Thursday, June 22, 2017
* Tickets sent to me for a great day at Lake Compounce!

Summer has officially arrived and I don't know about you guys, but one of my favorite pastimes to enjoy the warm weather is to head to an amusement park! For me, it's Lake Compounce, located in Bristol, Connecticut. 

From eighth grade outings to getting the friends together for some thrill-seeking, Lake Compounce has been the place to have some fun in the sun since I've been little! Celebrating it's 171st season this year, Lake Compounce is the oldest continuously operating amusement park in North America and is also known as the home to Boulder Dash, a top-rated wooden rollercoaster. Last month, I was so kindly sent a few tickets to enjoy a day at Lake Compounce with some friends!

Amusement parks, in general, can get crazy and with big crowds and long lines, you can easily spend most of your day just waiting for a ride that might not give you the thrills you were looking for. I've compiled a top five list of my absolute favorite things to do and rides to go on while spending the day there. Let me know what your favorites are!

Coordinate your day with a festival. We ended up picking the day that happened to be their first annual Craft Beer and Food Truck Festival but Lake Compounce always has events going on where you can more bang for your buck when buying a ticket (usually when you buy a ticket to the park, the event is free). The Craft Beer and Food Truck Festival featured a bunch of food trucks and breweries like Two Roads, Thomas Hooker, Stoney Creek, Lenny and Joe's Fish Tale and more - all local to Connecticut! While I'm not huge into beer, the guys that I was with had fun trying different IPAs.

Get your game on. Lake Compounce has plenty of smaller games like a basketball toss, squirt gun race, etc. but one of my absolute favorite games at Lake Compounce is the Haunted House - where it mixes a game with a fun ride all in one. The name of the game is to shoot as many ghosts as you can find with a laser gun as you sit and ride through the dark, spooky haunted house. There's a bullseye over moving targets and whoever has the most points at the end of the ride wins! I lose every time but I always make it a point to ride it at least once while I'm here. So fun!

Feel the thrill. I know rollercoasters aren't everyone's cup of tea but Lake Compounce has plenty of thrilling options that don't have you seeing upside down. Down Time is INSANE (and one of my faves!) that holds you up in the air and unexpectedly drops you from 185 feet above. Twister, Wipeout and Rev-O-Lution are great choices if you love getting dizzy. If you are a rollercoaster enthusiast, you can't leave without trying the Zoomerang (a rollercoaster that twists and turns forwards and backwards!) as well as Boulder Dash (the world's #1 wooden rollercoaster) and Lake Compounce's new Phobia Phear which speeds up to 65 mph and has an insane cobra roll at 150 feet in the air!

Grab a bite to eat. Lake Compounce has nine dining areas as well as snack shacks throughout the park. My absolute favorite place to eat is La Fiesta (I love their Taco-in-a-bag!) but if you're a hot dog and hamburger type of person, Pink's comes in at a close second and The Potato Patch in third! If you're craving sweets, the park offers Dippin' Dots (YUM!) as well as a bunch of other ice cream options, fried dough, The Bavarian Nut cart as well as the Sweet Shoppe (I remember when I was little I would stock up there before leaving!). The Watering Hole showcases breweries such as Firefly Hollow Brewing, Thomas Hooker, Back East Two Roads and more. It also offers quick snacks like pretzels and popcorn. PS. There's a special spot in the park where you can get free Pepsi products all day. You'll know it when you see it!

Cool off by the water. Am I the only one who saves the water park for last? I think I like to wind down in the water and usually towards the end of the day, there's way less people their. Lake Compounce's Crocodile Cove boasts eight main water rides including the Croc-O-Nile (a lazy river), Bayou Bay, Clipper Cove (a pirate ship loaded with water cannons, slides and big bucket of water!), Lights Out (a crazy water slide in the dark - I love this one!), Mammoth Falls (a water raft ride - so much fun to do with friends!), Riptide Racer (a slide you can race with up to four friends), Tunnel Twisters and Anchor Bay (a wave pool). Unfortunately, this was closed when we went but is open now!
Buy Tickets: Purchase
(By using the link above, you save $5 off your ticket! Not an affiliate code, just a sweet discount for my readers!)
