Geauga Dog

Thanks for the update. I wasn't planning on going to Darien Lake this year, figured I'd take a year off, but maybe I will take the four hour drive up there sometime in August or September. Are the Scrambler pieces the same color as before or have they been painted a different color? I could see them stripping the ride down since it was dismantled and giving it fresh paint. Speaking of paint I can't believe they still haven't painted Viper's station yet and I bet that crappy looking building under the corkscrew is still there in the queue. May not seem like a major thing to most people but I find it irritating that they spent money to repaint it all black and give the trains a snake skin type wrap but the station still hasn't been touched. I agree that Thunder Rapids is under-rated. That is one of the nicer flumes I've been on.

I think it's a change of mentality for your average park goer. Back when many of the nation's theme parks were opening in the 70's and early 80's they were filled with flat rides. Then came the one-upmanship in coasters that seemed to put more focus on the next biggest coaster all the while flats were beginning to disappear from some parks. Nowadays flats seem to be relegated to kid's areas and smaller parks who are willing to invest in them. How many times have we heard that at some parks there isn't enough for the tweeners, i.e. too big for the kid's rides and too short for the bigger rides? A good collection of flats helps fill that void and makes a park experience more rounded.

The Beast is/was notorious for having brakes bite hard, especially the one at the ravine drop after the first drop. It's not as bad now but when they first put in the magnetic brakes it was a buzz kill.

I don't think Vekoma, as a whole, makes bad rides. The SLC isn't all that bad except for Mind Eraser at Darien Lake and T2 at Kentucky Kingdom (let's see how T3 works out next year). Despite their reliability issuues the giant inverted boomerangs are awesome rides and I would love to see more of them. Both Ninjas (SFOG, SFStL) didnt' feel any different than on old Arrow. I really like SFOG's Ninja.

If you want to hit Maverick first then park in the Soak City lot and enter by Challenge Park/Magnum. Since that gate is by Dragster you could hit that one first then walk back to Maverick.

Mantis was pretty smooth when it first opened - it just didn't age well even though my one ride last Friday wasn't too bad since the first drop brake wasn't being used.

Amazing shots of an amazing coaster! Thank you for getting my morning started in a great way.

They are not going to remove something if it's making them some money though I do agree that the price to ride Red Hawk and Sling Shot are astronomically high compared to similar attractions at other bigger parks. At CP Friday their new Slingshot was getting steady business all day and they charge $25 for it. What's Darien's price, isn't it like $35 or $40 (I know the last time I checked the skycoaster I believe it was $40 for a single flyer which is outrageous). The park needs to seriously reconsider the pricing for these two attractions. The only upcharges I could see being removed are the go-carts and batting cage. Their location is on prime development land as well as being a bit out of the way from the rest of the park.

I rode the back seat of Banshee twice on Tuesday and it has the rattle in the back. It seemed like the purple train had a little more rattle than the blue train. Even with the rattle I enjoyed the hints of intensity on the ride.

I'm quite surprised they own that much land across Route 77 from the park. Without relocating the current parking lot how hard would it be to move the PAC to another location yet still be within and easy stroll from the park? At its current location it seems to block off any future expansion beyond Viper/Grizzly Run/Rowdy's Ridge.

With Busch Gardens only an hour away they need something different and the only thing I can think of would be CF's next wing coaster. They don't need an invert with Volcano nor a hyper since they have Intimidator. Grizzly, IMO, is a signature ride despite it not having a high ridership. You can blame that on it being hidden behind the Dinosaurs Alive entrance and gift shop. I'd rather keep it than Hurler.

The Cleveland area usually includes Akron as well since it's about the same distance as Buffalo/Rochester so I would think that both metros are relatively close in size/population. Geauga Lake used to draw folks from Youngstown and even Pittsburgh but even if you were to include them you still couldn't touch Toronto, which is a blessing for Darien Lake. I find that surprising as I always thought most of the land they owned was in that immediate area around the park and campground. So I guess that farm that you can see behind the PAC from the Giant Wheel is not part of the property? I appreciate the info you give, DM, regarding Darien Lake. It helps me understand more about the park and the resort property since I'm not a local but have been there quite a few times over the years.

Headed up to CP today and when I pulled up to the parking entrance to give them my platinum pass I got a little note saying that Maverick, Mean Streak, Antique Cars, and Wave Swinger were closing at 8 PM and Mine RIde and Sky Hawk were closing at 10 PM for a special event, which I found out later it was Coaster Camp Out since I saw a few people wearing lanyards for the event during the day. The last time I was at the park I rode Wicked Twister and it definitely seems to be an upper body issue. I was almost able to buckle the belt by myself but had to have a ride attendant do it for me as I pushed down on the restraint from the top. The same thing happened to me at Drop Tower at Kings island on Tuesday.

Wow, that first pic is awesome! I just noticed it doesn't have the UFO top like the others do.

It's pretty bad that the mere mention of Europe In The Air makes me feel nauseated.

First, it was just an observation plus the Disk'O Coaster is a bit different from the standard Mega Disk'O MFI and Seabreeze have. True, as a stand alone addition it would not bring in crowds but if it was part of a flat ride package I can't see how it wouldn't help bring in crowds. How does DL advertise in the Buffalo/Rochester area? Do they focus more on the water park but also include mentioning the rides? Do they advertise packages for the campground and/or Lodge on the Lake? My only means is when I stop at the Angola rest area just west of Buffalo to fill up is when I see brochures for the park. Putting the Scrambler there is a good start to revitalizing that area. Maybe it's in the plans to help bring more traffic to that dead end. The only issue I see is that there isn't much room to add any good sized flats with RoS and Predator taking up both sides of the midway. That is one of the things I like about the park and I hope will not change. Geauga Lake used to be like that until urban sprawl began to be developed around it, bringing NIMBY neighbors and a big box shopping area across the street, thus raising land values and issues those NIMBY neighbors would complain about. To really develop that area around Darien Lake would mean the expensive task of widening Route 77 from the Thruway exit to the park. Can Corfu handle it as it would be a major inconvenience for them? It always sort of baffles me that the area around the exit off the Thruway wasn't more developed than it is. It seems like an ideal place for a couple hotels (though IIRC there is one there) and a few fast food establishments other than the truck stop. It reminds me a bit of the Doswell exit for Kings Dominion though they have added a few hotels somewhat recently across from the park.

How reliable is Excalibur? I remember riding it in 2010 and it sounded like it was on its last legs with all the creaking it made as the arm made the one revolution. A Frisbee type ride would be a different experience.

I've been to the park when Splashtown is packed and the ride park is semi-empty with minimal waits to walk-ons for most rides but then again I've been to bigger parks where the effect is still the same. I don't have any issues with the coaster lineup at DL as it is somewhat solid for the size of the park but at this point I think adding new flats should be the focus of the park. It seems inevitable quite a few of the old Huss rides may be saying goodbye in the near future and it doesn't look good when you are subtracting without adding anything to replace rides. I'm somewhat surprised that a Zamperla Disk'O hasn't been added as they've been popping up in other parks however with Martin's and Seabreeze having one a Disk'O Coaster like CP's new Pipe Scream would be the only logical choice for Darien.

Just out of curiosity but why are we seeing these kind of parks spring up in foreign markets? Why not a 20th Century Fox or Warner Brothers Movie World in the U.S.? I'm sure there are regions that could support something like this where a visit to Universal Studios would be out of the question.

Banshee at Kings Island yesterday. Continues to impress me, especially since I finally got my front seat and back seat rides.

I can understand the no single rider policy for some rides but the one that gets me is the no single riders on a Ferris Wheel. I like riding these types of rides but I have stopped riding them because I go to parks by myself.

Excellent TR and fantastic photos! So glad you had a good time and that the weather held out for you. That happened to me several years ago when a storm was approaching Gurnee around closing and I was queued for Raging Bull. Lightning was piercing the sky in the distance as we were climbing the lift. It was scary yet thrilling at the same time. Glad to keep reading how great Goliath is. I hope to get up there sometime this year. I, personally, like X-Flight better than Gatekeeper. I find the smaller wing coasters look and ride better than the bigger models (have yet to ride Wild Eagle). I, too, preferred the front left side for the roll over at the top and the hang time before the first drop. I agree about the keyhole on XF - it looks like a much tighter fit going through the air traffic control tower, if that makes sense, over the larger ones on GK. I also find XF as more photogenic since the queue goes under pretty much the entire ride. Viper is excellent, one of my top ten favorites. When I was there in 2012 the trains squealed around the turns and was very sluggish on first of my two days there. Amazing how the very next day it was running great like it always has. So glad that you liked Raging Bull as it is one of the least liked coasters due to that obnoxious trim brake. I absolutely love it for all the reasons you stated. It is definitely a back seat ride. I've tried the front before but that trim brake feels much stronger in the front than it does in the back. I also agree with night rides - they can be amazing. I usually marathon Bull for the last hour or two before closing though next time I might try X Flight to see how it is at night as I think Gatekeeper is better at night. Whizzer is a gem and being the last of its kind in the U.S. it makes it that much more unique. I can't imagine SFGAm without it. Would be nice if Gerstlauer could bring this style of ride back since they were able to build new trains for Hershey's Sooperdooperlooper. I take it you didn't get to ride the Giant Drop. If anything the view of Raging Bull from the top is spectacular.

The Frisbee, Sidewinder, is from Moser. Splash Over, the Top Sin, might also be from Moser.

It probably would be easier to rename one of Maverick's trains to "King James".

Thank you so much for posting these photos. Adventureland has long been a park that has been close to the top of my list of parks to visit due to the fact that it's rare to see a park the size of Adventureland still being an independently owned property. Some rides look better in smaller sizes and I think Storm Chaser looks better than its larger cousins at the CF parks.