The Theme Park Page Feature Article

Lake Compounce
Bristol, CT
Winter Walk Through - March '07

We recently got a chance to go to Lake Compounce to check out what has been going on there this winter in preparation for the '07 season.  What we saw was the result of a lot of hard work (and some rare winter scenes of the park).  A real big thanks to Jerry Brick for the great walk through tour he gave all of us!  I also caught up with Jerry in the hall and asked him for a quick report on what was new this year.  Click here to see the video clip of what he had to say.

	This is the Music Express all packed up for the winter
	Everything except the steel frame work of the Music Express is packed up for the winter
	The water park iced over
	A close of of the water slides - where's all the ice on those hot summer days?
	The lake all frozen over
	Another shot of the lake
	One of the few sections of the return run of the Boulder Dash that was not retracked
	About 2/3 of the Boulder Dash was re-tracked
	Look at all the new wood
	Some sections were replaced all the way to the footings with steel used to re-enforce areas that take a beating
	A close up of the track work on the Boulder Dash
	The entire turn around section was re-tracked
	A closer look at the turn around
	A look over toward the raft ride.  See that green dumpster?  That is the proposed location of the entrance of a new spinning coaster to come within the next few seasons.  The coaster will run along the mountain behind the raft ride.  Park sources said that is will be a family spinning coaster!  Nothing official yet though.
	The turn around section of the Boulder Dash from inside the circuit
	Huge sections of the old track was removed and cut into sections that would fit into trucks to be removed.
	The return run from inside the circuit - yes we got to duck under the coaster to get a close up peek of the construction
	A shot of the re-tracking work on the upper part (outbound) of the coaster from inside the circuit.
	There was still ice on the rocks
	The Wild Cat is getting new computerized magnetic brakes and a new second train.  Yes, there will be two trains now!
	A close of up the work on the new brakes on the brake run
	One of the kids rides all packed up for the winter
	A kids ride will be moving under here
	A close up of the track work on the ride
	This is a strange view - it's the swing ride all packed up for the winter
	This is a view of all the parts of the swing ride in storage
	The Artic Express packed up for the winter
	Looking over the park from the kids area - there are no cars on the Ferris Wheel either
	The Zoomarang
	Contruction of the new car ride for this season (Zoomers Gas and Go)
	More construction shots
	This will be a 50's themed car ride.  What you see here is park of the mini drive in that is part of the theme of the ride.  The park is considering actually putting real movies on the screen - that would be cool!
	The Twister packed up for the winter
	The Thunder and Lightin' ride had some problems by the end of the season.  See the holes in the sides (black area).  Since this model of the swing was bigger than the other existing ones, the design did not consider the extra heat the motors generated and they burned out.  The manufacturer removed the motors so they could be redesigned according to the park.
	This is the Enterprise packed up for the winter
	The entrance to Boulder Dash is blocked by a pile of snow
	They are also repainting the Wild Cat which will be completed after the new brakes are installed.  So far, the bottom half was done.
	During the meeting, we got to park in the midway.  It was weird, but a rare and cool opportunity to drive through the park!
	The lazy river - anyone want to go for a relaxing chill?
	A look inside the empty dance hall
	A look at the Zoomarang from the street that runs along the side of the park (which leads to the service entrance to the park)

Pictures Copyright 2007
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