Daily News from New York, New York • 165

Travel DAILY NEWS Sunday, September 14, 1986 A Connecticut Park Amuses Young and Old By CHRIST1ANE BIRD Doily New Travel Wntar IS THE MID-1800S. FROM THE WOODED hills of a small Connecticut town come the tinkling sounds of an amusement part An Star Recording" booth where aspiring singers can cut their own records. For you choose a song (anything from "Born in the U.S.A." to "White Christmas" and "Over the practice in your own private studio and then sing along with the record. Your performance with full musical background is recorded for posterity. If it's a more professional musical sound you're after, head over to the refurbished dancehall the same one that once featured the famous big bands.

A 45-minute musical variety show called "A Salute to Liberty" is presented there five times a day. Admission is included in the park entrance ticket Because Lake Compounce is small and Bristol is a good two-hour drive from mid-Manhattan, you will probably want to combine a visit there with some of the other attractions in the area. These include the Lock Museum of America (in Terryvil- le; phone 203589-6359) and the American Clock and Watch Museum (in Bristol; 203583-6070). Lake Compounce is open Fridays (5-10 p.mj, Saturdays (10 a.m.-lO p.m.) and Sundays (10 a.m.-8 p.m.) through Oct. 12.

The 1987 season will begin in mid-May. For more information, call (800) 243-7275 or (203) 582-6333. Although now closed for the season, a waters-lide and beach area are also part of the park. They have separate admission prices: the waterslide is $3251one-half hour; the beach To reach Bristol, located 106 miles from mid-Manhattan, 1 took the East Side Drive, Avenue Bridge and Major Deegan Expressway to the Saw Mill River Parkway, then 1-684 North to the connect with 1-84 East. I stayed on 1-84 to Exit 31 and picked up Route 229, proceeding 2.8 miles to the traffic light, then followed signs.

all-wooden Ferris wheel takes shrieking children up and around, while revolving swings spin giggles from full-skirted ladies. It is 1986. That Ferris wheel is long gone and the giggling ladies are more likely to be wearing jeans than frilly skirts. But otherwise. Lake Compounce in Bristol, is one of the oldest amusement parks in the country.

Begun in 1846 with a bandstand, swimming facilities and a 10-pin bowling alley, it reached its heyday during the 1930s and '40s when big bands including Count Basie and Woody Herman trooped up into the quiet hills to blast away in the park's dancehall. The park, built on the shores of peaceful Lake Compounce, fell on hard times during the 1950s, '60s and "70s. Now, however, it is entering a new era. It was taken over last year by the Hershey Entertainment Resort operator of the popular Hershey Park complex in Pennsylvania, and has since been blessed with a sorely-needed $22 million renovation. With the refurbishment program now 85 3 Advance-Purchase Savings aul Year's Lowest-Priced Panama Canal Cruises-2nd In RdomSjWEs! matiRri-P-t-r-" r- dining.

Dance in the nightclub or disco in the dazzling IndoorOutdoor Center. Money-saving airsea packages. Ten-day cruises, $1,999 to 11-day cruises, $2,199 to $4,760. The second person in any stateroom pays one low price as little at $999 on a 10-day cruise, as little as $1,099 on an 11-day. What's more, our airsea packages feature low-cost airfare.

It's easily one of the world's most exciting voyagessailing between the Caribbean and Acapulco through the Panama Canal aboard Curiard Princess. And fall, winter or spring, the second person in any stateroom pays one low rate, regardless of room category. The more luxuriously you sail, the more you save! The Caribbean, the Canal, Mexico in 10 or 11 days. Explore Acapulco, Montego Bay, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. Eleven-day cruises also visit Balboa and Costa Rica's Puerto Caldera.

Cunard Princess departs Fort Lauderdale and Acapulco year-round except summer. In spring, she also departs Galveston. Cunard Princess excitement Enjoy a dip in the terraced pool, play volleyball or paddle tennis. Take aerobics, pop into the sauna or Jacuzzi Whirlpool Baths. Take in the casino or the piano bar.

Enjoy ocean-view Book 1987 now and save! Put down a deposit by Sept. 1 and get any 1987 Panama Canal cruise at Cunard's regular 1986 rates! SWINGING away on the Tunxis Twirl." CHRtSTtANE BIRO DAILY NEWS complete, the 70-acre park has been operating since July 4 and will remain open weekends only through Oct 12. Lake Compounce is a family park in the best sense of the word. It's quite small, only 15 rides, but it has a warm friendly atmosphere that makes it easy to shepherd the kids around or let them run loose. An all-inclusive entrance fee ($9.95 for adults.

$8.95 for children 4-9, free for those 3 and under) allows both children and adults to indulge in as many rides as they like without further damage to the pocketbook. At the heart of the park is the "Wildcat," an all-wooden roller coaster that was built in 1927 by the Philadelphia Toboggan Co. and then completely refurbished in 1985. Although it's small by today's standards, the ride is considered a classic, one of fewer than 200 wooden roller coasters left in the U.S. Right next door to the roller coaster is a lovely antique carousel, painted in deep colors and highlighted with gold.

Assembled in 1911, the carousel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, an honor usually reserved for buildings or battlefields. The carousel's 22 standing and 27 jumping horses, two chariots and one goat were carved by four different artists, and some of the pieces date back to 1896. This makes it the "oldest continuously-operating" carousel in the country. ANOTHER antique ride can be found by the shores of the lake for which the park is named. Here is the "Gillete Train," a miniature train built in 1928 by actor William Gillete for personal use at his mansion on the Connecticut River in Hadlyme.

Gillete, best known for his stage portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, spent $50,000 on his toy a fortune at the time and the original oak cars with their painted gold numbers are beauties. Other, more-modern rides at Lake Compounce include the "Tunxis Twirl" centrifugal-force gondola ride; the "Traffic Jam" bumper car ride, and the "Pirate," where buccaneers can rock pendulum-style to heights of 66 feet. One section of Lake Compounce is devoted to games. Unlike the funky booths at many amusement parks, these are all spic-and span operations, with names such as "Spill the Milk," "Bowler Roller "Wacky and "Krazy Hoop." Extend your vacation with a Sail 'N Stay package of three or four days at Acapulco's Hyatt Regency. Contact your travel agent or Cunard soon.

Rales per person, double occupancy, dependent on departure date; taxes extra. Sail 'N Stay subject to availability; Cunard may substitute a comparable hotel tor Hyatt Regency Cunard Princess registered in the Bahamas. Cunard, Box 999, Farmingdale, NY 11737. I I I Rush me, free, your deluxe color brochure on the I I Panama Canal aboard Cunard Princess (Q778). Send me the Cunard Princess videotape.

II enclose a check for S7.95, payable to "Vacations on Video" (Arizona residents, add 6.5 sales tax). I I VHS version BETA version 1986 CUNARD MY TRAV EL AGENT AQ2257 1 3 Queen Elizabeth Sagafjokp jyigflORQ jujmard Countess i i Cunard Princess.