SaraAB87
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Posts posted by SaraAB87
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left for a few hours to go “Wegmans Hopping” (got to 9 stores in one day, Rochester makes it super easy - don’t judge, we’re ‘WegManiacs’ as they call it)
You really think I'm just going to let this go?
Are there grocery store enthusiasts?
As a Wegmans employee for almost 4 years, it was quite common to want to visit as many stores as one could to have bragging rights. Plus, Wegmans is Freaking awesome. The best stores I’ve seen thus far are the newer ones in New Jersey (closer to Montclair and NYC) though my favorite store in NY is currently East Street Wegmans in downtown Rochester.
Long story short - yes, grocery store enthusiasts exist, though nowhere near the same level as theme park enthusiasts, and seemingly its pretty much just Wegmans fans (I’ve never seen an entire store get so excited about meeting an ex-CEO in my life aside from when Danny Wegman and his daughters came to visit for the Buffalo 40th anniversary celebration)
I think the Wegmans in Hamburg on McKinley is the best one I ever went to or at least the best in WNY. I found a lot of products carried there that are not carried at other Wegmans stores. Because I visited late at night I didn't even get to the prepared foods section over here but that area took up over half the store. Over here in the falls prices are way cheaper in general at Wegmans then they are at the Walmart which is right across the street, although the Walmart is much busier for some reason I don't know.... Most items we buy at Wegmans cost $1 or more than that per item at the Walmart across the street... I guess Walmart is trying to capitalize on the name maybe?
I have run into the dead mall enthusiasts, I have run into the elevator enthusiasts. vacuum cleaner enthusiasts... and I have even run into enthusiasts for fans.. particularly large ones that are in large buildings.. yes fans. According to a certain TV show there is even a museum out there for fans. There are also Chick Fil A enthusiasts that will try to visit every restaurant but I am not even going there. So I think there is an enthusiast for just about everything on earth.
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I have something super funny to post here about cuda falls and I don't really know where to post it so here goes
I found this Tops grocery bag lying in my basement a while back with a Cuda falls advertisement, I tried putting the bag on ebay for laughs but it didn't sell so now I am keeping it. I hope the picture loads.
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^ Channel 2 looking for a story, Season Passholders looking for 15 minutes of local fame, one unfortunate theme park.
Remember that time last year where they shut down the wave pool and completely refurbished it because it wasn’t up to NYS specifications and this same channel ran a story saying that it was unfair to the passholders and they should get refunds for the 2018 season? I sure do.
Now here we are one year later. The Gondola Wheel is down for another extensive refurbishment because that thing was on its last legs, and other rides are breaking down as they normally would / some are closed for staffing like any other theme park yet folks wanna complain because it’s what folks tend to do best.
I think the best thing about it is the larger park with a similar amount of ride closures and food stand closures and everything is getting zero bad press. I’m glad that this is the case, because it really isn’t newsworthy, but it just goes to show how ridiculous people can be. Especially since in both this year and last years story the interviewees both said “might as well just get a pass to Darien Lake next year, it’s a bigger park”
Keep in mind that a season pass for Fantasy Island is about $36, where as the Season Pass for Darien Lake can run ya anywhere from $78 to $222 depending on the level you choose. You get what you pay for and that’s especially the case between these two parks.
Fantasy Island is a small park that was family owned for over 50 years before Apex stepped in and began bringing the park up to code. Darien Lake is a bit of a different story thanks to Six Flags, Premier and Herschend (as well as the wonderful land leasing folks who made development of the park extremely difficult, love those guys). DL has over 1,000 acres of property, Fantasy Island, not so much.
TL:DR - Customers go to FI and get exactly what they pay for, therefore they are upset and going to complain to the news.
There is no way fantasy island is up to code, if you haven't been following, the whole park is a train wreck (quite literally, as the train has died numerous times this season) and Apex is running it into the ground. A similar thing is happening at Indiana beach. The "new" rides are just castoff rides from Indiana beach. They are the rides Indiana beach is done with. Yes the pass is $40 but they were charging $40 for a one day ticket as well plus $7 parking earlier in the season which is more than the price of the pass. If you bought the ticket for $34.99 online they still charged you $7 for parking, again putting the one day admission ticket at a higher price than the cost of a the pass. This is a pricing scam. Right then and there everyone should know its a park that is not worth going to. A theme park that runs well is NOT one that uses a pricing scam to lure in customers. They basically con every customer into buying a season's pass, this is why everyone buys the pass and why they sell so many. I have never seen a park do this ever. Prices may have changed since I last researched this. Now they raised the parking price to $8 and I heard you will have to pay for parking every time you come if you are just buying a pass now, if you already have the seasons pass you can still get free parking but who knows how that will change next season. There are no discounted tickets around town that I could find, previously our credit union offered tickets for something like $18 each and a lot of local businesses and workplaces also offered cheaper tickets.
Darien lake is more expensive, but I have to say one thing, you won't die at that park. Its only a little bit more expensive anyways. Fantasy island just reeks of a death trap, its the only time I would actually say NO, its not safe to go on those rides. No Darien its not the best park in the world but they have some standards at least. They won't completely disappoint you. Most of the rides will be open when you go there. You will get your one day's ticket worth or your Season's pass worth. With fantasy most of the rides have been closed for the last couple weeks. With theme parks I would rather pay more for a better experience. Like anything else, you get what you pay for. Some things are worth paying more money for a better experience and this is one of them. A $40 price tag in this case for a theme park's season pass is TOO low, when you pay too little for something that regularly goes for higher dollars elsewhere, you feel like you are paying for crap. If I am going to pay for a theme park experience, I am going to pay more for a better experience even if I have to forgo going to a theme park for a couple years to save up to go to a better one, paying too little feels like I am intentionally paying for a poor experience which in general is not a good use of money.
You do realize people have in fact died at Darien Lake right?
Fantasy Island’s whole thing with their Season Pass is that it “costs the same as a one day admission ticket”
$36 for daily admission, $8 for parking
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$36 for the whole season, Free Parking
Darien Lake is a little steeper but they have more options thanks to Six Flags. However, they’re still promoting the season memberships and pricing them to sell.
$35.99 online Summer Sale ticket, $20 parking
$73.99 explorer pass, $20 parking
$88.99 gold season pass, free parking
$7.99/mo gold membership, free parking
$9.99/mo platinum membership, free parking
$12.99/mo diamond membership, free preferred parking
$18.99/mo diamond elite membership, free preferred parking
Not to mention most of those deals come with access to all Six Flags parks.
The point being, again, you’re paying a LOT more to go to Darien Lake, and you’re getting a lot of the same issues that people complain about fairly regularly both in park and on sites like this one.
How people expect a park that is in massive need of renovation and rehabilitation to be profitable and successful when they’re practically handing out season passes is beyond me. But that’s part of my point. Fantasy Island has seen renovations and will likely continue to moving forward, Darien Lake will as well but likely at a more accelerated pace as the company that owns DL has a lot more money to spend than Apex likely does.
I’ll be curious to see if anything really “shocking” comes out of the Fantasy Island visit either today or next Tuesday or whenever it was actually scheduled, but I won’t hold my breath.
Fantasy Island has always kinda sucked. Y’all expect that to change overnight?
Yes I know that people died at Darien Lake, but it certainly was not due to mechanical issues with rides. There are issues with both parks, but literally everyone in WNY is talking about the issues with fantasy island. Shut it down before someone gets seriously hurt or dies.
At least with Darien there is more of a price difference between an individual ticket than a season's pass. Its still a better experience than Fantasy island. There was a brand new ride added, an old ride removed and Fantasy island only got 2 children's rides that Indiana beach didn't want anymore.
I am assuming most people on Grand Island have enough money to take their kids on a vacation to a better park rather than go to either Darien or Fantasy. The people buying the passes are doing it because their kids can go swimming and its close to home.
Its also in a tough spot, they are targeting low income customers that can't afford Darien Lake. I am not sure if this is a business model that will ever work, no matter how cheap the seasons pass gets or the price of the admission ticket. A park obviously needs to make money to survive, even if they are selling passes that is only a one time payment. These people also aren't paying the parking fee and could go every day of the season if they want to. If there is a haunt event in fall they will get free entry to that too. I don't think season pass holders spend money in the park either, they don't buy food because they go for a couple hours and leave and either eat before they leave or go somewhere else to eat after or eat at home, especially if they are low income customers, people who don't have money don't spend money in the park. A park can't survive if they are selling passes and no one is spending any money there.
For a low income customer to spend $40 per person is a lot of money for the target base. But I honestly feel like they are devaluing their park by charging so little for a pass. Because they are doing this people see it as cheap and not worth going to. Marty charged like $70 for a pass and offered discount tickets around town or online. I think this was a better business model. But Apex wants those pass sales.
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^ Channel 2 looking for a story, Season Passholders looking for 15 minutes of local fame, one unfortunate theme park.
Remember that time last year where they shut down the wave pool and completely refurbished it because it wasn’t up to NYS specifications and this same channel ran a story saying that it was unfair to the passholders and they should get refunds for the 2018 season? I sure do.
Now here we are one year later. The Gondola Wheel is down for another extensive refurbishment because that thing was on its last legs, and other rides are breaking down as they normally would / some are closed for staffing like any other theme park yet folks wanna complain because it’s what folks tend to do best.
I think the best thing about it is the larger park with a similar amount of ride closures and food stand closures and everything is getting zero bad press. I’m glad that this is the case, because it really isn’t newsworthy, but it just goes to show how ridiculous people can be. Especially since in both this year and last years story the interviewees both said “might as well just get a pass to Darien Lake next year, it’s a bigger park”
Keep in mind that a season pass for Fantasy Island is about $36, where as the Season Pass for Darien Lake can run ya anywhere from $78 to $222 depending on the level you choose. You get what you pay for and that’s especially the case between these two parks.
Fantasy Island is a small park that was family owned for over 50 years before Apex stepped in and began bringing the park up to code. Darien Lake is a bit of a different story thanks to Six Flags, Premier and Herschend (as well as the wonderful land leasing folks who made development of the park extremely difficult, love those guys). DL has over 1,000 acres of property, Fantasy Island, not so much.
TL:DR - Customers go to FI and get exactly what they pay for, therefore they are upset and going to complain to the news.
There is no way fantasy island is up to code, if you haven't been following, the whole park is a train wreck (quite literally, as the train has died numerous times this season) and Apex is running it into the ground. A similar thing is happening at Indiana beach. The "new" rides are just castoff rides from Indiana beach. They are the rides Indiana beach is done with. Yes the pass is $40 but they were charging $40 for a one day ticket as well plus $7 parking earlier in the season which is more than the price of the pass. If you bought the ticket for $34.99 online they still charged you $7 for parking, again putting the one day admission ticket at a higher price than the cost of a the pass. This is a pricing scam. Right then and there everyone should know its a park that is not worth going to. A theme park that runs well is NOT one that uses a pricing scam to lure in customers. They basically con every customer into buying a season's pass, this is why everyone buys the pass and why they sell so many. I have never seen a park do this ever. Prices may have changed since I last researched this. Now they raised the parking price to $8 and I heard you will have to pay for parking every time you come if you are just buying a pass now, if you already have the seasons pass you can still get free parking but who knows how that will change next season. There are no discounted tickets around town that I could find, previously our credit union offered tickets for something like $18 each and a lot of local businesses and workplaces also offered cheaper tickets.
Darien lake is more expensive, but I have to say one thing, you won't die at that park. Its only a little bit more expensive anyways. Fantasy island just reeks of a death trap, its the only time I would actually say NO, its not safe to go on those rides. No Darien its not the best park in the world but they have some standards at least. They won't completely disappoint you. Most of the rides will be open when you go there. You will get your one day's ticket worth or your Season's pass worth. With fantasy most of the rides have been closed for the last couple weeks. With theme parks I would rather pay more for a better experience. Like anything else, you get what you pay for. Some things are worth paying more money for a better experience and this is one of them. A $40 price tag in this case for a theme park's season pass is TOO low, when you pay too little for something that regularly goes for higher dollars elsewhere, you feel like you are paying for crap. If I am going to pay for a theme park experience, I am going to pay more for a better experience even if I have to forgo going to a theme park for a couple years to save up to go to a better one, paying too little feels like I am intentionally paying for a poor experience which in general is not a good use of money.
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I think a flat ride package is more likely, it is sorely needed, even removing and replacing the flats one by one would be good. I am not sure if they would do a package unless 3-4 flats in the park became completely unusable at once. Right now they have only one known unusable flat which is pirate and we don't know what the plan for that is. The top spin sat for a couple years at least until they finally retired it totally. If sleighride is still running then its a running ride and we don't know the status of corn popper yet.
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I would guess that it's coming out, but if they had any hope of potentially opening it this season keeping it in place makes sense. If they realized that it wasn't going to open after the season began (pure speculation on my part) leaving it standing until the end of the season makes sense.
Which is a bigger eyesore, a SBNO ride or construction equipment right on the lake ripping it out?
The answer will change person to person, but I believe ripping it out when the park is open would look way worse.
Ripping it out when the park is open is way worse, this means park guests have to listen to and deal with all the construction equipment not to mention look at it. Takes away from the park experience. I don't think most seasonal parks rip rides out while in season unless its an extreme emergency for this reason. Just let it sit, its doing no harm as long as its not left for years and years just sitting there.
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^ from what I gather nothing is wrong with the Corn Popper, it’s just one of the first rides to close for staffing / low attendance
Not staffing. Drive gearbox broke.
Any update on Pirate
Overheard guest relations simply telling a guest who was complaining about rides down that Pirate will not open at all this season.
This is what makes no sense about this place. Why on earth do they always have rides sitting SBNO an entire year before removing them? Look at Ranger, Twister, now Pirate. Clearly the thing’ll never run again and i’m sure they knew this before the season started. Why not just remove it before the season so it isn’t a giant eyesore in the middle of the lake.
Some parts have SBNO rides for a very long time. I guess it really does take a few years to remove one. Marineland's Topple tower was sitting abandoned for years until they finally removed it this year. That's just one example. SF only took over the park last year so they probably didn't have time to figure out what they were doing with it. The best thing to do if they intend to remove a ride or close one all season would be to put a sign on it that says it is closed for the season and will not reopen during the season. We still don't know what they will do with it.
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I would think they could replace Pirate with a newer model fairly easily. Nicely lit with LED's of course.
I am sure they could, but when was the last time you heard about a park putting in a new pirate ship ride?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Strates shows just refurbished a Pirate ship ride for the show last year, it was at the Erie county fair. I think it was a Huss ship too. If this one was refurbished there must be a way to fix Darien's.
Though with its location over a dirty lake and the cost to refurbish it would probably be better to just take it out and replace it with something new, not another pirate ship.
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Also parks are constantly tracking attendance, by the hour at most parks. They have the data to justify their hours for maximum profit. A couple years ago CP tried their "summer nights" thing with midnight closes most of July and August. If you look at the calendar how it's back to just Fridays and Saturdays.
If I recall correctly after most parks in the CF chain underperformed on attendance last year they flat out stated in either their 3rd or 4th quarter conference calls that schedules would better align with demand. It's only good business to be open when there's demand. For Darian Lake that may mean more 8-9pm closes or shut the rides at 930p but keep shops open till 10 to get the stragglers who may have stayed for a show.
Parks to everything for a reason and they have the data to back it up. They want to maximize profits, if that meant staying open till 1am they would.
I understand, keeping all the staff on for an extra hour or 2 could cost the park a lot of money especially if the park is emptying out by that time and is not being utilized properly. This might also push some staff members into overtime hours which could be costly. They would have to staff food stands and gift shops longer too. Also the labor laws in NY state are most likely a factor, most businesses at least from my experience don't want to chance anything when it comes to the timing laws for younger workers.
Crime is also more likely to happen at night, so perhaps they want to reduce the possibility of incidents by reducing the time the park is open. I don't see this as a big deal.
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Also parks are constantly tracking attendance, by the hour at most parks. They have the data to justify their hours for maximum profit. A couple years ago CP tried their "summer nights" thing with midnight closes most of July and August. If you look at the calendar how it's back to just Fridays and Saturdays.
If I recall correctly after most parks in the CF chain underperformed on attendance last year they flat out stated in either their 3rd or 4th quarter conference calls that schedules would better align with demand. It's only good business to be open when there's demand. For Darian Lake that may mean more 8-9pm closes or shut the rides at 930p but keep shops open till 10 to get the stragglers who may have stayed for a show.
Parks to everything for a reason and they have the data to back it up. They want to maximize profits, if that meant staying open till 1am they would.
I understand, keeping all the staff on for an extra hour or 2 could cost the park a lot of money especially if the park is emptying out by that time and is not being utilized properly. This might also push some staff members into overtime hours which could be costly. They would have to staff food stands and gift shops longer too. Also the labor laws in NY state are most likely a factor, most businesses at least from my experience don't want to chance anything when it comes to the timing laws for younger workers.
Crime is also more likely to happen at night, so perhaps they want to reduce the possibility of incidents by reducing the time the park is open.
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Hey everyone, looking to make our first visit to Darien Lake on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend. We have friends that live in the area and come 2-3 times a year but haven't stopped at Darien Lake before now. A couple of quick questions...
- How are the typical crowds on the Sunday before Labor Day? Our "home park" is Kings Island and they're fairly light, but obviously I'm not sure about DL.
- Does DL offer any sort of "fast pass" for rides?
Thanks in advance for your help!
This park is owned by Six flags now if its not obvious, so you will pay $20 for parking if you don't have a six flags seasons pass with free parking.
I am not sure about holiday crowds, holidays seem to either be insanely crowded or very light crowds. I can tell you that this park will be short staffed that weekend because the college kids will have already went back to school. Some rides might run on a limited basis and the children's rides will probably rotate one operator through the children's rides. Most parks on the east coast do this though. Expect long lines for food (I suggest bringing your own food as there are no nearby places to eat at all). This park is in the middle of nowhere so its very hard to find workers.
A lot of it depends on weather, if weather is great expect bigger crowds. A cloudy almost rainy day will produce lighter crowds and if it doesn't rain you will have a great time in this kind of weather. I can tell you that this park fails when it gets very very crowded, waits will be 2 hours for rides but most other parks fail when crowds are insane too. You might get only a few rides in a whole day due to waits. But if its light rides will be a walk-on. Also check to see if there is a concert going on that day, concert days are extremely crowded as free admission is provided with a concert ticket. I only recommend the fast pass if its very very crowded and waits are insane, only buy after you get to the park and check out the situation, also consider if waits are insane the fastpass wait will also be much longer. Most coasters in the park only run one train so take that into consideration except tantrum which has 2 trains.
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^I do have one. Plan is Arrive at Buffalo airport Sunday 845, Martin's Fantasy Island/Seabreeze(open until 9PM) on Sunday, followed by Darien Lake/drive to Toronto Monday (and probably take the time to at least see Niagara Falls from the public park on the river), Canada's Wonderland all day Tuesday, then Marineland until like 2pm on Wednesday (pretty much just NEED to ride Dragon Mountain and the crazy S&S tower), fly home to Orlando from Buffalo 545pm. I don't like having to be on the Canada side at all on Wednesday but that's how the park hours work out for it.
Frontier was $83 dollars round-trip and I just HAD to say yes lol. Bought the flight Friday night. Never been to any of these before!
Have fun. Don't bother with Fantasy Island if you don't have to. There isn't much of a park left there believe me on this. Its not worth paying the admission and parking to go there. If you are made of money and want to spend then its ok to go there, but it will probably be very disappointing. If you are going I suggest waiting for the weather to warm up and the kids to get out of school so they will actually have staff and the water park will be open, then it won't be bad at all. They charge for parking now unless you buy the seasons pass and they don't allow any food or drink in the park. You can't have a family picnic anymore because of these restrictions. There is a tim hortons and a pizza place within walking distance of the park, use these instead of buying park food. The seasons pass is the same price or less as a day ticket from what I can see when you factor in the parking charge, so one time visitors get screwed. One thing for sure is you can do this park in a couple hours and there won't be long lines.
If you don't have a pass for free parking at SF parks then darien lake charges $20 for parking now.
Casino is the only good place to eat on the NY side. Please avoid every other eatery you see on the NY side, they are all ripoffs. There's a bunch of places in the casino that serve decent food for a reasonable price. You can also eat the Fallsview casino in Canada for a reasonable price. Canada will charge you for parking but if you go to the lot at the back of the Skylon Tower, take the main road and turn left when you see the admiral inn, this takes you to Robinson street and you will end up in this lot, feed the meter you can park all day for $10 canadian which is really cheap. Aquarium of Niagara in NY also charges for parking but you can park on a nearby street and walk. American falls is currently a huge (toxic) dump because there is so much construction downtown you won't even know where to walk or drive, unless you are going to the casino I suggest avoiding it. The main entrance to the falls area is even blocked off. Even though they charge for parking you might be better off going directly to the Canadian side and walking around, given that most of the green space downtown in NY is under construction (not the gorge, just the green space around the falls). Maid of the mist boat ride and cave of the winds are awesome attractions and are must do in Niagara. If you do anything else do these, view the falls and get out of there and go to another city for dinner.
Something else I wanted to mention here that literally no one has ever talked about and an announcement that has gone totally under the radar. Despite Marineland's horrible publicity its actually a decent park with friendly workers, at least it was when I went there in 2017. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the workers were. You can bring your own food right into the park and park for free. Out of all the WNY parks this is the one I had the most fun at. The park added people mover trams this year and has a 2 acre waterpark opening sometime this year, hopefully. Regardless they are building a water park and its already in progress. They are also removing the topple tower if it isn't already gone and it seems they making huge investments to the park. There will be a new ride at some point in the next year or 2 that replaces the topple tower. The Walrus passed away recently so you won't be seeing that if you view the large sea animal show they have. You mentioned the SS tower, the last time I was there they were only running one side one car on it so prepare for a long wait. The flying dragon is a must do and the Sky Hawk (huss condor) is the best ride in the park IMO. The teacup ride is really intense. If you haven't been to Marineland in a very long time or ever I think they may have added some things to the coaster from the original build.
If you think the casino is the only good place to eat you mustve never eaten outside of downtown NF.
I meant the only decent place to eat in the downtown area. There are of course, other places to eat in the city.
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^I do have one. Plan is Arrive at Buffalo airport Sunday 845, Martin's Fantasy Island/Seabreeze(open until 9PM) on Sunday, followed by Darien Lake/drive to Toronto Monday (and probably take the time to at least see Niagara Falls from the public park on the river), Canada's Wonderland all day Tuesday, then Marineland until like 2pm on Wednesday (pretty much just NEED to ride Dragon Mountain and the crazy S&S tower), fly home to Orlando from Buffalo 545pm. I don't like having to be on the Canada side at all on Wednesday but that's how the park hours work out for it.
Frontier was $83 dollars round-trip and I just HAD to say yes lol. Bought the flight Friday night. Never been to any of these before!
Have fun. Don't bother with Fantasy Island if you don't have to. There isn't much of a park left there believe me on this. Its not worth paying the admission and parking to go there. If you are made of money and want to spend then its ok to go there, but it will probably be very disappointing. If you are going I suggest waiting for the weather to warm up and the kids to get out of school so they will actually have staff and the water park will be open, then it won't be bad at all. They charge for parking now unless you buy the seasons pass and they don't allow any food or drink in the park. You can't have a family picnic anymore because of these restrictions. There is a tim hortons and a pizza place within walking distance of the park, use these instead of buying park food. The seasons pass is the same price or less as a day ticket from what I can see when you factor in the parking charge, so one time visitors get screwed. One thing for sure is you can do this park in a couple hours and there won't be long lines.
If you don't have a pass for free parking at SF parks then darien lake charges $20 for parking now.
Casino is the only good place to eat on the NY side. Please avoid every other eatery you see on the NY side, they are all ripoffs. There's a bunch of places in the casino that serve decent food for a reasonable price. You can also eat the Fallsview casino in Canada for a reasonable price. Canada will charge you for parking but if you go to the lot at the back of the Skylon Tower, take the main road and turn left when you see the admiral inn, this takes you to Robinson street and you will end up in this lot, feed the meter you can park all day for $10 canadian which is really cheap. Aquarium of Niagara in NY also charges for parking but you can park on a nearby street and walk. American falls is currently a huge (toxic) dump because there is so much construction downtown you won't even know where to walk or drive, unless you are going to the casino I suggest avoiding it. The main entrance to the falls area is even blocked off. Even though they charge for parking you might be better off going directly to the Canadian side and walking around, given that most of the green space downtown in NY is under construction (not the gorge, just the green space around the falls). Maid of the mist boat ride and cave of the winds are awesome attractions and are must do in Niagara. If you do anything else do these, view the falls and get out of there and go to another city for dinner.
Something else I wanted to mention here that literally no one has ever talked about and an announcement that has gone totally under the radar. Despite Marineland's horrible publicity its actually a decent park with friendly workers, at least it was when I went there in 2017. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the workers were. You can bring your own food right into the park and park for free. Out of all the WNY parks this is the one I had the most fun at. The park added people mover trams this year and has a 2 acre waterpark opening sometime this year, hopefully. Regardless they are building a water park and its already in progress. They are also removing the topple tower if it isn't already gone and it seems they making huge investments to the park. There will be a new ride at some point in the next year or 2 that replaces the topple tower. The Walrus passed away recently so you won't be seeing that if you view the large sea animal show they have. You mentioned the SS tower, the last time I was there they were only running one side one car on it so prepare for a long wait. The flying dragon is a must do and the Sky Hawk (huss condor) is the best ride in the park IMO. The teacup ride is really intense. If you haven't been to Marineland in a very long time or ever I think they may have added some things to the coaster from the original build.
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I don't know if you got a bad pizza, because Darien Lake pizza I could honestly eat anytime of the day
Next time someone from upstate calls me out for putting ranch on my wings I’ll just show them this post about what upstate New York considers respectable pizza and we can call it even.
I’ve been to New York. I’ve been to Italy. I know what good pizza tastes like, and I can firmly tell you that, for a theme park, the personal pans at Darien Lake last season were definitely some of the best I’ve had throughout theme parks. You definelty just had a bad pizza.
I gotta agree. While it’s certainly not even close to the best pizza out there (i’ve lived in Buffalo my whole life, I know good pizza), in relation to other theme parks, it’s actually pretty impressive. Honestly, Darien has some of the best theme park food in general. I mean, it isn’t necessarily good but in comparison to other theme parks i’ve been to, besides maybe Disney, the DL food has been impressively good.
I am not sure if the food that they contracted for a corporate party in the party area is the same stuff they serve within the park but we went to a corporate party a couple years ago and the food served was some of the most vile, disgusting food I have ever had the pleasure of eating. Now I don't expect the world from theme park fare and I am generally not picky about served food especially when it doesn't cost me any money to eat but man, this food was barely edible. A lot of people weren't eating anything and we couldn't access the drink machine because it was swarming with bees, well that isn't necessarily DL's problem as its a problem when you have soda outside no matter what in the summer but still annoying. They could have provided bottles of water to drink instead of having to get the water from the drink machine that was swarming with bees or at least a water dispenser of some sort with paper cups in the food area, I have seen kegs full of water, they could have used one of those. I can't describe the hamburgers and the mac and cheese must have contained a substance other than cheese on it because it both looked like plastic and tasted like plastic. They did serve fruit but well, it didn't taste like fruit, I think they put something on it that made it not taste like fruit, it was the kind of fruit that is served out of a bag. The only good thing was they served ice cream bars out of a cooler and believe me that was the best part of the meal.
I attended a catered party at DL in 2016 I believe. The food at that party was disgusting. I’ve worked in theme park catering in the past and I’ll tell you the food at the catered picnic is far worse and cheaper then the food sold at the stands. Think about it, how much needs to be made at once. Sometimes we’d have over a thousand people we needed to make food for. Hot dogs and burgers are cheap brand, hundreds thrown on the grill at once and everyone rushing. The cheap catering food and cooks rushing to tend to all the hundreds on the grill doesn’t result in a good product. I mean, we could offer better food at these events but think about how much it would cost the person booking it for possibly thousands of people.
I have to agree, I think the party I went to was in 2015 or 2016 as well. Some are huge corporate parties, and the one I went to was a place with a very large employment base, and sometimes they have multiple large parties on a single day, they did when I was there, so that makes sense. I would guess there were probably 3-5k people there on the day I went just from corporate parties. The tickets (1-2 per person) to these corporate parties are completely free and they include free parking as well, so it completely free other than the drive down there for guests to attend these (I am not sure if this will be the case under SF ownership though). If you wanted extra tickets other than the 1-2 provided there was the option to purchase extra tickets at an extremely discounted price. I assume the catered party food is probably ordered separately from the in park fare and cooked elsewhere in the park, and then brought to the picnic area. Regardless of all of this, the food was worse than awful.
Most people when I was at the park due to the insane food prices were bringing in food from home in small lunch bags and eating it right in the park so I guess not too many people order food in the park so that gives more time and food stands that aren't too busy and I assume like most fast food places the food is cooked to order or if its busy they cook food individually and it will be fresh because it is selling. I didn't see too many people ordering at the food stands. I don't think the food stand food is cooked in another place in the park and brought to the restaurant and served warmed up in a microwave or something like that. Besides the little microwave pizzas that look like something you can buy at walmart for 88 cents.
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I don't know if you got a bad pizza, because Darien Lake pizza I could honestly eat anytime of the day
Next time someone from upstate calls me out for putting ranch on my wings I’ll just show them this post about what upstate New York considers respectable pizza and we can call it even.
I’ve been to New York. I’ve been to Italy. I know what good pizza tastes like, and I can firmly tell you that, for a theme park, the personal pans at Darien Lake last season were definitely some of the best I’ve had throughout theme parks. You definelty just had a bad pizza.
I gotta agree. While it’s certainly not even close to the best pizza out there (i’ve lived in Buffalo my whole life, I know good pizza), in relation to other theme parks, it’s actually pretty impressive. Honestly, Darien has some of the best theme park food in general. I mean, it isn’t necessarily good but in comparison to other theme parks i’ve been to, besides maybe Disney, the DL food has been impressively good.
I am not sure if the food that they contracted for a corporate party in the party area is the same stuff they serve within the park but we went to a corporate party a couple years ago and the food served was some of the most vile, disgusting food I have ever had the pleasure of eating. Now I don't expect the world from theme park fare and I am generally not picky about served food especially when it doesn't cost me any money to eat but man, this food was barely edible. A lot of people weren't eating anything and we couldn't access the drink machine because it was swarming with bees, well that isn't necessarily DL's problem as its a problem when you have soda outside no matter what in the summer but still annoying. They could have provided bottles of water to drink instead of having to get the water from the drink machine that was swarming with bees or at least a water dispenser of some sort with paper cups in the food area, I have seen kegs full of water, they could have used one of those. I can't describe the hamburgers and the mac and cheese must have contained a substance other than cheese on it because it both looked like plastic and tasted like plastic. They did serve fruit but well, it didn't taste like fruit, I think they put something on it that made it not taste like fruit, it was the kind of fruit that is served out of a bag. The only good thing was they served ice cream bars out of a cooler and believe me that was the best part of the meal.
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I Love blizzard, i never ride it though because of the long line
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Luckily it was not long when I had visited due to a passing storm. It would be great to see more parks make them enclosed. Maybe Darien Lake could do that with their Scrambler?
This will never happen because around the year 2002 there was a big accident with an enclosed scrambler at seabreeze park, I think one of the employees of the park died. Yes the employee was stupid but there are risks to an enclosed scrambler. I am surprised there is an enclosed scrambler anywhere in the state of NY left.
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Honestly don't mind ads in parks as long as they are not excessive to the point where its all you see all over the park to the point where you can't look anywhere without seeing a massive ad, we all know what a snickers bar is and we will buy it if we want to. Its kind of like Nascar, if there were no ads it would lose something with just blank cars.
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I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not....
I can see why you got roped into a seasons pass though, they basically force you to get one now so you don't have to pay for parking, which from what I heard is up to $10 per car (or perhaps pay for the cost based on the size of your vehicle) when it used to be free because by the time you pay for one daily admission and the parking fee the cost of those 2 things equals the cost of a seasons pass...
But in their defense Darien is doing the same thing, if you bought the pass when it was on the flash sale by the time you pay for one daily admission and the cost of parking one car you are already up to the cost of a seasons pass.
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It's a swinging ship.
It's major mechanical components consist of like 2 drive tires. If Six Flags felt like repairing it would be prohibitively expensive they would have bought a new swinging ship, and by "bought a new swinging ship" I mean the would have removed it, used it for parts at their other parks, left the dock and queue in place because they don't give a sh*t and never ever ever ever ever actually bought a new swinging ship because that would be stupid.
I am pretty sure every other park would do the same thing. Sometimes rides reach end of life. Then they get removed. As it was already said a park isn't going to replace a ride with the same ride, that doesn't make sense. Marineland's topple tower is still standing, the whole thing, standing for years, un-operational. I went to marineland last year and I didn't even notice this ride standing there, so its not a huge deal to me. It doesn't really make sense to remove and rebuild unless the place is planning on using that spot for another ride or another attraction. Its cheaper to just leave it there. Also I can actually support this idea, because if a park has a SBNO ride, then dealing with it costs money (unless as I said it has to be dealt with to put in a new attraction and this is when they are at the point that it becomes too expensive to repair) and that is less money that they can spend on something new.
It also makes sense for a big park chain to buy rides in multiples, they probably get a good deal and most people aren't going to go to multiple six flags parks in different areas that have the same ride anyways so a lot of parks get something new that way and it increases attendance.
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I just found out the Tagada is banned in the USA, there is no way it would be allowed nor would anyone want to operate it. Liability, liability, liability.
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I’m all for the park not being overloaded with DC/Looney Tunes themeing, but RoS is BEGGING for the Superman branding to return. Having S:RoS as the only branding would be perfect. Everybody still calls it Superman still anyways.
I get the feeling that, if/when the park rethemes it to Superman, the general reaction will be, "Wait... since when has it NOT been Superman?"
I have a feeling this is going to be the case, because everyone still calls it Superman. But this is an interesting point. I think this will be the case with the other themeing as well if they use the same franchises they did back when it was previously six flags, people will just say oh that isn't new... Its possible for someone who hasn't visited since the last six flags ownership to not notice if everything was re-themed as before. I wonder if they have the old props in storage and will just put them back on the rides?
Honestly, most regular guests would be just fine with the return of 'Superman' to the ride name and the second train back in operation, but SF corporate will have a tough time hyping things up. Re-theming the ride looks much more spectacular on brochures and in the gift shops. And (unfortunately for us) it gives the park a "big new attraction!"
OK...I am taking off the corporate thinking cap now. Just fix the 2nd train now please and were good....
Parks seem to like to put themeing in, but personally I would rather the money be used elsewhere, like for just about anything else but themes. I am just assuming with the corporate change they will brand the park as something other than generic ride names, I am not sure if Six Flags is going with park consistency across the chain with the few new parks they purchased and I don't think anyone else knows what they will do in this department either and it may not happen the first full year of ownership anyways. However it does look like they did something with the unused golf course under viper so that's one eyesore gone which is a positive change.
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I’m all for the park not being overloaded with DC/Looney Tunes themeing, but RoS is BEGGING for the Superman branding to return. Having S:RoS as the only branding would be perfect. Everybody still calls it Superman still anyways.
I get the feeling that, if/when the park rethemes it to Superman, the general reaction will be, "Wait... since when has it NOT been Superman?"
I have a feeling this is going to be the case, because everyone still calls it Superman. But this is an interesting point. I think this will be the case with the other themeing as well if they use the same franchises they did back when it was previously six flags, people will just say oh that isn't new... Its possible for someone who hasn't visited since the last six flags ownership to not notice if everything was re-themed as before. I wonder if they have the old props in storage and will just put them back on the rides?
I only mentioned it because I know DL has a boneyard, what's in the boneyard now I don't know so I just figured they threw all the stuff there. It makes sense that SF would take it back though or require it destroyed especially since its licensed stuff. So at least we know if they do themeing (aka looney tunes, superman) that it will be different.
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I’m all for the park not being overloaded with DC/Looney Tunes themeing, but RoS is BEGGING for the Superman branding to return. Having S:RoS as the only branding would be perfect. Everybody still calls it Superman still anyways.
I get the feeling that, if/when the park rethemes it to Superman, the general reaction will be, "Wait... since when has it NOT been Superman?"
I have a feeling this is going to be the case, because everyone still calls it Superman. But this is an interesting point. I think this will be the case with the other themeing as well if they use the same franchises they did back when it was previously six flags, people will just say oh that isn't new... Its possible for someone who hasn't visited since the last six flags ownership to not notice if everything was re-themed as before. I wonder if they have the old props in storage and will just put them back on the rides?
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What I really meant was the log flume was becoming obsolete because a lot of parks are removing them because they are expensive to operate or are just getting old.
Yeah, it seems obligatory to ride the flume at every park you go to, if its hot you can cool off quickly and likely dry off quickly. Everyone seems to be really angry when a park removes a flume, no matter what park it is. Sometimes at a park the flume is often the only water ride outside of a waterpark. A lot of parks are removing flume's due to the age of some of them and the expense to operate them, and the GP doesn't really understand that nothing lasts forever. I think the only solution if a park is removing a flume is to replace with a new flume, if they are that popular and draw huge crowds then parks should consider. Darien has a similar ride to a flume in the park, so removing the flume wasn't too big of a blow, plus they also have Grizzly run, so they still have 2 water rides outside the water park.
I guess this begs the question, does anyone know of a theme park that actually has good gokarts that are worth riding, inside the park and as part of the park?
Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread
in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Posted
Apex is now giving refunds for Fantasy Island season passholders, you have to go to the website to get a refund. If you have a pass, please take the necessary steps to get your refund. I think this means that the park is completely done and will never reopen.