Great Adventure vs New England/Lake Compounce

[Jason2198]

Im heading up to either Six Flags Great Adventure for 2 days or Six Flags New England one day then Lake Compounce the next. Id be going July 31st and August 1st. Which would you recommend more? Its really difficult to decide since GAdv has El Toro and Nitro while NE has Bizarro and LC has Boulder Dash. GAdv seems to have more rides overall but do Bizarro and Boulder Dash make up for this?

 

Ill be getting a Gold Flash pass at whichever place I go to if it helps.

[Canobie Coaster]

I've never been to Six Flags Great Adventure, but I've been to all of the New England parks so I'll tell you some info about them, but I'd lean towards New Jersey's Six Flags.

 

Six Flags New England has Bizarro, which is probably the 3rd best coaster I've ever been on behind Apollo's Chariot and Phoenix. Bizarro's raw intensity and power is incredible, as it's packed with powerful Gs and ejector air. A front and back seat ride is a must!

 

Batman is a pretty good floorless, but SFGA's Bizarro looks better. Batman is very short, but it packs a nice punch.

 

Pandemonium and Thunderbolt are nice, little coasters as well. The Cyclone is intense, but rather rough. The rest of SFNE's coasters are nothing special.

 

They do have some nice flats like Scream and Catapult, but don't bank on all of them operating. Lastly, their water park is huge and very nice if you have time. Typhoon is good, but it usually has a 60-90 minute wait. Yikes!

 

Lake Compounce is a very nice traditional park. Boulder Dash is incredible! The air it provides is unmatched by very few rides! Outside of Boulder Dash, they have no other elite rides, but they've got some nice flats in Thunder 'n' Lightning and Down Time, Ghost Hunt (fun, but a long wait), and a very good river rapids ride. Wildcat and Zoomerang aren't very good at all.

 

If I were you, I'd choose Great Adventure if your primary goal is to ride as many top coasters as possible. If you want some decent flats and one of the nicest traditional parks around (Lake Compounce), pick the New England trip.

[SLY]

Compounce is my favorite traditional park. BoulderDash is great (be sure to stay until dark!) and New England isn't a bad park itself. Bizarro is without a doubt one of the best steel coasters out there. Great Adventure is my closest park. Even with El Toro and Kingda Ka, it's not a favorite place of mine to go.

 

I'd vote New England trip for sure. Stop at Quassy and ride the mouse while you can!

[Medusa1861]

I'd say do all 3. SFgadv for one day. Lake Compounce/SFNE the next.

 

I don't see how anyone could stay an entire day at Lake Compounce without getting bored. Don't get me wrong, it's one of the best parks I've ever been to. It's just too small to occupy your time for the entire day.

 

SFGAdv is closeby and I've been to it quite often. You won't have any problem getting on everything you need(even without a Q-bot), and unless you REALLY want to re-ride everything over and over and over, you only need one day.

 

SFNE on the other hand, they don't have much but if you just want to get credits, it's rather awful. The lines whose that times are the longest are the rides that aren't really all that good (The Vekomas). SROS of course will have a huge wait but that is expected.

 

I know I'm probably too rushed for you, but I would say go to SFgadv (don't buy a Q-bot unless the crowds really look THAT bad) first, then drive up to Lake Compounce stay until you're bored and satisfied and head up to SFNE (only about 30 minutes away) and buy a Q-bot gold or just a Q-bot. Use your own judgement. That way you get on everything and have a pretty darn good time.

[larrygator]

If you plan on getting Gold Flash Passes anyway I suggest all three parks also.

 

You can do SFNE (with the Gold Flash Pass) for 5 hours and then Lake Compounce on the same day. Lake Compounce has an after 5PM special, quite frankly you only need 3-4 hours at Lake Compounce and Boulder Dash runs much better later in the day.

[Wood Dragon 1988]

I agree with larry and Medusa that you could do all three parks in two days. You may need the Flash Pass in the middle of the summer. I was able to easily do SFNE in the morning and Compounce after 5 without any Flash Pass though.

 

But if I had to choice one or the other, I would pick New England. Boulder Dash> El Toro and Bizarro (SROS) >>>>>> Nitro. It is a no brainer for me, that if I had to go back to one or the other, I would pick the New England parks. IMO Lake Compounce is the nicest park of the three, even if it is the smallest.

[jbarner14]

I'm going to have to agree with the others too and say that you should do all three parks. Just this past Monday I was able to get all the coasters at SFNE, Lake Compounce, and Quassy and not feel too rushed at all.

 

Boulder Dash and Bizarro (SFNE) are amazing but so is El Toro so you really should do both. Like Wood Dragon said, I would also pick the SFNE/Lake Compounce combo if you had to pick only one of the two.

[Jason2198]

That is not a bad idea. Do you think it is possible to do everything at GAdv in one day even on a Friday? I cant afford a FP at both parks and New Englands water Park looks great. Is the water park at LC any good? Would I need the FP more on Saturday for NE or GAdv on Friday?

 

Still have to run this idea by my friends and brother since it will be a 4 hour drive home on August 1st.

[Medusa1861]

I would say you would most likely need it for SFNE if any park.

It is very possible to do Gadv in one day without a flash pass. The employees seem to be faster this year than most.

 

But when it comes down to it. Just use your own judgement. If you can just feel that Gadv is way too crowded for your liking, then get the flash pass, and skip SFNE's flashpass. SFNE only has 2 rides that are worth riding (sros and Cyclone) so it's no big loss if your flashpass wasn't able to get you on mind eraser or Flashback. But really, in all my years of living here, besides fright fest, there hasn't been a day I've gone there when I've known I wouldn't get on everything.

[Jason2198]

Unfortunately I'm not doing the 3 park plan as my brother did not agree with it. We are going GAdv since it is 2 hours closer to us. We are also now only doing 1 day at GAdv to save money. I'm somewhat disappointed though I'm sure GAdv will be great.

[Retro_Gaga]

I'm a local to GAdv and I say it's easy to do that park in 3-4 hours on friday's ( what I did last week ) let alone an entire day. Yea listen to Dusa, he hit the nail on the head.

[Canobie Coaster]

I've been to SFNE twice so far this year (once on a Saturday and once on a Monday) and lines haven't been bad at all.

 

Bizarro: 20-25 minutes

Batman: 20 minutes

Mind Eraser: I didn't dare look, but this looked to be the only bad one

Pandemonium: 45-70 minutes (use the single rider line for no wait)

Cyclone: Walk On

Thunderbolt: 15 minutes

Flashback: 5 minutes

Great Chase: Walk On

Catwoman: Walk On

[Guest]

I'm glad you chose Gadv. NE has Bizarro but seriously what else is there? Gadv has Toro, Nitro, Ka, and Bizarro and we still have other coasters like B:TR, S:UF, RT, and Gasm.

 

Boulder Dash> El Toro

I don't see what is so great about BD. Toro owns ALL wooden coasters. That includes Voyage and BD.

[Jason2198]

All I have to say is that my friends are indecisive. Now they want to head to NE for a day (mostly for the water park) then head down to Falmouth, MA.

[Wood Dragon 1988]

^^You're 14 and have ridden ALL wooden coasters?

[ginzo]

Toro owns ALL wooden coasters. That includes Voyage and BD.

 

But not Balder:

[rollin_n_coastin]

What else is there at SFNE? It’s a great looking park compared to SFGA in a very nice area. Not to mention, it actually has flat rides that operate and a great water park. It’s also very close to Compounce, which not only has an amazing coaster but other great attractions as well.

 

Toro is awesome and still a top 5 favorite but for an overall experience, I preferred SFNE and Compounce.

 

At the end of the day, it’s really tough to choose. If you haven’t been to either, SFGA definitely has the ‘wow factor’ coasters. Plus, the wild safari is cool if you’re into that.

 

^You got that right, Balder sure is sweet!

[CHILLERLC1]

What do brothers know? At least you're coming to my homepark.

[Jason2198]

What else is there at SFNE? It’s a great looking park compared to SFGA in a very nice area. Not to mention, it actually has flat rides that operate and a great water park. It’s also very close to Compounce, which not only has an amazing coaster but other great attractions as well.

 

Toro is awesome and still a top 5 favorite but for an overall experience, I preferred SFNE and Compounce.

 

At the end of the day, it’s really tough to choose. If you haven’t been to either, SFGA definitely has the ‘wow factor’ coasters. Plus, the wild safari is cool if you’re into that.

 

^You got that right, Balder sure is sweet!

 

Is it really a nicer looking park then GAdv? I like to take a lot of pictures so that would be nice. Also it is good to know that it has some good flats and a great water park. What flats would you recommend and is the water park usually crowded? By the way Bizarro looks awesome at night from the youtube videos I've seen. Hopefully I have enough to do to last until night.

[Canobie Coaster]

Of SFNE's flats I recommend:

 

Scream!- This is the best S&S tower I've been on. It runs combo mode (launch & drop) and is very intense. Lines can be around 30-45 minutes, so if you don't want to wait, use the single rider line for a walk on.

 

Tomahawk- It's kind of off in its own little area, but if you have time this is a very intense Huss Frisbee.

 

Catapult- This is the only one of its kind in the US. It's somewhat painful due to the tight restraints, but the ride is so thrilling and unique that it just must be experienced.

 

Joker's Wildcard- This is a subpar Chance Wipeout, but it's still a fun ride. You need a partner though.

 

Buzzsaw- It may look innocent, but this little flat packs a mean punch. It gives some really powerful Gs on the downswing and some incredible air.

 

 

SFNE's water park will definitely be crowded. In fact, it's usually more crowded than the park itself.

 

Typhoon is a very nice water coaster slide; however, it usually has lines of at least an hour. It's fun, but if limited on time, skip it.

 

Tornado- It's the best of the funnel slides I've been on (30 min wait).

 

Shark Attack- Definitely hit these. These are some incredibly fast tube slides that usually have waits of less than 5 minutes.

 

Big Kahuna- These are tamer than Shark Attack, but still very fun and they have short waits.

 

Swiss Family Toboggan- This is a decent family raft slide. It does have one of the longer waits of the water park's slides though (25-30 min).

 

I recommend avoiding Zooma and Geronimo Falls unless they have a very short wait since I find them to be pretty poor.

[odene497]

If your decision is still somewhat up in the air, I'd go for SFNE/Lake Compounce. Yeah, Gadv has some really great rides, but so do the other parks, plus they have incredible atmospheres. SFNE is beautiful, and has some really intense coasters. Even both of the woodies are awesome. Cyclone in the back has the strongest air I've ever experienced. And Thunderbolt has some great air amplified by the skimpy restraints.

 

Lake Compounce is wonderful. It's such a beautiful and comfortable park to walk around in, the setting is perfect. As far as coasters, Boulderdash is my number one, overall (And I've ridden everything at Gadv). The front seat at night is a must. The other wooden coaster, Wildcat, can be pretty bad, but if you sit in a non-wheel seat it's fun. And the boomerang there is also the smoothest I've been on. Aside from that, the park has neat flats, like an S&S Screamin' Swing, a drop tower, and one of those rotary pits where the floor drops (I can't think of the technical name).

 

The overall park experiences of both of these parks I think excedes Gadv.

 

But if you go there, you're still going to have an awesome time.

[Jason2198]

Ok. I'm heading up to Massachusetts on August 6th after my brother finishes class at noon. I should be up there around 4:00 to 5:00. If I have time and with some convincing I might be able to head to Lake Compounce that evening for a few hours. Ill get some pics if I go.

 

Ill be heading to Six Flags NE the next day and I hope to stay there all day. Hopefully the flats and water park will give me enough to do to last the day because I want to ride Bizarro at night. Ill get a lot of pics.

 

The following day I'm heading to West Yarmouth for 2 days.