After a delay of my Saturday trip since the parks were closed due to weather I set off Sunday morning to CT from NH. It took a little more than 2.5 hours to get to Quassy from NH. I had a free ticket for the park I needed to use up. I went with my brother on this trip and we arrived at Quassy around 12:30.


Quassy is a small park. It sort of appears out of nowhere after a long drive off the highway. We pulled in turned down free tickets since we had some and pulled up to the attendant. She took out 2 tickets and $5.00 parking fee. We parked and then had to find the ticket booth. It’s inconveniently located in the back of the park. We got out Wrist band and made our way back to the front and to the parks larger coaster Monster.


Monster or Mad Mouse on the sign is a Classic wild mouse style coaster with both dropped and sharp turn. The coaster had a low capacity only running 3 cars. It was slow at the time so we got on fast. We squeezed into the small car and took our ride. The drops were good with some air time. The turns were freaky since the small old track vanished below your car just before you turned. A fun coaster but nothing amazing.


We back tracked a bit and hit the parks new Galleon (Pirate ship) ride. It has good movement but the location left a lot to be desired. We checked out the arcade which is housed in the parks classic ball room building. We then took a look at their kiddie land.


Their back kiddie land is basically 2 classic Hershel kiddie rides (boats and jets) in the middle of the parks kiddie coaster. They allow adults to ride so we each took a turn on the kiddie coaster. Interesting layout large coaster but no forces. Got really slow at the end also. The boat also leaves form that section of the park it’s $3 dollars for a 30 minutes boat ride around the lake. It would be nice if it were covered in the all ride band.


We walked back and hit the train which goes around the picnic grounds. Likely the best ride at the park. The speed is good with a large circle. They also send you around twice. We then hit the carousel, a Chance fiberglass model in the parks classic carousel house. We took a look at their pavilion/picnic building. They were having an October fest event so the area was opened. It’s a nice set up with a large pavilion, baseball field, horse shoes, and a volley Ball net.



We hit the Tilt-a-whirl. It ran ok but seemed recently painted. We hit an extra ride on the Pirate ship, Rode the parks trabant, and tried this Flying dragon ride. It was a compact flying carpet. Run very slow but if it wasn’t braked so much you couldn’t over the true dragon within. We hit the train again and then made our way to the front of the park.


We skipped a second run on the Monster coaster since it has a line. We hit the Paratroopers which were really well run, YoYo, and got in line for the bumper cars. The line took forever with only around 9 cars on the floor. They were reasonably good cars though. Good speed but limited bumping ability. We hoped on the Music fest a flying bobs attraction before ending our day at the new Giant Slide. It was close to my park in the parking lot.



In all it was a good day at an OK park. Quassy has a lot of classic charm but has failed to take the park into any level above that. It’s worth your time if you’re in the area or are a fan of these old time small parks. The $21 Dollar all rides pass is pricey given their selection, including the boat would have increased its value significantly. I did have a good time and would go back after they add another ride or two.

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Michael C - Speedzone Editor

Lake Compounce:

We made our way to Lake Compounce. It took us about 35 to get from Quassy to the park. We were met at the Parking booth by no one. After a quick look we saw no booth open so we parked. The parking lot was nearly empty. We walked through the tunnel and also found the ticket booth all closed. There were ticket takers so we knew the park was open. So it was off to Group sales to get our tickets. We got our tickets which were $15 each with coupon since we brought 8 tubs of Peanut butter and 2 cans of beef ravioli for the food bank.


We entered and made our way around to Ghost hunt. The new ride is fantastic. It’s has a few remnants of the old ride but in all it’s a whole new attraction. The trackless 4 passenger cars are roomy and a lot of fun. The lasers work well though I kept shooting my brother in the back of the head from the back seat. The former balcony scene was enclosed and a new light effects show was added. It’s by far my favorite part of the ride.


Boulderdash was next on the list. The ride had had been retracked over the last 2 years and on the off season the trick track was removed and a new element was added. We got in like for the back car front seat and got in after just 2 cycles. The work done really helps the ride. It’s as wild as always but even more intense. The new section which is a series of hills which provide extreme air time was mind blowing. A fantastic rework by GCI!


Wildcat was next on the list. The coaster was a walk on and we jumped into the front seat. We were off! The ride was running really well. The coaster ran smooth and fast. And it seemed to have a better transition between hills. We were later told they rebraced some of the hills.


We made our way to the Trolley. Rode it to the back of the park and then walked over to take the train back to the front. It sprinkled a little around 5 while we were waiting for the train. The new train from Wild West World looks fantastic.


When we got off the train we ran into the parks GM Jerry Brick. We had a quick talk about the new owners and park plans. He took some time to ask about us. The fact he has a positive outlook for the new owners helps me feel much more comfortable. I was never happy about the buyout. We ran into him 2 more times before the end of the day. We also saw that Jason Piperton was back doing his street performer act and said he had a new Show all ready for The Haunted grave yard performances.


We hit the Zoomerange coaster and the Zoomer’s car ride while we were in the area. Zoomerange’s new color scheme looks great and the Color shifting pant is amazing, though the coaster is running a bit rough. Zoomer’s was fun as usual and I noticed a few new things thrown around here and there props form an old shooting gallery they had had in storage.



After a quick drink of free soda we saw Jerry again he warned us about some upcoming weather. So we made our way to Thunder and Lightning. The rid seamed longer than normal. No matter what it was, like normal, an exciting ride. We made our way to Balderdash for a few more rides. We hoped to get a few rides in before the weather hit.


We got a ride in the front and walked around and got in the back. Just as the ride was about to start eh sky opened and the operator said welcome to The Lakes new water coaster and sent the train out. It was pouring. My shirt was socked before we were at the top of the list hill. I saw little of the coaster since it was hard to keep my eyes open. We got down and being wet we opted to stay on. So we had another back seat ride. Rain was lighter. After that we did 2 more rides form the next seat up.


After Boulderdash and getting really wet we made our way back to Ghost hunt. We ended our day there. 2 rides and we had to go around and then we had 4 rides in a row. The rain had stopped by this point. I spent a bit of time taking a few pictures and we made our way out. We ate at a small diner near the park.


In all the day turned out great. The weather was mostly good and the rain held off till the very end. In all the day cost me only $35 dollars not including food. I can’t wait to get back for the haunted graveyard.

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Michael C - Speedzone Editor