Sunday, July 1, 2018
A BIG thank you to Lake Compounce for letting us have a day of fun at their park!

Last weekend, we had the absolute pleasure of hanging out Lake Compounce, a theme park located in Bristol, CT! Guys, we had a blast! If you remember, last year I checked out Lake Compounce with my friends but this year, I decided to bring the fam and get in some family fun. Today, I'll be sharing our absolute favorite rides and activities to go on with the kids!

LAKE COMPOUNCE BRISTOL CT THINGS TO DO IN CONNECTICUT FAMILY FUN BLOGGER REVIEW
Did you know that Lake Compounce is the oldest continuously-operating amusement park in North America? They are also home to the world's #1 wooden roller coaster, Boulder Dash and Connecticut's largest water park, Crocodile Cove!

I've been going to Lake Compounce for years - it's just one of those places that was a big part of my childhood. In the summer, we'd go there for our end-of-the-season bowling outings (yep, I used to bowl) and every fall we'd go to their Haunted Graveyard to get scared silly. At one point, I probably knew the place like the back of my hand.
LAKE COMPOUNCE BRISTOL CT THINGS TO DO IN CONNECTICUT FAMILY FUN BLOGGER REVIEWLAKE COMPOUNCE BRISTOL CT THINGS TO DO IN CONNECTICUT FAMILY FUN BLOGGER REVIEW

I was so excited to bring the boys and see their reactions to all the rides!

Note: Brody, my youngest (1.5 years old) was not able to go on most of the kids rides so if you do have a little little guy (under 36"), I'd wait another year so they could fully enjoy the kiddie park. He was able to go on some rides like the carousel, Ghost Hunt, etc. as long as we accompanied him. Hunter, my oldest (a few months shy of 4), on the other hand, was able to go on most of the kids rides.

First stop? Games!

LAKE COMPOUNCE BRISTOL CT THINGS TO DO IN CONNECTICUT FAMILY FUN BLOGGER REVIEW
LAKE COMPOUNCE BRISTOL CT THINGS TO DO IN CONNECTICUT FAMILY FUN BLOGGER REVIEW
You can't miss them as they're directly in front of you as you walk through the entrance. From the ol' throw the ball in the bucket to poppin' a ballon, Lake Compounce has alllll the classics. Each game will run you about $3 for one shot or $5 for two. My boys saw Pokemon and flew over to the bucket toss game. It was hilarious watching Anthony (my fiance) and the sweet guy running it explain to the boys how to play. You can see in the second picture that Brody had NO intentions of letting the ball go. 

A short walk brings you straight to the kids area where you're welcomed by two elephants balancing on balls (Brody LOVED this as he is obsessed with elephants). What I love the most about this area is that almost all of the kiddie rides plus the Daniel Tiger show are all in this one spot.

Little Dare Devils

LAKE COMPOUNCE BRISTOL CT THINGS TO DO IN CONNECTICUT FAMILY FUN BLOGGER REVIEW

Hunter immediately ran for the motorcycles! Little Dare Devils is a sweet little ride where they sit on a motorcycle and go around and around a few times. It's tame - not too fast, not too slow - and made Hunter feel independent as he got to do it by himself!

Caterpillar Train

If there's a train in the area, Hunter's going to find it and ride on it. This cute train ride is ant and caterpillar themed (which, again, Hunter LOVES) and went nice and slow around the track twice.

Daniel Tiger's Grr-ific Day!

LAKE COMPOUNCE BRISTOL CT THINGS TO DO IN CONNECTICUT FAMILY FUN BLOGGER REVIEW

Daniel Tiger's Grr-ific Day! is a brand new show for 2018 at Lake Compounce! It features Daniel Tiger, Katerina Kittycat and talking about getting over fears and trying new things. I wasn't sure my boys would like it as they never sit still for like, anything. Wouldn't you know that they were both completely into the show. Brody was mesmerized by the entire thing and was dancing. It was such a good time! You can check out more information on the times here.

Flying Elephants

Brody freaked over this ride. He wanted to go on it so bad but unfortunately, didn't meet the height requirements but Hunter went on instead. As you can see, Hunter loved it - probably even more because his brother couldn't go on. 👿

Drum Circus

Going through all these pictures, Hunter has the biggest cheesiest smile ever and a ride on Drum Circus was no different! The Drum Circus allows you and friends to spin yourselves around at your own speed.

Fantasy Carousel

The carousel is a classic and always brings back the feels of being little again. We had the entire carousel to ourselves so we got a chance to pick whatever we wanted to ride on. Hunter chose a grizzly bear and Brody chose the white horse next to him. I think B was just excited to be on a ride at first and then was like, "Oh crap." when it started to move.

Kiddie Coaster

As a mama, this ride broke my heart. We had asked Hunter, since this was first ever time on a roller coaster, if he wanted us to ride with him. He told us, "no" and ran off to the gate to get on the ride. Cue my heart breaking. 💔 His face in this picture totally kills me. He loved it! This coaster was a little on the faster side (at least for little kids) so if you have a little guy that isn't into a faster moving ride, this probably wouldn't be for him.

Ghost Hunt

Introducing my favorite ride of all time here! Yep, that includes all the awesome rollercoasters Lake Compounce has. I don't know why but this ride has a special place in my heart. It mixes a thrilling ride through a haunted house with the game of shooting ghosts for points for a fun ride for all ages. My boys like scary. I mean, their fave holiday is Halloween. They're all about that spooky life. BUT, this ride is dark with glow-in-the-dark ghosts slowly moving around (nothing pops out, if I recall correctly). My oldest loved it but my youngest was kind of meh over it. I couldn't tell if he liked it or not but he didn't seem scared.

DINO EXPEDITION

LAKE COMPOUNCE DISCOUNT PROMO COUPONS SUMMER 2018 BRISTOL THINGS TO DO IN CONNECTICUT
We took a break from the rides and checked out the Dino Expedition. It's an awesome walk-through with colorful animatronic dinosaurs. There's no age limit to walk through and the boys loved it! The dinosaurs do not move fast and are not loud so it wasn't scary at all. The walk-through is at your own speed. My boys loved the open air fossil dig area which is a huge sand pit with fossils they can dig up using diggers. My apologies for all the pictures but this was one of our faves activities! You can see Brody is some of the pictures with his mouth wide open. He kept yelling, "MAMA!" and pointing to everything!



Snack Time!

Lake Compounce offers a bunch of options for food. If you're looking for a snack, they have multiple carts and snack bars throughout the park. My fave places for food are the Potato Patch, Breyers Ice Cream Shoppe, Pink's and Funnel Cake Factory! Lake Compounce also offers meal plans you can purchase with your tickets online. PS. Check out the end of the post for a sweet discount code off regular admission for my readers only!
Just as we left Breyer's Ice Cream Shoppe, it started to pour. I'm not talking a casual drizzle but more a torrential downpour! We took cover in a water shooting game stand and waited it out.

Unfortunately, the rain wouldn't let up much so we got ready to leave but there was still a lot of rides open. Pretty much anything under a roof. Rollercoasters and things like that were slowly being shut down due to the weather, which honestly, I appreciated. Safety first!

LAKE COMPOUNCE DISCOUNT PROMO COUPONS SUMMER 2018 BRISTOL THINGS TO DO IN CONNECTICUT
It's always a good time at Lake Compounce! I expected long lines because there was a car show on top of it being a gorgeous day (until it rained) but was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the lines moved. The boys had a blast at their visit to an amusement park for the very first time and I was so happy with how many rides they could go on being so little! 

The rain was a bummer but there was still so much going on even with it raining that your time there doesn't necessarily have to end just because of it. That being said, I'm super impressed with Lake Compounce making the call to shut down some rides due to safety reasons as I know their first priority is the safety of its park-goers!

While we didn't get a chance to head in, Lake Compounce is home to Connecticut's largest water park, Crocodile Cove! Whether you're hanging with friends or bringing the family (even my little guys could go in for some of the rides!), there's something wet and wild for everyone!

Also, if you're into camping (which we totally are), did you know Lake Compounce has their own campground, Bear Creek Campground, where you can rent a cabin, hut, teepee or you can bring your own tent or RV in for a some fun nights under the stars. We will definitely be checking this out next time!

And now for a sweet, sweet discount for my readers! 

Thank you so much, Lake Compounce!
Heading to the amusement park can get expensive! Click this link for the discount to automatically be added or use promo code: LCBLOG18 at check out for $8 off regular admission this summer! I checked and you can use this on multiple tickets (I tried up to 10 tickets and it still worked! I'm not sure if there's a cut off number) and can be used multiple times throughout the summer! *Only for use on operating days in the summer. 

Enjoy, guys and share with your friends!