Six Flags New England Vs. Lake Compounce. Which Park is Better?

Coaster Round-Up


Six Flags New England and Lake Compounce are two amusement parks located roughly an hour from each other and are the two biggest parks in the region. Each includes a sizeable amusement park and water park that have been expanding in recent years.

But which of these parks should you visit?

Today I am going to compare the various pros and cons of each of these two parks in relation to each other to help you determine if either are worth visiting for you.

We are going to break down the comparison into sections, looking at roller coasters, other rides, the water park, food, and the overall guest experience at each park.

Roller Coasters

Lake Compounce Entrance Plaza At Sunset

Both Lake Compounce and Six Flags New England have world-class roller coasters that are among the best in the world.

Boulder Dash Mountain Coaster Entrance Sign Lake Compounce

At Lake Compounce, Boulder Dash is considered to be one of the best wooden roller coasters in the world. It is an airtime-filled experience featuring a terrain-filled layout that races through the mountainside of the park, surrounded on all sides by trees for a wonderfully claustrophobic experience. It is by far the best experience at the park. With the exception of the back car, the ride also tends to be smooth for a wooden roller coaster and should be open to moderate and intense thrill-seekers.

Six Flags New England features two world-class roller coasters, both of which are more intense than Boulder Dash.

Superman The Ride Red Train Helix Six Flags New England

Superman The Ride is the park's signature coaster, and it is a steel hyper coaster with an incredible layout and a riverside setting. This is generally considered one of the best rides in the world and for good reason. With airtime-filled hills and one of the best layouts on any coaster in the world, it is unlike anything else in the entire northeast. It is also of a similar intensity level to Boulder Dash, and should be accessible to most people.

Wicked Cyclone Roller Coaster Train In Station Six Flags New England

But the park also has Wicked Cyclone, an incredible RMC hybrid roller coaster featuring three inversions and a remarkably smooth airtime-filled layout. The ride is also incredibly long, making for a wonderful experience that just seems to go on forever. This is much more intense and makes for an amazing experience for thrill seekers.

Beyond their signature roller coasters each park also has a collection of other notable roller coasters.

Both have a kiddie coaster (Six Flags New England has two) that is nothing special. 

Both have a classic wooden roller coaster. Wildcat in Lake Compounce dominates the park's skyline and is a historic coaster, but it is also exceedingly rough. Thunderbolt in Six Flags New England provides a classic wooden coaster experience but with only one train it often has a ridiculously long line for what is only a good ride.

Both parks also have a steel boomerang roller coaster that is the exact same ride at both parks (Six Flags New England used to have two).

This is where the two parks diverge in their coaster collections.

Lake Compounce has one roller coaster that Six Flags New England does not have anything comparable to it, their launch coaster Phobia Phear Coaster. It is the only launch coaster in the region and an amazing experience.

What Six Flags does have the upper hand in though is the total number of roller coasters, although they are incredibly spotty.

Batman The Dark Knight Floorless Roller Coaster Entrance Six Flags New England

Batman The Dark Knight is a great looping floorless roller coaster although it is not a standout compared to other floorless roller coasters.

The park also has a few cloned roller coasters found at other amusement parks around the world.

One of these is The Riddler Revenge, a suspended looping coaster that is an incredibly rough experience.

Finally, Pandemonium is a spinning coaster that can be a great ride depending on how weight is distributed in the car.

If you are looking for quality roller coasters you can find them at both parks, but Six Flags New England has far more overall roller coasters, and more intense roller coasters overall.

Rides

Six Flags New England Teacups Ride

Both Six Flags New England and Lake Compounce have a large collection of rides beyond the roller coasters, but the rides they have could not be more different.

On the whole, the rides at Six Flags New England are less intense than the rides at Lake Compounce. This is largely due to the fact that most of them are in the two massive kiddie lands at the park.

The park does have intense rides, Scream and Harley Quinn Spinsanity are two notable examples, but as a whole, the rides beyond the roller coasters are aimed at very young visitors.

Lake Compounce has a more well-rounded collection of rides for all ages. They do have a sizable kiddie land but it is also joined by many more intense rides, especially considering the size of the park, including Down Time, Thunder N Lightning, and their Pirate Ship.

Water Parks

Crocodile Cove Water Park Bathhouse Mural Lake Compounce

Both Lake Compounce and Six Flags New England include a water park that is included in the price of admission for the park.

Once again in terms of size, Six Flags easily has the advantage, with far more slides, pools, and amenities.

But Six Flags has not been investing in the water park a large amount in recent years, and its been a while since the last major addition. But there is so much in the park this is not really obvious unless you are a frequent visitor.

Lake Compounce meanwhile is investing in a multi-year massive expansion of their water park that has brought a new wave pool and multiple new slides, most recently their new for 2021 Venus Vortex water slide.

It also has something that Six Flags does not have, an actual lake and beach as a part of the water park, which is a nice feature.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but the Six Flags Hurricane Harbor water park is undeniably the place to go over Lake Compounce's Crocodile Cove if you are looking for the biggest water park or the most slides and water attractions.

Food

Lake Compounce Pink's Hot Dogs

Both Lake Compounce and Six Flags feature a combination of chain restaurants and custom food offerings so we are going to discuss them in sections. We are not including food carts as both parks have roughly comparable offerings at their carts.

For chain offerings, you can find a Johhny Rockets and Pink's at Lake Compounce. Meanwhile at Six Flags New England you can only find a Johhny Rockets. The Pink's at Lake Compounce is a welcome treat at the park and it is one of the only east coast locations of this iconic Hot Dog chain.

As for original food, their are few standout offerings at Six Flags New England, with most items being relatively flavorless. Not bad, but far from great.

Potato Patch Chicken and Fries Basket Lake Compounce

Lake Compounce on the other hand has made an active effort to improve its food offerings over the years. The Potato Patch has always been the best overall stop at the park, but the good offerings do not end there. In 2021, they transformed what had probably been their worst restaurant, the Parkside Diner, into what is now one of the best, the Timberjack Chowhouse.

The food is much better at Lake Compounce and it is not a close comparison.

Overall Experience

Thunderbolt Wooden Roller Coaster Six Flags New England

So now that you have heard about all the rides and food at Lake Compounce and Six Flags New England, it is now time to look at the overall experience beyond the rides and attractions. This will include things like theming beyond the rides, the quality of the team members, and other factors like that.


Both parks have relatively similar quality of team members across their parks, and both are very good overall. You will rarely come across a bad team member at either park, the only bad thing is that the games workers at both can be pretty aggressive.

The theming at both parks is also great for what it is. You are by no means going to find Disney-level theming but the parks do make an effort to make their rides and park look nice.


The most notable difference between the two parks is that Lake Compounce, due to its forest setting near a mountain. On a hot summer day, this can be a very important difference.

Both are great amusement parks for different reasons, and it's good to know all the details when you are deciding which one to visit.


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