Great Escape - August 2nd, 2026

 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! 😄🎢

Great Escape - August 2nd, 2026:

After 7 and a half hours of driving, we arrived at Great Escape for the last 3 and a half operations for the day. Luckily for us the rainy weather had cleared, making for a fun few hours at the Great Escape! Since our last visit to the Great Escape in July 2024, not too much has changed at the park, other than it now being owned by EPR Properties and operated by Enchanted Parks as of April 2026. With Six Flags selling the park (along with six other properties in April 2026), 2026 Six Flags season passes sold before April 2026 are still being honoured by Enchanted Parks and La Ronde Operations Inc. for parking/admission through the end of the season.

Enchanted Parks who now operates Great Escape has gone one step further with the season passes by offering a complimentary season pass to current Six Flags season pass holders when presented at the front gate, allowing guests to get 10% off food and merchandise within the park. It is a nice gesture for those visiting the park during 2026 and makes for a nice souvenir. As Enchanted Parks does not offer a dining plan, they did reduce the price of the food at many locations within the Great Escape. I'll go more into the quality of the food in the photos below!

It was nice being back at the Great Escape and I look forward to visiting again in the future! Be sure to enjoy the photos of our visit below! 🙂

As of April 2026, Great Escape is now operated by Enchanted Parks. They had put up a few new banners around the park, including the one behind the Steamin' Demon.

In other places, they placed their name over existing signage. I sure hope Enchanted Parks have plans on replacing this sign as it is quite weathered!

With some excellent assistance from Guest Relations after presenting our Gold Six Flags passes, they were able to issue us an Enchanted Parks Great Escape pass so we could receive 10% off food and merchandise during our visit. With the pass, you could also visit the Great Escape for the remainder of the 2026 season if you desired!

To my surprise, the Sky Ride was operating during this visit, which I had not seen operating during my previous two visits to the park in 2018 and 2024! I would take a ride on the Sky Ride after taking a spin on the Flashback and a ride on the Storytown Train!

My first ride of this visit was on Flashback! My main reason for riding it during this visit was to see how smooth it is with the new train it received in 2025.

To my surprise, the Flashback provides a very enjoyable ride with its new train featuring vest restraints! It's much better than the old train it had during my previous visit in 2024! It also received a new paint job in 2025, too matching that of the original paint scheme of when it opened in 1997!

Up next was a ride on the Storytown Train, another attraction we hadn't experienced during our previous to visits to the park, as it too was closed!

Here's my mom and I on the Storytown Train!

It takes you on a journey through and along by the Storytown section of the park.

The journey starts by taking riders through a tunnel.

After the tunnel, you go by the Flashback.

Here's another look at the new train Flashback received last year!

During the train ride, you pass by many of the houses and buildings in Storyland.

You also pass through Jungle Land and the Ghost Town, too.

Here's a look at the miniature Ghost Town along the Storytown Train.

Jungle Land pays homage to the Jungle Land section that formerly operated at the park decades ago.

You can also get a decent view of Timbertown from the Storytown Train.

Here's a look at the 2026 Great Escape park map.

After I took a ride on the Sky Ride, my mom and I had a meal from the Chicken Chalet in the Fest Area. We both ordered the large crispy chicken salad priced at $14.49 each, receiving a 10% season pass discount (before taxes). To my surprise, the salad was very tasty as the chicken was seasoned nicely and was moist! It seems that Enchanted Parks is on track to serving some great food and decently priced meals at their recently acquired parks!

After eating the delicious crispy chicken salad, I took a spin on the Blizzard! It provided a chilling experience as always! The Blizzard is still one of my favourite rides at the Great Escape!

Up next was a ride on The Bobcat!

I had the pleasure of riding The Bobcat during its debut season in 2024! It is still riding incredibly well just like it did two years ago! It is packed with a ton of airtime within its small layout!

Speaking of airtime, I then took two laps on The Comet!

I fell in love with The Comet ever since taking my first rides on it in 2018!

To my surprise, The Comet still provides a very smooth ride along its double out and back layout since my last rides on it in 2024!

Hopefully Enchanted Parks continues to take great care of The Comet going forward as it is the 'jewel' of the park and is a roller coaster generations have been enjoying since its early days at Crystal Beach Amusement Park and operating at the Great Escape since 1994!

During this quick visit I managed to get two back to back rides on The Comet due to the rainy weather that passed through the area prior to our arrival!

With there now about an hour left of operations, we made our way over to the Ghost Town section. On our way over, I captured this photo of the Storytown Train chugging along its track. Sadly, the Condor (which was operating before and after our visit) and the Adirondack Outlaw (experiencing a prolonged maintenance issue) located in Ghost Town were both closed during our visit.

Up next, I took a ride on Canyon Blaster. While a rather uneventful Arrow Mine Train coaster, I do enjoy taking a ride on it every time I visit the Great Escape.

I do hope Enchanted Parks as the new operator of the park, has plans on repainting the track of the Canyon Blaster as the majority of it is quite faded and peeled!

Up next, I took a ride on the Desperado Plunge. It still provides a fun classic log flume experience!

I then decided to take a ride on the Steamin' Demon.

I was dreading a ride on the Steamin' Demon as it had greatly beaten me up in the past! 😅

To my surprise, a ride in the front row on the Steamin' Demon was actually quite tolerable and not too rough!

With just a few minutes left before the park closed for the day, I took a sky high ride on the Sasquatch! Although only one tower was operating during this visit, it still provides a very thrilling ride and provides quite a view of the surrounding area!

After a 3 and a half hour visit, it was time to leave as the park was now closed for the day!

It sure was nice visiting the Great Escape once again! I look forward to seeing what Enchanted Parks has in store for the Great Escape! I wish them the best! 

Up next are photos from our visit to Lake Compounce! 🙂

Great Escape- July 5th, 2018

From July 5th to July 9th, my Mom and I had visited four amusement parks in the US Northeast, those being Great Escape (Six Flags), Six Flags New England, Six Flags Great Adventure (Day 3 & Day 4), and Knoebels.

Day One- July 5th, 2018:

Our trip began by venturing out early to Great Escape, A Six Flags park in Queensbury, New York. The park had opened in 1954 as Storytown USA. In 1983 it was renamed Great Escape and became a part of the Six Flags family in the late 1990's.

While we were there, it was very hot and humid, making our visit very uncomfortable. I had managed to get on three of the park's five roller coasters, which include the wooden legendary Comet, Canyon Blaster, and the Steamin' Demon. I also rode some of the other rides, including the park's classic log flume.

Below are photos of our visit to the Great Escape. After our time at the Great Escape, we headed off to our first hotel near our seconds park. Stayed tuned for day two of our trip at Six Flags New England!

My first roller coaster ride of the trip was the Canyon Blaster, the Great Escape's mine train coaster.

Here I am on the Canyon Blaster. This mine train coaster was manufactured by Arrow (Arrow Dynamics) and had originally opened at the now defunct Opryland USA in nashville, Tennessee where it had operated there as the "Rock n' Roller Coaster" from 1972 until the park's closure in 1997. After a few years of being in storage at the also now defunct Old Indiana Fun-n-Water Park, it was relocated to the Great Escape where it was set up and has been operating since 2003.

While on the Desperado Plunge, my Mom had captured this photo. Also manufactured by Arrow, this log flume opened at the Great Escape in 1979 and features a couple of drops as the log navigates the winding flume. The Desperado Plunge originally operated at the short-lived Busch Gardens Los Angeles prior to arriving at the Great Escape.

Here is a look at the Steamin' Demon, another Arrow creation. This Loop and Corkscrew model opened at the Great Escape in 1984. 

I am somewhere on that train the moment this photo was taken.

Prior to arriving at the Great Escape, the Steamin' Demon had operated at the defunct Pontchartrain Beach of New Orleans, Louisiana from 1978 to 1983 as the "Ragin' Cajun".

The Great Escape is home to some rare thrill rides, and one of those is the Condor. The Condor, manufactured by Huss, soars nearly 100 feet and was added to the park's ride lineup in 1989. While not the tallest ride in the park these days, due to the addition of "Sasquatch" (192 foot S&S power shot combo tower) in 2009, it still provides a swirling aerial view of the surrounding area.

Here is a look at the closed Alpine Bobsled. Similar to that of an authentic bobsled track, this roller coaster allows individual 8-passenger cars to roll along and down a 1,490 foot trough made of steel. The Alpine Bobsled had previously operated at Six Flags Great Adventure from 1984-1988 and Six Flags Great America from 1989-1995 as "Sarajevo Bobsleds" and "Rolling Thunder", respectively, prior to arriving at the Great Escape in 1998. This is one of the last few remaining Bobsled coasters manufactured by Intamin. The Alpine Bobsled was only one of two coasters to evade me on the whole trip!

After a short and brief thunderstorm, the rides and attractions had reopened. I had ventured over to the far end of the park to get a couple of rides on the Comet.

The Comet is an excellent example of a double out and back wooden coaster, featuring many airtime hills.

Interestingly enough, the Comet's existence dates back to 1927 as the "Cyclone" at Crystal Beach Amusement Park near Fort Erie, Ontario. The Cyclone was a dynamic and thrilling wooden coaster with steep drops and quick turns. The Cyclone would continue to operate until the end of the 1946 season. In 1947, the Cyclone was transformed into the Comet, providing a much more enjoyable ride for visitors of Crystal Beach Amusement Park.

In 1989, Crystal Beach Amusement Park closed forever, potentially leaving the fate of the Comet unknown. Luckily, Charlie Wood, the owner of the Great Escape at the time had successfully bid on the Comet. It sat in storage at Fantasy Island near Buffalo before being constructed at the Great Escape for the 1994 season. Since then, it has continued to deliver an amazing experience to all those who take a ride.

Here is an on-ride photo of me taking my first ride on the Comet, enjoying the airtime filled hills with my hands up the entire ride. It was so great that I rode it twice!

New for 2018 at the Great Escape is Pandemonium. This Freestyle ride, manufactured by Chance Rides has passengers seated in an outward facing position as the ring of seats rotates around, up and down in a wave-like motion.

While the Blizzard looks interesting on the outside, it is a truly unique experience on the inside! Inside the air-conditioned igloo shaped dome is a traditional Scrambler ride paired with a sensational show of light and sound as the ride operates in near darkness. It is a ride no one should miss when visiting the Great Escape! The Blizzard was manufactured by Eli Bridge and opened in 1971 as "Chipper's Magical Mystery Tour". Until the 2005 season it had operated indoors. For the 2013 season it was placed back indoors and re-themed as the Blizzard, which it operates as to this day.

After a hot and somewhat tiring time at the Great Escape, we headed off down towards our hotel near Six Flags New England.

Before we headed down the road, I had captured this photo of the compact looping coaster, Steamin' Demon from the park's parking lot across the street. Stay tuned for day two of our trip, at Six Flags New England!