Hutch
Strata Poster
Our original plan unfortunately couldn't work out since Lake Compounce wasn't open this week. 
So instead, we took our trip over the weekend, and went to LC on Saturday, and SFNE Saturday night and Sunday morning. So anyway, here we go for my first trip report!
Day 1: Lake Compounce
My dad woke me a little before 8 AM, had a quick breakfast, and left about a half hour later. The park would open at 11, so we made sure we would be there before they let people in.
I warned my dad about what some of you guys said about how Google Maps would get us lost once we were there. Once we got there, I realized how small the park really was. I mean Zoomerang even made it look tiny! We weren't sure where to go from there, but a park worker who was out on the side of the road gave us a little piece of paper that guided us to the parking lot. I thought it was kinda silly that there wasn't an entrance to the parking lot right there, but we had to go all the way around anyway.
My dad decided to do preferred parking, and we parked right next to the entrance. I really liked how the park looked as soon as we entered. I thought Wildcat looked pretty cool in front of the tiny little huts. I wanted to strait to Boulder Dash, but of course my dad had to make a quick bathroom break before we went anywhere. :x Boulder Dash was the ride I was looking forward to the most this year, so I was pretty annoyed that my dad chose to go to the bathroom now. I waited about two minutes, and it was time go
We walked up to Boulder Dash, and the queue line was pretty much a walk on for our first ride. There were a few people in line for the front row, and some other people in waiting near the back. I didn't want to ride the back just yet, so we went into the second car. My dad really likes wooden coasters, and he like this one even more because of the way it goes through the forest.
Boulder Dash
My first ride was awesome. For some reason, I thought that looking up a lift hill that lead into the endless woods was more intimidating than looking up a lift hill the goes up in the sky. I didn't feel any airtime on the first drop, but that was because we were sitting near the front. Our train picked up a lot of speed, and I felt like this train did NOT want me on this ride
. The airtime was gorgeous but insane at the same time. The turns were amazing, and the terrain around us was beautiful. There were moments during the ride where I slightly lowered my hands to avoid a random tree branch breaking my wrist. During the first half of the ride, favorite part was this one airtime hill that was after what seemed to be a double down. That hill had airtime that lasted the longest; I was out of my seat for at least 2 seconds. Eventually it was time for the turnaround. It was probably the most intense turn I've ever been on! The lateral g's were amazing, and the turn never seemed to end! Right after that was another one of my favorite parts of the ride: 5 or 6 bunny hops in about 3 or 4 seconds! After a couple of more airtime hills, the ride was over . But the line was still pretty short, so we did it again! 
I did a total of 5 (not in a row) rides on Boulder Dash throughout the day. Each ride was better than the last. We did a front row one time, and a back row another time. After my 5th ride, I realized that it was my new favorite coaster. Though it wasn't an instant #1, it did take the spot after a little while. 10/10 <3 My favorite parts were that one awesome hill in the first half, the intense turnaround, and the series of endless bunny hops!
The line for Boulder Dash actually did fill up though, but it wasn't too long. They were only running one train though, but that didn't really bother me as much as it should have. The ride ops were also pretty good. One of them sort of sang a little improv while busting a beat with a plastic cup, and the lyrics were all the little safety precautions and whatnot about the ride, etc. That got everyone in the queue line fired up and excited.
We were waiting in line for my 4th ride on Boulder Dash (it would've been my dad's third ride), but at one point they weren't letting anyone on. Apparently something happened to this African-American guy who had just gotten off the ride. He kept lifting up his shirt, as if something had scratched him, but we weren't sure what happened. A police officer was there and so was a doctor, and eventually the ride operators shut down the ride and told everyone to exit the queue. My dad asked what was going on, but I tried to tell him that ride ops don't give us any info, which was exactly what happened. Fortunately, Boulder Dash opened again about a half hour later (which I thought was surprisingly quick). We figured this would be a prefect time to ride some of the other rides. We headed for Zoomerang.
Zoomerang
Wasn't really excited for this one. This was my second Boomerang (Flashback at SFNE being the first), but it was alright. I didn't get a lot of headbanging, and going backwards is fun. I liked it a little bit more than Flashback, but I didn't like the color scheme and the name (Zoomerang? Really?
). Meh. 6.5/10
Up next was Thunder 'N' Lightning. Only one arm was running, but it was still a walk on. Skyhawk was the only other Screamin' Swing I had been on, and I loved it. Thunder 'N' Lighting wasn't nearly as good though, but it was still fun. It was just too short. The ride was pretty much over after one big swing. 7/10
We noticed that Boulder Dash was open again, so I did my 4th ride on that. We did front row this time. It was awesome.
My dad wanted to get some lunch, so we got each got some hot dogs. Bleh. They were pretty bad. Free drinks were nice though. After that I wanted to do Down Time. My dad doesn't like drop towers, so I did it by myself.
Down Time
Not my favorite drop tower, but it was still fun. It offered a pretty nice view, and the drop is always fun. It's just that the fun part is really short, but that's pretty normal for drop towers. 7/10
Next was Wildcat, which is now the oldest roller coaster I have ever been on.
Wildcat
From what I've heard, this ride is pretty rough. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this or not, but I ended up liking for what for what it was. The line was about ten minutes, and they were only running one train, which wasn't really surprising. During the ride, the first drop and the first turn surprisingly wasn't so bad. I thought to myself "So far so good." Then we hit the next turn and BAM, we experienced intense lateral g's we weren't expecting. That was probably the worst part. It was still pretty rough throughout the rest of the ride, though I still liked it. It looks nice, and I like me some classic woodies. I probably would've gone on it again if Boulder Dash was still closed. Overall, another 7/10. Besides Mean Streak, all the other woodies I had been on were better than this one.
My dad wanted to leave pretty soon, so he let me do my 5th ride on Boulder Dash. Awesome as usual. My dad said I was gone for over 30 minuntes, but to me it seemed like the queue wait was around 20 min. Still worth the ride though. (And BTW, my dad doesn't mind waiting on a bench while I'm riding some random coaster. He choses to pace himself and not do 5 rides in a row.)
My dad wanted to get going, but I quickly wanted to check out the Kiddie Coaster. I couldn't get the cred though, as I did not have a small child with me. But the kiddie cred looked like the saddest/silliest little coaster there is.
We finally left the park, after having a great time there. I felt kind of bad for not checking out some of the other flat rides like the Enterprise of the dark ride shooter thing, but I really liked the park. The park was pretty, and was clean, it was in a cool location (right in a big valley), Boulder Dash was awesome, free drinks were awesome, (although food was not awesome). I really want to return there next year.
We got in our car, and drove to our hotel, about 45 minutes away. That night we would be going to Six Flags, so I still had something excited to look for.
TO BE CONTINUED...
So instead, we took our trip over the weekend, and went to LC on Saturday, and SFNE Saturday night and Sunday morning. So anyway, here we go for my first trip report!Day 1: Lake Compounce
My dad woke me a little before 8 AM, had a quick breakfast, and left about a half hour later. The park would open at 11, so we made sure we would be there before they let people in.
I warned my dad about what some of you guys said about how Google Maps would get us lost once we were there. Once we got there, I realized how small the park really was. I mean Zoomerang even made it look tiny! We weren't sure where to go from there, but a park worker who was out on the side of the road gave us a little piece of paper that guided us to the parking lot. I thought it was kinda silly that there wasn't an entrance to the parking lot right there, but we had to go all the way around anyway.
My dad decided to do preferred parking, and we parked right next to the entrance. I really liked how the park looked as soon as we entered. I thought Wildcat looked pretty cool in front of the tiny little huts. I wanted to strait to Boulder Dash, but of course my dad had to make a quick bathroom break before we went anywhere. :x Boulder Dash was the ride I was looking forward to the most this year, so I was pretty annoyed that my dad chose to go to the bathroom now. I waited about two minutes, and it was time go
We walked up to Boulder Dash, and the queue line was pretty much a walk on for our first ride. There were a few people in line for the front row, and some other people in waiting near the back. I didn't want to ride the back just yet, so we went into the second car. My dad really likes wooden coasters, and he like this one even more because of the way it goes through the forest.
Boulder Dash
My first ride was awesome. For some reason, I thought that looking up a lift hill that lead into the endless woods was more intimidating than looking up a lift hill the goes up in the sky. I didn't feel any airtime on the first drop, but that was because we were sitting near the front. Our train picked up a lot of speed, and I felt like this train did NOT want me on this ride
. The airtime was gorgeous but insane at the same time. The turns were amazing, and the terrain around us was beautiful. There were moments during the ride where I slightly lowered my hands to avoid a random tree branch breaking my wrist. During the first half of the ride, favorite part was this one airtime hill that was after what seemed to be a double down. That hill had airtime that lasted the longest; I was out of my seat for at least 2 seconds. Eventually it was time for the turnaround. It was probably the most intense turn I've ever been on! The lateral g's were amazing, and the turn never seemed to end! Right after that was another one of my favorite parts of the ride: 5 or 6 bunny hops in about 3 or 4 seconds! After a couple of more airtime hills, the ride was over . But the line was still pretty short, so we did it again! I did a total of 5 (not in a row) rides on Boulder Dash throughout the day. Each ride was better than the last. We did a front row one time, and a back row another time. After my 5th ride, I realized that it was my new favorite coaster. Though it wasn't an instant #1, it did take the spot after a little while. 10/10 <3 My favorite parts were that one awesome hill in the first half, the intense turnaround, and the series of endless bunny hops!
The line for Boulder Dash actually did fill up though, but it wasn't too long. They were only running one train though, but that didn't really bother me as much as it should have. The ride ops were also pretty good. One of them sort of sang a little improv while busting a beat with a plastic cup, and the lyrics were all the little safety precautions and whatnot about the ride, etc. That got everyone in the queue line fired up and excited.
We were waiting in line for my 4th ride on Boulder Dash (it would've been my dad's third ride), but at one point they weren't letting anyone on. Apparently something happened to this African-American guy who had just gotten off the ride. He kept lifting up his shirt, as if something had scratched him, but we weren't sure what happened. A police officer was there and so was a doctor, and eventually the ride operators shut down the ride and told everyone to exit the queue. My dad asked what was going on, but I tried to tell him that ride ops don't give us any info, which was exactly what happened. Fortunately, Boulder Dash opened again about a half hour later (which I thought was surprisingly quick). We figured this would be a prefect time to ride some of the other rides. We headed for Zoomerang.
Zoomerang
Wasn't really excited for this one. This was my second Boomerang (Flashback at SFNE being the first), but it was alright. I didn't get a lot of headbanging, and going backwards is fun. I liked it a little bit more than Flashback, but I didn't like the color scheme and the name (Zoomerang? Really?
). Meh. 6.5/10Up next was Thunder 'N' Lightning. Only one arm was running, but it was still a walk on. Skyhawk was the only other Screamin' Swing I had been on, and I loved it. Thunder 'N' Lighting wasn't nearly as good though, but it was still fun. It was just too short. The ride was pretty much over after one big swing. 7/10
We noticed that Boulder Dash was open again, so I did my 4th ride on that. We did front row this time. It was awesome.
My dad wanted to get some lunch, so we got each got some hot dogs. Bleh. They were pretty bad. Free drinks were nice though. After that I wanted to do Down Time. My dad doesn't like drop towers, so I did it by myself.
Down Time
Not my favorite drop tower, but it was still fun. It offered a pretty nice view, and the drop is always fun. It's just that the fun part is really short, but that's pretty normal for drop towers. 7/10
Next was Wildcat, which is now the oldest roller coaster I have ever been on.
Wildcat
From what I've heard, this ride is pretty rough. I wasn't sure if I was going to like this or not, but I ended up liking for what for what it was. The line was about ten minutes, and they were only running one train, which wasn't really surprising. During the ride, the first drop and the first turn surprisingly wasn't so bad. I thought to myself "So far so good." Then we hit the next turn and BAM, we experienced intense lateral g's we weren't expecting. That was probably the worst part. It was still pretty rough throughout the rest of the ride, though I still liked it. It looks nice, and I like me some classic woodies. I probably would've gone on it again if Boulder Dash was still closed. Overall, another 7/10. Besides Mean Streak, all the other woodies I had been on were better than this one.
My dad wanted to leave pretty soon, so he let me do my 5th ride on Boulder Dash. Awesome as usual. My dad said I was gone for over 30 minuntes, but to me it seemed like the queue wait was around 20 min. Still worth the ride though. (And BTW, my dad doesn't mind waiting on a bench while I'm riding some random coaster. He choses to pace himself and not do 5 rides in a row.
)My dad wanted to get going, but I quickly wanted to check out the Kiddie Coaster. I couldn't get the cred though, as I did not have a small child with me
. But the kiddie cred looked like the saddest/silliest little coaster there is. We finally left the park, after having a great time there. I felt kind of bad for not checking out some of the other flat rides like the Enterprise of the dark ride shooter thing, but I really liked the park. The park was pretty, and was clean, it was in a cool location (right in a big valley), Boulder Dash was awesome, free drinks were awesome, (although food was not awesome
). I really want to return there next year.We got in our car, and drove to our hotel, about 45 minutes away. That night we would be going to Six Flags, so I still had something excited to look for.
TO BE CONTINUED...
