Reviews The Tattoo Travel

Lake Compounce off to a good start

Part of the Wildcat, a 90-year-old wooden rollercoaster at Lake Compounce, silhouetted against the Connecticut sky. (Beth Criado-Band/YJI)

BRISTOL, Connecticut, U.S.A. — Lake Compounce has added a bunch of new rides, but it’s going to have to do a lot more if it wants to attract teenagers.

The park has made a good start, though.

One of the more popular new rides is the Zoomerang, a fast-paced looping roller coaster.

In a very short time you go forward and backward, experiencing a series of twists and turns at a high speed.

Standing in line, it looks intimidating. But it’s not nearly as frightening as it looks.

Another new ride, the Top Spin, is the best new addition to the park.

It is also the most nauseating.

While restrained to the point that you cannot move, you are flipped, twirled and swung in a different pattern every time.

A previously unused clump of land at the park features two new rides and a new mode of transportation to get there.

An authentic trolley car special to Lake Compounce takes people the short distance to the rides set apart from the rest of the park.

The Sky Ride hauls people slowly up the side of a mountain in a ski-lift type metal bench.

The view is impressive, however the ride is long and not particular thrilling, unless you are afraid of heights.In this case you are terrified the entire ride, more than any roller coaster we’ve ever encountered.

Feeling hot?

Visit the second attraction in this obscure location, the Thunder River Raft Ride.

While secured in a circular raft, you bounce along a cement path, being splashed and eventually becoming soaked by the man-made rapids.

Though the new additions are a lure to attract new customers, some of the older attractions are still worth riding.

The Enterprise is like an improved Ferris wheel on a slanted scale.

It begins with a spinning circle of individual cars. Slowly the entire circle lifts into the air, sending it into an upright position and putting the passengers upside down.

The Big Splash is Lake Compounce’s version of the ever-popular log ride. It stands apart from other log rides with such differences as a steeper hill and a slightly longer ride through some woods.

Still in existence is the Wildcat, Lake Compounce’s old wooden roller coaster.

Compounce also features typical amusement park rides including a Ferris wheel, wave swinger, scrambler, bumper cars and a carousel.

While these rides are exciting, they are excessively ugly.

The color scheme at the park is horrendous, with combinations like turquoise, cobalt blue and fire engine red.

It doesn’t make a difference to the ride, but it should be noted that there are numerous eyesores throughout the park. They could be improved by matching colors instead of letting a color blind painter have his way.

If you expect to spend a day at the park, expect to pay a small fortune for food. The individual item prices aren’t bad but they quickly add up.

But as far as amusement parks go, the food is decent.

At any point during an excursion to the park you might meet Boomer, the usually mute entertainment.

Boomer is a clown who strolls around the park in his oversized shoes and painted-on face, tapping people on the shoulder and making little kids smile.

If your expectations aren’t too high when you head to the park, you’ll wind up smiling, too.

Written by Youth Journalism International Reporters Shaina Zura and Kathleen Haynes. Two other YJI Reporters, Courtney Pendleton and Hila Yosafi, contributed to this story.

Leave a Comment