SaraAB87

I have heard of this, apparently the place had a lot of crime, while I do not live in Utah and I have never been, I have definitely heard of this place, Word is they had 3-4 Sega R360 machines, which is my favorite machine of all time... it must have been really epic.

I also seriously doubt the majority of the guests even know about the stuff rotting in the field, nor do they care, I don't care either, and I wouldn't want the park to spend money destroying what you can't even see or touch when you are inside the park and what has little or no impact upon the guests in the park. Now if Batman were sitting in a spot in the park where a ride could go that would be different, but its not, its sitting in a place where it has no impact on park visitors. Right now DL seems to be rebuilding and removing rides that are old and troublesome which is a good thing, and this large investment is definitely a good thing and shows that the owners are willing to invest in the property instead of letting it rot like Six Flags did at the end. They could easily let the park go another 5 years without a large new addition and just put in small things like the new game that was a horrible flop this year. Hopefully they don't remove and destroy the silver bullet and the haymaker because if they do I will definitely be very bitter about that but I will understand why its being done, so I do understand the sentimental feelings for rides like the log flume. I honestly haven't bothered to look at the facebook comments but if I had to take all that in stride and I was a theme park owner and I was going to make a 4-5 million dollar investment in my property if everyone just did nothing but complain about it I think that would be crazy. I think I would just not add anything since no matter what they add no one seems to be satisfied with it, perhaps all of the complainers elsewhere would be more happy if they just left thunder rapids SBNO and added nothing or maybe someone with a lot of money could donate the money and manpower to get it up and running again or rebuild it and keep it running for the next 30 years.....

We are getting a coaster and people still complain, I am happy we are getting a coaster and not getting nothing again this year. Any coaster addition is a good one. As far as thunder rapids, I am not a fan of flume rides so I don't care, I get that everyone is sentimental about it but nothing lasts forever and all rides will die eventually, sad but true. Thunder Rapids is 30 years old and there is no way a flume can last forever, and I would not want that dirty disgusting water splashed on my body. I can see being upset about the removal of the one at Fantasy island because they have less rides and now they have no water boat rides of any kind besides the water park but Darien already has Grizzly run and shipwreck falls so they have 2 other water rides that are almost the same as the flume.

I have never visited at night so I was completely unware of this but this is definitely a legit complaint, for safety concerns especially, dark areas in a largely wooded park are not a good idea. Dark areas in a park are definitely not a good idea for safety reasons in general regardless of where the park is set. Replacing burnt out bulbs should be the most basic thing really, but if the rides have no lights at all then they obviously cannot fix the bulbs. They should probably install some floodlights to at least light the area like you suggested if they don't want to pay for a lighting package on every ride. It seems unusual that a park or anywhere would remove all the lights from a ride leaving nothing there at all, especially since DL promotes the laser show encouraging you to stay until dark at the park.

...what? People in this thread complain about park cleanliness, ride painting and maintenance breakdowns, and I havent seen anything at DL (in regards to that) that I havent seen at WDW. Two rides broke down today at Epcot while I was on it or in line. If that happened at DL the park is on it way to closing down if you ask the people in this thread. You have to keep in mind there is a HUGE difference between Darien Lake and Walt Disney World. You dont say? My point is, "problems" at DL also are "problems" in a major theme park run by a major corporation. You're listing problems that are present at every park known to man. No park is perfect, people. You heard me. This is the best conversation that I've seen on this thread in a very long time. People can be straight up wimps about the smallest details. Also, I've been to Dinseyworld (the Florida resort for anyone living under a rock) several times so far and noticed the same thing. Darien Lake is really not that bad. If you want to see a real poor quality experience, go to Sylvan Beach nearby. There's a reason Sylvan Beach does not have a thread on TPR This is what I am trying to say, complaining about things that do not affect your enjoyment is pointless (gum wall, viper station falling apart, weeds growing through sidewalk, dormant rides not being set up, rides that are SBNO etc..) those types of things, is pointless, they do not directly contribute to enjoyment at the park. Would it be nice if the park was a bit cleaner, yes, would it be nice if they removed rides that aren't being used, yes, but that is not something that directly affects my enjoyment of the park, and I haven't seen a horridly dirty park to the point where it affects my enjoyment of the place ever in my life. For it to be that bad where its worth complaining about I would have to be stepping in trash or smelling it every step of the way and I have not encountered that ever at a park. I have encountered dirty cafeteria's and eateries to the point where they were not usable and very smelly trash cans that were unavoidable at other public places that do not include theme parks that I will not mention here. Unless the dirtiness is to that point then its not worth complaining about. Now I can understand some complaints but honestly, the same thing happens at every park, rides break down, people litter, people leave food everywhere, other guests are rude just about everywhere not only parks. Lets just say theme parks are hit or miss, go to a park on a day when its crowded and lines are over an hour for everything its not going to be the same as someone who goes on a weekday and gets to ride things multiple times. Time your visits if you can to avoid potential disaster is the only thing I can say if you don't want to deal with lines, while it may not be possible to time your visits for a weekday, know what you are going into before doing it if its not something you want to do then don't go. If you don't want to wait in weekend lines at Darien lake then don't go, its just common sense that lines will be longer on a weekend than on a weekday, you have to expect that, its just the way it goes.

I am sure that the thousands of GP that attended the park this season also enjoyed their visits despite everything that is said here and in other online places. I am sure attendance was up or on par with other seasons as I heard the park was absolutely packed this season. I am happy to see that someone enjoyed their visit this season. Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

People leave bad reviews to get free stuff. I don't think the terrible reviews are because of unknowledge. DL is a decent park. I think these reviews are coming from people who grew up at the park maybe 10 years ago or so, and are disappointed in how the park's operations have gone totally downhill. I'm sure that many of these people went here during the late 1990s-Six Flags era and remember when this place used to have steady additions (ME in 97, Boomerang in 98, ROS in 99...), and would consistently run multiple trains on all of their coasters. These reviewers are probably looking back at that time period in the parks history, and are disappointed to see the coasters all running with one train, which makes all the lines here absolutely horrendous, with no sight of two-train operations anywhere in the near future, as well as the fact that there was no new ride at the dry or water park, but they got two new games: one a success and the other a complete failure that was only open around twice the entire season. These new rides are how the place can get people from out of town, and Canadians to come to DL, and I think that not getting any new ride is really hurting them. Also, these people can definitely remember the years of Fright Fest, and DL staying open until late October. I'm sure when people who haven't been to DL in a while will be a bit disappointed about their shorter operating schedule. Even FANTASY ISLAND is beating the park with that this year...FI is having an "Oktoberfest" this fall, staying open until late October, but DL isn't. Another item to be considered as an issue at DL is their maintenance department. I don't think that I have ever been to another amusement park that has so many closed rides, or breakdowns on open rides. When I'm at DL, it seems to be just one breakdown after another. I have also heard numerous people saying that they don't feel very safe on some rides, especially coasters, saying that the shaking, rattling and roughness feel unsafe, and I can say that it is absolutely unacceptable for the ROS train, that is only A YEAR OLD to be riding so rough already. It seems as if DL's maintenance team just loves to destroy roller coaster trains, instead of repairing them. Event though DL is a decent park, changing even a few things about their operations can reform the reputation of the place. For example, staying open later in the year, running two trains on coasters again (admit it... it's needed), lights on Giant Wheel, better maintenance, and some new paint here and there would go a VERY long way into giving the park much better feedback, and getting better attendance to the park. Even though a new ride (or coaster) would be amazing for DL, I think it's safe to say that improving the rides and infrastructure that is literally falling apart, should be addressed first, to better improve the park. I didn't specifically mean negative reviews of Darien but in general, some people are making stupid comments that have no relevance in online reviews in general, such as "there are weeds growing between the sidewalks" then give the park a low score because of something that has no bearing on the reviewers enjoyment of the park. I do not know what to say to a person who let's something like that affect their enjoyment of a park. I have also seen positive reviews posted with a negative star rating.. which I don't understand... I am also referring to people who clearly have not been to the place who write a review anyways just to slam a business (any business) or park for no good reason. These reviews seem to have a follow the herd mentality, when one person slams a business the rest follow. I have no problem with constructive criticism of any business as you demonstrated from someone who has actually been there and let's face it as you say DL is far from perfect. For example I walked into Planet Hollywood on Clifton Hill last year and had a horrible experience, apparently so did everyone else and now the place is closed, so reviews can be accurate sometimes. I have written bad reviews before with constructive criticism, and I have never been contacted or given something for free. I feel like it seems like DL never recovered from the maintenance nightmare it was during the six flags era, SF ran the park to the ground and the effects are lasting. I cannot explain the issues with the new ROS train or the issues with rolling Thunder as those are new. I do not want to blame the maintenance staff or anyone else for this as I don't work there and I do not know if it's the maintenance staff or the Park's refusal to provide the parts and the necessary equipment to fix and maintain the rides correctly, you can only do so much if there is no budget and the park doesn't give the resources... Sadly I have heard of situations like this at parks and other businesses where the staff wants to fix things but they cannot because there are no parts and the corporation doesn't give the resources to fix it properly because a patch job or quick fix is cheaper. Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

What is said on the internet is definitely not what happens in real life. I have been to parks with negative online comments, and my opinion is people should not have access to the ability to review a business unless they can somehow prove they have actually been there. Families will continue to visit DL because its DL and every kid wants to go at least once per summer. Think about it, we have no way of verifying these reviews, and some people are slamming parks that they have never been to just for the sake of it. Some people are also writing utterly ridiculous things in reviews and on facebook pages. Fantasy island seemed to have good attendance this summer, even though they got utterly SLAMMED in reviews and on facebook for everything you can possibly imagine including things like "I had to wrap the wristband around the child's wrist 4x .... park rating 2 out of 10...." There are weeds growing between the sidewalk panels.. total park score... 1 out of 10.... those kind of things.. plus the past history of the park that has absolutely nothing to do with what is going on there today and there are like 1-3 rides left there that are from the park's past. The Erie County fair charges more for rides than every area park yet attendance was up 21% and the rides were grossing the highest amount they ever have, which tells me that people don't care if you raise prices, they won't stop paying it, for those that stop paying it... there is another person paying it. I do not think these reviews have as much weight in actual numbers as we think they do. I am not getting started on Marineland, but I went this summer and had the most fabulous time I ever had at a theme park in my life... despite less than stellar reviews and the place was very busy. I have to believe these reviews are not directly affecting business at these parks, or else changes would have to be made at the parks that corroborate with what reviewers have been saying.. or if it was that dire, no one would come to the park and the park would close (but I think this is a very rare situation). If the park continues to make money, they will keep operating, despite 1000 online reviews saying the place is on the brink of closure....

Boomerang has had issues for a while if I am correct, I doubt this will get fixed this season, as the season for this park is almost done.

As far as I could tell, I was there on a slow day there was no weird lapbar policies on the silver comet, you can also wear glasses with a strap which I heard they did not allow before, and I am sure some people were wearing them without a strap. The train was going out at a fine pace, though I don't pay too much attention to these things. They may also do a re-ride if the station is empty, we got a re-ride one time, again very slow day. Everyone put their lapbar and seatbelt on themselves, the seatbelts are more than long enough as I had about 12 inches in it and that is a lot. They do check the lapbar and seatbelt. As far as I could see there was no restriction on the mouse coaster in regards to adults, we had 3 adults all over 200lbs each in one car. You put the heaviest adult on the inside and the lightest on the outside and you can get it spinning like crazy. They operate most rides when its raining and they are now not closed on days with light rain. I was there in the light rain and most stuff was running, they just shut a few rides down when the rain got a bit heavy but they opened right up again as soon as it slowed up. They will close rides if lightning is near, but so will every other park. They have a weather guarantee as well, so if you get rained out its no worries. Again the big change is no food or drink allowed in the park other than a bottle of water, you can still enter and re-enter to eat elsewhere or from your car.

I went to FI this summer and I had a great time even though there was light rain. It seems they have more rides than they did years ago, and there is a lot to do in the park if you do everything. The big change is that they do not allow food or drink other than snacks for small children in clear bags and bottles of water, no other beverages allowed. FI is also selling next years season passes for $34.99 when you buy 3 or more, you also get the rest of 2017. That's a whole summer and more of fun for less than one weekend ride day at the Erie county Fair! Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

Not bad, free park visit with concert ticket and $29.99 tickets help. Also helps that the Erie county Fair keeps overcharging for rides by a ton, $40 POP on the weekend or $29.99 admission to DL, the choice is easy. I did the math and it's cheaper to go to any other park in the area rather than pay for admission and rides at the fair for each person. Sent from my Moto G Play using Tapatalk

Amen to this, after seeing the maintenance workers at certain other places they work very hard and certainly do not deserve the hate they are getting in this thread. Just sticking up for the little guy here. I do not know if the problem here is lousy maintenance staff or upper management only allowing the bare minimum to fix things but I am willing to bet the maintenance workers wants to fix the rides so badly so that the guests can have fun on them however they are not given the budget or parts to do it. This is a very frustrating thing to experience at your job if your job is to fix things. They can't exactly MacGuyver something either as that could kill someone and cause the park a major lawsuit which is a very bad thing.

There was one here at Maple Leaf Village in Ontario, Canada, but I heard it was scrapped. I believe this was the one sitting at Conneaut if I am not mistaken. Unfortunately I never rode it, I do have regrets about that but I was really too little to ride it and it sounds like its a very intense ride. I would have loved to have tried it though. I do remember sitting under it and eating ice cream.

It might be due to guest peace of mind, if other guests see the employees checking restraints they will feel safer and feel like the employees are doing their job. The USA is liability heaven and people want redundant restraints. Parents want to see that their kids and teens are buckled in and the restraints are checked by an employee only makes them feel safer. If a parent doesn't feel the place is safe they will not let their kids come back and they will tell every other parent its not safe so they won't take their kids and so on... thus it becomes industry standard to have employees check the restraints because if park A near the person's house does it than park B better do it too or else park B becomes the unsafe one to the parent. I have never had an issue with a restraint and seatbelts are fine to me, but I have had some people flat out tell me they will not ride certain rides without a seatbelt even if its a ride that clearly does not need a seatbelt (and that is why some rides do not have seatbelts). AKA I am not riding that it does not have a seatbelt. I see nothing wrong with an extra seatbelt even if its not necessary I am certainly not going to argue with it but I am not going to demand that every ride I go on needs a seatbelt because I might get injured if there is none. Its worth noting that I have had a seatbelt pop off me a couple times on coasters because the bar comes into contact with the seatbelt and opens the buckle, there was no way I was going to fall out but if we are talking about insanely low failure rates I am sure a seatbelt can fail as well as other restraint mechanisms too. Seatbelts can also get worn out and possibly fail that way, again very very slim chance of this happening but the chance is there.

I have had issues a few times with the Williamsville Tolls especially in the summer, never in the non-peak travel seasons. I went to the park definitely after opening so I was not stuck in a huge opening lineup but I can't remember what time I arrived, probably around 2pm. It was August 2015 that I last visited the park, maybe there was a special event somewhere else in the area or there was temporary thruway construction. It was not Erie County Fair week.

I have nothing to hide so I have no problem with security, never experienced an abnormal wait for security anywhere, then again, I don't fly so that isn't an issue. I would be curious to hear from frequent park goers and those that have worked park security if they are allowed to speak about this matter, has anyone actually stopped something bad from happening at a park through walk through park security?

I live in the city of Niagara falls near downtown, coming from here we take the grand island bridge and the thruway to the batavia exit I think it is, we go through the Williamsville tolls and this is where the issue starts, sorry if I didn't describe my route too well, its been a couple years. The lineup for the williamsville tolls were insane, and we could barely get through (think of a free for all), after getting through that it was fine, until we got to the thruway batavia exit, there is another toll just after that, I believe this is just before the pembroke rest stop, where there was a lineup, this is where we encountered the obnoxious darien lake crowd, people hanging limbs out cars, smoking out car windows, screaming out the car windows, I did not see the middle finger thankfully but we saw just about everything else, drivers texting and talking on cell phones while driving and not paying attention.. making it worse, i know some of these things are an issue everywhere but they seemed to be way worse in this area. Then the fact that there is only one stretch of rural road to get to the park that everyone has to use, this can get really backed up at times. Fortunately the park crowd didn't consist wholly of drivers like the ones we saw coming into the park. The parking was not bad as the lines were not long to get into the park and as I said even though you have to drive around the whole lot it actually works out in your favor since you get to park further back but closer to the entrance. I've gone to Erie, PA a few times for both Waldameer and the shopping there and Seabreeze in Rochester and even the Strong museum of play which takes about an hour and a half to get to from my house if I don't take a rest stop which is pretty impressive and I have had no issues with the obnoxious type of drivers I saw on this darien lake trip. Perhaps I just hit a bad time? I did not go during the kingdom bound festival either.

I am not sure if I could stand to go to this park more than once a year, for those of us coming from Buffalo/Niagara transportation is an issue, thruway construction, insane thruway traffic, long lineups at various points on the way there (while in the car), 1000 times more obnoxious drivers than usual on the way to to the park make it a miserable drive in to the point where going more than once a year is out of the question no matter what. Exiting the park I have had no issue and that was great but various things caused me to never want to drive to the park again, as it was the most aggravating drive I have ever experienced the last time I went. If you live close by or perhaps coming from another direction, since from Buffalo/Niagara there is only one way into the park and one route you can take which makes it ever so more annoying than going just about anywhere else where there are multiple entrances/exists and multiple ways to get there even if everyone is coming from the same direction, even parks like waldameer have multiple ways to get there (they have 2 entrances for cars at Waldameer and they are on different roads, I think if we took the opposite way than what I did it would have been faster but it wasn't so bad). And of course everyone is going to Darien lake and again everyone is being obnoxious and there is no way out of it since there is only one road to the park. I was in the traffic to get to Waldameer and it was not nearly as bad as this was. The parking is messed up too, you have to drive around the whole lot since they block off the front part of the lot at a certain point, even if there are spaces available, turns out its actually a shorter walk to the entrance if you park in the overflow since you have more spaces to pick from and can park at the back near the entrance so this works in your favor in the long run and just walk straight to the entrance, even though the lot at darien is never not a walkable distance anyways. Somehow I think it would be faster for me to get to Seabreeze or Waldameer, as I probably spent as much time as it takes me to get to Seabreeze or Waldameer in the car just trying to get to Darien lake, (when darien lake should really be a 45-60 min drive from my house to the entrance of the park maximum) battling obnoxious drivers while any park is going to have some traffic and there are obnoxious drivers everywhere this was absolutely insane the whole way there and no it was not a concert day and I cannot imagine what that is like given what I have already experienced. I could definitely make some comments about the ... very rural.... and twisty road drive to seabreeze... but that was not a crowded drive filled with obnoxious drivers and we were able to take our time getting to the park (there was literately no one even behind our car which was awesome).. The GPS did all the work and we got there fine. If I am going to ride the same things over and over with a seasons pass I would rather go to Fantasy island as its much closer to me and dealing with the grand island bridge only isn't so bad, sure they don't have everything Darien does but the park never gets so overcrowded that it causes massive problems with thruway traffic or that there are intense lineups to get into the park and I could be there in 20 min easy on a good day and be back home in 20 min maybe a little longer on a bad day, this would allow me to go to the park, do what I want and come home in a reasonable amount of time without having extensive time commitments that have to be spent waiting and battling traffic leaving more time for park fun. I think time commitments are important for everyone and driving for an unnecessarily long 1.5 hours to who knows how long minimum to get to darien lake from the falls then time for parking and getting into the park, its okay for the once a year trip especially if you have kids that are begging to go but to go 15+ times per season would be absolutely insane for me and I would probably be ready to kill myself if I had to put up with the traffic and obstacles to get to the park that many times during the summer. Contrary to popular belief, Buffalo and the surrounding areas are actually quite a hike for us that live in the falls, and its almost like its another world away in some cases but something you hear all the time, Buffalo, buffalo buffalo, come to buffalo for this... oh just a short drive away from the falls (takes an hour to 1.5 hours from the falls to actually get to destination), Buffalo isn't just the hop skip and jump from the falls that everyone makes it out to be. Guaranteed again, this depends on your location, schedule and when you are able to go to the park has a lot to do with it, if you live in a direction where you can get in and out quickly with a pass and have free time during the week when the park isn't so crazy and plan carefully around work traffic the pass may be an excellent option, In this case I can totally see going to the park, hitting the waterpark for a couple hours for fun on a hot day and then returning home. If darien lake was more of a destination, restaurants, shopping, other entertainment, like Erie PA is then I would consider a pass and going a few times a year instead of just one or perhaps one time every couple years. I think the locals echo it best as in Darien lake is the park you go to once every 10 years and it barely changes or changes very little from the last time you went, this is what everyone locally tells me about Darien lake. I am finally going to fantasy island after a very long absence this season and in looking at the park map I have ridden about 10% of the parks rides that are there now so its going to feel like a whole new park to me.

Its not that bad of a park, with the cost of carnivals and the erie county fair through the roof DL seems to provide the best value, you do get a whole park for the whole day including a water park (comparing the other waterpark options nearby such as great wolf lodge makes DL an incredible value), even better if you can catch something like the buy 1 get 1 free tickets they had last season.

I don't think DL will close, too many families go to it as its the only large park in the area, its also one of the only outdoor waterpark options in the area. There are a few things that can happen here but I think DL is in a pretty good position as long as they dont do something really stupid. If Fantasy island goes bad or does something everyone does not like then families will just save up and go to DL which means more attendance for DL, its not that much farther and doesnt cost that much more. Erie county fair continues to get more and more expensive, people will go to DL instead, I am considering doing this myself next year. Fair attendance is already down. I dont think this impacts DL that much as they are 2 different things totally but doing the math last year it was cheaper to go to DL than the fair (during fair week) and that cant be ignored. If they ever build that waterpark in a hotel in downtown Niagara falls that they are supposed to I think that might force DL into upgrading their waterpark a bit. There is a big demand for waterparks in the area and there are not many options to fill that demand and for outdoor waterparks there are only a couple months they can be utilized. Its going to be an interesting year for local parks for sure. Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

Crowds I seriously doubt that, I go on a weekday and there is literately NO ONE on the rides, maybe 10-15 people on the midway literately in the afternoon. I end up on a lot of them by myself. A lot of restrictions on the rides have been changed, not saying its right or wrong, the height limit on the zyklon was raised from 42 inches with an adult or 48 inches without an adult to something like 56 inches or no ride at all, I witnessed a very average sized man get rejected from the space roller and several rides have no single riders when they did not in the past, again same rides as they always were. You can't talk to the ride ops as they don't speak english so its up to the rider to find another person to pair with as they can't help you make arrangements and its simply not possible for me to speak every language in the book fluently, they simply wave you off the ride and don't let you on. As far as that, well there aren't enough people on the midway to pair up with another rider. In the past there were enough people on the midway at the time I go. Since I can no longer ride the enterprise at the fair and there are no riders to pair up with, I may as well head to darien to ride the silver bullet. I cannot speak for the weekend crowds as I have never been but $40 is outrageous for what they have, $25 is ok they have enough to justify that, but as I said my favorites are now off limits to me as I am a single rider with no possibility of going with another person who will ride with me. The food gets crowds but I don't see why, there is nothing worth eating for the outrageous prices they charge except for charlaps ice cream, that is the only thing that is really good at the fair, most of the food is low quality with the cheapest ingredients possible. However there are a couple ways to get past this, bringing your own food is always an option, there is the place that sells items for a dollar or at least there used to be, the pizza places are reasonable as you can get a huge slice for $3.50 which is cheaper than the mall here at least (it was a really huge slice too). We went on taste of the fair day this year and I would HIGHLY suggest going on that day as tons of stands sell items for $2 and some of it is a decent portion. I had a very good experience with this in 2016. You have to look around to find the good stuff but there was a place selling huge slices of pizza for $2 and I got a giant chocolate banana for $2 as well. But if you want the fancy foods you will pay for them. Food prices seem to be universally very expensive in this area and only going up and up (I just spent $9 for a chicken finger basket from Anderson's and it was NOT impressive for the money) so in reality the food at the fair isn't any more expensive than the food at the mall or food from a food truck or anywhere else. The free entertainment is extremely lacking, there is basically nothing to do but walk through buildings with salesmen that is true. Nothing at the fair is worth buying, everything can be found cheaper online. Everything else you want to do costs money that is true. There are animals and lots of buildings to see that is free, but in the past they had a free full country jamboree that went all day until late at night, a free book mobile on certain days where everyone got a free book and free bottles of milk. All of that is gone now and my family misses all of that. We also used to be so impressed with the fair that we would go for more than one day, especially on jamboree day since the jamboree was free with admission. That is no longer the case, now we have to enact all discounts and we only go for one day and we don't stay until night. So to go to the fair plan ahead, you can't get past the $5 parking charge but you can get $5 admission before 11am and a discount wristband from tops, you can also go on taste of the fair day for cheap food. Lets hope they continue taste of the fair day next year. No, its absolutely NOT a budget friendly event if you are on a shoestring budget with a family but with some pre-planning you can make it work if you can allocate some funds for the day.

Fantasy Island had $18 admission last year if you bought from local businesses, my mom said they had trouble selling them at her workplace....apparently no one wants to go to this park for some reason... that's some of the cheapest entertainment you can get in the area. People wont pay $18 for a whole theme park yet they will pay $20-40 for a carnival ride wristband...or $28 for one Go-Kart ride at pole position at the Galleria...there's something seriously messed up with that. Sent from my LGLS740 using Tapatalk

The water park was probably very busy because we had a very hot summer and of course this made everyone crave a water park. There are not a lot of options in this area for a water park so naturally those that have water parks are very busy. If you want an indoor water park you have to go to Ontario Canada or Erie, PA. That indoor waterpark that was supposed to open on the NY side of Niagara falls.. like with everything else I haven't seen it yet. In this area there are only a couple of months that an outdoor waterpark is viable due to the weather so people want to get it in while they can. This can be hit or miss because due to weather sometimes the water park does not open or sometimes there are not a lot of people in it, for example if we have a colder summer. Even though I do not personally use the waterpark at the park I am going to say waterpark upgrades are very much needed since it does get very crowded especially with very limited options in the area for waterparks. The waterpark does make DL a fantastic value if you choose to utilize it as these indoor waterparks usually cannot be visited without a hotel stay unless you can catch a day pass which again... even if you are lucky enough to get a day pass those usually cost more than theme park admission...A hotel stay plus waterpark costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars (most of the time $400 or more per family), a visit to DL costs much less than that and doesn't require a hotel visit with tons of restrictions, most hotels connected to a waterpark do not allow any outside food to be brought in, adding significantly to the cost of visiting them.

Something similar happened here as well, I don't have kids but as far as I know its marked on every ride that parents must have tickets if they wish to ride, nothing about the child's height is mentioned. What happened here and I won't mention specifics but they raised the height requirement of a certain portable coaster to 56 inches or no ride at all when previously it was you could ride with an adult at 42 inches and at 48 inches you were fine to ride alone. Nothing about the ride changed that I can see, same ride, same cars on the ride, same restraints. So I have no idea what caused the drastic change. I know safety is of the utmost concern but changes like this just seem a little arbitrary to the consumer when something like this happens, especially when the ride is the exact same ride in the exact same state as it was the year before. This is an amusement ride site so have you checked the ride manufacturers guidelines for each ride? Carnivals and parks are required to update if the manufacturer updates. Perhaps you have seen the same ride at a park with a lower restriction? If its higher than that in your area then you will know that the fair is just trying to extract more money from parents and kids, a fair has every right unfortunately to raise the restriction but it would have to be higher than what the manufacturer specifies. I have noticed in the last few years that height restrictions seem to be going up, and most kids rides are family rides which require 42 inches or an adult. I am just curious if the fair is raising restrictions on purpose or if its just height restrictions going up across the board. Also thanks to the international folks, I was hoping someone would chime in with prices from overseas just out of curiousity.