Park Review
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Bristol, Connecticut August 4 & 5, 2001 I returned last Sunday from my first ACE coaster event, the ACE Preservation Conference (I've been to EastCoaster, a non-coaster riding event in February, several times). My weekend began very early on Friday, when I awoke at 5 am. I didn't encounter any traffic, drove right past the still-closed Coney Island parks and made it to Long Island's Adventureland in plenty of time for our 9:30 EPT (Exclusive Park Time). After Adventureland, it was on to Playland in Rye, New York. After another hamburger lunch, I stopped off at my parents' house (still conveniently located in southern Connecticut were I grew up) and took a long nap. Then it was on to Lake Compounce for the evening. I always forget how beautiful the entrance to this park is. Arriving after dark, it was even more breathtaking. There are very few parks that have an entrance this appealing. The twinkling tracer lights of the Wildcat called to me, and I started the night with a few trips on this old ride. It was running more smoothly than I remember from last year and, while it did seem to run out of steam a bit in the second half, this was a fun coaster that compared favorably with all the other coasters I'd ridden so far that weekend (hint: foreshadowing). Then I continued wandering through the park, taking advantage of the short line to ride the Sally interactive dark ride, I think called Ghost Hunt. I'm not very fond of this ride. I, personally, don't get enough "feedback" from the guns to tell exactly where I'm aiming or even, sometimes, to tell whether or not I've hit a target. Next was the Top Spin. Ah, this is a ride I like. I first discovered it at Geauga Lake and had to be talked into going on it by my bride. I quickly learned to love the flipping. Clones started popping up here and there, but rarely is it run with the same variety of intense programs. This night at Compounce, I boarded along with a small group of young men who immediately started shouting numbers at the operator - I assume they were program numbers. The operator, after toying with the lights, started talking to us through his microphone: "Do you want to flip?" We shouted, "Yes." "I can't hear you," he coaxed, and we screamed again. He played silly games like that with us for a while, ran the ride on two or three consecutive wild programs, then asked if anybody wanted to get off. No one budged, and the fun really started. The operator (a Scot by the name of Mike) continued to hit us with his best shots, all the while goading us into singing "New York, New York" (doing a kick line while upside-down!), getting us to shout out the number of flips, counting down to the next program, and generally upping the fun factor. He stopped the ride every once in a while to let riders on or off, but kept the excitement up the whole time. This is the opposite of TPM (Theme Park Mentality), but truly what amusement parks ought to be full of: employees who remember that patrons are "guests" and that they (the employees) have it in their power to improve the guests' experience. I had to report this guy to Guest Relations. (It's always fun to see the expression on the face behind the window when you try to compliment, rather than complain about, a park employee. Once they realized I was serious, they asked me if I'd be willing to put my remarks in writing, which I did, of course.) I then bought my first order of Potato Patch Fries. I've heard raves about them. While they are good french fries, and probably the best fries I've ever had at a park (warning: off-topic rave coming up), they're not the wonder snack. If any of you have had Belgian-style french fries, then you know what good fries are. I know there's a place in Santa Monica, and there's now a place near me in Philly (South near Sixth) that sells these treats. If you ever get a chance, get some. The fries are cooked once in oil. Then later, they're cooked a second time to give them a terrifically crunchy coating. Finally they're salted and served not with boring old ketchup or even vinegar, but usually with mayonnaise-based dressings. My favorite is the garlic mayonnaise. Now, finally, the highlight of the trip. It was nearing 10:00, and the park was closing to the general public. Coming up next, the "piece of resistance": a two-hour night ERT session on Boulder Dash, which got under way at about 10:30. Enthusiasm was running high. Everyone, riders and park staff alike, had a great time, whooping and hollering, high-fiving and clapping as train after train cycled through this amazing track. And what a track it is! If you haven't ridden it, try to imagine this: First, a climb up a wooded hillside, a right turn around some trees, and then you're hurled down the side of a mountain. Curving around some boulders, you're thrown back up the mountainside, only to narrowly miss another tree or two and some rocks, back down the side of the hill with some airtime on the drop, another close call with a boulder, a second moment of air time, and a third, then four, five, six(!) air-time drops with a few sudden and intense laterals thrown in, all while skimming the face of a rock-strewn mountain, covered with trees and, at night, utter darkness. And, folks, that's just the first half! Then there's the turnaround, a simple 180 going down hill all the way, slamming riders into the right side of the car. The coaster picks up any speed it may have lost in the first half and races back through about five more hills (and a trick track) on the way back to the station. Whew! This is one terrific coaster. I rode it a few times last year and remember complaining about a piece of dead track just before the last rise before the turnaround. The action slowed down so much there that I actually thought there was a trim brake at that spot. I was assured there was no such thing, so I was disappointed about this flaw in an otherwise good coaster. Now something has changed. I don't know if work's been done or if the ride has simply "broken in," but that dead spot is gone. Boulder Dash is non-stop out and out (okay, actually it's "out and back") fun. It now has taken over from Ghostrider (KBF) as my #1 woodie. I heard other ACErs make the same comment this weekend. After about an hour and a half, I was so exhausted that I stopped raising my arms and trying to keep my lap bar up, and I just slumped in my seat and let the ride wash over me, feeling the wind blow in my face like a dog with his head sticking out the car window. It was great! Then I got the last non-ceremonial ride, at half-past midnight, and the operators gave us a double. What a great way to end the night (except that I still had an hour drive back to my parents'). I found out later that the very last ride, given to ACE dignitaries and other VIPs, included Compounce's General Manager (whose name now escapes me). It was noted the next day that he was the only park manager that ACE's president had ever seen ride a coaster with his hands up the whole way. Arise once again early the next morning, and yet another hour and a half ERT on this mountain coaster. Enthusiasm was a bit diminished as we groggily stumbled into our seats, but it was no less fun. After yet another hamburger lunch, I spent most of the rest of the day in the water park section. Lines were long and slow, but the water, of course, kept it from getting too uncomfortable. I still had a four-hour drive home and I was exhausted, so I didn't stay for the third Boulder Dash ERT session. On the way out of the park, I saw the GM again, this time with a broom in his hand. From the top of management on down, this park is run by people who care about their park and their guests. And since they have a world-class coaster, there's no reason for you not to go to this park now. It sure was an exhausting weekend (that's why I wrote such a long review; I wanted you to feel exhausted, too). And while it was good to see 1) a park I'd never even heard of before, and 2) a park I hadn't been to in decades, and 3) a park that treats guests like they matter, it's really only Boulder Dash that made all that driving and sleeplessness worth it. As was overheard many times that day, �I want one of these in my backyard.� Jon Zucker
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