Photo: Scott Conley. View full-sized image.
On a breezy and sunny March 14, 109 regional ACE members and their guests attended the ACE New England region’s off-season event, The Great Nor’Easter. Held in the Starlight Theater at Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut, it was a great way to reconnect with fellow enthusiasts and park representatives after a very long, cold and snowy winter.
Great Nor’Easter attendees received a special Lake Compounce coin display.
Photo: Scott Conley. View full-sized image.
Attendees checked-in to find the park had gifted everyone a water-resistant cell phone holder and two express ride passes to use during the 2026 season, along with a custom-made Lake Compounce coin display. They also could register their submissions for the annual photo contest, where 39 entries were received.
Available to attendees was a mini ACE General Store with a surprisingly large selection of ACE merchandise for sale. There were several tables and displays of items available for a silent auction to be held over the course of the day, including large-print pictures from Lake Compounce, an ACE Logo Light, Titan Track ID brackets, multipacks of Canobie Lake Park tickets and even a Superman chain link.
The event began with a warm-up trivia game, led by Assistant Regional Rep Rus Ozana. Twenty-one multiple-choice questions were prepared for the savvy and knowledgeable group in attendance. It took just four questions (three of which were about Lake Compounce) to eliminate all but one of the participants! Since it went so quickly, another round was offered, and again, just four questions resulted in a winner. A third and last round was held, which produced a winner in five questions. Each winner was able to select from a huge collection of available door prizes.
Park presentations began with Sydney Snow, regional manager of public relations for both Kings Dominion (Doswell, Virginia) and Six Flags New England (Agawam, Massachusetts). She covered the off-season work to Six Flags New England’s Riverboat Café, and the fact that new paint is everywhere as well as new signs and planters. In Hurricane Harbor, nine slides have been freshly painted. A Six Flags blog initiative is being implemented for all Six Flags parks.
The Six Flags Fast Pass is now known as Fast Lane, with two available options. The first is Fast Lane Reserve, which virtually holds a rider’s place in line so they can explore the park while waiting. The rider will receive a return time to access the Fast Lane for priority boarding. The second is Fast Lane Ultimate, which allows its holder to make an immediate reservation to instantly join the Fast Lane, which can reduce wait time by up to 90%.
The most anticipated news was about Intamin’s family launch coaster, Quantum Accelerator. Theming in the queue has been added, and although the coaster will open to the public on April 17, a passholder preview will be available April 11-12.
Six Flags New England is excited to be co-hosting Coaster Con 48 on June 21-23. Among other things, the park is planning 10.5 hours of ERT, including a 1.5-hour session on all coasters, currently scheduled for June 23.
A short break was taken to call door prize winners and was followed by the second presenter, Deno “DJ” Vourderis, of Deno's Wonder Wheel Amusement Park in Coney Island (Brooklyn), New York. He first humbly and deeply acknowledged his appreciation of the receipt last fall of an ACE Honorary Membership. In true DJ style, he began a video of “What not to do while running an amusement park.” The video included his children, who have a habit of pointing out things that aren’t working. Also shared was closed-circuit video footage of the dark ride, Spook-A-Rama, during which a passenger lost a shoe and a hat and got out of the car to retrieve them, breaking a sensor or two in the process, then having the nerve to ask for a band-aid as he got off the ride.
Off-season work brought the restoration of the park’s “Grandmother Predictions,” which has an animatronic “grandma” dispensing advice. Installed at the top of the Wonder Wheel is a cross, which was replaced. The new cross is made of aluminum and has lighting that changes colors. Vourderis has followed the example of another, very well-known park representative by collecting book donations for area shelters.
ACE New England adopted this Dentzel Prancer from the Carousel Museum and named her “Ace.”
Photo: courtesy Carousel Museum, Bristol, Connecticut. View full-sized image.
Another break for door prizes and for photo contest voting was taken, after which came a presentation from Cate Mahoney, of the Carousel Museum in Bristol, Connecticut. She provided an overview of the museum’s purpose (primarily preservation), including carousel horse restorations for both amusement park carousels and private collectors. At the conclusion of her presentation, ACE New England announced its adoption of a carousel horse, a Dentzel Prancer, and appropriately named her “Ace.”
After more door prize winners were called, it was time for what is probably the second most favorite thing ACEers love — lunch! Lake Compounce pulled out all the stops, offering a buffet-style picnic with a menu of delicious options normally found all season long in their catering pavilions, from salads to desserts (fudge! Dippin’ Dots!). A break after lunch allowed time for a group photo, more silent auction bidding and photo contest voting.
Presentations continued with General Manager Doug Hemphill of Lake Compounce. In addition to expressing his excitement as one of the co-hosts of Coaster Con 48 this summer, he reviewed the off-season preparations toward The Lake’s 180th season. Joining Hemphill was Jerry Brick, former general manager of The Lake and now capital and construction manager for Herschend (Compounce’s parent company). Brick announced that the additional 500 feet of new Titan Track from Great Coasters International, Inc. for Boulder Dash have been installed, bringing the total to 1,735 linear feet of steel track added as part of a multiyear project. Although the desire to keep Boulder Dash a wooden coaster is strong, its location along the side of a mountain brings exceptional challenges for maintenance. The steel track, while certainly not a one-and-done solution, will help extend the intervals of work required to keep the coaster running in top shape and lessen down time for maintenance.
Hemphill spoke of the new, on-site Lake Compounce History Museum, which will display memorabilia, photographs, documents and other items of interest. He also revealed that Wildcat will offer two-train operation and reviewed food and beverage improvements throughout the park. With ownership now under Herschend, which also oversees Dollywood and Silver Dollar City, the topic of cinnamon bread came up. Will Lake Compounce be adding the delicious treat within the park? It’s a great idea but one that is not in the immediate plans.
Hemphill also spoke for Story Land (Glen, New Hampshire), whose representatives were unable to attend the event. There have been a multitude of in-house renovations, including rebuilt Polar Coaster trains and the return of Turtle Twirl and Crazy Barn. A new VIP Character show will debut, as well as a breakfast show with Daniel Tiger. The Living Shores Aquarium, next door to Story Land, will be celebrating Earth Day with a party on April 22.
The next presenter spoke of the roses that decorate 48 hand-carved wooden horses and two lovers’ chariots in a 1914 carousel by renowned carvers Solomon Stein and Harry Goldstein. The carousel stands in Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut. According to The Bushnell Conservancy representative Morgan Fippinger, the carousel is only one of three Stein and Goldstein carousels left in existence, the other two being in Central Park in New York City and Knoebels Amusement Resort, in Elysburg, Pennsylvania.
Bushnell Park has been an oasis in the heart of the city, created in 1983 by the Bushnell Park Foundation. The park includes not only the carousel, but also a children’s playground, memorial fountains, sculptures and statues, a pond (used for ice skating in winter) and a 3,200-square-foot steel and wood performance pavilion. A brick, brownstone and timber “cottage” contains a functioning pumping station for flood control and a beautiful gallery that can be rented for meetings and celebrations.
Vermont ACE member Amy Orvis provided a follow-up to her 2025 presentation on La Récré des 3 Curès (“The Three Priests”) in Milizac, Brittany, France. This little-known park near Brest has grown to include three coasters, Train de la Mine, a mine train from Soquet; Jeepo Dino, a family coaster from Zamperla; and Vertika, a custom Euro-Fighter from Gerstlauer Amusement Rides GmbH. This year Tremor is opening. At 80 meters high (262 feet), it is the third tallest drop tower in France.
With two presentations remaining, it was time to announce the winners of the photo contest. Assistant Regional Rep and Contest Coordinator Emery Picotte awarded plaques to Robert Cornellier (first place) for his photo of Bobcat at The Great Escape. Two photos from Six Flags New England rounded out the top three: Fred Ryczek (second place) for his photo of Quantum Accelerator and Joel Rudnicki (third place) for his photo of Superman the Ride. Congratulations to all the winners and many thanks to all who submitted photos.
New York Regional Representative Wade Abbott spoke for ACE’s third host park for Coaster Con 48, The Great Escape (Queensbury, New York). Many of the preparations for their co-hosting offerings were being kept under wraps — for now.
Abbott also announced a post-Con event to be held at Seabreeze Amusement Park in Rochester, New York. Called Bunnies, Bobsleds and Bears — Oh My!, the June 27 event will include the dedication of not one but two ACE plaques: a Centennial Award for Jack Rabbit and an ACE Roller Coaster Landmark for Bobsled.
Wrapping up the event was former ACE Vice President David Dragun with a summary of ACE updates and events for 2026, including the release of a new website, an overview of volunteer opportunities and a reminder that 2026 is an election year.
The end of the day brought the announcement that the silent auction items raised a total of $1,640, distributed among the ACE Preservation Fund, ACE Archives and the National Roller Coaster Museum and Archives.
ACE New England offers its deepest appreciation and gratitude to all the park presenters, the volunteers who helped The Great Nor’Easter be the event that it is each year and the management and staff of Lake Compounce, for hosting the event this year.
— Rus Ozana, ACE New England Assistant Regional Representative
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