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Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread


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The Fall Family Fun Fest concept has failed before. Back in 2007, the park tried this, and it failed miserably. So the following year, Fright Fest returned. Obviously, these two events are basically the same, just a different theme. Either way, it doesn't matter to me because I will not return to the park until next year, when hopefully some of the issues are cleared up. I am worried that the park has lost many visitors this year, because of the poor service. The only way I see them turning it around is a new roller coaster, or large expansion plus the fixing up of the park in the following years. CNL will dish out the cash for the park, it is up to Herschend to provide the ideas.

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^ IMO, Darien Lake has a lot of potential, I agree that the coaster would boost guests. But, I'm sure that Side Winder Idea would do the same. Sure I'd rather see a roller coaster but If they have a thrill ride and take care of some internal issues such as 2 train operation which I could see as them trying to fix up the trains more in depth to be sure they run nice. I remember someone saying Six Flags did not keep up with train maintenance so that's a possibility. I was happy with my visit to Darien this year. Their new show was Amazing. Blast Off! Was interesting. It is your average launch tower. The only real "problem" I had was the rain. Otherwise it was a good day. So I wouldn't say they lost too many people this year. But I can say from an enthusiasts stand point. We see things a lot more different than the General public does. So where we see them failing. (though I wouldn't necessarily say it so blatantly just yet) They see it as maybe an "off day" Which I can relate too. Anyways. 2014 I believe will be a happy surprise at Darien. only time will tell!

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I couldn't agree more that DL seems to be in a bit of trouble with all the bad reviews and such coming out about poor service and poor staffing. On the other hand, HFE knows how to run a park. Let them do their jobs. I am 100% sure that they have a plan that may span as far out as ten years. The first thing was some new family rides. Why family rides? Cuz families spend money especially on souvenirs and food, teens and most enthusiasts do not. Families will provide the park with additional cash to fix what needs fixing. If you look every HFE park is a family friendly park with great shows and something for everyone. DL does not fit that mold yet, but I guarantee it will. PARC did more harm than good and now HFE has a mess to clean up.

 

On the Halloween festival idea dl has always had issues staffing it. I really think they should just close around the third weekend in sept and call it a year. I am still holding out hope for great things next year as ROS was announced in October and all footers were poured while fright fest was going on. They could be out there pouring them all this week and most wouldn't even notice them. I do think that good things will come, we just have to be patient

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That's more like it. If you advertise a Halloween event as both for families and teens, it will succeed a lot better. Now this will encourage teens to spend their 20 dollars at the park rather than Haunted Catacombs or Frightworld. I wonder where the haunted mine will be located. There is only one haunted house building that I remember.

 

Edit: I think that the Haunted Mine will be located in the Galaxy Theater, as it is vacant and large enough for a haunted house.

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Probably a stupid question to ask, but considering that Dolly Wood and SDC have just received large rides (And Dolly Wood is getting a new Resort...) I know that someone said Herschend approves ideas for the parks and for Darien, CNL shells out the big bucks. Is there a company co-operating the other parks (Elitch gardens, Dolly Wood, SDC) like CNL? or does Herschend solely own those and just, well... lease Darien and Elitch or mix and match or what? because to me, I find it odd that Herschend would add major coasters in SDC and Dolly wood but then say "we aren't looking to add any coasters to Darien any time soon" Yes I agree that they needed to work on infrastructure first but I'm not sure if that was the only factor... Sorry if that sounds confusing... if it does I'll simplify a little:

 

Does Herschend run Darien Lake differently than its other parks? If so, why? and also, Is Herschend a kind of company that would add 3 major rides to 3 of its parks one after another? Oh! and also, does CNL affiliate with any other Herschend parks?

 

Thanks Guys!

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I am fairly sure that HFE manages the park on a lease from cnl. With that being said, I think HFE gets final say on all ride additions and shells out the cash for all upgrades. It would only make sense. Imagine a business manager who could not decide who to hire or fire. I do think that dollywod and sdc are fully owned by HFE and that they can do anything they want there. It wouldn't surprise me to see HFE signed a deal with cnl saying they had to make so many $ in improvements yearly or something like that.

 

I am so pretty sure that elitch gardens is in the same boat as dl being owned by cnl and managed by HFE. There may be others but those are definitely the big two

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I got a chance to see a little bit of a preview of the Halloween event at DL that kicks off tonight due to a friend who needed some assitance at the park last night. The "Dark Waters" event was cancelled due to some production/safety issues involving the boats that they originally planned on using. However, the CarnEVIL and Haunted Boathouse attarctions that were tied to the "Dark Waters" event will be open for the event and still happening. I didn't have a chance to see inside the Boathouse but the CarnEVIL scarezone looks pretty cool, check out the cameo that the old B:TR stand-up trains are making in there lol.

 

The park is also doing a Haunted Mine walk-through which looks pretty impressive, as well as the return of the haunted bumper cars (ie. fog, metal music, strobe lights, chain link fenced in attraction). Also, for the first time in many years the entire park will be open for the event, however, be warned that during the day some flats may be down due to staffing. The park will focus on having all of their kiddie areas fullty staffed open-6pm and will then focus on having EVERY flat and coaster open from 7pm-close.

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Great to hear that they are trying to keep the entire park open. Especially having the focus on a specific time frame. Working with the guests and the staff they have to work with. It's the small things that help improve park stability. Good Job Herschend

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So, I want to put it out there and say I'm NOT trying to spread a rumor. I just want to see what you guys would think if in the "perfect" situation in which we get Lake-monster, Side Winder, the Bar-b-Que restaurant etc in 2014. 2015 rolls along and Darien Proposes this bad boy... 1086874588_ZackSpinCoaster2.jpg.e1b27b8874bcf7f57c861e0881250f34.jpg

What would you guys think? First off, has anyone been on a ZackSpin coaster personally and if so how would you like to see one in WNY, also does anyone think it would increase popularity at the park seeing that its such a unique ride?

 

Again, not spreading rumors, not begging for them to build insane rides every 5 minutes, but still something to talk about. I think personally it would be cool. Not to mention it's relativity small footprint. Please dont take the post the wrong way. Thanks!

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I think they should open Batman: The Escape(under a different name, of course). They do have it in storage you know.

It would cost much more money for the park to refurbish the track than for a new coaster. When Astroworld closed, the coaster was not disassembled correctly, and most of the track was heavily damaged. Also, the track has been sitting out in the elements for so many years that it is more valuable as scrap metal than a coaster.

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Batman:The Ride will never be re-built at Darien, as I said earlier they have dismantled the trains for it and are using it as part of their Carnival scare-zone this year for their halloween event. The trains are in pieces and have skeletons and other stuff hanging from them.

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Batman:The Ride will never be re-built at Darien, as I said earlier they have dismantled the trains for it and are using it as part of their Carnival scare-zone this year for their halloween event. The trains are in pieces and have skeletons and other stuff hanging from them.

 

*facepalm* It's wasn't called "Batman: The Ride" when it was at Six Flags Astroworld, it was called "Batman: The Escape". If Darien Lake plans and keeping trains and using them for their fall/Halloween event, I could see them selling the tracks for scrap!

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I think they should open Batman: The Escape(under a different name, of course). They do have it in storage you know.

It would cost much more money for the park to refurbish the track than for a new coaster. When Astroworld closed, the coaster was not disassembled correctly, and most of the track was heavily damaged. Also, the track has been sitting out in the elements for so many years that it is more valuable as scrap metal than a coaster.

 

I work in the business. Scrap steel is worth approximately $200 a tonne (2000 lbs). A little more if you prepare it yourself and considerably less if someone has to do the work for you. I am not familiar with the coaster and can only guess the weight. Some people on here may be have a better idea, but I would say there is at least 200 tonne (400 000 lbs) laying in that field. So if a company was willing to pay $150t to clean it up for them, there is about $30 000 to be made.

 

I would imagine that the various past managements would have had trouble being responsible for scraping a million dollar coaster for so little in comparison. Unfortunately, time goes and on and it has got to the point where it is time to just clean up the eyesore now, even if it is hidden in long grass, and recoup some money.

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I made my annual pilgrimage to Darien Lake today. i didn't take a lot of photos since I've taken so many over the years so there won't be any accompanying this brief review. I arrived at the park around 12:15 and it seemed like you owned the park as there were very, very few people there but the crowds started picking up around 2-2:30. It was great that they lowered the admission price for the fall event.

 

Rides closed: Twister, Sleigh Ride, Motocoaster (though it would open by mid-afternoon), Grizzly Run and Pirate. The entire area around Corn Popper (Thunder Rapids to Shipwreck Falls) was closed off.

 

My first ride was on Boomerang, which is one of my favorites in the boomerang family. It's still a relatively smooth ride. Though I really like the newer trains like on Carolina Cobra, the older bullet nose train runs pretty well on this one. Only issue were the bees that were hanging around towards the top of the reverse tower. I was waiting for someone, or myself, to get stung.

 

Viper seemed a bit rougher in spots than what I remember. I do like the new snake skin wrap and dark green paint on the train but there were already spots where the wrap was peeling off. It still irritates me that the old queue line vending machine building under the second corkscrew still stands and in terrible shape and also that the station still hasn't received a new paint job despite the entire coaster was repainted black a few year's ago and now the train getting some love.

 

It seems the foliage around Rowdy's Ridge is starting to fill in nicely in spots. Took a ride on the Hornet's Nest and the ride op there was awesome. She must have been a lifeguard at Splashtown during the summer now doing fill in work on rides. Before she let us on the ride she went over a few things regarding children on the ride that I thought was very professional. Other than that it's no wonder why these rides have become popular since we're seeing a few opening next year in parks. While not crazy like the old Bisch-Rocco models you can get some decent air on these Larson models.

 

Predator was open and it was "okay". The first drop, second hill, and far turn were decent but some of the hills after that were a bit rough and jolty, if that's a correct term to use. As much as I would like to see the current ride preserved as I find it a rather decent layout for what it is, I won't miss it if it does indeed get butchered fo become something else. Not to bring up an old topic but now that I've had my visit to the park I don't think the park needs something radical like what is proposed for Lake Monster. If they could just rework Predator without adding any inversions I think it could be a decent family wooden coaster all over again.

 

Next was Blast Off. I want to say that the new Lakeside Boardwalk area turned out very nice. It makes the center of the park rather vibrant. I only rode Blast Off once and I think it was a much needed attraction though I wish it was just a tad taller. The ride has a strong pop of airtime at the top, which took me by surprise, since it was stronger than CP's Power Tower space shot. The crew was doing well cycling people through. My only little gripe is the lack of a cover at the top of the tower because it makes it look incomplete.

 

Walked by Redhawk, the skyscoaster, and saw they cahrge $50 for a single flyer. Are they out of their minds? Most parks charge at max $30-$35 for a single flyer but Darien's is ridiculously high. I guess I'm spoiled by Kings Island's $10-$15 price, which seems to draw much more business.

 

Headed over to Road Rage Cage, BKA Bear Valley Bumper Buggies. I always liked how they closed up the bumper car building and added strobes and other lighting on the ride. Really adds to the experience though the one way only is a bit of a bummer.

 

Took another ride on Viper and by this time the station was full. Even with one train it seemed the ride ops were doing a decent job getting the train loaded and out on the course. I noticed the former mini golf under the ride is starting to look really shabby so maybe it will be removed next season.

 

Did not ride Mind Eraser (refuse to ride) nor did I take a spin on Ride of Steel (I no longer can fit on the ride) which is fine as it seemed like it took them a long time to dispatch the train from what I could see while waiting in Predator's station. I would have liked to have ridden the Giant Wheel but they no longer allow single riders to ride by themselves.

 

Overall it was a decent visit, not one of the best I've had, but decent. The one train operations on the coasters were a bit of a let down, especially when the crowds started to arrive, but I knew that was what I was going to find based on other reports I've read here during the summer. I still think Herschend is doing a good job with the park, it shows with the renovated areas like Lakeside Boardwalk, but it's still going to take quite a while to get it to where they want it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

With only one day left of operation, I hope that the new attraction for next year will be announced soon. Now I have seen another guest survey on Screamscape that shows an upcharge circus show. In my opinion, I think that next year we may see Sidewinder, the restaurant and the circus coming, as no signs of Lake Monster have come up. Hopefully if the circus goes through, it will not last one season like many other shows at the park, plus if it goes in Galaxy Theater, it should receive a facelift. I don't see myself ever watching the show, but it will bring traffic to the Twister area. Does anybody know where the Haunted Mine was located for Fright Fest? I was unable to visit this year.

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So if I remember correctly, Darien Lake shuts its gates on the 12th for the 2013 season, And if i were to call it I'd say we wont be seeing lake monster next year. so, being realistic (and I'm not saying Lake Monster Isn't) What do you think is coming in 2014? I would love to see a Frisbee because MaXair is such an awesome ride but its 4 1/2 hours away from buffalo...

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As I mentioned in my above post, I really doubt Lake Monster for next year. Here are my guesses for the next three years.

 

2014- Circus, Sidewinder, and Restaurant

 

2015- Lake Monster

 

2016- New Waterslides

 

Just speculation, but an educated guess on what we may see. If Lake Monster is added in 2015, I think that it's safe to see that it will be the only addition for that year. I believe that Sidewinder and the other two additions could definitely be done in one year. Then the water slides are not needed right away, but I do see Cuda Falls being taken down after next season and being replaced.

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As I mentioned in my above post, I really doubt Lake Monster for next year. Here are my guesses for the next three years.

 

2014- Circus, Sidewinder, and Restaurant

 

2015- Lake Monster

 

2016- New Waterslides

 

Just speculation, but an educated guess on what we may see. If Lake Monster is added in 2015, I think that it's safe to see that it will be the only addition for that year. I believe that Sidewinder and the other two additions could definitely be done in one year. Then the water slides are not needed right away, but I do see Cuda Falls being taken down after next season and being replaced.

 

O.K. Here are my wild guesses for the net three years!

 

2014 - Sidewinder and Lake Monster

 

2015 - New water slide to replace 'Cuda Falls

 

2016 - Circus show and a new restaurant

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