A few weeks ago, we took a little road trip about an hour north to Lake Compounce as a Kindergarten graduation celebration for Amalia and two of her best pals who happen to live next to us. We are good friends with all the parents so made a big fun day trip out of it. We expected to drive up, hang for a few hours, and come home but ended up having the best day ever and stayed for the whole day!
Truly I felt like a kid again riding so many roller coasters and water slides. We decided that we are going to go back as a group every year. It was just as fun for the adults as it was for the kids. We thought Luca might be a little too small this year to keep up with our crowd, but after seeing how much they have for littles as young as 3-year-olds, we will 100% bring him next time we go. Children 3 and under are free, btw.
I had never been, but Lake Compounce is half amusement park (think roller coasters and carousels) and half water park (think water slides and lazy river). It has over 45 rides and attractions but doesn’t feel too big or overwhelming. Fun fact, it’s actually America’s first amusement park and has been open for over 175 years. How did I not know about this sooner?
While we were there I also saw that they have a summer concert series every Saturday through Labor Day and the bands play on a floating stage on the lake. It looked so cool, we want to go back to see one before the summer is up. All of the concerts are free with park admission so if you go for the day you can stay and watch it at no extra cost.
Our strategy for the day was to hit up the amusement park first, get lunch, and then do the water park. We arrived right when it opened at 11 and were able to ride a bunch of rides with zero wait. Yes, zero.
I cannot recommend this place more! It was the perfect size, colorful and clean, and so much fun for everyone involved. Save up to 30% on single day tickets here.
Our favorite “dry” attractions:
Zoomerang Roller Coaster: My friend Emily and I rode it twice! It had two big drops and a loop-de-loop. So fun but wasn’t too overwhelming. One of the kids (age 8) also did it twice.
Boulder Dash: Voted one of the top wooden roller coasters in the world. It’s a fast-paced ride along Lake Compounce’s mountain terrain that goes 60 MPH. It’s a beautiful ride and so much fun.
Kid Rides: Amalia and her friends loved the Drop Zone. It’s a mini drop tower for children about 4 to 13 years old. They must have done the Drop Zone almost 10 times. They had the biggest smiles on their faces!
Pirate Ship: So this was a bigger ride, but Amalia braved it, and I was so proud of her. She was really nervous when it started, then ended up loving it. It’s a giant pirate ship that swings back and forth.
Our favorite water attractions:
Croc-o-Nile: The lazy river was another one of my personal favorites. On a super hot day, it was so refreshing and relaxing.
Venus Vortex: This water slide was my number one favorite thing we did all day! You take a tube up to the top so you get a good workout and then it’s a slide with a ton of big drops and turns. Part inside, part outside. At the end you get dumped into what looks like a giant Venus Flytrap and swish back and forth until it spits you out.
Storm Surge: This one was not what we expected, but plays heavy metal music you ride down a spinny waterslide on your back in the dark with head-banging music blasting and I loved the thrill of it and went back for a second ride.
Thank you so much to Lake Compounce for bringing us out for the day. We will be back so soon! This post is sponsored by Lake Compounce. All opinions, as always, are 100% my own.
