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Lake Compounce Discussion Thread


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Soda is still free if you have a diamond or platinum season pass, so regulars are not really affected. I still will miss just being able to walk up to a stand and getting a cup. Now to get a drink you have to go to a food stand and have your pass scanned. I am waiting to judge this new system but it will either be really good or really bad depending on how long you have to wait. The plus side is the machines will likely be maintained more (they were in terrible condition last year especially on hot days) and the cups are now 16oz and you get a lid/straw.

 

I feel like a lot of the guests don't know about all of the negative things they did this season and will be surprised next time they visit. In the eyes of the GP, there are now not too many benefits that they have over Six Flags and their cheaper passes/new rides are likely more appealing. I still prefer LC over SFNE but they did way more wrong than right last season and I hope they can turn things around this year and in the future.

 

It is also confirmed that LC has inherited some parts and logs from Log Jammer and will be used on the ride. They said that they hope to have 7 boats running (doesn't seem like enough imo) and could do 8-9 on busy days with more staff. There will also be souvenir bottles that can be purchased for $13 and include free drinks for the day and $.99 after that. It says not valid during October though for the bottle, so hopefully they are still planning to give pass holders free drinks then.

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I suppose I can understand why they got rid of the free soda; food and drink are a huge source of income for any park. Still, it really kinda sucks.

 

If I remember correctly, Holiday World has said they had higher food per cap numbers after going to free soft drinks.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

The park opened today and while most of it was positive, there were a couple of negatives. First off, I feel bad for anyone that had to process a season pass today, because the line was in the tunnel, and some people reported waiting over an hour. Another negative is the drink situation. The park ditched their free drink policy and drinks are now for purchase only behind food counters. Diamond and Platinum season pass holders are still able to get free drinks (16oz), BUT you now have to wait in a potentially large line. The park was not super busy today, but I saw some insane food stand lines and people were reporting 30 minute waits just for water or a free drink. So that issue needs to be addressed asap because it is only going to get worse. I found the Croc Pot to be the easiest because you pour your own drinks there and usually the line isn't to bad.

 

So right at opening there were employees at BD's entrance saying the ride is not ready yet and I did not hear any testing going on. We headed over to Wildcat and got the second ride in the front. The ride is improved and it is not too bad but there are still some shaky spots. IMO this ride should have been completely re-tracked and painted before getting the new trains. I heard a guy behind me say "they did all this work to fix it and it is still just as bad!" I tested a couple seats and none of them gave me a headache at all, but there are some rough spots. They did do some work on the final turn around and following hill(top two layers replaced), but it honestly did not do much to help and was still shaky. I have mixed feelings on this whole thing but hopefully they keep doing a little work here and there and it gets better.

 

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So after two rides, I got a little suspicious as to why I haven't heard a BD test run yet. One ride on Down Time revealed that there was no train in the station. My first thought was it valleyed somewhere but I was also thinking it could have been taken off the track for some reason. Turns out I was right and the train valleyed before the turn around. There were mechanics using a winch and eventually it continued on its journey.

 

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So the south end of the park pretty much felt abandoned to me. Such a shame to see one of the park's signature rides abandoned and destroyed. IMO, the top three most unique things at LC were Boulder Dash, Sky Ride, and Free Soda, and only one of those remains. I am positive that guest satisfaction, enjoyment, and reviews are going to go south this season. I REALLY hope that the next major news that comes out of this park is positive.

 

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Went back to Wildcat for another ride and saw BD's train coming back and it was the slowest I have ever seen, it was crawling, not really a surprise but it was really cool to see. I figured it was going to stall again on the anti-rollback before the brake run and sure enough it did. Wipeout was closed too and it looked really bad. It looks like it was being worked on but the overall condition of it looked awful.

 

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About 30 minutes later, they got it back in the station and had a bunch of employees come ride so it didn't valley. It was going really slow, but after 3 tests, it was opened. It is running well but needs to warm up still and won't be running to it's full potential until daily operations. The second train is still in limbo although I heard it is close to completion. Two rows were also out of order and I am pretty sure one of the rows had restraints that were not locking some of the time...

 

The park transformed the old paintball game building into a relaxation station which is nice and seemed to be very popular. Not sure what it is going to look like on very busy days though.

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Zoomerang was down and Twister was having some issues. I didn't look into it too much, but it seemed like Saw Mill Plunge had more logs running than usual. Ghost Hunt had a huge line with only 4 cars running and there isn't much effort put into making sure those cars are full. Phobia was also running very well and had excellent airtime and speed.

 

Overall it was a decent opening day, but things could have went better. The park did make opening weekend a bring a buddy day which they have never done before, and they had a season pass/b1g1 ticket sale which led to some crowds. Hopefully next week will be better when they do not have bring a buddy, but I don't think the drink situation is going to get better unless they make some changes.

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Great report! The lines for drinks will be an adjustment for sure, but as long as they keep Boulder Dash running well, I'll keep coming back.

 

Come to think of it, I don't think I've ridden Boulder Dash in peak, mid-summer conditions in years. All my visits seem to be in early May or Haunted Graveyard. I should fix that this year.

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Ouch...apart from Phobia running well (I would hope so, at 3 years old...) and more logs on Sawmill plunge, this doesn't sound great. I'll be going in a couple weeks, but it definitely sounds like this'll be the first year since 2004 that I won't be buying a season pass

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I really enjoyed my visit back in 2014. Such a shame to see what all others are calling a yearly decline since then. I used to really want to try and make it back, but if it's getting as bad as people are saying it is, then I'm just going to focus my attention (and money) elsewhere.

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I used to really want to try and make it back, but if it's getting as bad as people are saying it is, then I'm just going to focus my attention (and money) elsewhere.

Same--it's crazy to think I'm saying that about a park that contains Boulder Dash. I've never been the biggest fan of the place, but that was mainly about the atmosphere (while not half bad), size and ride collection, and to an extent the operations and wait times. But by now I've read so many updates that edge it closer to "no hurry to get back" territory. In a park with Boulder Dash (which for me, unlike some folks, absolutely is at the top of my rankings).

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  • 4 weeks later...

I stopped in tonight on the way home from Sesame Place and had a good few hours.

 

The first thing I needed to do was process my season pass. So naturally I went to the building that said "Season Pass Processing" but was instead directed to a general ticket booth. While I saw reports of hour waits on opening weekend, it was a painless process for me that didn't take more than 5 minutes.

 

Boulder Dash was running a bit sluggish. I was pretty shocked by that since it usually hauls at Haunted Graveyard and my early May rides (both times when the park is on weekend only operations). The outward leg was missing air in a few spots (most notably the boulder hill), but the return leg was as insanely fast as ever. Even a sluggish Boulder Dash ride is still a fantastic coaster. Hopefully it speeds back up in the summer months. On the plus side, it's still running very smoothly. There's only one rough spot about 2/3 of the way through the outward leg that jackhammers the whole train, but it's nothing compared to what the triple up used to do.

 

I also was able to try the retracked Wildcat once in the back row. I honestly don't think I had ridden Wildcat in 5-6 years since it has typically been closed during the Haunted Graveyard. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous as the train traveled up the lift and the train was vibrating pretty badly. But oddly enough, the lift was the roughest part of the ride. Yes you read that right, the lift was the roughest part of the ride. The coaster still doesn't have any air, but it did have some really good laterals, particularly on the first turnaround and some of the bunny hills in the middle of the ride.

 

Ultimately I think the retracking paid off. Wildcat still isn't a top-notch coaster, but it is a classic attraction at the park and I appreciate the park preserving its history. The Millennium Flyers absolutely fly through the course. Even when I did visit on days with Wildcat open, I rarely rode it. Now, I'll be sure to hit it at least once per visit. My one concern is the reduced capacity with the 14 passenger trains since the park seems content to run one train on all their wooden coasters.

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  • 1 month later...

They will keep the queues for all rides open until closing. They will force you to take an available row on the coasters for the last train of the night, so definitely make sure you get at least one front row Boulder Dash ride.

 

All the coasters have one train operations. Your longest waits will likely be for the two woodies. Since it's a weekday, I'm guessing the line shouldn't be longer than 20 minutes for either by that point. Zoomerang and Phobia will likely be walk-ons.

 

The flume and Ghost Hunt can also get bad lines if you were interested in either.

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Any Compounce locals have opinions on crowd size for a Friday vs a Saturday? Debating which day makes more sense for an after-5 entry, especially now that BD is permanently one-train.

 

Also has anybody used the after-5 discount this year? They never advertise it on their site but I assume they still do it?

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^ They have an after 5 discount? I had no clue.

 

If the park is open until 10 on Saturday, I would choose that. The crowds will be a little heavier, but you'll get a pitch black summer ride on Boulder Dash. It's one of the best night rides out there and it should be hauling after a hot, humid day.

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To confirm - there's no fast pass type of option at Lake Compounce? If I have all day (even on a summer Saturday), should I be able to ride pretty much everything, including flats and multiple rides on Boulder Dash?

 

Any great seafood joints in the area? Looking for some classic New England seafood even if I need to drive 30-40 minutes.

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To confirm - there's no fast pass type of option at Lake Compounce? If I have all day (even on a summer Saturday), should I be able to ride pretty much everything, including flats and multiple rides on Boulder Dash?

 

There's not that much there to make it impossible to hit everything in 11 hours. 4 is probaby sufficent to get a ride on all the big attractions.

 

Any great seafood joints in the area? Looking for some classic New England seafood even if I need to drive 30-40 minutes.

 

http://www.chowderpothartford.com

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To confirm - there's no fast pass type of option at Lake Compounce? If I have all day (even on a summer Saturday), should I be able to ride pretty much everything, including flats and multiple rides on Boulder Dash?

 

There's not that much there to make it impossible to hit everything in 11 hours. 4 is probaby sufficent to get a ride on all the big attractions.

 

Any great seafood joints in the area? Looking for some classic New England seafood even if I need to drive 30-40 minutes.

 

http://www.chowderpothartford.com

Thank you! Even on a summer Saturday should be ok? Hoping to maybe even hit up the waterpark a bit as well, but that may be ambitious.

 

Chowder Pot looks good. Love me a great Connecticut style lobster roll.

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The worst line you'll see is 45 minutes. You could see that wait on Boulder Dash (if the queue is full), the log flume (if they still only have 3 logs), and Ghost Hunt on the ride side. But there's a good chance those waits will be less at the very beginning and end of the day. Everything else shouldn't have a wait more than 15 minutes.

 

On the water park side, Mammoth Falls and Lights Out will have the two slowest moving lines. Ride Lights Out first and then Mammoth Falls immediately after the water park opens and you'll save yourself a 30-45 minute wait for each once the crowds hit.

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The worst line you'll see is 45 minutes. You could see that wait on Boulder Dash (if the queue is full), the log flume (if they still only have 3 logs), and Ghost Hunt on the ride side. But there's a good chance those waits will be less at the very beginning and end of the day. Everything else shouldn't have a wait more than 15 minutes.

 

On the water park side, Mammoth Falls and Lights Out will have the two slowest moving lines. Ride Lights Out first and then Mammoth Falls immediately after the water park opens and you'll save yourself a 30-45 minute wait for each once the crowds hit.

Super helpful. Thank you!

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Sorry to read the reports that this park is in a bit of decline. I'll be in Hartford next week for a work thing and hope to make my first visit here. I'll only have a couple of hours but hopefully on a Tuesday or Wednesday night that should be good enough to get all the credits plus some re-rides on Boulder Dash.

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^ On a weeknight, you shouldn't have too much trouble. Boulder Dash, Zoomerang, and Phobia's queues should be pretty small near closing. Not sure on Wildcat but if you only plan to ride it once, fitting that in is no problem.

 

Also as a FYI, if you're big into credits you need a kid to ride the Kiddie Coaster.

 

Super helpful. Thank you!

 

I forgot about Wildcat. Since I haven't been on a Saturday since ot was retracked and gotten the shorter train, I have no clue what lines for that will be. I doubt it'll be much worse than 30-45 minutes but you'll probably only want to ride it once anyway.

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I am visiting Lake Compounce along with Quassy this weekend. Has there been any improvements over the rest of the summer season? I am excited to visit but a little concerned given what everyone is saying with regards to the quality of the park over recent years.

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I am visiting Lake Compounce along with Quassy this weekend. Has there been any improvements over the rest of the summer season? I am excited to visit but a little concerned given what everyone is saying with regards to the quality of the park over recent years.

 

I heard boulder dash has been running well recently

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