DirkFunk

There's not that much there to make it impossible to hit everything in 11 hours. 4 is probaby sufficent to get a ride on all the big attractions. http://www.chowderpothartford.com

Haven't been here in an eternity. I think there's more complaints about the fact that it doesn't have any good coasters. Terrifically overbuilt, so much so it went bankrupt. I've seen two train operation here on Storm Chaser and Lightning Run?

SV also managed to crash on opening day. That doesn't help public perception, no matter how minor it was. I don't know that you can all put it on Canadian visitation if there's a dip. Moreover, the decline may not be as precipitous as we think because, if you think about it, the park has installed a ton of high capacity rides. There might be 10 coasters at that park that can exceed 1000 PPH. Also might be that unfriendly visits in May/September/October when the park is lacking adequate staffing have taken a toll on its public perception. A dip from that wouldn't be recognized until future years as people simply opt to go somewhere else.

I can't speak for the entire train, but I was told to go to the front seat of Predator and did. Wow - it was really good! I'd not be at all surprised if there was jackhamering galore elsewhere further back but up there was plenty of airtime. Ending is still terrible, but everything else was really good. Ride of Steel was open and I still don't think it has aged gracefully. So many rides have that super ejector airtime now and often steeper first drops. It isn't bad, but it certainly isn't an elite level ride any more like when it first opened in 1999. It's just OK. Tantrum is an interesting choice for a new attraction. When I look at it inside of Darien Lake, I can't help but notice that the park has a Boomerang (116 ft tall), Mind Eraser (110 ft tall), Viper (121 ft tall), and Superman (208 ft tall). Tantrum not only comes in 5th place, but is noticably smaller in footprint and length than many existing rides at the park. I'm not saying that it is a bad ride for what it is, it's just that what it is doesn't really make sense to me at this park. Galveston Historic Pleasure Pier, Oaks Park, Seaside Heights? OK, fine, they're kings of the midways at those parks. It lacks that presence to me at Darien Lake where Viper just towers over it. I don't even like the Joker coasters that much, but as a comparison point, I think it would have made far bigger of an impression in that same space than this ride. I still like a lot of the buildings the park has (and Moose on the Loose) and want to see Six Flags really make an investment in infrastructure here, ensuring their existing rides are up and running and looking good (see also: coverless Himalaya) and running multiple trains if needed. I like the food offerings here and the fact that there's a full service restaurant in a park of this size is pretty unique. For all the negatives, I'd probably be happy to trade Michigan's Adventure for this.

Even when it's packed, it's never bad because they want to turn rides over and get people through the line to make money (ticket based economy, baby). I stay at the Red Roof in Danville because I generally come from the west. It was renovated a couple of years back and is nice for what it is. The objective best hotel in the area is probably Pine Barn Inn next to the hospital in downtown Danville. I've stayed there 4-5 times and if you want a bigger room (like a suite) it's the best option.

Go to the desk in the morning (you can get back there as early as 8AM IIRC) and do your early check in. Basically what they do is give you a card for your early ride time that you can show the people at the barriers. The cards are good for 6 people each. They'll also send you a text message when your room is ready.

Thinking about going in August - do wait times get shorter on Saturday evenings here or is it pretty constant? I'd be going to ride Monster (and maybe Outlaw if it isn't too wild crowd wise) after going to the state fair in the AM.

LOL holy $hit they're gonna put in lights? So like, be able to run after sundown? Wooooooooow they're moving up in the world.

LOL I rode back left on Gatekeeper this past weekend and god that ride is just fun. FUN. I really feel bad for people in the hobby that can't enjoy it because it isn't thrilling enough for them at this stage of their lives. Imagine the perception of that ride if it were at, I dunno, Elitch Gardens. Or Worlds of Fun.

The boomerang at Darien Lake is probably among the best I've ever gone on. It's really good for what it is. Truthfully, a lot of the really bad wooden coasters are gone. Rattler, Son of Beast, Mean Streak, Rolling Thunder, KD Hurler, the list goes on and on. Stuff like Bandit or Coaster Express that is complete garbage is far away so no one rides it. Maybe that moved the overton window into looking at regular ass B&M coasters, which is crazy talk to me circa 20 years ago. But things change...

The primary difference with Blue Streak is that they've gone to the more durable but less forgiving padding in the seats; it's about as rough as Racer at KI (another ride with that padding), which is to say "I think everyone is a wimp". It isn't bouncing or shuffling at all. Speed is outstanding. I can even ride in wheel seats no problem. Between this and people complaining about "B&M rattle" online, I'm starting to be convinced that the slide of "rough" is shifting so far over into the territory of "does something" that it's actually concerning for the future.

LOL I rode Blue Streak 5 times during the power outage with almost no wait. Nothing but great rides front and back. I thoroughly disagree - yeah I hate the ratcheting bars and the hard foam padding, but that thing is running really well IMO. I can also ride the hell out of Magnum in 1.3 and Rougarou in middle seats. Y'all are crazy to me.

Intamin didn't make the track last time. Cordes did. Cordes made all the track for those wood coasters.

I guess they figure now that they have the highest attendance in Japan, they can do anything they want. How nice of them.

There's an extremely hot rumor I'm being told that SV is closed right now because they're working on getting three train operation going. Insert fire emojis here.

There's two entrances. The back entrance and parking lot seems to be opened up now when the front one is sufficiently full (at least that's what it seemed like Saturday).

So, I went on Saturday. First off: There's a single rider line for the mouse coaster. It was even open and I used it. I waited almost no time at all. This was miracuous. I then walked onto Super Manege and Boomerang before heading back to wait in line for Dragon (maybe a 30 minute wait). Then headed off to Goliath and was able to walk on three times in a row before getting lunch (which was actually good; went to the kebab place in the back). La Monstre, by the time I got there, had a wait of about 45 minutes. Did the Red Side, front seat. Took the monorail around after and noticed that Vampire had no wait. I needed to get going if I wanted to get more stuff done, so I rode it once and dipped out. First, the ugly: trying to get into the parking lot is a PITA. I was set to arrive about a half hour early and actually didn't get into the gate until 5 minutes after opening. I know there's not a lot they can do here about that, but it's a pretty small lot and there's only two lanes of traffic for a lot of cars. There are, as we know, "issues" with many structures and rides in the park. The log flume lift is still standing, conveyor belt and all. The area where the standup coaster was is just empty. Lots of show venues and big stands just closed up. I assume they use them for fireworks or something (you can clearly see all the tubes along the St. Lawrence), but it would be nice if they had something else. Which I guess gets to the issue about parking again and how it inherently limits the attendance. Monorail could use a nice coat of paint. Super Manege could use one. Weeds that are like 3-4 foot high should not be greenery in public spaces. Building a walkthrough you only use for Halloween as a "new for XXXX" attraction is frankly bizarre, and it just stays up all year round because why not. Now, the good: the B&Ms were both running two trains and dispatching well. They moved the lines on those. Flat ride attendants from my glimpses seemed to be OK too, though the lines for those were way to long for me to justify doing. All the stuff they've bought in the current regime is obvious because it is all shiny and nice, and everything old looks like hell. The old steam carousel does look great, even if it is for families only and super duper slow. Figuring out a way to "complete the loop" to walk around the park should be a serious project of their's. Probably would make riding Dragon even tougher as it would shortcut people who arrived early to it, but still would save some walking for later in one of the better designed/decorated/themed sections of the park.

Maybe you have a different code or something than me, but the Super Grover pass is almost $30/person cheaper than a Premier Busch Gardens WIlliamsburg membership?

Oh man, sure, why not? This is based on only one morning ride on Steel Vengeance: I admit it can definitely change. 1) Magnum 2) Maverick 3) Steel Vengeance 4) Raptor 5) Millennium Force 6) Blue Streak 7) Gatekeeper 8) Rougarou 9) Gemini 10) Valravn 11) Dragster 12) Iron Dragon 13) Wicked Twister 14) Cedar Creek Mine Ride 15) Corkscrew 16) Woodstock Express I would say that the 11th best coaster at Cedar Point is better than the best coaster at Darien Lake, Morey's, Flamingoland, or Bobbejanland, and better than the 2nd best coaster at Dorney, La Ronde, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Valleyfair, Parc Asterix, or Wiener Prater. That is insane.

There's a term in economics called "externalities". Your dictionary definition of it is "a side effect or consequence of an industrial or commercial activity that affects other parties without this being reflected in the cost of the goods or services involved, such as the pollination of surrounding crops by bees kept for honey." For China, burning coal is the cheapest mode of electricity production. However, burning coal means that they produce tons of smog that kills thousands annually and also contributes to global warming (which will one day leave Shanghai underwater). Those are externalities that exist beyond just the price of digging up rocks and burning them. The explosion of junior sports camps correlates strongly with increases in university tuition. In short: sending Junior to play lacrosse at summer camp might cost $7-8K, but 8K is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of out of state or private university tuition for a full time student. It's an externality and a form of cost shifting. If Junior gets a free ride from playing a sport that has no commercial value, then you're actually investing your money with the hopes of saving a larger sum later. And yes, that stuff totally has relevancy to why fewer and fewer kids are working today. That means that the increase in the value of low skilled labor like theme park attendants (and any resulting cost increases to cover them, if even necessary) are an externality of state legistlators reducing general funds to universities and forcing tuitions to go up. As for "what about unemployed people?" If you and 200 of your closest friends get laid off from working at a car parts factory where you were unionized and making $32/hr, are you going to give up your unemployment benefits to work part time at an amusement park for $9/hr? Of course not, because you already collect that as payment for you while you look for another job that pays $32/hr. Now, were you in a situation where you might be able to put in 19 hours a week making $11/12 an hour and still get unemployment insurance, maybe you would, but the state isn't going to let that fly. And if you can't get a new $32/hr job? You'll move to somewhere that has better opportunities than a place that has $9/hr tourism jobs. The labor market is a market. There is competition for labor. No one on US 250 is "deterring locals" from working at Cedar Point. They're competing for their labor and occasionally winning because they offer a better pay rate, more time at home, etc etc etc. In other words:

http://www.parkscope.net/2018/01/how-is-theme-park-labor-market-formed.html It isn't that kids are lazy IMO, it's that they're hitting increased class loads and taking the advice of adults around them to do things like take classes during the summer to speed up graduation. If you want a more educated and skilled workforce, you need to have those people be trained, and that's what is happening. Theme park employment is basically entry level, non-skilled employment. (I know this has been said before but like, the stats bear out the praxis. At this point to believe "kids are just lazy" is an anti-intellectual stance akin to believing the world is flat. It's bad. Don't be a flat earther.) The simple fact is this: if the labor market is shrinking and there are fewer people available than there are jobs, you need to pay people more money to work. What's happening instead during the short term is that chains like Cedar Fair are pushing the government to increase the number of visa workers with the intent of bringing in internationals employees rather than push up wages to be competitive. This will only make things worse in the long term for the Spring/Halloween seasons as these people return to classes in their respective countries.

I want to make sure I have this straight. Cedar Point bought 3 trains for their new coaster, named all three trains, created characters for all three trains, created costumes for those characters which are represented by the three trains and put people in them to walk around Frontiertown, and have a pile of signage indicating that there are three characters for the three trains (including, but not limited to, the LOGO OF THE RIDE), and they have no intention and never had any intention of running three trains? Really? Seriously?

Kansas also limits awards to people suing. In schlitterbahn's case, they seem to have settled for a very high amount in the hopes of keeping details secret as suits are public. But IIRC the max award is 250k for damages in that state.

Even if you take the tact that the guards are necessary because of the clearances, you have to at some point say, "wait, could no one have built a lighter train?" GCIs and GG trains are reputed to be significantly lighter than PTC's. If I had to guess, PTCs are better equipped to be set up cheaply for the weird Rollo Coaster track sizes, and the others would required a lot more reimagining that costs money.

I've said it a few times before here, but until last year, there were no regulations on amusement attractions in the state of Kansas. Let me repeat it one more time. Until last year, there were no regulations on amusement attractions. None. There was no need for any inspections. No certifications. No reviews of standard operating procedures. There didn't need to be any. It didn't matter. What probably happened with Schlitterbahn is that they got caught out by actually having to play by a rule book at the same time their management was getting arrested left and right. Putting together a proper manual for cleaning and maintenance of a pump system took a back seat to getting lawyers and worrying about extradition. This isn't an excuse; just a point about what we take for granted sometimes not being what we think it is.