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Lake Compounce Discussion Thread


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The free soda going away wouldn't be so frustrating if it weren't for all the other things the park did recently. The operations were horrendous compared to other seasons, they removed one of their most unique attractions, they barely "renovated" Wildcat at all, and now this. A bunch of the little things that made Lake Compounce stand out from other parks are being removed or ruined.

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I heard whispers the free soda would be leaving. One of the things I heard was that the park was sick of people taking a beverage, not finishing it, and throwing it out since it led to bees congregating near the trash cans. But there's also the financial side. If the bee thing really was the lone reason, you think in good faith they'd lower the admission to compensate. I would be willing to bet the admission isn't going down (if anything it would go up).

 

It's no secret 2017 was not their best year. Seeing the Sky Ride close was terrible considering just how unique that ride was. The worst part was that I didn't even get my last ride in May since they implemented a policy this year banning single riders. If only people could be trusted, that ride would probably still be running.

 

The park did put a lot of track work into Wildcat and I'm glad they tried to fix a classic wooden coaster that was running on the level of Darien's Predator. Those who did ride said it was running a heck of a lot faster, so while it wasn't the smoothest ride, I just want something like Hershey's Wildcat and I'll be happy. I guess I'll get my chance to try it next year. I am shocked they decided to start painting it in October instead of opening it for Graveyard. That's the most baffling thing about the whole Wildcat thing to me. If the track work was complete, they couldn't wait 1 month to start painting?

 

The Boulder Dash crash is inexcusable and I am as frustrated as everyone else by how strict they were with the one train operations on it. I personally thought the ride was running fantastic when I did ride it. Very fast and wild as usual.

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I wonder if they're adopting the Six Flags strategy of trying to aggressively grow their season pass base by making daily tickets almost laughably expensive in comparison (I guess I can't fault them). In terms of single day tickets, this is probably the most absurdly priced park in America not located at the beach or in a major "tourist trap" destination (especially when you include the parking price) when you consider what the park actually offers for that money (a half-day park with miserable operations and a small waterpark).

 

Converesely, the Season Pass is a tremendous deal and this makes it even more of a no-brainer. We live pretty close and almost bought one last year but I sort of lost that desire after we visited and found the park in such rough shape. For locals though, it's a good deal and the soda thing might be enough to steer people towards the pass who would have otherwise bought a day ticket. I guess time will tell.

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And to get it you need to carry the obligatory park cups now.

 

Ugh. I usually get a season pass so being restricted to that doesn't hurt me (personally, I mean, I can see why it's a disappointment for so many others), but having to carry a giant cup around and find somewhere to put it on every ride, that pretty well ruins the whole package. I get that they want to cut down on waste, but...

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Does the management of places sit around and think:

 

Hmmm, what's something small but positive that makes our park just a little bit more special?

 

The free soda and not having to lug around the cups?

Great idea. Let's get rid of that.

 

We have like the best sky ride.

Good thinking. Shut it down. We're on a roll.

 

We have arguably the best wooden coaster.

One train!

 

Last year was my first trip to LC and I thought it was just great. Can't see a one pass in my near future.

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Here are a few pics from Holiday Lights yesterday. Nothing really new was added but it's still a fun event and is popular with young kids and their families. I did notice that photos with Santa seem to be pretty expensive now ($25 was the lowest package I saw), was around $10 when it first started in 2012. The train was having issues in the cold (even though it wasn't even that cold) so I'm not sure how it is going to run later in the year. The train stalled out 8 times between the new boathouse and the end and took forever to get back.

 

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The new WildCat entrance is looking pretty cool!

 

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Get the tissues out..

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I noticed that the free soda areas were indeed a haven for yellow jackets when we visited. And yes, there were many half cups of soda laying around the areas and spilled, sticky soda all over the ground with bees flying around everywhere. One sting to someone with a bee allergy whilst trying to inhale a gallon of Mountain Dew and there's your millions of dollars lawsuit.

 

Unfortunately this and the Skyride's removal is all due to our own "justice" system and of course, idiocracy by stupid people in general. I can understand why they are doing both and don't really see it as totally shocking at all.

 

The one train operation on BD though...I really don't get that given the coasters length and popularity. That line is just brutal to wait in even when it looks like it could practically be a walk-on. And this from someone that doesn't really see Ride Of Steel's one train operation at DL as that big of a deal.

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^ Honestly I've had worse waits for Ride of Steel. I had to wait almost a hour on a weekday. Even with a full queue on a Saturday, Boulder Dash's line tops out at 30-40 minutes. Still it's frustrating since it should be half that.

 

I hope Holiday in the Park encourages Compounce to open some thrill rides for the event.

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  • 3 months later...

Here are a few pics from the Nor’ Easter event last Saturday. The park said they are actively planning for the next 5-7 years and have things planned that will look nice and do well for the park.

 

Wildcat’s work is being finished up along with the awesome new entrance.

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I like how the new paint looks!

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The old paintball game has been transformed into this.

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A car of BD’s blue train (former green car)

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Wildcat is getting some track work on the final turnaround. This part and the last two hills did not do so well with the new trains.

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RIP free soda.

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Nice update! I'm really intrigued to try out the retracked Wildcat.

 

Honestly, it will feel pretty weird seeing the ride open. After it was closed basically all of last year and several of the past Graveyards, I can't recall the last time I have even seen it open.

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I suppose I can understand why they got rid of the free soda; food and drink are a huge source of income for any park. Still, it really kinda sucks. That was kind of a signature thing for the park. The last year really has not been good to LC; I hope something great is coming soon to get the place going in the right direction again.

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I suppose I can understand why they got rid of the free soda; food and drink are a huge source of income for any park. Still, it really kinda sucks. That was kind of a signature thing for the park. The last year really has not been good to LC; I hope something great is coming soon to get the place going in the right direction again.

 

I agree with all of this. Im thinking that there could be a major coaster addition within the next 2-4 years.

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The last year really has not been good to LC

You can say that again. Between the closure of the skyride, botching the re-tracking of Wildcat, and letting Boulder Dash get rough and crashing its trains into each other, they had a really tough 2017.

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I suppose I can understand why they got rid of the free soda; food and drink are a huge source of income for any park. Still, it really kinda sucks. That was kind of a signature thing for the park. The last year really has not been good to LC; I hope something great is coming soon to get the place going in the right direction again.

 

I think that it makes all sorts of sense to remove the soda, not only from a business standpoint, but why contribute to the obesity epidemic in this country by offering kids what they really don't need - unlimited high fructose corn syrup and unnatural dyes?

 

When we visited LC and Holiday World, there were kids downing that sh%t like there was no tomorrow and then they would just leave their half empty cups at the stand, which was a huge magnet for yellow jackets. Not to mention the overflowing garbage cans where there were swarms of bees, to where I could see bee allergies perhaps being another reason why they removed it.

 

Don't get me wrong, free stuff is good at parks - especially when families pay an exorbitant amount to spend a day. But I would rather see them sacrifice the soda for free sunscreen (like HW), as well as offer free bottles of water or decent-sized cups of ice water in order to prevent dehydration.

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^ I didn't find Boulder Dash any rougher than it has been in past years during my visits. It's an incredibly aggressive ride, but not rough. The one bad spot (the former triple up) is now one of the smoothest parts of the ride.

 

I can't really defend the other stuff though.

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