From August 2nd to August 6th, 2026, my mom and I visited four amusement parks in the US Northeast, those being Great Escape, Lake Compounce, Six Flags New England, and Sylvan Beach Amusement Park! Lake Compounce and Sylvan Beach Amusement Park were two new parks for us!
We had a great time visiting these parks! For most of our trip, the weather cooperated, with the exception of August 3rd, which we still made the most of despite the pouring rain! After the completion of this road trip, I have visited a total of 13 different amusement parks in 2026! What a season of travelling it has been! 😄🎢
Lake Compounce - August 3rd, 2026:
I was quite excited to make my first-ever visit to Lake Compounce as the park has quite the history! Located in Bristol, Connecticut, Lake Compounce is America's oldest amusement park having opened in 1846!
Lake Compounce was originally operated by Gad Norton and Isaac Pierce. The park operated under the Pierce and Norton Company until 1966, when the Pierce family sold their share to the Norton Family, who operated it through 1985. In 1985, Lake Compounce was sold to Hershey Entertainment, the owners of HersheyPark. It was operated as "Hershey's Lake Compounce" for two seasons. Due to being unprofitable, the park was sold yet again to a new owner, Joseph Entertainment Group, owned by Joseph Balestieri who transformed it into "Lake Compounce Festival Park" , with a 20,000 seat amphitheater added to the park in 1988. By 1991, Joseph Entertainment Group filed for bankruptcy and Lake Compounce remained closed during the 1992 and 1993 seasons. The park reopened in 1994 under ownership of Stephen Barberino and operations of Funtime Parks. Soon after, Funtime Parks was acquired by Premier Parks in 1995, resulting Lake Compounce to be sold to Kennywood Entertainment. In 2007, Kennywood Entertainment sold to Parque Reunidos. In early 2025, Parques Reunidos sold its North American properties to Herschend, who currently owns and operates Lake Compounce.
With the history of the park now out of the way, let's get on with my first-ever visit to Lake Compounce!
Our visit:
Our day was originally planned to be spent at Six Flags New England, but when we arrived at the park, a sign in the parking lot stated they would be closed due to inclement weather. Luckily to our surprise, Lake Compounce announced on social media that they would be open on August 3rd despite the rainy weather! With that in mind, I immediately purchased tickets for Lake Compounce on my phone from my car in the parking lot at Six Flags New England. After a 40 minute drive we arrived at Lake Compounce.
The rain started to come down as we pulled into the parking lot at Lake Compounce. My mom and I immediately walked to the entrance and entered the park. While not the most ideal day for a first-time visit, we made the most of it. I was surprised to see them operating the roller coasters in the pouring rain! Luckily I had my water resistant jacket on hand, so I was prepared to ride! Shortly after we arrived, it was announced that the park would be closing at 2pm due to the weather.
Making the most of our shortened 2 hour long visit, I was able to ride the Wildcat, Boulderdash, and PhobiaPhear roller coasters twice, plus take in a ride on the Ghost Hunt dark ride, Carousel, Wave Swinger, Downtime, and the Thunder n' Lightning rides!
Overall, we had a great first time at Lake Compounce despite the rainy weather! Be sure to check out the photos I did manage to get of our first visit to Lake Compounce! 🙂🎢🌧️
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| I was quite impressed with the entrance tunnel path to Lake Compounce! It provided a temporary relief from the rain. |
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| Here's the entrance plaza at Lake Compounce! It is quite beautiful, even on a rainy day! |
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| Here's a look at the park map. Unfortunately many of the park's rides were closed due to the weather. I did manage to ride and enjoy what attractions were open! |
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My first ride of the day was on the Wildcat, a wooden roller coaster that opened at Lake Compounce in 1927!
It was manufactured by Philadelphia Toboggan Company and designed by Herbert Paul Schmeck. In 1986, this historic roller coaster received a rebuild. For the 2017 season, the Wildcat received new trains from Great Coasters International, replacing the older PTC trains and a retracking. In 2023, the Wildcat received another retracking, this time by the Gravity Group, reopening in 2024, making it a smoother wooden coaster! |
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| I was highly impressed by how smooth the Wildcat was! It was a great first ride on this 99 year old wooden coaster despite being pelted in the face by the pouring rain! 😂 |
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| Up next was a ride in the rain on Boulder Dash! Opening in 2000, Boulder Dash is a wooden terrain roller coaster that was built by Customer Coasters International (CCI). It's 4,672 foot long track spans along the mountainous terrain at Lake Compounce. The name of Boulder Dash is appropriate as you ride among the rocks and trees that surround the track, making it quite hidden from view of park guests! Despite hiding my face from the rain for most of the ride, I greatly enjoyed Boulder Dash thanks to its forested location and the amount of airtime hills within its layout! |
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Up next was a ride on my first Premier Rides Sky Rocket II model, Phobia Phear Coaster!
Phobia Phear opened at Lake Compounce in 2016, launching the train-load of riders back and forth at speeds up to 62 mph (100 km/h) until going 150 feet into the air, rolling into the in-line twist inversion. From there, the train then dives into the non-inverted loop element before diving back into the station! It is quite a thrill, especially in the pouring rain! I must also note that Phobia Phear is also quite smooth, too! |
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| Phobia Phear has a pretty cool logo, incorporating the twistiness of the coaster's track! |
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| Afterwards, I took a ride on the Ghost Hunt! This interactive dark ride opened at Lake Compounce in 1999 and was manufactured by Sally Corporation. Using laser guns, riders shoot at the many ghosts that inhabit the haunted Bleakstone Manor. I really liked the theming and story of this dark ride! |
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| After I sought some shelter from the rain on Ghost Hunt, I took a soaking ride on the beautiful Wave Swinger! As my mom stayed dry under a nearby shelter, I got a lap-full of rain water while riding the Wave Swinger! 😂 |
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| If you look closely, you can see a few brave riders zipping along the track of Boulder Dash in the pouring rain! |
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After a soaking ride on the Wave Swinger, I joined my mom for a ride on the Carousel. This carousel was manufactured in the 1890s by Charles I. D. Looff and opened at Lake Compounce in 1911. Prior to operating at Lake Compounce, the Carousel operated at Savin Rock Amusement Park of West Haven, Connecticut until 1910. Savin Rock closed in 1966.
The horses are beautifully painted with many going up and down as the Wurlitzer band organ plays! |
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| Here is my mom and I taking a spin on the Carousel! |
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| After a ride on the Carousel, the rain began to let up within the last hour of operation of Lake Compounce as it was closing at 2pm due to the weather. |
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| With the rain clearing, I took up on a rain-free ride on the Wildcat! The 2,746 foot long track is filled with a few decent moments of airtime! Both rides I did with my hands up the whole time! |
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| Afterwards I took a ride on Down Time, a 185 foot tall S&S Turbo Drop ride that launches riders downwards at 60 mph (97 km/h)! What sets Down Time a part from the other turbo drop power towers that I have been on are the clock ticking sound effects played through speakers as you reach the top of the tower! Once at the top, the clock chimes, signaling it is time to be launched downwards! I love it when parks use such sound effects on rides as it enhances the overall experience! |
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| With the rain continuing to hold off, I took another ride on Boulder Dash! It was nice being able to see where I was going this time around! 🤣 |
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| I then took another ride on Phobia Phear! Riding it with your hands up is the best way to ride! |
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| The slow roll through the in-line twist inversion at the top of the layout was quite insane! |
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| The dive into the non-inverting dive loop was quite awesome, too! |
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| My final ride of our visit at Lake Compounce was on the Thunder N' Lightning S&S Screamin' Swing ride! This beautifully painted ride sends thrill-seekers 90 feet into the air! |
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| The entrance for Thunder N' Lightning was quite neat too! |
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| I think the Lake Compounce Crocodile may be the one to blame for the weather we experienced during our visit as he appears to have a liking for inclement weather as per the theming at Thunder N' Lightning! 😉 |
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| While on our way out, we quickly looked at some of the other rides that were closed during our visit, such as the Pirate and Zoomerang boomerang coaster. If the weather was nicer, I would have experienced more of the park's rides and attractions that were closed due to the weather. |
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| The final riders of the day were being blasted down towards the ground on Down Time as we were heading towards the park exit. |
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| Here we are after a fun two hours at Lake Compounce! |
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| While our visit was cut short due to the rainy weather, we still managed to enjoy our first-ever visit to Lake Compounce! I was super grateful to get on all the operating roller coasters twice in the two hours we were there! 😊Hopefully one day in the future we'll be able to experience this beautiful park again under sunshine and blue skies! |
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| On our way back to the parking lot, I captured a photo of this marquee celebrating the 180th anniversary of Lake Compounce! |
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As you can see, the parking lot was quite empty due to the rain! The blue car on the end was the rental car I used for this road trip as my 2005 Honda Civic isn't up for anymore road trips! Thanks for looking at my photos from our first-ever visit to Lake Compounce!😄
Up next are photos from our two-days at Six Flags New England! 🙂 |
