Philrad71

Yep, I agree that Marineland is one of the strangest parks I have ever visited. I am going to be very close to that park tomorrow, but will skip it to hit up the new 'Niagara's Fury' attraction instead. Then up to the CNE and Canada's Wonderland over the weekend! Maybe I should start a new topic and ask if Canada's Wonderland will be crowded on Saturday, or if Behemoth will have a big line? Nahhhh!!!!!

That's easy: Best: Ride of Steel Worst: Predator

Nice report! It looks exactly like I remember it from a couple of years ago , except Super Menage and the Boomerang were not even open. Super Menage looked like the worst excuse for a coaster that I had ever seen, but the name sounded just so damned sexy and kinky! I really liked Goliath, but the rest of the park was very forgettable. I also did a "Le WTF?" when I saw the drop tower and could not figure out why it did not go to the top.

They had those "I Got It' games around every corner at the Erie County Fair in Buffalo last night. I had never heard of them before yesterday...looked fun, but every seat was taken. Sooooo...we opted for the beer tent instead!

^ You work there and your 15???

Care to add more insight as to why you think that Waldameer is a dump? Granted it is small, but it is a great family park and appears to be well maintained. The only possible reasoning that I could see that you would think it is a dump is if you used the restroom in the Rainbow Gardens indoor pavilion. We recently had our shop picnic there and the whole inside looked like it was unchanged from the sixties. They either need to remodel it, or tear it down and add another thrill ride. My vote on this subject goes to La Ronde. Goliath was a fun coaster, but the rest of the park was just awful. Rides not operating, rude attendants, and just a bland assortment of rides. Definitely one of the worst run parks in the Six Flags chain that I have visited! I thought that the $37 admission price seemed a bit steep for this dump. Am I to expect a topic for good park, bad coasters soon ??

Nice report! I am definitely going to have to hit up Skull Mountain when I go in September. I did not ride it when I was there two years ago, but have heard pretty good reviews of it - better than Dark Knights actually. Loved the DK comparison to Hershey's Wild Mouse with dark glasses!!!!! Classic!!! On the Flashpass, I am wondering if the Gold is actually worth all of the extra money compared to the regular Flashpass?

Nice report and very well written! I am looking forward to going back there on Labor Day weekend as I had a blast there last year. A great way to end a summer! I personally thought that Roller Soaker was a unique concept, but not worth the 1.5 hour wait that we waited for it. That was because it was about 85 degrees and everyone was flocking to any and all of the water rides. The toilet bowl slide was also about an hour wait - but very fun! I am glad to see that they are expanding the water park area, but sorry that it comes at the expense of the rapids ride, which I thought was one of the best. I also agree that The (yay) Claw is the best flat rides in the park, although I love the Tilt-A-Whirl! I did not get on Sooper Dooper Looper, but am planning on getting it in this year!

^ Maybe Shapiro will have it torn down for a new family-friendly attraction?? Perhaps Dark Knight's building from SFNE could go in there?

^ Just to clarify...Darien Lake is no longer a Six Flags theme park. But, I did observe a couple of ride attendants there that were more content on goofing off rather than dispatching riders. On the other hand, there were some excellent ride ops on the Boomerang coaster and Tornado water ride.

Glad that you guys were able to skirt off the bad weather that we have been having here in Western New York! Rain, sun, rain, sun, rain, rain, and more rain - oh, and let's not forget the thunder and lightning too! Went to the Erie County Fair last night in Hamburg (near Buffalo) and got stormed out before I could get any rides in. Oh well, we managed to have a good time at the American version of Hofbrauhaus! I had a great time at Darien Lake a few weeks ago. It restored my faith in the park after Six Flags sold it. Would have loved to have joined up with you folks, but my work schedule would not allow it. Superman was also kicking some serious arse, but the stack-up's were bad due to people that were not checking themselves at the front entrance seat tester thingamajig. I will however, be making my way up to CW for Behemoth next weekend. Also will be hitting up the Canadian National Exhibition, which starts next Friday in Toronto! Have fun!!!

^ Oops! Almost forgot...they might be getting the 'Tehr-mehn-ate-ah: Sahl-vay-shun' at SFMM next year. That should make up for the losses of everyone's fave coaster: Psyclone, the mechanical flop that was Deja-Vu, and the pee-poor reviews of Batman: DK - The Ride for the SF parks!!!

Sorta like the Redskins, right Danno?? As far as the Dark Knight...dumping 7.5 million each into two over-glorified indoor mouse coasters seems like a big expense for a ride with below average reviews. Not really what I would have called a great business investment for a struggling corporation. Granted, we are coaster enthusiasts here, but if teens on this site are ripping the ride, who else would find it enjoyable? Grandma and Grandpa? Mom and Dad and the giddy seven year old that sleeps with a night-light?? "Family coaster" based on a "family movie", right??? I went and saw the movie last week and the theatre was flooded with teens...maybe one or two families. My review of the movie? Okay, but over-hyped, just like the reviews I have read of the ride - Two out of four stars, and not what I would deem a "fun, family movie." Sounds like the reviews of the coaster would average about the same. I wonder if Kennywood paid 7.5 mill for Exterminator, which sounds like the same ride without the Batman theme?? Five years from now, DK will be like Disaster Transport where they won't have any lights on, or (barely) any of the queue theming will be working. People will walk off the ride laughing and wondering how anyone could have been so lame for waiting 2-3 hours for the ride! At least SF made one good business decision in '08 by building Evel Knievel for half a mill less...

^ Same could be said for other CF parks too...my jaw dropped when I saw the admission price for KD in relation to CP! I agree that the admission price for the size of the park is not bad at all. Plus if you get the discount tickets, or have the Getaway Guide, it is even cheaper.

Nice report! This park reminds me a lot of Waldameer. Classic carnival rides with some decent coasters thrown in the mix. The water park also sounds like fun!

It is interesting how the senior/junior was like $9.99 two years ago and now it is $19.99. They must have seen too many people like my partner (who is 65) riding Millenium and Maverick and loving it!!!

Went to Presque Isle last week to check out the beach. Decided to walk up to the RFII bridge and take some pics. Beautiful sunset on the beach. Sara's/Sally's diner right at the entrance of Presque Isle. Far away shot. First drop. Bridge and turn-around. Sexy RFII.

But, if you read some of the other reports, you will see people bashing CF for horrible park operations. I think this can happen at any park on any given day. I think it is silly that some people say that CF's operations are better or worse than Six Flags and that CF parks are going down the tubes. My overall experience at SFMM a couple of years ago was awful, but that doesn't mean that I would not go again and have different results during the next visit. I visited KD a couple of months ago and thought the same thing. The ride op's were very friendly and the overall experience at the park was a pleasant one. Same can be said for my experience at Cedar Point in June. Employees were getting the crowds going on Maverick, Millenium and Gemini. Line jumping was being enforced, as well as the smoking policy. I thought that the operations were great and I thoroughly enjoyed my visits to both parks. I personally like what CF has done with Kings Dominion since taking over the reigns from Paramount.

^ Ooops! Never mind then!

I think this coaster needs a nice, new home...it would fit in great at Conneaut Lake Park! That was bad, I know!

^ Yay! I am so excited to go now after reading some of the responses and viewing this awesome trip report! My partner and I have already started saving for Oktoberfest '09 and have been discussing this trip for over a year now! I am half German (but never have been to Germany) and I also happen to love beer + rides! Singing, hugging, and having fun is what I am all about! And yes, I would obey the warning lines & signs on the rides, even after a couple of steins of kick-ass German beer! Elissa, pleaaassse schedule an Oktoberfest trip!!! While we are wanting to see a lot of the scenery (castles, rivers and such) in Germany during our visit, we also would like to hit up some of the awesome theme parks & fairs!

Yes, you definitely need poutine while in Montreal!! Skip La Ronde and do St Catherine's street at night instead - it might be more thrilling!!!

Nice trip report! Don't feel bad about posting the pix backwards...I have done it as well and then went, WTF(?) when I previewed and saw all of them backwards! The park definitely looks unique with all the stacking of rides and coasters. I love the classic arcades with the video games I grew up with! (IE: Robotron, Joust, Zaxxon, Defender, GORF, and Crossbow). And of course, pinball rules too!!!! I would go there just for the arcade alone! CP has an awesome collection, but I think that they are 50 cents now instead of a quarter, like they used to be.

My suggestion? Don't bother! I was not impressed with this SF park at all. There were even more rides closed down at this park than when I visited SFMM the summer before. The rides that were open were not all that good, except Goliath and Vampire. The park itself just seemed kinda run down, not very clean or frendly, thus I did not feel that it was worth the somewhat steep admission price. We were done with this park in about four hours. Two rides on Goliath, one on Le Monstre, one ride on Vampire, and a couple of flats, and we were done. If you are a credit monger, than I guess it is worth the take. My personal opinion is that if I ever go back to Montreal, I would skip it. I know I will probably offend some people that have had a wonderful time at this park. But please know that I am only referencing my own experience and stating my opinion from my visit two years ago! And it is certainly not a slam against Montreal, or the people...the city was awesome!!! One of the coolest cities I have ever visited!

Predator at Darien Lake looked bad enough for me to not want to ride during my last visit. When you can see every persons neck getting whip-snapped over the hills, plus all of the bad reviews I have read on here = no ride for me! I learned my lesson a month ago on Hurler at KD!