Raiden Kitsune

Worse over time? There's an easy one for me; Riverside Park (now SFNE). Riverside was great. It wasn't huge, it didn't have the biggest or the most rides, but it was one of the best parks around. It was always friendly, it had atmosphere. It had some great, rare flats (Alpine Bobs, Tri-star). It had one of the best wooden coasters in the country with Cyclone (Thunderbolt's no waste of space, either, for a smaller ride). It was the only park I know of where you could go out back to their race track for a Demolition Derby or Automotive Football after you'd had your fill of rides. When Six Flags first bought it, things looked good at first. They tore out the race track, (which several of my family members will never forgive them for), but started adding tons of new stuff, including the at-the-time #1 in the world steel coaster. I thought we were lucky to have a park like that within driving distance. Now...Cyclone has been mutilated. The majority of the flats are nothing more than scrap metal and memories. Prices are soaring on everything from food to parking, and we're getting less and less for the money. The staff is ignorant, clueless, and disinterested. At this point, all I can hope for is that, with Six Flags' financial situation, they'll be forced to sell the park to someone who can still save it.

Nevermind, it might be BK after all. I just checked the website for LC, and they have icons for Burger King at the bottom, along with Stop and Shop and Bob's Stores. Sounds like a good bet to check any of them.

There definitely are discount tickets for The Lake...but I can't remember where I've seen then. I think it may have been the Wendy's around here. It's definitely not McD or BK, McD has tickets for Canobie Lake and BK teams up with Water Country every year.

*examines his season passes for both and decides he's probalby qualified to jump in on this one* Most importantly, Lake Compounce has Boulder Dash, and if you haven't been on that yet... SFNE has some good coasters, but they're nothing really out of the ordinary. Even Superman is one of several clones, albeit damn good clones. Boulder Dash is the only coaster of it's kind, though. Until you've done close to 60 mph with trees and the rocky mountainside flying by what seems like inches from your face, you don't know how good a wooden coaster can be. SFNE is the larger park by far, but I've never been that thrilled with it. I used to love it when it was Riverside Park. When Six Flags took over, they added a lot of amazing rides, but something about the park just kinda died, IMO. I guess I just don't really like the Six Flags atmosphere as much. Objectively, you could argue for either. In favor of SFNE, they have Superman. They have the Cyclone, although that's not the ride is used to be before Six Flags got to it. The Nightwing, their Huss Flyaway, is worth riding. They also have quite a large water park there, with a new Water Coaster this year that's supposed to be good, but I haven't had a chance to get on it yet. As far as the staff and atmosphere...meh. Supposedly they're working on improving it, but I've never been impressed at all. Food and such is overpriced, but not horribly. In favor of Lake Compounce...well, there's Boulder Dash, like I already mentioned. They also have the Wildcat, a nice little classic PTC coaster that they've kept up fairly well. Ghost Hunt is a bit on the lame side, but all the more fun for it. There's also the scenery; the park fits right in between Compounce Mountain and the lake. They have a decent water park there as well, and it's also one of the last amusement parks I know of that still have a beach where you can go swimming in the lake. The Lake gets all the points for atmosphere, the staff there has always been very cheerful and friendly with the guests. The food there is very inexpensive for a park, and quite good for the most part. Basically, if you're looking for extreme rides, it's no contest; you definitely want SFNE. If you're looking for a smaller, "nicer" park, or the best woodie on the east coast (or anywhere, IMHO), go with the Lake. I personally prefer The Lake, but that's just my own opinion.