Geauga Dog

^I would not want Kennywood to own Darien Lake. Herschend has the ability to do great things and I hope they do decide to buy it from CNL. It fits in with their family of parks.

As much as I would love to see UFO back in the lineup I have my doubts that it's coming back. HUSS quit manufacturing this ride years ago.

I'm surprised that HUSS never tried to make a Frisbee go upside down since they basically pioneered the ride way back when. I'd like to try one of these someday though the closest I've ridden was Mind Warp at MFI, which is one fo the craziest flats I've ever experienced. One thing is for certain regarding flat rides - they do have the coolest lighting packages and really make midways vibrant at night. A lot of parks could use a bit of color for night time illumination.

For me it's come to the point that I don't re-ride or mini-marathon certain rides like I used to, especially now that I'm in my mid-40's. For example during Banshee early rides, since I have a platinum pass, I try to get as many rides I can before the park opens. Three consecutive rides were about as much as my body could handle and I needed a break. The one coaster I have totally sworn off are the Flight of Fears at KI and KD. The launch is fine but the spaghetti bowl layout gives me a headache.

I don't know why I'm somewhat surprised that the ride has a wooden base but it does look very nice. Looks like they still need to add the lighting.

I never quite understood the reasoning. CGA got a great B&M invert then Carowinds got an awesome B&M invert and in between the two Wonderland gets a Vekoma clone. Too bad you can't go back and kick Paramount's a$$ for some of the boneheaded additions to the park.

Cedar Point 2015 - Rework Mantis into a floorless, which is the big rumor right now. 2016 - New dark ride in the old Pirate Ride building since the Blue Streak area is probably the deadest in the park. Remove the Turnpike ride at the end of the season and relocate the Calypso. 2017 - Build new Gerstlauer spinning coaster in Turnpike's spot. A refurbished Calypso is relocated where the 3-Point challenge is across from Wicked Twister (old Chaos spot). 2018 - General improvements throughout the park. Mean Streak takes it's final rides in in the current set up in August to begin RMC makeover. 2019 - New Mean Streak opens. Waldameer 2015 - New wave pool opens in current Peninsula Drive parking lot. 2016 - A rainfortress with large tipping bucket opens next to new wave pool. 2017 - General improvements including a new food court in the old Carousel pavilion behind the Music Express 2018 - A Zamperla Air Race opens by Steel Dragon 2019 - A Gerstlauer Euro-fighter with lap bars opens behind Mega Vortex in part of the forested picnic area. New picnic facilities are built to replace what was lost in the Euro-fighter construction.

^Mind Eraser definitely should get a new color scheme and if they do change the color it would be best to primer it first. That's what CF did to Serial Thriller/Thunderhawk at Geauga Lake when they painted it red/teal to orange/yellow and it looked great. As for ME I'd like to see a dark blue track and cream colored supports along with a teal train like they already have and a yellow train. When X Flight was moved to Kings Island in 2007 they just painted over the lime green track and over time that lime green started to peek through the dark red track in spots.

And I believe the Troika Santa's Village is currently installing came from Fun Spot as well.

I don't know why it's taken me this long to realize it but ever since X Flight was added to SFGAm we've been somewhat waiting for a clone of it to be added to another SF park. Could this new ride be it? Consider the similarities. X Flight is in no way a large coaster in terms of height hence the height of the balloon coud represent the height of the first hill. SFGAm removed the Great American Raceway antique car ride to make way for it much in the same way as Fiesta Texas is doing and the footptrint seems about the same size.

Griffon isn't exactly far from the animals either so I can't see why a few rides, even if it's a couple of flats, couldn't be added to Ireland to create more of a draw there. Killarney has become more of a pass through from Heatherdowns to Acquitaine will very little to make me want to stop and experience anything even though the show in the Abbey Stone Theater is excellent.

^CNL owns the park but doesn't manage it and that is why they have Herschend running the park. PARC was let go as operator a few years ago. Herschend's hands are tied as CNL has the purse strings and they are known to be quite tight with them. That's why you're not seeing the quick improvements the park needs to make. Sure a few buildings and rides need a fresh coat of paint and the Giant Wheel still needs its lights back but overall the park isn't all that bad considering the investment that has taken place already in certain areas of the park (Rowdy's Ridge and Boardwalk). Getting Darien Lake back to what its potential can be isn't going to be done in one season.

I've ridden Gatekeeper a few times this year and have not had the restraints tighten like they did last year.

That is what I think they are doing wrong with the surveys. I understand they want people to continue to buy passes every year but they really need to focus on those who visit once a year or who may be giving the park a second chance after being burned by the previous owners. Getting those guests engaged in what they like/don't like about the park as well as helping the park decide what direction they should go for future attractions may give them more reason to visit more often and possibly get them to buy a season pass. That, to me, has always been Darien Lake's strength. A lot of the bigger parks don't even offer the amount of family rides they do. I would like to see them expand in that direction before the next coaster is added. I don't see how removing family rides would result in a more well-rounded collection. The park has a decent variety already and there really isn't a lot that is missing from their lineup. I have a wish list just like most people do but I'll leave that for another time. The thing about Pirate is that it's on the pathway along the lake that leads to basically nothing. The only other attraction along there are the Bumper Buggies. If the park were to start adding things in that area then Pirate may see an increase in ridership. Besides there's too many other empty holes that should be filled before Pirate gets removed. BTW I have never ridden Pirate but I think it has the coolest placement of any pendulum boat ride I've seen being right on the water.

^I think bringing Scrambler back is a big deal. They could have just scrapped the ride altogether however if they try to make that the "new" ride it would be a bit disappointing. I'd be thrilled to get at least one new ride next year. I think they need to take a different approach for future surveys. Instead of online surveys they should do in-park surveys while the guests are actually there to maybe get a broader sense of what they would like to see in the future.

It was pretty cool seeing it lifted out of its foundation a couple weeks ago. I'm glad that it's coming back next year and hope they give it a better paint scheme and color changing LED lighting.

Sad to read what happened to Robb and KT at SFGAm. I've always thought that the park was one of the better operated parks in the chain but it seems ever since the incident on NTAG there has been change in the parks chain wide just based on the many trip reports I've read on TPR. I don't think the problem is with the park presidents since they have to answer to corporate but with the direction the chain is going in it may be in its best interest that a shakeup needs to be done at the top level. Is Jay Thomas still a part of the organization? Many people had nothing but good things to say about his tenure at SFMM and I wonder if some would think he'd make a good CEO of the company.

Nice photos! I like the look of some of the areas in the park and it seems like they are off to a good start but it also seems like there isn't a whole lot to do ride wise (I realize they just opened).

If you notice onthe calendar that one Friday they are open was the big July 4th holiday weekend. It is wierd that they were closed on Fridays.

Since you have a Platinum Pass you can get a few early rides in before the park opens on Banshee, Delirium, and Bat. This starts at 9:30. Afterwards head towards Coney Mall where you'll be able to hit FoF and Firehawk with minimal waits. After that everything else should not be a problem.

Son of Beast, Mean Streak, Georgia Cyclone.

That looks pretty cool. If you want to up the capacity then switch the cars for their Booster Bikes.

SFGAm's Viper station can be a mess since there is no one controlling it since you have the wide open space before getting lined up for your seat. Raging Bull's station is also a bit narrow once you enter it, sometimes having to wait until some people board the train to make your way to back. The Beast's station can be a bit confusing since the air gates are set for the four seater train the ride originally opened with instead of the three seaters they use now. Sometimes I have to check which row is the non-wheel seat before lining up, which is where I always ride if I'm not waiting for the front.

Another ride that came to mind was Double Loop at Geauga Lake. You'd have decent speed as you entered the helix and you'd slam into the brakes at the end since it had a short brake run.

The way you worded that it makes it sound like Viper's days may be numbered, even if it is ten to fifteen years from now. I know it has been said that maintenance under previous owners have taken a toll on some of the rides at the park but Viper seems to run pretty well. Even though the ride is over 30 years old I can't envision the park without it and the classic Arrow sound. RoS may be the star but Viper is more iconic IMO.