SbSteveZ
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About SbSteveZ
- Birthday 07/17/1998
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Buffalo, NY
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It would be interesting to see what they do with the actual parts and pieces for the "Wahoo Wave" or whatever it's called, just drove past the park about a week ago and it was all out in the parking lot - sure just large slide pieces but still. Assuming they open the park at some point (for hypothetical purposes), I'd be curious to see if they just leave those slide pieces in the front the parking lot roped off (which let's be real the way they rope off the parking lot now is sad so I can't imagine they'd do much better if they added more) or if they'd move it elsewhere. They have to do something with the thing its already sitting there and I have to imagine it's already paid for if they have it? Total speculation and not at all sure what they actually intend on doing. It's just not something I think folks have considered / noticed yet
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^ it seemed to depend per house. Hotel Terror seemed to have 10-ish, where Jungle Apocalypse seemed to be closer to 6-7. I don’t think the number of actors was a huge issue since there was so much going on otherwise, but as said before - Darien Lake’s haunt event is nothing compared to one like cedar point with SO many actors in each haunted attraction TL:DR - I believe both cedar point and Darien Lake attractions had their strong suits, Darien Lake had the intricate details and jump scares galore where cedar point is better with efficiency, length of attraction and amount of scare actors per zone.
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With tonight being my 19th and final visit to SFDL in 2019, I figure I’ll share some photos and what not. First and foremost, This was the first time I decided to go into the houses, and for how dead it was I’m the park (pun intended - sort of), the houses were all practically no wait. Overall I was really impressed. There were a lot of animated things throughout all of the houses and I was not expecting as much motion and detail at all considering the remainder of the park. HAUNTED HOUSE SPOILERS AHEAD: Hotel Terror: for it being within a picnic shelter I was surprised how much i enjoyed the attraction. I went in assuming this was going to be the worst of them all, however it quickly became a group favorite. So many winding turns, tons of scenes, a handful of scare actors (who were all pretty darn good) and a disorienting strove light that I wasn’t expecting at the end. This was our first house so it was our first experience with the animatronics, they kept our attention just long enough for a scare actor to sneak up behind us. Totally awesome concept, and something I was glad to see elsewhere in the park as well. Corridors of Chaps: the preshow area is phenomenal when it comes to realism in the paint treatment, the elevator was old and janky and moved in a really cool way and had a cool attendant who just dealt with it and I really did enjoy the houze as a whole. It took place on the bleachers of the theatre which was a neat concept and was handled very well (in my opinion of course). There were plenty of scare actors in this one, and they all had their own quirks that made them enjoyable, especially the one who crawled on the floor behind us leading to the exit. Jungle Apocalypse: probably the biggest disappointment of the trip but by no means was it a bad maze. There were plenty of big props that caught me off guard (like a giant snake... didn’t even see it coming), and plenty of well placed scare actors who could jump out from at least 3 different locations and surprise you each time which I thought was a really clever design and a great way to deal with limited staffing. Somehow we managed to be behind a group who brought a STROLLER into the haunt, I have no idea why they let that happen but it wasn’t my child so I can’t complain too much... however I’m assuming we didn’t get as many scares because of the baby which kind of stinks but at the same time it wasn’t the end of the world either. I think that helped add to the disappointment for this house though it was a nice break to take everything in instead of always being on my guard. Camp Scumshine: an incredibly LONG maze with plenty of animatronics, especially three of the ankle attacker things, plenty of human bodies spinning and falling and lunging and whatever else with plenty of confusing twists and turns in the dark and obviously some pretty great jump scares. I think this one was the underdog that won best house there in my book due to longevity, location, quality and enjoyable-ness of the maze as a whole Summary: Darien Lake’s houses definitely deliver more of an intense theme than houses at a place like cedar point, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a Six Flags Fright Fest trait, or if the Darien Lake folk just really wanna do whatever it takes to make their guests scream fear - which again, was a blast. Maybe not worth $30 a person, but thanks to the diamond elite membership I’d say they were more than worth the $0 I paid today. And now for some pictures! Filled with plenty of fog, lighting, scenic design etc to show off what I like most about the event, the outdoor atmosphere! Even though the houses have become a close second. The Awakening Entrance of Corridors of Chaos Thank you to the op who was kind enough to let me take this picture before I went into the maze, So. Much. Fog. Even though pirate ship is closed, it’s still in the spirit! That’s all I’ve got! Thanks for having me 19 times, Darien Lake! See you in 2020!
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Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread
SbSteveZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
^ & ^^ Thanks! I’ve been trying out my new iPhone 11 Pro cameras and so far they’ve been amazing, especially for night time photos! -
Cedar Point (CP) Discussion Thread
SbSteveZ replied to robbalvey's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Took a weekend long trip to Cedar Point, the busiest weekend of the year - as seen here by several posts. Was it busy? Absolutely. Did we have a blast? minus traffic, yes. Before the fun of photos, some non-photo info: -We stayed at Lighthouse Point, arrived at the Causeway at about 5:30pm, didn't get to the park until closer to 7:30-ish (counting time to check in and unpack of course, we got to the camp office at closer to 6:30). Definitely the busiest I've ever seen it on my visits, however once we were on the peninsula and settled, the crowds didn't bother us one bit. - On Saturday we left for lunch and on the way back tried to take the old Cedar Point Rd to get to the park, and it still took us 30-45 minutes. - Full disclousure our group only rode Millennium Force, Maverick (x2) and Steel Vengeance (x3) over the course of the weekend. We also saw several Boneyard Battleground shows, Midnight Syndicate (x2), ate at Melt, went through all the haunted houses and scare zones multiple times (minus Fear Ground Freak Show, didn't feel that was worth the wait based on our experience last year...). This was a HAUNT trip, and we took full advantage of that. - the longest line we saw was almost 4 hours for Steel Vengeance, with 3 hours for Millennium Force taking a close second. The longest we waited for anything was Steel Vengeance on Saturday morning. We got there for early entry at close to 10:30, however the ride itself didn't open until after noon and we were the second group in line so we decided to tough it out and make it on the first train of the day. No regrets! - Lines were comically long, with almost an hour for Magnum, 45 minutes for Twister, 60-70 minutes for Corkscrew, an hour for Iron Dragon and my favorite, almost an hour for SkyHawk. Anywho, onto some photos! Starting out strong with night time Maverick shots from Cut Throat Cove Our first HAUNT attraction was CornStalkers. We waited almost an hour and a half for this one, I knew that it would have a long painful line so that wasn't a *huge* deal. These guys are my favorite. I'm so glad they're all over the place Steel Vengeance, Millennium Force and Maverick off in the distance from the Lighthouse Point Pier If it weren't so cold out, this wouldve been the spot to enjoy in the morning. Absolutely loved the view and location! Say hello to thousands of our closest friends preparing for Early Entry (photo taken mere moments before early entry opened) Revisiting the pier now that the sun is on the other side of the peninsula. Much better for photos of the coasters Since this was our first time at Lighthouse Point I dont know how much different this view was in the Mean Streak era but the way that SV looms over this part of the campground is so awesome, it made the stay worth it alone. Our little patio with pumpkins to celebrate HalloWeekends! Steel Vengeance at night, such a great time. And now, some night time shots of other rides! Maverick from Cut Throat Cove Rougarou from Blood on the Bayou Dragster from Blood on the Bayou Always a fan of themed Ferris wheel lighting Little details that make the experience more fun are always a good time. All ready for our final ride on Steel Vengeance on our trip! Checking out Dragster and Millennium from the CP&LE Railroad And that's a wrap! Great trip, fun memories and plenty of spooks! -
^ Depending on when you went through the zones the scare actors may have moved over to the main entrance for “Passage of the Damned” or whatever they call it. PSA: do NOT go to SFDL Fright Fest and expect anything like Cedar Point’s HAUNT. They are two wildly different sides of the spectrum and you will be disappointed guaranteed if that’s your mindset.
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They still “switch” from red to blue on Bullet. The issue seems to be that this year they messed up where each color bulb was installed, or the way they wired each section up this year, which is leading to the awkward blue and red combo. As of my visit on Friday they weren’t, I wonder if that’s just a settings thing. Interesting
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^ should be interesting to see if they do anything for Silver Bullet right across the way, looks like the lights don’t change from blue to red currently (they’re just on solid, the ones that still work at least). I don’t know that I expect much from Darien Lake’s night time lighting packages anytime soon. Rolling Thunder when it has all the lights working is nice, and Sky Screamer is nice for now (even though they’re only using one pattern on it for some reason...) but once they’re shot, they’re shot.
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Canada's Wonderland Discussion Thread
SbSteveZ replied to BDG's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
^ very glad you added that Tim Hortons cup. It’s crucial to the lifestyle here in WNY and Ontario Canada. -
^ I went on Friday and didn’t see anything too crazy new, it looks like they had some more details, and I did like the new sign for the Awakening (looks like they come out of the grande theatre now instead of the picnic area) but there definitely still are weak spots. The pros: - the new Awakening - the Corridors of Chaos and Jungle Apocalypse area - the park being open until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays - SkyScreamer and the Carousel running backwards The cons: - same laser show as last year - Screampunk scare zone - merchandise (no short sleeve adult merch, only 3 total designs, same as all other SF parks, which is fine - but I got short sleeve tees at SFGAdv, bummer DL doesn’t have any) - low number of scare actors (one on the main entrance hill, maybe saw 10 total during the “final scare”) though this could totally be early first day numbers, I’ll be back plenty more times to see if that’s the case. - No decor between main entrance and Viper (down the games midway) like. At all. Plus, as has been common the rest of this year, there’s an increase in security / police presence. Which I greatly appreciate. I would agree, it’s an improvement over last year, BUT it’s not spectacular either, good to keep these things in perspective
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Canada's Wonderland Discussion Thread
SbSteveZ replied to BDG's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
They most certainly installed the wheel warmers. That’s not the part in question. However it just never seemed likely that their use was intended for Winterfest. It’s probably for those days we get over here with those cold starts so they don’t need to rely on water dummies or have the ride perform as “sluggish” as folks claim in the colder temperatures If anything else they’re probably perfect for HAUNT. -
^ Vortex has been on the chopping block for years. Viper for as long as I can remember has been a much smoother experience with a much better reputation being one of Western New York’s classic roller coasters. It may be 37 years old but you wouldn’t necessarily believe it based on how it runs. Kudos to Darien Lake for keeping an arrow looping coaster in such good shape over the years. Here’s to hoping for many more.