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Quassy Cred Run (+ Lake Compounce)

Hutch

Strata Poster
This summer hasn’t been too exciting for me when it comes to theme parks. I didn’t do anything at all in June/July/August. Because of my summer job, weekends were really the only free time I but naturally I'd rather avoid going to theme parks then. I did have a few weeks off from the end of my job to the beginning of school (which starts late for me this year), but due to a few other recent events, and a general lack of planning or ambition for any potentially major trip, not much happened. Then I realized that most parks were closed during the weekday anyway at this point, so any major trip would’ve been a bit trickier. But I had to do something before going off to school, right?

So instead, last week I thought, **** it, on Saturday I'll check out Quassy Amusement, then drive over to Lake Compounce and whore Boulder Dash. I figured this would be a fun plan… pick up a few creds and get some rides in on my 2nd favorite coaster… all in a day. Schools had just started too, and even though I did all this on a Saturday, I knew crowds wouldn’t be a problem.

The previous night I tried going to bed at around midnight, but somehow I didn’t fall asleep till close to 3 AM. Fantastic. Woke up at 7:20, and despite only getting 4-5 hours of actual sleep, waking up knowing I’ll ride some coasters that day automatically throws my morning exhaustion out the window.

I left the house just after 8 and drove for about 2.5 hours down into Connecticut. With Quassy being further away from home than Compounce, I planned to hit Quassy first. And so by the time I left Compounce, my return drive would’ve be quite as long.

Even though I’ve known for a few years about how Quassy Amusement Park is a reasonable drive from my house, I never got around to visiting it until now. I’m glad I finally got around to checking it off, and I probably won’t be going back anytime soon. It’s not that the park is bad, there’s just not much going on.

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I arrived at the park at around 10:45. I got myself 7 tickets, $2.50 each. One ticket for Little Dipper, and the rest for Wooden Warrior, which would get me three rides. The rides didn’t open until 11, but you can still enter the park itself, so I thought I’d go have a little walk around. Turns out I still had to sit around and wait for about 10 minutes, because it takes 30 seconds to walk from one end of the park to the other. It’s THAT small, by far the smallest park I’ve ever been to. It makes Lake Compounce look like a large destination park.

It has a nice little setting though. It’s next to a lake of course and there’s a little grassy field next to Wooden Warrior.

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I found this cool model of WW:

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I decided to do the other cred, Little Dipper, first before moving on to the more exciting Wooden Warrior. This turned out to be a lot less substantial than I originally thought. I mean, look at it.

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It looks like one of those coasters that goons with too much time on their hands build in their backyards.

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I walked up the queue at 11, but the ride op still had to send out a quick test run. So I chatted with the ride op for a couple minutes, and somehow it led to him saying “Okay, you better raise your hands when I tell you.” I didn’t feel like arguing, so I humored him and kept my hands raised for the entire second cycle of the ride.

The ride was ****. I’ve done plenty of kiddie creds that are more violent than this. 3/10. At least I got front row and the train to myself (and of course a +1).

It looked like I would be out of the park by 11:30, but of course they were having trouble with Wooden Warrior (they seemed to be working on the train). It was actually kind of annoying, because normally when this happens to me I’d have other coasters to ride, but there was literally nothing else in the park I wanted to do.

So I went around to take some pictures of the coaster. Unfortunately the area near the little field had a sign that said “Private Party,” and that seemed to be the place where I could get the best shots of the ride.

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I sat around for another 15 minutes, and Wooden Warrior finally opened at 11:30. I wasn’t the only one riding this time, but I still started off with a back row ride, first train of the day.

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It’s pretty good! It’s about what I expected: quick and smooth pops of airtime on every hill. It’s not quite as good as Roar-O-Saurus, but that has a more complex layout and I got over a dozen rides on that thing. The only other woodie I can compare it to is White Lightning, though I’m not sure whether I prefer that or Warrior. I think Warrior has the better airtime and better trains, but WL is a bit wilder and lasts longer.

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I really enjoyed this. The first drop, while tiny, is actually pretty decent in the back seat. There’s also a nice little tunnel and a couple of fun laterals. 7.5/10 Honestly, besides the short length, there isn’t really anything wrong with this ride. I think the timberliner trains have become my favorite train for a wooden coaster too; they’re pretty comfortable!

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It’s a good thing that Quassy invested in one of these rides, otherwise the park may not have caught my attention (as well as other enthusiasts I imagine). I’m glad that more of these small GG woodies are slowly popping up (and it's nice to see some unique ones like Switchback and Mine Blower). You honestly can’t go wrong with them.

I used up all my remaining tickets as planned, getting a total of three rides, two in the back row and one in the front. I thought that was plenty, and I wanted to move on to Compounce. I left Quassy at noon, thinking how I wouldn’t be returning any time soon. As solid as Wooden Warrior is, that’s all that interests me and it’s still not as exciting as other coasters that are closer to my house (like Boulder Dash, Wicked Cyclone, and Superman). It feels good to check off those creds after all these years, but driving 2.5 hours just to ride Wooden Warrior a few times is a bit of a hassle.

Anyway, the drive over to Lake Compounce was easy enough. I entered the park just before 1 PM. The classic entrance view with Wildcat doesn’t look as good as it used to because of its recent retrack. A paint job would’ve been nice to keep its appearance consistent, but now it looks a bit **** (and it is, from what I remember).

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Turns out it was closed as well, and it doesn’t seem like they’ll open it back up by the end of the season.

Even though it was time for lunch, I wanted to get a couple rides in first. I checked out the new cred Phobia Phear Coaster. I expected a queue due to the capacity, so I wanted to get that out of the way early. Turns out it was an absolute walk-on, which was very nice. I never saw more than a handful of people in the queue during my time there.

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This was my first Premier Rides Sky Rocket II model. Despite receiving rather mixed reviews, I always thought these rides looked pretty fun. I was pleasantly surprised when the park announced they’d be getting one of these, as they’ve appeared at much bigger parks (BGW, SFDK).

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The ride itself just missed my expectations. It’s alright. The launches were fun, but the transitions, particularly the vertical twists and the g-forces at the bottom, were pretty sudden and uncomfortable, which was strange because it seemed like a pretty comfortable train. The hangtime in the roll was okay. It definitely felt pretty weird with just a lap bar but it was a little too much. There is some pretty intense airtime at the top though.

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So it’s not bad. I got a second ride on it later and I’d happily ride it again the next time I’m at the park, but I now understand what others think of it. It’s a decent supporting coaster, and definitely the better alternative to boomerangs. 6.5/10 Nice color scheme too.

Of course, I wanted to get a couple of Boulder Dash rides in before lunch, so that's exactly what I did. A couple things before I talk about the ride though. I had no idea, but it turns out Lake Compounce was the host park of this year’s Golden Ticket Awards, and it turned out to be the day I went. There was a group of maybe 20+ individuals ranging from age 30-60 who were members of Amusement Today. Some of them represented other parks; I saw one guy from Kennywood and another dude from Great Adventure. Boulder Dash constantly had several Golden Ticket goons in the queue/ride.

Additionally I learned that Boulder Dash had a bit of a minor “collision” recently, something to do with the transfer track I think, so it was closed for a little while. But I guess they it “reopened” for the day of the Golden Ticket celebration. I had no idea if the public could stand in to hear the celebration that evening, but I had to leave before then anyway. Obviously the voting system is flawed, but I still found it interesting that Boulder Dash, after being #1 for a few years now, dropped to #3 (couldn’t help but wonder what the owners of the park thought about this :p).

Anyway, it’s a good thing that Boulder Dash opened back up the day I visited, because I would’ve been pretty pissed if I showed up only to see that it was closed.

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Boulder Dash will always be a special coaster for me. When I first joined CF four years ago, I had around 40 creds and Boulder Dash at the top of the first bucket list I made. It was my favorite for a couple years before dropping to #2 (when I realized Skyrush was the best ride in the world!). I rode it several times three summers in a row and it continued to amaze me, so I was pretty convinced that it would stay like that for a while. Unfortunately I was wrong.

So I hopped on the train with some Golden Ticket guy and got my excitement pumping. It had been two years since I rode this! But when we hit the brake run, I was thinking, “This isn’t right.” Somehow, Boulder Dash has gotten rougher since riding it in 2015. I mean it’s always been rough, but it never detracted from the ride.

To be specific, the very first section that flies over the lift hill is pretty violent, and some of the laterals are a bit two much there. I also noticed a section in the middle between some hills that suddenly jackhammers your back, every time. I used to love the turnaround by the chair lift as well, but I didn’t enjoy it as much anymore. And I forgot that they actually went and rebuilt the best part of the ride, turning three little airtime hills in the second half (you know which ones I’m talking about) into two. Not that those two new hills are bad, but those old hills were one of the best coaster moments ever.

Despite this, I still think it’s a great ride. But going from being an amazing ride to a great ride is a pretty drastic change. I think it was little hard for me to appreciate the ride that day, as I was mainly disappointed in how it somehow got rougher. It didn’t stop me from getting several more rides in (which was the plan anyway). I realized that sitting in the right side of the train is much better than the left, as it handles the intense turnaround better. There’s plenty of airtime, and I can think of a few excellent individual hills that come close to the branches above. And of course, the surrounding environment is fantastic.

During my first few re rides, I tried sitting in different rows, hoping that the ride could be as good as I remembered in some seats. But I can’t be kidding myself. I can think of a dozen other coasters that now deserve to be higher up on my favorites list, so now Boulder Dash has fallen out of my Top 10. It used to be an easy 10/10 ride, but now it’s more of an 8.5/10.

Now that I think of it, I can’t think of anyone on here who’s ridden Boulder Dash for the first time recently and have it make their Top 10. And I overheard a couple of Golden Ticket guys discussing how the ride “used to be a lot smoother” or how it’s now “meh.” I don’t know if it’s the trains or track or what, but it’s crazy to think how much this coaster has changed in two years. Must be past its prime now. But I'm really glad I was able to experience Boulder Dash when it was still amazing.

After my initial rides on Dash, I finally grabbed some lunch. I had a small walk around.

Disgusting:

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Didn’t seem like anyone was riding it. It’s unlikely, but it’d be nice if they scrap Zoomerang and put in something better.

I was about to go back for rerides on the other coasters until I spotted this.

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And I thought, you know what? Why not? I first experimented with snapping on Knobels’s flyers, which was terrifying but awesome. The ride op for this here American Flyers encouraged snapping, so I had a little ride. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to snap them, but I got my car pretty far up on the side, so I had a fun time. The ride ended a little too quick though; the ones at Knoebels lasted twice as long I think.

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I worked my way back and got a re ride on Phobia, this time back row. Bit more intense and jerky there. I didn’t get to try front row, but I imagine it’s a little better up there.

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I did another three rides on Boulder Dash. At this point I accepted that fact that it's changed, so I started to enjoy it a little more.

I took another break from riding (you kinda need one after getting consecutive rides on Dash) and took a walk down the other end of the park.

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I kind of like this area of the park. It’s quiet and there aren’t many rides, and you get to see Boulder Dash in action.

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Here’s that section they “ruined.” Even though the wood is new, it looks like sore thumb.

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The chairlift was closed. I did it a few years ago though, and it's nice, but it's a long 30 ride

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I didn’t really feel like walking all the way back, so I took the tram.

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I decided to get one more ride in on Boulder Dash before calling it a day. Got out of there by 4 PM.

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Lake Compounce is nice enough, but now that Boulder Dash has diminished in quality, the park doesn’t seem that special anymore. Phobia is a good addition, and probably the second best ride in the park, even if the coaster isn’t the best. But honestly now that Boulder Dash has dropped in my rankings, I’m not that eager to go back. I think I’ll stick with Six Flags New England from now on (haven’t been this year at all, so that’ll have to wait till next year... need the Joker cred).

But hey, I got a +3! That’s something!

Thanks for reading.
 

DelPiero

Strata Poster
I rode Dash at the end of 2015 and it was excellent, and still holds a place in my top 10. It needed some work doing on the turnaround though there was a huge jolt there and in a couple of other places including the final hills, so it seems they've made it worse with the work they did.
I don't mind the Sky Rockets either, I'd rate them like you have, solid support coaster but no more than a 6 or 7/10.
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
The new hills they put in at the end aren't that rough, but still a downgrade from what was there before. I'm not sure if they touched other parts of the ride… perhaps they just haven't taken good care of it recently (although I'm not familiar with how parks "take care of" their wooden coasters).
 

Edward M

Strata Poster
Wow, that's really quite a bummer to hear! I loved Boulder Dash on my 2017 visit, but I completely agree with the roughness that is in the layout now. I'm weird, so I actually like wooden coasters to be rougher. I feel that it adds character and excitement. However, I do wish I could have visited when it had those 3 hills. The airtime was not as great as many people built it up to be; it was more the environment that made me love the ride. Still, really enjoyed the report! I agree with you on Phobia, very disappointing.
 

Hutch

Strata Poster
I used to not mind roughness on wooden coasters, but that was kind of back when I hadn't done any "good" wooden coasters, or at least any that were relatively smooth. Since first riding Boulder Dash, I've done more quality wooden coasters that are a bit smoother (although not necessarily better). It's possible my tolerance has changed a little, as I had similar feelings to riding Voyage last year.

I definitely prefer Beast and Phoenix over Dash now. Phoenix's restraint system allows for a pretty comfortable ride, but Beast is a tricky one.... I think it definitely had some roughness, not sure how much but perhaps less than BD as it didn't really detract from the ride.
 
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