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Lake Compounce Discussion Thread


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It does have a lot to do with emergency (and general) access under the ride. It was not unusual to close the ride in extreme heat for fear of a medical emergency, and that only addresses a single preventable issue. With evacuation nearly impossible along the entire hillside, waiting 15-20min for a gondola in distress to return could be the difference between life or death.

 

Just because "it has ran for years with no problems" doesn't mean the threat of such an emergency has not raised concern for park management. They have been lucky to not have had a major incident while this attraction has operated. .

 

Again, every ski resort in the world says hi. Knoebels says hi too.

 

Yes, it might take awhile to get someone off the ride in the event of an emergency but that's true of thousands of other rides too.

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It does have a lot to do with emergency (and general) access under the ride. It was not unusual to close the ride in extreme heat for fear of a medical emergency, and that only addresses a single preventable issue. With evacuation nearly impossible along the entire hillside, waiting 15-20min for a gondola in distress to return could be the difference between life or death.

 

Just because "it has ran for years with no problems" doesn't mean the threat of such an emergency has not raised concern for park management. They have been lucky to not have had a major incident while this attraction has operated. .

 

Again, every ski resort in the world says hi. Knoebels says hi too.

 

Yes, it might take awhile to get someone off the ride in the event of an emergency but that's true of thousands of other rides too.

 

The LC lift and Ski Resort lifts are not a fair comparison.

 

Ski Resort lifts unload at the top, where medical staff are able to meet a guest. The top of the lift at LC is inaccessible.

 

It can be assumed that patrons riding a lift at a ski resort have some level of physical ability. Grandma and grandpa riding the LC lift with their grandchildren likely do not.

 

Also, Knoebels is family owned. LC is corporate owned. They will inherently have different approaches to these concerns.

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It can be assumed that patrons riding a lift at a ski resort have some level of physical ability. Grandma and grandpa riding the LC lift with their grandchildren likely do not.

 

Most ski resorts run their lifts in the Spring, Summer and Fall as scenic Sky Rides. This is from Hunter Mountain (sort of) near our house. It's the same thing as the Lake Compounce ride, the vast majority of major ski areas do this. Note the terrain.

 

 

Here's one that just opened in Gatlinburg near Dollywood. There are hundreds (if not thousands) of similar operations worldwide.

 

Again, I get that they closed the ride because they think people are idiots. I agree with them in that sentiment... but buying into the excuse about evacuations and rough terrain is ridiculous to me. If they were concerned about that, why was it suddenly okay this past weekend?

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They always had warning signs that warned people about potential risks and told people not to smoke or do anything stupid while riding. I still think reinforcing those rules along with a camera/speaker system on every tower should have been implemented. They added a system like that to Thunder Rapids and they have an employee watching the cameras at all times with a mic ready to correct guest behavior if needed. I don't see why they couldn't have done that with Skyride. If someone isn't following the rules, they can stop the ride and yell at them.

 

I know this would be a ton of work, but I would have been fine with them shortening the ride too. If they made it turn around at the top of the main drop (roughly the halfway point), it probably would have helped with a lot of issues and still would have provided a great ride.

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No way that is going to happen. I'm pretty sure they are getting something, but it's likely going to be something in the water park. Or they could be doing another maintenance year, Wildcat needs a lot more work and obviously they are going to have to put some money into Boulder now. They definitely need an addition though because SFNE and Quassy are getting some good stuff.

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I heard a rumor about power tower getting a second tower.

 

I heard a rumor the log flume is getting a second log.

 

 

 

Seriously though, the park won't even take on the additional costs of running Boulder Dash's second train in the name of capacity. Do you really think they're going to pay to construct, staff and operate a second S&S tower?

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Seriously though, the park won't even take on the additional costs of running Boulder Dash's second train in the name of capacity. Do you really think they're going to pay to construct, staff and operate a second S&S tower?

 

True But I can see it, they have a relatively cheap price, and they can transfer the staff that used to be at the sky ride. It would also compete with the thrill rides Quassy and six flags are adding. But I can also see them having a maintenance year after all the problems that have been happening. Also I meant down time not power tower

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Seriously though, the park won't even take on the additional costs of running Boulder Dash's second train in the name of capacity. Do you really think they're going to pay to construct, staff and operate a second S&S tower?

 

True But I can see it

 

Close your eyes!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Since nobody has posted in a while, I will post a few updates from the park.

 

Wildcat is still not open (hasn't been open for more than a couple days this year). It is currently being painted by Baynum Painting and looks really nice. I was a little skeptical of the colors but I think it is looking nice. Not the biggest fan of the orange handrails, but the black track looks nice.

 

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I think there is a very small chance of it opening again this year but it is not looking likely. They are also building a new entrance for the ride that is looking awesome. This is an old pic (and haven't taken a new one during the day) but it is close to completion. They are going to have one of the old PTC cars on the track. The track is now completed and looks identical to coaster track.

 

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BD is running well even, you can feel a slight difference in the cars though if you ride the back two because they are from the green train. I still don't know what is up with the other cars but it wouldn't surprise me if they only have one train ready for next year.

 

There is some cool theming around the park too. I also noticed some orange flags around the entrance area of BD. I counted 5 scattered between the first part of the quene and the photo booth, and 4 between the quene and Phobia. I think orange markers are usually for underground wiring or electrical work but the ones on the right side are on top of the rocks which is a little strange.

 

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Some PTC chassis appeared next to BD last weekend. I believe they may be from the old red train because they are old looking, rusty, and had a few grey seats/dividers on top which were on the red train.

 

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Here are a few other notes from around the park.

-Ghost Hunts guns still work great despite constant abuse from guests. Some of them have lots of dings in the plastic and I hear them being dropped on every visit by the guests.

-Pirate Ship now has color changing lights on it that look great.

-Wave Swinger is running really well, easily the most forceful swing ride I have been on.

-Skyride's chairs have been removed and are stacked in pieces next to the ride. Still very disappointed in this decision.

-The front entrance area looks the best its ever looked in October. Lots of cool lighting, fog, and theming.

-The Haunted Graveyard is amazing as usual, easily the best haunt in New England. Couple new things here and there including a new swamp with these really cool moving snakes and a few alligators. I noticed some new props in the banshee section and one really cool animatronic that comes down from the ceiling in the manor at the end. The portable looking hospital ending is back and was actually pretty good on my last time through. I wish there was a way to make it look more permanent though. Overall the actors were amazing as well. Definitely try it out if you haven't been through before, totally worth it.

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Great update! I plan to get down there the weekend before Halloween. I still can't believe I may miss out on Wildcat this year. The colors look odd, but the thing I'm most confused about is that they decided to start painting it during their final month rather than waiting until the offseason.

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^Yeah, I thought they were going to do the painting next season. As far as I know, they are planning to do more track work and replace/modify some of the structure of the south turnaround so I think they should have waited with the paint until the work was mostly done. I guess some minor track work here and there won't be too hard to paint in house though.

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^If they are going to do more work, it will be done in the off-season and that is not going to impact if it opens again or not. It is not open now because of the painting and they are installing a new lift motor. I heard that it will have to be running pretty much 100% for it to open again though because they do not want to have to potentially evacuate it at night, although they do want to get more runs in on it before next year. So basically imo it has a roughly 5% chance of opening again this season.

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At least there are some good things happening in the park, but they'll need to do a lot to redeem themselves from this horrible season. I doubt they'll ever get another train for BD in the near future, but we can still hope.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Great night at the park. The Graveyard was excellent as always and Boulder Dash is again showing why it's one of the best night rides anywhere. With one train, the wait hovered around 30-40 minutes all night. Though there was this exchange I had:

 

Guy- Are they running just one train?

Me- Yeah.

Guy- Where's the other train?

Me- [Pauses- I know the answer but didn't want to freak anyone out.] They aren't using it.

Guy- Why? Shouldn't it be on the track?

Me- Rehab.

Guy- Oh. You think the park would want to run two trains on a busy night.

 

I just shrugged and stopped there. So to the park's benefit it seems word about the accident didn't really spread.

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  • 2 weeks later...

No More Free Soda For All Lake Compounce Guests

 

Lake Compounce will no longer offer free soda to all park guests.

 

For years, the Bristol amusement park has placed soda fountain machines around the grounds and allowed guests to simply pour themselves soft drinks.

 

According to a news release, Lake Compounce will only offer free soda to Diamond and Platinum season pass holders.

 

"In order to provide our guests with a superior beverage experience and to decrease on waste, we have decided to make changes to the free soda program," Lake Compounce Director of Marketing Sara Frias said.

 

The free soda program has been in place since 1999. Park guests will still be able to get free water, Frias said.

 

The park is offering Black Friday deals on its season passes. The Diamond Season Pass is priced at $89.99 and the Platinum Season Pass is $59.99 during the sale.

 

Lake Compounce will be celebrating its 172nd season in 2018.

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