Lake Compounce

In today’s blog post, I will be discussing one of the most historic places not only in Connecticut, but also the United States, Lake Compounce Amusement Park! This is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in the United States, spans 365 acres, has 44 attractions, and includes a beach and a water park. In this blog post, I will be discussing the park’s history, the attractions there, and the many other features there in hopes that it will encourage all of you reading to visit it.

The park’s history goes all the way back to 1846, when a man named Gad Norton hired a scientist to perform an experiment using explosives on the property, which ended up failing. However, the experiment brought in large crowds, and inspired Norton to open an amusement park, which had public swimming and rowing on the lake, a gazebo for lakeside band concerts, and several rides. In 1895, a casino was built on the property, which was the first permanent building at the site. Later that same year, the Bristol and Plainville Tramway Company constructed the Southington and Compounce trolley line. 

In 1914, the park saw more changes with the introduction of Green Dragon, the park’s first electric powered roller coaster. Even more changes came to the park in the 1930s, when the casino was expanded with the addition of a dance floor, and in 1941, an all time attendance record was set, when Tommy Dorsey’s reorganized band featured Frank Sinatra, who had yet to reach the height of his career. 

The park has also had an interesting history with concerts, as in 1988, a 20,000 seat outdoor amphitheater was added. One of the first notable concerts there was infamous music group Milli Vanilli, whose concert at the park was filmed and broadcast on MTV and was later recognized as the first public sign that they were lip syncing. They also had a ton of notable concerts for the next few years. Some of these shows include Chuck Berry, Tony Bennett, 80s rock band Squeeze, Belinda Carlisle from The Go Gos, rock singer Robert Palmer, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, rock singer Eric Carmen, Bill Medley from The Righteous Brothers, reggae group UB40, 70s rock group America, Joe Cocker, legendary blues musician Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Beach Boys, REO Speedwagon, Sting, Kenny Loggins, Neil Young, David Johansen, AKA Buster Poindexter, rock band Cheap Trick, Gloria Estefan, Bob Dylan, Santana, Huey Lewis and the News, Hall & Oates, Melissa Etheridge, Pat Benatar, 80s rock band Poison, Joan Jett, rock band Chicago, rock band Bad Company, The Steve Miller Band, The Doobie Brothers, Public Image Ltd, which is from Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols, Jimmy Buffett, Metallica, Paula Abdul, Carole King, Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band, Reba McEntire, The Monkees, 80s pop singer Debbie Gibson, Dolly Parton, Rod Stewart, New Kids on the Block, Elvis Costello, Don Henley from The Eagles, The Bee Gees, Rick Astley, Ziggy Marley, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Cher, 60s rock band Jefferson Airplane, Stevie Nicks, 80s new wave band Tears For Fears, Alice Cooper, The Black Crowes, Aerosmith, The B-52s, Lou Gramm from Foreigner, Motley Crue, 70s and 80s rock band Heart, Bonnie Raitt, Wilson Phillips, James Taylor, Sinead O’Connor, Michael Bolton, Van Morrison, The Allman Brothers Band, Billy Idol, 70s and 80s rock band Styx, Diana Ross, David Lee Roth from Van Halen, heavy metal band Megadeth, Bell Biv DeVoe, and southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. These concerts went from 1988 to 1991, but unfortunately, the company that owned the park at the time, Joseph Entertainment Group, focused more of their attention on concert promotion, and neglected the amusement park portion of the park, resulting in many of the rides being nonoperational by 1991, and Joseph Entertainment Group also experienced severe financial troubles, resulting in fifteen shows being cancelled with no refunds. The park then stayed closed until 1994, at which point the existing rides were repaired, and new rides were also built.

Since then, the park has seen a number of changes, such as new attractions, changes in ownership, and new features. I will now go over the rides at the park and some of the other features there.

The first ride there is a roller coaster called Wildcat, which first opened in 1927 and is the 14th oldest operating roller coaster in the world. 

The next ride there is another roller coaster called Zoomerang, which is a Boomerang shuttle coaster with a 125 foot drop, a cobra roll, and a vertical loop.

The next ride there is another roller coaster called Boulder Dash, which is the first wooden roller coaster to be built on the side of a mountain, the longest wooden roller coaster on the East Coast, and has been ranked by Amusement Today as the World’s Best Wooden Roller Coaster five times.

The next ride there is another roller coaster called Phobia Phear Coaster, which features an inline twist, a non-inverting loop, three LSM launches, and a top speed of 62 MPH.

The next ride there is called American Flyers, which consists of ride vehicles suspended from arms attached to a center post.

The next ride there is a Carousel, which was first built in 1898 and moved to Lake Compounce in 1911, which makes it one of the oldest operating carousels in the US. A Wurlitzer #153 band organ once provided the carousel’s music, but due to the difficulty of repairing such an organ, the park rarely uses it. 

The next ride there is a narrow gauge family train ride that goes along the east shore of Lake Compounce.

The next ride there is a drop tower called Down Time, which drops riders 185 feet at speeds of up to 60 MPH.

The next ride there is one that you can find at any amusement park in the world, a Ferris Wheel. 

The next ride there is called Ghost Hunt, which is a dark ride where riders shoot laser guns at targets to score points, much like the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disney. 

The next ride there is called Pirate Ship, which is a classic swinging Pirate Ship ride. 

The next ride there is called Rev-O-Lution, which is a Disk’O flat ride that spins 360 degrees on a half-pipe shaped track.

The next ride there is called Saw Mill Plunge, which is a classic Log Flume ride.

The next ride there is called Sky Coaster, which is a free fall and flight simulating ride that swings riders in a pendulum motion. 

The next ride there is called Thunder N’ Lightning, which is a Screamin’ Swing ride where two giant arms swing riders up to 60 MPH producing up to 3 Gs.

The next ride there is called Thunder Rapids, which is a classic river rapids ride. 

The next ride there is called Twister, which is a ride where riders are able to spin their own gondolas while the entire platform rotates and tilts. 

The next ride there is called Wave Swinger, which is a swing ride that goes in a circular motion.

The next ride there is called Zoomer’s Gas N’ Go, which is a 1950s car themed attraction. 

There are also eight rides at the park that are specifically for children. 

The next section of the park is a water park called Crocodile Cove, which features a lazy river with a waterslide, wave pools, soak zones, a pontoon, raft slides, a mat racer slide, a body slide, and a waterslide that reopened a few years ago with added SFX and VFX. 

The park also has holiday events that take place in October and December. 

In October, there is an event called Phantom Fall Fest, which happens after the sun goes down, and consists of scare actors roaming the park and four haunted houses opening. 

In December, the park holds a Christmas experience where a selection of rides are open, kids can meet Santa, and there is also a 100 foot tall Christmas tree, which is the largest in Connecticut.

There are also a few options for food at the park.

The first place to get food is Timberjack Chowhouse, which serves hot dogs, cheeseburgers, macaroni and cheese, pulled pork, chicken tenders, cheese fries, and onion rings.

The next place to get food is Marketplace, which serves cheese and pepperoni pizza and varieties of chicken wings.

The next place to get food is The Potato Patch, which serves hand-cut fries and plain and buffalo chicken tenders. 

The next place to get food is The Croc Pot, which serves chicken tenders, macaroni and cheese, pulled pork, fries, and whatever foods are in rotation.

The next place to get food is Wildcat Burger, which serves burgers, chicken tenders, and fries. 

The next place to get food is Harborside Pizza, which serves cheese and pepperoni pizza.

The next place to get food is Nathan’s Famous at Lakeside Cafe, which serves cheeseburgers, hot dogs, crispy chicken sandwich, chicken tenders, and fries.

The next place to get food is Leo’s Lunch, which serves Philly cheesesteak, foot long corn dog and chili cheese dog, chicken wraps, and mozzarella sticks.

The next place to get food is Main Gate Creamery, which serves soft serve ice cream and milkshakes. 

The next place to get food is Fried Dough, which as its name suggests, serves fried dough and fried Oreos. 

The next place to get food is 1846 Coffee Co., which serves a variety of fresh baked donuts. 

The next place to get food is popular ice cream chain Dippin’ Dots, which serves a variety of ice cream flavors. 

The next place to get food is Snack Shack, which serves churros, soft pretzels, popcorn, cotton candy, and Dippin’ Dots.

The last place to get food is Sweet Shoppe, which serves homemade fudge, candy, caramel apples, and seasonal treats. 

In 2023, the park saw another change, as they added a floating stage with concerts on weekends. While the majority of artists who performed there have been cover bands and tribute acts, there were some notable names during their first year. These names are country singer Jerrod Niemann, country singer Cannon Smith, 90s rock band Everclear, 90s boy band All-4-One, rock band Sugar Ray, which I feel is the perfect place for them to perform, as I feel that “Fly” is an ideal summer song, and it’s perfect to be performed on a floating stage, and the last notable name that performed there is a show that I might have wanted to see, CeeLo Green.

Overall, this park has had an interesting history, and there are many fun things to see and do there today. The park opens for the season on May 3, so head on over to upstate Connecticut and have a great time!