Lake Compounce Discussion Thread

[thrillseeker4552]

Wow! It's great to see Millennium Flyers going on such an old, classic woodie. I would've expected them on Boulder Dash before Wildcat, but it's still great news.

[Pear]

 

 

 

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[sublimeairtime]

Oh my gosh! It looks like Boulder Dash is running really well. That first redone airtime hill looks fantastic! Can't wait to get back to Lake Compounce in May.

[coasterbill]

Holy sh*t, turn your phone the right way.

[Jcoaster]

Wow, the tracking looks amazing. Can't wait to head up there in June for some rides.

[Genx24]

Looks great! Hope to get back up there sometime this year.

[SFOGdude25]

Anyone else find it funny how Boulder Dash was designed and built by Custom Coasters, and reprofiled by Great Coasters AND Martin & Vleminckx?

 

No? Just me? Ok.

[BoulderDash]

Here are a few other pics from the park. Flyers are looking good with the new paint job.

 

Wildcat needs some track still.

 

 

New millennium flyers are on the track.

 

Not a fan of how the swings are looking... chain protectors look very bad.

 

BD's new section is looking great, should remain smooth for much longer.

 

And here is a close up of Wildcat's new trains. Look good!

[jynx242]

This is very exciting to me. It's cool to see Wildcat getting some love (I did not enjoy it when I rode it,) and I'm thrilled that Boulderdash is getting its rough spot repaired. I have to admit, I was a wee bit heartbroken hearing people complain that it was soooo rough now and that they didn't like it. It will always remain one of the most insane night ride and ERT experiences of my life, so I hate to hear people knock on it.

[Canobie Coaster]

^ Honestly it wasn't even that bad last year during the Haunted Graveyard. Yes it jackhammered, but the rest of the ride was absolutely hauling. I love how the park is taking care of their woodies.

[coasterbill]

I really hope they run Wildcat during Haunted Graveyard this year. We've been planning on going back to that event the last few years (since it's absolutely the best park Haunt event in the Northeastern US) but we've kept putting it off since Wildcat hasn't been open the last few years. Sure it's kind of a crappy coaster, but when you've only got 4 adult coasters and one of them is a Boomerang (albeit a pretty good one), it would be really cool if they were all open.

[Canobie Coaster]

For anyone interested, I'm at the park now and everything is a walk-on.

 

The double up that replaced the triple up is much smoother. The ride is running pretty well, not as fast as summer but still amazing.

[thesman]

How's wildcat running with the new trains?

[I Like Theme Parks.]

^It's still under construction. I saw people working on it today!

[Jakizle]

Anyone else find it funny how Boulder Dash was designed and built by Custom Coasters, and reprofiled by Great Coasters AND Martin & Vleminckx?

 

No? Just me? Ok.

 

Probably just you. Each event was probably sourced independently for the vendor that was the best fit for LC at the time.

[I Like Theme Parks.]

I went to the park on Sunday to process season passes and get on some rides. We were there from around 12-3. The staff was nice, but still not that experienced, but that's to be expected. There were some food trucks, so instead of getting Pink's or Potato Patch fries like usual, I got a lobster roll and these awesome onion rings. It's not a huge event, but it's cool that they had it. The park was really pretty and charming like always. I'm interested to see how Wildcat turns out. We had a short, but great visit. Rides:

 

Zoomerang - Middle row. Still very smooth, but I still think Sea Serpent, Great Escape's boomerang, and Flying Cobras are all a bit smoother.

Phobia Phear Coaster x 2 - Back row, second-to-last row. This is definitely better than Tempesto because of the restraints. It's a compact and aggressive ride with some intense ejector air and forces. I love how it makes all the rides in the area feel more connected, and what it does for the layout of the park. I'm so glad they got it!

Ghost Hunt - Nothing too fancy, but it's really great and well-done for what it is. I was surprised at how long it was considering the size of the building.

Boulder Dash x 3 - Second row once, second-to-last row twice. I love this thing! It was great in the morning, but when it really warmed up for the day I remembered why this thing is one of my favorites. Unreal location, strong unexpected laterals, and it has both sustained floater air and pops of ejector air. The track work is perfect, because they smoothed out the rough parts, but the wild rough woody feel is still very present. Can't wait to get my first ever night rides on it later in the year!

American Flyer x 2 - Yeah, I take back what I said about these being good flyers, you all are right, these are trash. I must have gotten lucky with that rainy/windy day 2 seasons ago. Other people, mostly locals actually, were able to get some snapping, but the techniques for the flyers at Carowinds and Knoebels must not be as effective here. Still got a tiny bit of snapping at the beginning of my first ride, so it's still better than most Larson flyers.

Down Time

Saw Mill Plunge - This is a really great flume! It's short, but the location in the mountains is beautiful, the flume section is quick and fun, and the big drop is fun and has a good amount of wetness. This is a must-ride.

Thunder N' Lighting x 2

 

I still need to get to the chairlift and Wildcat later in the season.

[njcoasterguy34]

If you do the chairlift, be aware they no longer allow single riders. I was also there this past Sunday. I walked all the way down to the chairlift only to see the sign stating that the ride does not allow single riders.

 

I actually did get a tiny bit of snapping when I rode the American Flyer, but nowhere near what I get with the Flyers at Knoebels.

[Canobie Coaster]

^ I ran into the same problem on Sunday. I was really bummed out. Too bad you weren't down there the same time as me.

 

I saw in the Kennywood forum that the park bumped up several height requirements in response to the Rollo Coaster accident, did Lake Compounce do the same too on a few rides? I was shocked to see the Zoomers car ride with a 42" height requirement and the flume have a 42" height requirement as well. I know for a fact I rode the flume as a young kid when I wasn't 42" yet.

[Rai Fox]

Finally hit up Lake Compounce for the first time this year, yesterday. I'd been waiting to give them time to get Wildcat finished and running, so skipped opening day for the first time in over a decade.

 

Turned out that didn't do me much good, as the "not running today" board showed Wildcat on the way into the park, and we could see before even entering that they were still adding track. Not sure what happened there; two months ago, park GM Jerry Brick had said the work was almost done, and they would be testing soon to get it open for Memorial Day, but it looked like very little had actually been done in the time between then and yesterday. I wasn't able to find Jerry to find out what had gone wrong; I'm sure the rainy weather lately didn't help but it couldn't have been that much of a delay.

 

Other than that, it was a good day for the most part. Rain early in the morning kept the crowds at a minimum, even though the skies cleared up barely fifteen minutes after the park opened. We were able to hit everything in the park, and the running coasters a few times, and be out by five.

 

Boulder Dash is definitely running better than it has in a long time. Our first ride was one of the first trains of the day, and it was a bit slow then, but by time we got back around for a second run, it was flying as usual. Still a bit rough in the back, but not painfully so. The new track is a definite improvement over the old triple-up, or at least how that's been for the last few years. I loved that when it was first added but it's been a long time since that was enjoyable. The new airtime hills are far smoother.

 

Phobia hasn't changed in a year; still a perfect fit for the park and a great use of that small footprint. I'm amazed at how much of a difference there is between front and back rows on such a small train; the back just /rips/ you over that first dive.

 

Zoomerang remains one of the better boomerangs around; I can't call it smooth, but it's not painful, and that puts it in the top few of the class alone.

 

Ghost Hunt is a /huge/ improvement with the new guns and sensors. The targeting lights help immensely, though it might have been nice to color the four in each car differently; as is if everyone's aiming in the same area, it's a bit hard to tell which is yours. More important, though, the shots go where you're aiming, and every target works! My group all laughed at the "improvement" to the back area, with the mirrors and no targets; with Doc Popcorn directly underneath it now, the entire tunnel smells like (very good!) popcorn. Wonder how many people will be getting off the ride hungry now...

 

All the flats were in good shape. Wipeout was running faster than I've seen it since it moved to LC; not Knoebels fast, but definitely enough to be fun! American Flyers? Are you ready for this? People were /SNAPPING AMERICAN FLYERS/. That's probably as much to do with the breeze yesterday as with the ride, but...snapping, on what used to be the worst flyers in the country. I was only able to get a tiny little jump off the cables myself, but others were having far more luck.

 

Lunch was Pink's, which was...something of a disaster. The park needs to work on training and management a bit here. The staff were trying to do things assembly-line style, but everyone was crossing over into everyone else's space, tripping everyone else up. Confusion everywhere; a month into the season and no one seemed to have any idea what they were doing or how to make any of the items on the menu. Even with very low crowds, it took far too long to get our food, and people were packed into the waiting area while the staff tried to catch up. That said, no complaints about the food itself! Everything was quite good.

 

Much the same with the Dippin' Dots sundae store; same as last year, the girl working it had no idea how to actually make any of the sundaes; what I got was not remotely anything like the sundae I picked on the menu.

 

Sorry for the lack of pictures, my phone is dying and the battery barely lasts a few hours even without using the camera now. Overall, good trip to the park; rides are A+, food service could use some help, and I hope Wildcat is up and running soon!

[Canobie Coaster]

The past 2 years those flyers have been snappable. I think the park may be running the ride a little faster now since it hasn't been a one time thing. Those flyers used to be the worst ones anywhere but now they beat any of the modern installations.

[thesman]

Is boulder dash running 2 trains again?

[Canobie Coaster]

They only were running one train in my visit last year during the Graveyard and mid-May this year. Though the park was pretty light on crowds those days.

[thesman]

Last year I know they didn't run 2 trains because something about putting too much stress on the supports of the brake run. I wasn't sure if they fixed it when they did the renovations.

[I Like Theme Parks.]

^^^There was only one train when I went a few weeks ago. Thankfully it wasn't too crowded, but it was at least a 10-minute wait for just a few trains. I could see how the wait can be easily a half hour for a full station wait with its slow operations.

[Rai Fox]

They were running one train yesterday but the line wasn't even past the split for front and back half of the train, so...