning this trip I actually wasn’t planning on stopping there but figured if I were this close and didn’t stop I would end up regretting it later so I sacrificed time from SFNE to make the stop. It was well worth it for me.

After leaving the Basketball Hall of Fame I made the roughly hour or so drive down to Bristol, CT where Lake Compounce is located. I hit some traffic as I headed through Hartford, CT but it didn’t slow me down too much. I passed ESPN studios before I entered the park and that was neat. It was awesome to see all of their satellites off in the distance and know that I was looking at the headquarters of the most extensive sports network out there.
I parked the car and bought a $19.99 admission after 5pm ticket and headed into the park around 5:30pm. I decided to ride Wildcat first and really enjoyed the ride. It wasn’t too rough and had some nice elements. They were only running one train but the line wasn’t too long.

Boulder Dash was next and it was another coaster I was really looking forward to riding. I have heard great things about this ride and it sure did live up to the great things people had said about it. I rode towards the back of the train and was very impressed with the lift hill up the mountain. The location of this coaster couldn’t be more perfect. It provided for such an out of control ride. There were so many hills I couldn’t even count them all. There was a double down element somewhere towards the end of the ride that blew me away. I think there was a double up element in there too. I was surprised at how long of a ride it was. It felt like it would never end and with a coaster like this that was a great thing. If I hadn’t of ridden El Toro the day before this would have been the best wooden coaster I rode on the trip. It’s still one of the best wooden coasters I’ve ever ridden though.

From here I went and rode Zoomerang to get the credit. It was actually a better ride than I thought it would be. Since there wasn’t much of a line for Wildcat I rode it two more times and ended my night with 3 more rides on Boulder Dash. In fact, I had the privilege of being on the last train of the night in the front seat! It was just starting to get dark at this point and I can only imagine how awesome how this ride is after dark. Even at this point of the day the ride gave an out of control experience.

On my way out of the park I struck up a conversation with what appeared to be a park manager. It was nice of him to take the time to talk to me for a couple of minutes. I told him I was up here from Alabama just riding coasters. He smiled and said, “roller coaster enthusiast huh?” He thanked me that I came all the way up to visit the park and asked what parks I had already visited and where I was going next. Lake Compounce was a great park. It reminded me so much of Holiday World. I would definitely love to go back there someday in the future. Boulder Dash alone is worth the visit.

It was now after 8pm and I was headed towards Quassy Amusement Park. I got there a little before 9pm parked and headed towards the entrance. I had expected to pay $3.50 per ride because that’s what I read off of the website however the lady at the window said all rides were $.50 tonight! I bought enough for two rides, because I thought that would be all I would have time to ride, and headed towards Wooden Warrior. The wait was close to 15 minutes and I chose the very back seat. What a great ride. I love the Timberliner trains and the layout of this coaster. It was a fun little ride with nice amounts of airtime. I got back in line and rode again in the front seat this time. It was so smooth and fast. It’s just a fun ride.

It was right around 9:45pm at this point and I was out of tickets. I thought I could buy a few more tickets and ride again before closed but they had already closed the ticket window. Oh well, it was my fault I didn’t buy more tickets the first time around. I got two solid rides in on Wooden Warrior and I am glad I stopped in to ride it. It was a very nice, fun coaster. The park itself looked like a miniature version of Knoebels. I wish I could have had more time there but it was still a good visit.

Ride Count: 12x Bizarro, Cyclone, Thunderbolt, Batman, Mind Eraser, Catwoman’s Whip, and Gotham City Gauntlet

4x Boulder Dash, 3x Wildcat, and Zoomerang

2x Wooden Warrior

18 rides @ Six Flags New England + 8 rides @ Lake Compounce + 2 rides @ Quassy = 28 total rides

Cool trip! I rode Bizarro about 4 years ago & loved it! SFNE is a nice park. When I was there, I thought Thunderbolt was in need of a rehab, but fun.

(WARNING! Shameless plug!)

Next time you get up this way, hit Canobie Lake and if you can spare a day, Excalibure up @ Funtown in Maine is worth the trip alone.

Nice report, I did a similar northeast trip a couple years ago, didn't get to Quassy though. Mmmm....Boulder Dash. The rocky, wooded terrain only makes it feel even more out of control -- and the layout itself is pretty wicked to begin with.

Colossus?

Did you mean the (Riverside) Cyclone? I've been to SFNE twice, but I don't recall a coaster called Colossus.

Yes Mike, my fault, I did mean Cyclone. Don't know why but I was thinking Colossus. Ha