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Our Weird Trip To Lake Compounce and SFNE

Nitro12345

Roller Poster
Earlier this week, My GF and I went to Lake Compounce and SFNE. We spent a day at each park, and I'd thought I'd give my thoughts on the coasters and the parks themselves. We arrived at Lake Compounce around an hour after the park opened, and after waiting for 10 minutes to get through security, we head over to Boulder Dash. They were only running one train, so the line took forever, even though it wasn't very long. Finally, we board the old PTC trains and head out up the lift. Looking up and seeing the canopy of the woods straight above us was amazing. The feeling of going up the lift, and still being on the ground the whole way up was weird, but awesome. The train makes an almost 180 degree turn to the right and goes into the drop. You feel a great sense of speed on this coaster as you whip by the landscape so closely. After the first drop you whiz by the station and head back up into the woods, hitting a few airtime hills. One of them gives a very quick ejector pop. Coming back out of the woods, you meet more airtime hills. One of them gives some nice floater near the back. Riding this coaster is like going on a short adventure. The downside is the roughness. We both got our fair share of jack hammering on it. It was enough to take away from the experience, but not ruin it. I felt like I needed to be ready to brace myself at a few points along the ride, but other than that , I give Boulder Dash a thumbs up.
Next we hit the oldest coaster in the park, Wildcat. I knew going in that this coaster was unbearably rough, but nothing could prepare me for just how bad this thing was going to be. We waited more than a half hour as once again, they were only running one train. We thought " How bad could it really be?". We get into the unusually short millennium flyer trains, make a turnaround and head up the lift hill. The first drop was smooth and so was the first turnaround. I breathed a sigh of relief. But then the whole thing went to hell in a hand basket as we were subjected to some of the most violent jack hammering I've ever experienced. It wasn't the usual jack hammering either. It was like there were a million tiny speed bumps all over the track. It was like the track was made of rubber, strung over rotting cross ties. It just never let up, and all I could think was "Please let it be over". Before I could get my wish, we were subjected to one last violent "airtime" hill, which managed to painfully crack by back and whip my head back making my neck crack at the same time. Finally we hit the break run. Relief! After getting off I was angry. Angry that a small park that charges way too much to enter would even allow this monstrosity to exist. It was so painful and violent that they simply shouldn't subject their guests to such a terrible experience. I know it's old, but Thunderhawk at Dorney Park is only a year or two younger, and is running quite well. I found an employee to ask when they will be doing at least a retracking. She told me that they had just retracked it last year. What?
After recovering for a while, we hit the Phobia Phear coaster. A premier skyrocket 2. This was my first ride on one of these models and I was pleasantly surprised. The launches were fun, the track was glassy smooth, and all the elements were perfectly executed. The seats were roomy, and going through the heartline roll with only a lap bar was thrilling, as I came way out of my seat. At this point the waterpark patrons were filling up the queue lines, and seeing that half the flat rides were down for the day, we decided to skip the parks Vekoma Boomerang and head up to Agawam to get a hotel for the evening.
The next day, we made the short drive to Six Flags New England. Getting into the park was quite a bit quicker than at Lake Compounce the day before, and we headed over to the right side of the park first, hitting the parks only B&M. This floorless coaster isn't one of the better ones out there but not bad either. The elements are fun and intense. I had heard it had a strong rattle, but even in the back, I found this not to be the case. It's not very smooth, but not rough either, and we received no head banging. The only complaint it that right when you feel that it's getting started, you are in the final break run, and it's over. We decided to skip the Vekoma trio that day as we're not gluttons for punishment. (Sorry Vekoma). We headed over to Superman, The park's Intamin mega coaster. The queue line was very confusing and we were line cut many times, but never the less, it was a station wait. This coaster gets a lot of crap for the restraints, but I did't find them to be a problem. The lift hill gives a great view of the Connecticut River. It's very picturesque. I found the drop to be quite underwhelming. It felt like we were leveling out before it even started to pick up momentum. Granted, we did sit in the middle. I'm sure it's much better in the back. After diving through the tunnel, the coaster makes a turnaround and sends us into a couple strong airtime hills, offering floater which quickly ramps up into ejector. The second part of the ride brings the famous tunnel dive, which is an awesome part of the ride. The final break run was quite impressive. It came to a stop so quick, but so smoothly. It gave me the illusion that we were going to fly back
into the station at full speed.
Catwoman's Whip was a very weird family coaster. The really long train gives you two very different experiences. In the back, you accelerate up the hills, and slow down when descending them. It's the opposite in the front. It was a fun little ride. Next we rode Pandemonium. A Gerstlauer spinning coaster. This was my first spinning coaster, and it was a pleasant surprise. It was super smooth and just a fun time. Wicked Cyclone was temporarily closed that day, so we intended to come back to it later, but didn't get the chance. That's one coaster I'm upset I didn't get the chance to ride, but I'm sure I'll be back in the future. The park's 400 foot swing ride was closed that day, although it's quite a sight to behold. We headed to the middle of the park to ride Thunderbolt.
Thunderbolt is the park's oldest coaster, and this ride scared the hell out of us. The coaster itself was great. Smooth, fun, not too short. No complaints there. My problem was with the trains. Specifically the red one. As soon as we left the station, the plywood snapped crackled, and popped, as the whole train car warped. We were holding on the grab bars on the seat in front, just to find that they were moving left and right as the whole car literally bended around corners. It was like being in a wet cardboard box without a lid. It truly felt like the whole thing was about to fall apart at the seams each time we rounded a corner. I've ridden in plenty of PTC trains, and nothing like this every happened before. I just can't believe it's supposed to be that way.
After that experience we were basically done with the park. I've ridden other Maurer wild mice so I didn't feel the need to ride this one. Also skipped out on The Joker, as I didn't like the one at Great Adventure. We had a long drive ahead of us that day and decided not to push our luck. Overall, we're glad we visited these parks. Definitely coming back in the future to ride Wicked Cyclone, and check out some of the other small parks in the Connecticut and Massachusetts area.
 
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