SbSteveZ

The torrential downpours that were occurring those nights warranted early closing of the park. There are snow storms here but that doesn’t mean holiday events can’t exist in our area. The fairgrounds have an event, Niagara Falls Ontario has lights everywhere with new outdoor activities, and Darien Lake would very likely see crowds for a holiday event if it is as well done as those who have been to HitP events say it is. All parks with winter events close when there’s bad weather, most parks close during the regular season if there’s really bad weather. It’s an outdoor venue. I think it would be pretty cool to see the park covered in snow in person with holiday lights everywhere, and I’m sure I’m not in the minority with that statement - even Bill thinks it’ll happen and he’s probably the most realistic with things like this.

As one of the five regulars - I mentioned it as a “cheap” (relatively speaking) “addition” to the park that would enhance the experience of the park’s star attraction. Yes I understand it’s a second train and a name change, but the fact that it’s been called Ride of Steel since 2007, and 11 years later, guests still refer to the ride as it’s original name, says to me that the return of the man of steel theming would be welcome. Not to mention, the ABILITY to run the ride at normal capacity would be nice. To me that seems like quite a Six Flags addition, since most claim to keep expectations lower than low. One train and some branding sponsored by Takis or something ridiculous. Calling it new and moving on. Because that’s what six Flags does, right? Yes, they have a new swing ride coming, and I’m excited to have something like it in the park. Whenever “what could they do for a new attraction” came up, one of my top suggestions was a wind seeker type attraction. I’m glad that top management had a similar thought. However, there has been absolutely no updates from the park on where the attraction is going, no construction photos and certainly no live webcams - in true Darien Lake fashion of course. Therefore people like me and the other 4 regulars like to try and discuss things like the inevitable branding of attractions and how they may do it when the time comes to pass time as we wait for the season to start up again. Hopefully this helps answer the why that you are looking for. It’s a discussion thread after all. And for some of us the transition back to Six Flags is exciting and worth talking about. That includes branding rides and other minor things. It’s the off season and we’re discussing a park that posts very little during this time of year.

^ that’s one of the reasons I’ve thought the “Bizarro” retheme of RoS would be plausible. Get the new gen trains, paint the ride purple and ta-da! New ride. Probably for the same if not a similar cost than a new flat ride like some 250’ tall swings? Maybe? Again it’s more than likely a pipe dream but it feels like something that’s just crazy enough, that Six Flags May just do it (or something like it). Basically - why would they invest in a second train that everyone obsesses over, if they can’t market it (kinda similar to what Bill said). The much less hopeful and also fairly likely thing they could do, slap a Superman logo on the lead car and put some others around the station and ride entry and there ya go, Superman hath returned.

Being that the PAC is a separate entity I’d be surprised if that was the only addition in 2020. Not everyone that’s been to the park has gone to concerts there as well. Most go for just one or just the other. I’m one of the “just the theme park” people, and I have a bunch of “just concerts” friends as well. My other thought is that Six Flags refers to itself as the “thrill capital” not the “entertainment venue capital”. If this renovation is funded more via Live Nation and not Six Flags then odds are the park would still get an addition on top of the renovation.

Update: You can use PayPal.

Does anyone know if Cedar Point will be accepting PayPal for chill out tickets? I know they’ve offered it for tickets and passes in the past but I’m not sure if it will be the same for this. Thanks!

^ it’s certainly worth a message to them on Facebook to confirm their hours but last I checked (which was April of this year) they said they were open until 4:30pm daily

^ more or less that was exactly why I brought up the park not being on the six flags site yet. I have been wanting to upgrade my pass but I have yet to because the site doesn’t cooperate. Since we’re in that weird limbo stage right now, I kind of have to deal with it but it would’ve been nice if I could have gotten some deal that other six flags pass holders are offered for the holiday. Waiting until January or February for it means we miss out on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and likely also Christmas offers. Which next to the flash sale I’d assume offer the best discounts for upgrading passes. Yes. It’s the off season. Yes people want to talk about park things. But. It would be nice to have a working season pass site in the meantime

Speaking of winter fest at other parks, the other parks aren't directly on the water like Cedar Point is. Living east of the park on the same lake I am familiar with the weather that Erie can bring over here. Plus, even in the middle of the summer it can get pretty windy on the peninsula. Imagine what it would be like in December with how cold and windy winter weather can be. That being said it will be interesting to see how Winterfest goes at Wonderland for example, being a park farther up north. The good thing for them is that they are above the Great Lakes, not directly in the middle of them like Cedar Point. TLDR: The weather that comes with being situated on Lake Erie makes Winterfest a much less desirable event for Cedar Point to host than other Cedar Fair parks that have milder climates (in a way). With all that being said, if they decide to bring Winterfest to the park, I wouldn't be 100% shocked. Business is business and if there's market research done that states this would be a profitable event then they may just surprise us.

Interestingly, it looks like the Six Flags Darien Lake website is still redirecting to the regular Darien Lake website - and on the Six Flags homepage, Darien Lake still doesn't appear on the "choose your park" menu at all. I wonder when they are going to fully make that switch. Also, worth noting, they did announce that Darien Lake would be rebranded to SFDL once again, but there has been no sign of that at all. I believe they are currently still officially referred to as "Darien Lake: A Six Flags Theme Park" This makes me wonder if we won't see that official change until the beginning of next season, or if they may just stick with their current title for a while longer

I’ve found that the issue with the food is more so the god awful service. It’s a theme park so I don’t expect the food to be stellar but when you add in an awful experience then that just makes it so much worse. Why do I have to wait 20 minutes on a slow day to get a burger that I had to “re order” three times as an extremely unmotivated employee stares blankly at me each time I do it? My other issue is the fact that some of the drink machines they have don’t even work yet they keep them on the food counters. And not that it doesn’t work, but they don’t really take care of replacing the cartridges in the freestyles. Most times over the season when I’d go to use one (with the season pass refill) id end up getting water because the many things I wanted they didn’t have. Such a shame for such an otherwise great theme park

As much as I’m sad that the log flume was removed last year, I think it’s fair to say tantrum was a good investment for the park. Similarly, though it’s sad to see another top spin bite the dust (if that ends up being the case), the new SkyScreamer will be a fantastic addition to the park. Thinking of marketability, it’s going to be the tallest ride in NYS, and it’s going to enhance the Darien Lake skyline wonderfully. I personally enjoy those tall swing rides and will be glad to have one at my home park in 2019. As well as whatever other flat rides / coasters they add to the park in the future. Whether it’s unique or something Six Flags is putting in all their parks like the giant frisbee or 4-D dark ride or the S&S spinning coaster. It’s all welcome as without six flags it probably wouldn’t ever happen. Even updated trains for mind eraser would be cool, and they could (if they really wanted to) retheme it to “Riddler’s Revenge” or something and claim it’s a new ride. That would also solve the “needs a paint job” issue, eh?

^ I’m assuming that comment meant more so “run two trains” not “acquire another one”. Context is very important, my friend.

^ not to mention a roller coaster valley is fairly common when it’s colder out. And it’s not just the little guys that have to be careful. It happened a whole bunch at Cedar Point a few years ago with Millennium, Maverick and Gatekeeper all fairly close to one another. They just remove the train, place it on the transfer, do some testing and try again.

^ I’ve also met her and agree completely she’s one of the sweetest and best ride ops at the park. Such a wonderful woman!

I’m glad to hear that the scare actors are actually being scary. That’s similar to the houses at Cedar Point where they will chase you out of the house (sometimes even further) if they feel you’re susceptible to that / if it will give a good scare. Again, the houses at Cedar Point are free. But that’s beside the point. Good to hear that the houses are performing as they should

^ woah there. I also did not say that theming at Wonderland is by any means “better” than that of Magic Kingdom or any of the WDW parks. I said Wonderland has a certain charm that’s hard to emulate elsewhere. I also said it’s one of the most beautiful parks I’ve been to. That can be attributed to the colors of attractions and how they blend together nicely in the parks skyline, I like the atmosphere of the park, and mentioned there is theming around. Again, I can’t stress enough that I did not say that action zone is THEMED. I said action zone’s attractions are designed to look nice together and that is accomplished through a color scheme of mainly red black and yellow (plus Behemoth’s blue). That looks much better than having 3 attractions of all random colors trying to co-exist within an area of a park for no rhyme or reason. And for the brick and cement - I didn’t say it was hard to walk on so please do not falsely quote me there. I said I like how it looks and I appreciate it over the mainly blacktop pathways at Darien Lake and in parts of Cedar Point. It looks much more professional and well done. Plus, it’s not something the park has stopped doing since becoming a Cedar Fair park. The new Yukon Striker path is all brick-work and looks great. Wonderland is great in its own ways Darien Lake is great in its own ways (sort of) BGW is great in its own ways Magic Kingdom is great in its own ways I’m not saying one park is better than another, I’m adding a little more context to my “one of the most beautiful parks I’ve been to” statement. Never did I say “the most beautiful hands down and has way better theming than Disney World parks”, keep that in mind. I personally love Magic Kingdom as well as Wonderland, but as most anyone will tell you, those parks are both completely different. Wonderland is much more of a thrill park, and being such it has its own aesthetic (you know, big monsterous steel attractions with bold color choices and designs) where Disney is more about the entire experience - that’s where sight lines become crucial and you won’t see any Frontierland theming from Tomorrowland and vice versa. You can see Leviathan from almost anywhere in the park, but that isn’t a bad thing. You’ll also be able to see Yukon Striker from almost anywhere in the park - also not a bad thing. Just because they don’t care as much about sight lines or immersive theming does NOT mean theming doesn’t exist. And I think that’s about as far as I can take it without beginning to go in circles with this conversation. Just a recap of things I HAVE NOT said: - Action Zone has immersive theming - Wonderland is the MOST beautiful park in the world - Wonderland is better than Magic Kingdom Things I HAVE said - Wonderland has theming - Action Zone attractions are designed to look as though they are meant to be together (mainly via color scheme) - Multiple visually appealing parks have their own reasons for being visually appealing - Wonderland looks better than Darien Lake (by a lot) - Parks without theming (that are doing just fine without it): Darien Lake, Fantasy Island, Seabreeze, Knoebels, Dorney Park One last thing - verifying at the end of each statement that you love DL and CW does not do much for you aside from make people wonder if you’re being a troll. I’m happy to discuss things here but I’m not gonna go in circles unless it’s 150% justified.

^ probably a personal preference thing but I liked the grim reaper with the logo on it. I think it’s a nice touch.

What entry plaza? Never mind, i'm not in the mood to debate this. Just tell me one thing. What theming is on Behemoth? Action Zone has a style of its own, I never said theming. The flat rides in the area share a similar entryway arch and Behemoth fits not only the colour scheme but also the nature of attractions over there. The reds, yellows blacks and behemoth’s blues all work out nicely in one area. And that’s the main point of action zone to me, it all balances happily and looks like it was designed to look as such. Which, shocker - it was. As for my comment about being better than Darien Lake, and being one of the more beautiful parks I’ve visited, I’m including in that, the Disney World parks as well as BGW. There’s a certain charm to CW that’s hard to emulate in other parks, I personally love the look and feel of the CW atmosphere - especially that awesome centerpiece, Wonder Mountain. There is theming around the park, way more than needed (because again, as an AMUSEMENT park they don’t really need to add any theming at all). Coasters like Flight Deck, Backlot Stunt Coaster and arguably Time Warp all have some theming elements, there are 4 zones that come to mind as being themed as well - international street, medeval faire, frontier Canada, 1929 World Expo. Whether the theming is extensive or subtle, it’s there. I’m also a fan of how the majority of the parks pathways are either laid brick or cement. Coming from a home park where the majority of the pathways are Blacktop, and also considering that’s what Cedar Point was for the longest time (mainly in the back half of the park - frontier trail, Gemini midway etc) that’s a nice change to see in a regional theme park. I believe Kings Island is similar, probably because it was also a Paramount park at one time. The main point in all of this is that there is theming at wonderland. If you would like to discuss parks with little to no theming, Darien Lake, Cedar Point, Fantasy Island, Seabreeze, Knoebels and Dorney Park would love to have a word with you. And those are just the few off of my head that I could think of at this moment. One final thing though, and this is important - A park does NOT have to be themed to be successful. Sure it helps add to the experience but it is NOT a requirement.

Brief weekend update from the park - looks like they added some decor. Not a ton but it was noticeable and definitely appreciated. Rolling thunder has most of its lighting package working again after 2 years. The park was probably the busiest I’ve seen it (on a non-concert day) in about 10 years. Viper had a line of about 45 minutes, Ride of Steel was nearing 75 minutes, Tantrum was 30-45 minutes, and the other coasters were 20 minutes or less. They reopened mind eraser which was shocking to me, and yes, Pirate was closed. Lastly, I stuck around for the laser show, most every song was reused from the last Laser Spooktacular from probably 2007 or so - but I figure it’s similar to HalloWishes in that, that show has been the exact same for almost 20 years and people still love it. To me it’s a welcome addition back to the parks entertainment lineup. I have photos, and this time - no captions! EAFF4134-9DCF-4132-A776-18A812BCDD6A.MOV

^ for an AMUSEMENT park, Canada’s Wonderland has some pretty great theming. Midevil Faire immediately comes to mind. The shops and what not all have that old English towne feel to them, which is modernized and emphasized with Leviathan’s station. The simple yet effective Canadiana theming is also evident through out the new Frontier Canada, and action zone definitely feels like action zone with how things are set up and organized. Just because it’s not Disney Quality does not mean it’s non-existent. Canada’s Wonderland is one of the most beautiful parks I’ve been to and I give some of that credit to its colorful and intracate nature. Even international street, it’s a phenomenal front entrance to the park! Darien Lake has a big ole alley of asphalt with two food stands and a gift shop that lead towards a small fountain and another gift shop. Canada’s wonderland probably has more stores and theming in its entry plaza than Darien Lake has in its entirety - and Darien Lake is technically referred to as “Darien Lake Theme Park Resort”, where wonderland is “Canada’s Premiere Amusement Park”. They know they aren’t about theming but they do it anyways!

^ Good thing they only had one train running at the time of that fiasco. Way to plan ahead, Darien Lake!

There is no need to explain yourself for giving a positive review. Don't pat attention to the negative people on this forum. I love Darien Lake, I love Canada's Wonderland. IMO. I’m not really going against what bill said, if anything I’m adding to it in a constructive way. It should be the optimist's responsibility to be able to admit and agree that things aren't always perfect, and to admit that when it makes sense. I appreciate the alternate opinions as long as it doesn't become people unnecessarily bashing others for liking / disliking things that the park does.

^ I've said it before, I'm all about the atmosphere that is created and I feel they did a great job with that for sure, however when I can go to Cedar Point and visit all of their houses and scare zones included with admission, you can bet money I'm not going to spend an extra $25 for subpar houses (Per person which is asinine). I'm all about supporting this park - however I will do so as I always have. For the vast majority of my visits I will not partake in the uncharge attractions because to me they do not make or break my visit to the park whatsoever. Hopefully that makes some sense and I'm not contradicting myself

I forgot to mention one last neat detail they added that they totally didn’t have to. The carousel was running in REVERSE! I am a huge fan of little touches like that. They removed the blue lights from the ride, added some spooky music and put it in reverse. So easy yet so cool for a Haunt event!