LAKE COMPOUNCE
Bristol, CT
Parques Reunidos
Park News - (6/21/2023) As much as we love visiting theme parks, every so often, you realize you may have picked the wrong day to visit. Sometimes this could be due to crowds and other times, it just seems like every major ride you wanted to try is down for maintenance. Unfortunately it seems CoiasterTalkNoBSZone seemed to pick the wrong day to visit Lake Compounce. Follow the link to see how their day went, and compare it to your own visits. Was this just a single bad day or something more?
(4/30/2023) Add Lake Compounce into the growing list of parks who have put a chaperone policy into effect this season. On the park’s “Know Before You Go” page, they state that “Guests aged 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult at least 21 years of age (with a valid ID) to enter the park after 4:00 p.m.”. Unlike the rollout at the Cedar Fair chain of parks they don’t go into more details beyond that, but as Lake Compounce is just one park in the region operated by Parque Reunidos it looks like this policy is quietly being rolled out to many of their parks as they open for the season.
(4/16/2023) Skyline Attractions has confirmed that they are working along with Great Coasters International to add 580 feet of Titan Track onto Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce this season. They confirm that the new track is only being added to the first drop and curve as a way to help preserve Boulder Dash. The stronger Titan Track is designed to handle the extra wear and forces that impact the track on this section of the ride, and will also offer a smoother and more enjoyable experience for years to come. The layout of Boulder Dash will remain the same as you have come to know it.
(3/27/23) Based on a photo posted to a post on the Screamscape FB page, it looks to be confirmed that Titan Track has already been added to Boulder Dash at Lake Compounce. From the look of the photo the track has been installed onto the ride’s curving first drop. This makes sense as this is probably the most high-stress point on the ride, making it a good candidate for being replaced with a section of Titan Track. Of course there could be more Titan Track installed, this is only what was spotted so far.
(3/13/2023) Some news from Lake Compounce was reveled during the ACE New England’s Great Nor’Easter event this weekend. According to a tweet from Coaster Chit Chat who attended, the park showed off some art of their new floating stage, and also mentioned that the park’s Wildcat wooden roller coaster would remain closed for the 2023 season. Wildcat opened in 1927 and the park is now going to take action to restore and preserve the nearly 100-year-old roller coaster for the generations to come.
If you recall our rumor from December (see below) there was already talk about the restoration work done to Wildcat in the years before the Pandemic, attached to a rumor that GCI was in talks with the park about adding some Titan Track to Wildcat as well. The exact nature of the restoration was not yet revealed, it was only said that management was still working with Parque Reunidos to come up with a final plan for the project at this time.
In other news, it was also mentioned that Boulder Dash would be painting one of the trains yellow. To be honest, I’m not sure what color the trains are now, as looking back at various pictures of Boulder Dash from over the years, I’ve seen Yellow, Red, Blue and Green trains on it, so I’m guessing this is a throw-back to making one an original Yellow color once again.
(12/30/2022) I’m not sure if any kind of deal has been signed, but hearing a rumor that GCI may have been in talks with Lake Compounce about adding some Titan Track to one or both of the park’s wooden coasters: Wildcat & Boulder Dash. What I’m not sure of is if this was simply a proposal that GCI may have floated to the park on their own, or if this was part of any kind of active refurbishment talks for the coasters.
Boulder Dash opened back in 2000 as one of the last few big CCI coaster projects and I’m not sure who the park’s been hiring out for any re-tracking work over the years. According to RCDB however, the park did have Martin & Vleminckx perform a full retracking of Wildcat over the 2016 and 2017 off-seasons that also saw the old PTC trains replaced with GCI Millennium Flyer trains in time for the 2018 season.
2023 - Floating Stage - (11/27/2022) Lake Compounce is building a new ‘floating stage” on the lake that is slated to be finished in time for Memorial Day Weekend 2023. “The floating stage will host Lake Compounce’s most robust lineup of live entertainment in years next season. Guests can expect a variety of acts to come to life, including live music, interactive entertainment, and more. Located directly on the lake, the stage will include a sound and lighting setup for guests to enjoy
shows from several angles throughout the park.”
“This new stage takes advantage of Lake Compounce’s beautiful setting and will bring the lake to life like never before,” says General Manager Jeffrey Davis. “We can’t wait to see our guests enjoying an enhanced entertainment lineup in 2023, giving them reasons to visit all year long beyond our popular rides and seasonal events like Holiday Lights.”
 2024 - Wildcat Renovation - (9/10/2023) Lake Compounce has confirmed that The Gravity Group will be re-tracking the Wildcat roller coaster, which will reopen in 2024 featuring The Gravity Group’s new vertically oriented Engineered Precut Track system. They just completed a similar track replacement project on Oakwood’s Megafobia coaster in the UK to rave reviews.
Wildcat has been closed for the 2023 season due to issues with the ride, and after early season renovations on the park’s Boulder Dash coaster saw sections of GCI’s Titan Track added to Boulder Dash, there was rumored talks about re-tracking Wildcat with Titan Track as well for 2024. Apparently it is now clear that the park’s opted to go in a different direction with Wildcat and maintain the coaster’s standard wooden coaster status, rather than add sections of steel hybrid track.
|
