Photo TR: Wimerventures 2013 - SFNE, Lake Compounce, etc.

So during the 2013 season I've been fortunate enough to hit a full week of Disney, and 3 new parks, with several more visits to other parks to come. For the first section of this trip report I'm going to start with SFNE. My family were up in NY for the Irish Road Bowling North American Region Finals. This was a perfect time to head over to Massachusetts and Connecticut and hit SFNE, Lake Compounce, and Quassy. What's that? Irish road bowling? Well, since this is an amusement park forum I'll cover road bowling a little later, but basically you go out on a country lane and chuck a cannon ball down the road from point A to point B in as few throws as possible. If you want to know more now just search for irish road bowling, or West Virginia irish road bowling and you can find some good info, but for now, back to SFNE.

 

We headed over to the park on Monday, August 5th. Being that it was my first time to the park, I was just hoping to get all the coasters in once. We have a (almost) 11 month old, so we were going to be doing the parent swap for the first time at a park. First, I have to say that I love that parks do this. They don't have to, but it's such a nice service, even if it does have its flaws. My only complaint with the park would be that It would be so nice if they would let you wait together, and then have one person walk across to the exit to wait for the other parent to ride. They let us do this on some coasters but on the others my wife waited while I road. Waiting at the exit is no big deal - except know what to do with your child for 30 minutes in one location. Eventually we got the timing down to where she would walk around and do stuff for 20-25 minutes, and then walk up the exit and hope that I was about to board. Lines for the bigger coasters were about 30 minutes or so - which allowed us to get the timing down pretty good by the end of the day. Complaint over - like I said, they don't even have to offer this, and they do, so for that I am very grateful! Now on to everything else!

 

Most of the coasters were about what I expected them to be. As far as any differing opinions or thoughts on the coasters I will say I thought Bizarro was much much better in the front - a top 5 ride for me. Cyclone's first drop has the most "spine-compressing" moment I've ever experienced on a ride, but it was rather enjoyable after that. I'm also really glad I got to enjoy Buzzsaw. I used to adore Kennywood's Magic Carpet and I was insanely bummed when they took it out. I fear there won't be too many of these left in the future, so I am glad this one still stands. Overall I thought the park was really well maintained and run, and I was actually quite suprised by the amount of green (trees) there were around the place. I wish I would have had time to explore the water park, but it looked really busy, and with the amount of time it would have taken I fear we wouldn't have got all the coasters in, but there is always next time.

 

I'll let most of the pictures do the talking for me, and with that being said - I sometimes overuse the whole black and white thing, as well as the fisheye lens, but I didn't feel like taking tons of time to switch lens and settings, etc. I especially love to take black and white pictures of wooden coasters - as you'll see as the TR progresses. Enjoy!

Beautiful day for not being at work!

I was quite suprised at how much I enjoyed the drop from the back seat. Better than anticipated.

See, told you I like the black/white photo combo.

Fisheye lens at work. Those towers are pretty immense.

Pandemonium was fun. I would love to see more installations of these at other parks with more "out-and-back" style of layouts.

Abstract coaster art.

Probably one of my favorite photos of the whole trip. I plan on blowing it up and framing it. Not the coaster, although it wouldn't hurt to blow up the first drop, re-frame it, and re-track it though.

Up up and... oh wait, they changed the name. I'll just say, Go Bizzaro go!

No worries - my son will come to the rescue!

Thanks for keeping this around SFNE. Seriously - these rides are a blast.

Not a bad floorless, but I like some of the others better.

I also slightly overuse the whole "let the track block the sun" thing a little too much.

Great first drop from the back, but I really thought the front provided more airtime overall.

Fisheye Bizarro love.

The whole family approves of Bizarro!

See, here I go again with the blocking the sun thing.

Another shot I might frame. Beautiful beautiful airtime.

A whole mess of hot hot track.

A little Thunderbolt lovin too. A fun classic ride.

Another shot I love. It's a pretty pretty thing.

Thanks for a great day Six Flags!

Edited August 27, 2013 by NegativeGLover

I assume you meant Thunderbolt in the second to last pic. Wildcat is at LC.

Yes I did. Lots of traveling + little sleep + little coffee = brain farts. Editing will comence in 3...2...1...

Great picture taking! I want to use one of the pictures for my desktop background and screensaver but I don't know which ones to use since there's so many good ones! Glad you enjoyed yourself! Hope you survived the Wildcat at LC...

Next stop - Lake Compounce!

 

So my first impression of this place instantly made me think of Kennywood being built at the base of a hill instead of the edge of a ravine (most likely not a coincidence). I thought the park was absolutely beautiful and very well ran. All the employees we came across seemed to be enjoying their jobs and were uber friendly (a specific example is when I wiped off our table for lunch and the gentleman taking care of that area came over and thanked me for doing so since he couldn't get to it fast enough). As for the rides and the rest of the place...

 

I'll start with the big one - Boulderdash! I had pretty high hopes for this coasters, and really expected it to break into my top 5 - which it totally did! First ride was in the back and beyond being a "touch" rough, it was excellent. Second ride was on the front and totally blew me away. I've watched the TPR onride video several times, and I truly was not expecting the runaway train feeling this thing provides. Even after riding I went back and watched the video and I simply can't comprehend how much faster it felt actually being on the ride. A must ride if you are anywhere close to this thing.

 

Wildcat was pretty smooth, I'm sure a result of all the visible track work. Not a bad coaster, and even got me with a few surprise moments of floater air. Most of the other rides in the park were just what you would expect (Zoomerang, Thunder N' Lightning, etc.). We didn't get to hit the water park, as it was pretty busy, and we were somewhat cramped for time. Most of the slides looked pretty fun though, and all of the work they are putting in to expanding it and making it better definitely show. As for the two other big "pros" of the day - #1 The parent swap - they let us both wait together with our son and then just had one person cross to the exit to wait while the other person rode. It made waiting so much more enjoyable and easier since we could hand him off to one another. #2 - Free Pepsi. All parks need to follow the example set forth by Holiday World and Lake Compounce. Everyone call your congressman!

 

Now on to the pics. Didn't get as many pictures here as I would have liked, as some of the coasters and rides are deceivingly hard to photograph. What I did take I'll let do the talking. Enjoy - and stayed tuned for updates from Quassy and Kenywood.

Lake Compounce = small Kennywood at the base of a hill? Yes please.

I really wish I could have seen this place at night.

Nice paint job. Quite a bit of noggin rattling though.

Never got the chance to ride before the refurb, but I totally approve.

It's amazing how the anticipation build for a ride like this that you have been waiting forever to ride.

So much good wood.

Next up - Wildcat. Not bad if I do say so myself.

Tidbits of gravy adorn this plaque.

A little color manipulation for your pleasure

It's a shame we didn't get to enjoy the water section as it looked very enjoyable.

Track blocketh the sun.

There was abundant airtime during this section in the front. Best "return" trip on a coaster ever?

I did think it was a little crazy you had to be above x" to ride (42" I believe?). We were hoping to ride, but the little one kept us from it on this one.

Panoramic time! Such a beautiful setting for a park.

My amusement park game fetish, errr, weakness shall I say. I never win, but I love to try and beat the highest speed of the day. Kudos for them keeping track on a dry erase board.

My wife was a state champion shooter - do not mess with her - even if it is a cork gun!

Cheesy poofs do the weirdest things to a kid...

Black and white sexy time.

Oh, I like this one a lot.

Thanks for an amazing moring and afternoon Lake Compounce! We would stick around, but we got to get on down the road to Quassy!

Next up - Quassy!

 

So we planned to leave Lake Compounce in enough time to get the Wooden Warrior credit at Quassy. Pulled in with about an hour or so left to explore the park and get the credit. First impressions made me upset - upset that I didn't have a few more hours to spend here! Seriously, I think spending an hour is too little, plan for 2-3. We really wish we would have done this, and mainly so we could have actually spent more time riding the Wooden Warrior. The whole park is gorgeous, and once again, all employees we came across were friendly and seemed to be enjoying what they were doing.

 

The Wooden Warrior has been summed up I think as "fun" a good bit. I don't think that's accurate. Some kind of adjective HAS to go in front of the word fun - like... UBER fun. Or maybe wicked awesome fun! Or cheesewhiz to a fat kid fun! This was probably the highlight coaster for me of this whole trip. I expected a lot of Boulderdash and Bizarro, and they delivered well. I didn't expect too much from Wooden Warrior, and it blew any thoughts I had clean out of my mind. The front seat gave so many great pops of air that I felt like I was a corn kernel stuck in a hot skillet with oil. If you are anywhere close to this place, do yourself a huge favor and ride this thing. But don't buy single tickets!!! Go for the wristband, hope the line is empty, and ride a lot. Excellent job Quassy - I will definitely return! And now to the good stuff!

Hey Quassy!

Wish we could have played on the slides/water area some, maybe next time...

And this is why we're here!

Airtime goodness... and a tunnel!

My wife taking a front seat ride.

They took the.... yeah

Hairtime fun.

Still haven't nailed the moving train shot.

Airtime whether you like it or not!

And the sun sets on another great day.

But not before the track blocks the sun again!

Nice TR. Also, you look like Woody Harrelson.

Excellent photos. Wooden Warrior really surprised me as well when I rode it two years ago. I was expecting something along the lines of Dutch Wonderland's Kingdom Coaster, but I got a ride comparable to the Cornball Express in terms of the intensity.

Love some of these pictures. Bet your just waiting for the day when you no longer have to use the baby swap.

Kennywood Day

 

So after we got back from our extended weekend we had a few days to rest up before a stop at Kennywood with some family on Saturday. Kennywood is my home park, and we go a couple times a year usually, so being that it was a Saturday in August before school I knew to expect huge crowds - and I was right. But never fear, a slight adjustment in plans about how to hit the park made sure we had an awesome day. I know that this is advice that Robb gives often - if you are at a park and the lines are huge - at least do what you can and make the best of it and have a good time - advice always best taken.

 

Went straight to Exterminator and rode a couple times with a walk on wait. Didn't ride last year, so I'm not sure if the theming was completed last year or this, but I totally approve. A very nice refresh. Black Widow was probably one of my favorite flats of all time. I love the pendulum rides, and this one was great, several full good swings in. My only real complaint of the day was the cycle time for the Black Widow. I know the loading cycles suck for these rides by nature, but this was beyond insane. A timed 3 different load cycles at 14 minutes exactly - that's just over 200 people per hour. I know there is lots of blame to go around on this, but I am glad they built the que so small so that even when full it's only an hour wait or so. I don't think I saw much of a line past the entrance even with a packed park.

 

We spent the rest of the day hitting some of the flats and also dropped some coin in the arcade. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking for me!

Hey there color accented lady!

So many similarities to Lake Compounce.

So this lady sat here be the ole Cowboy Joe picture taking spot. Every time someone would come up to take a picture she would look over and glare at them rather unhappily - It was amusing.

Here I go again with the black and white thing...

Told ya so.

Noah's ark didn't have the water section at the end working - when the heck did they remove that part? Or was it just a "broke for now" thing?

Saw 17 - Noahs revenge?

I really love this effect and will absolutely build one in my house if I ever hit the powerball.

I really do overuse this effect, but Thunderbolt pulls it off so well.

I do adore how Kennywood maintains their wood.

Weee!

I used to do the color accent alot. I normally wouldn't use it as much but the Kennywood "yellow" makes me have to. It also makes me have to pee.

There is something so great about Skeeball. I really wish more of the classic style would stick around instead of the newer models. They just don't feel the same.

My son - Skeeball pro in the making!

Creepy, and intriguing!

Jackrabit love.

One of the best pops of airtime the world has ever seen! So floaty!

So this is my wife - she likes ice cream - it contorts her face.

"Silhouette" brought to you by Phantom's Revenge

Skloooosh!

Black Widow lovin.

The fisheye lens really exagerated the swing height!

See?

Once again reeled in by carny games - I failed miserably.

I want to take this shot again in the fall with a long exposure.

Color accent again - the Phantom green is only second to the Kennywood yellow in this case - I promise not to do it with any other colors for this update!

Such a pretty area of the park. I think the Kangaroo just makes this little section.

Family cry time.

Life is like... open air chocolates?

Sky Rocket was a no-ride this time, but it did let me take its picture!

That's all for now Kennywood - see your color accented face this fall!

I was just thinking about when Pittfall opened and how amazing the view was from up at the top. I loved when I got to face out over the Phantom ravine and look over towards the factories. I would love to see Kennywood put a Star Flyer somewhere near Black Widow (perhaps in the final turn area of Phantom?) and give them another ride that provided a thrill, and a view.