SbSteveZ

Correct. Six Flags announcements are usually around the end of August. And I don’t know much about the park, but I have a feeling you guys will get a DC themed area and a Bugs Bunny Boomtown. Just my prediction I have to agree about the DC area at least. Something I’ve been thinking since last season when they announced the Sky Screamer is that they could easily re-retheme RoS back into Superman/Bizarro and call it a day OR in a perfect world they could give Mind Eraser the SFNE treatment, call it Batman or something, and open a Joker 4D Coaster right next to it since it’s all by its lonesome over there and make it some sort of Gotham City theme over there (almost like the juxtaposition of Joker and Batman at SFGAm) Honestly that 4D coaster thing is very likely just a pipe dream but after riding two of them and planning on a third next week, I have a feeling that one of those for this park would be the next big hit. Most folks around here aren’t going to travel 5 hours or so to get to the closest one and ride it, and it’s insane enough that people would probably eat the thing up. I’ve also thought since we now have the fun time swing and the Larson looper (thanks for that one, premier) were only really missing a giant frisbee from the standard six flags line up. And if we were to get one that’s anything like Wonder Woman, again, it would be a fantastic addition to the park. TL:DR, really anything they could add would be a nice addition. As long as it isn’t solely water park related like it was in 2016. UPDATE: the same year SFNE redid Mind Eraser into The Riddler Revenge, they also opened Harley Quinn Spinsanity. Perhaps a retheme and a new ride isn’t that crazy of an idea after all!

^ Thank you for that, I appreciate it

^ Deleted posts related to the image since folks don't care about it - problem solved, carry on.

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^ I wonder if that general store issue is because it’s not technically part of the park, it’s part of the campground. Especially considering what that place sells, I’m not surprised that it isn’t included

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Fi doesnt have (or need) its own thread that I know of Correct, it doesn’t, and as it has in the past and likely will in the future, when news from that park comes up it’s typically shared here as most everyone familiar with Darien Lake is familiar with Fantasy Island Like many other Western New Yorkers, my childhood summers were very much enjoyed at Martin’s Fantasy Island. Keeping in mind back 10-15 years ago that place was getting new thrill rides every single year. Crazy Mouse, Nitro, Full Tilt, Mega Disk’o, Music Express, Devil’s Hole, Mind Warp, the short lived Over the Falls - the list goes on and on. For a young child up through middle school, and on to now as we have little ones getting to the age to want to go to places like FI, it was and still is cool to have a place like Fantasy Island not too far from home. Fantasy Island’s Silver Comet for example was my first “big” coaster. The first year I tried to ride it I was too short, so when my family came back the next year I was beyond excited to be let on. And of course no trip to FI was complete without at least one ride on the train! I also had my fair share of music events there, and of course those trips are fond memories for me as well. Who doesn’t love performing at a park as a kid? Especially when it got me the ability to march down Main Street USA in front of the Electrical Parade in 2016. (Support Music in Education!!!!) Lastly, when I was a sophomore in high school I got pretty sick, losing almost 40 lbs in less than 3 weeks, always incredibly tired, nauseous, dizzy and weak. I remember not even being able to get to school, let alone get to a theme park. After around 3 months of testing and medicating and hoping for the best, we ended up going to Fantasy Island to support a family friend and her school at the music festival, and it was the first time I felt better to the point where I wanted to try riding something. It by no means was some sort of miracle that it happened at FI, but the fact that it did was something I was really happy about. Riding Mind Warp and then Silver Comet after months of feeling like I’d pass out if I stood up was something I’ll never forget. I even remember the era of the Hawaiian shirts all the ride ops would wear. It was a unique and fun uniform that I always enjoyed. For me Fantasy Island has always been a special place, and I’m sure that’s the case for other folks too. I’m glad the GM stepped in to right wrongs that have been shared and I wish the best for the place as it continues to grow and update. As a true WNY classic I’m glad to see a once family owned theme park (that did incredibly well for its over 50 year run) now has opportunities to improve for future generations! Sincerely, Steve “The guy who supports WNY theme parks WAY more than the average bear” Zehler

^ what rides specifically are so bad that people are at risk of death or serious injury? You know the state does checks on these things right? Darien Lake’s Ride of Steel has had one death and two other ejections from when it was new. That I’m aware of there have been no deaths reported on any of the attractions within Fantasy Island, which is why I’m wondering where all this death trap nonsense is coming from.

An alternative opinion, from a friend whom has never purchased Fast Lane at Wonderland How I’ve done it in the past is I’ve rope dropped (or in this park’s case, rope walked) Leviathan to get the big ride out of the way right off the bat, plus it’s fun to do so why not? Then I’ll head off toward what is now Frontier Canada and ride things that peak my interest as I go. One may consider Drop Tower, Vortex, Lumberjack, Shockwave, etc. on their way around. Of course now there’s a new attraction over there that may get a hefty line. I found that the single rider line was quite useful when it was past the track (you have to walk under the track to get into the station, if the line is longer than the stairs you go down then it’s not worth it from my experience). Or of course you could wait in the standby line if it’s not terrible. From there you can ride Minebuster, or use the new shortcut to get to Behemoth and the action zone rides like sledgehammer if it’s open and psyclone. At this point how you proceed is up to you. If you’re there for the credits you can start to hit the coasters you’ve missed along the way. The longest lines will be for the Fly and Time Warp. The shortest will be for Dragon Fyre, Wilde Beast and if you’re lucky Flight Deck. If you’re just there to have fun, then do exactly that! Roam around, check out True North Gifts and the Canada’s Wonderland store, make sure to see TUNDRA at the Canterbury Theatre and stay til park close to check out Starlight Experience at the royal fountain (projections, water and laser show - pretty neat little thing) I’ve done Wonderland before where I’ve just gone for fireworks, or to ride the greatest hits, or lastly to ride every coaster I could. Being the middle of the summer I’d assume sans fast lane the best bet is riding the greatest hits - being Leviathan, Behemoth, Yukon Striker and Drop Tower (at least for me!) Enjoy yourself regardless! It’s a busy park but it’s a fun one!

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 -or- $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?

^ 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.

Looks can be deceiving my friend. A line down the ramp is only about a 3-4 train wait as they don’t allow the queue to build up in the station, which if all goes well is about a 10-15 minute wait.

Not gonna say it’s your age, or anything for that matter - but from my experience the DL boomerang is one of the smoother Boomerangs I’ve been on. Granted I’m a “ride in the front” or “ride in the back” guy on these rides, but I haven’t personally had any issues with the ride since they fixed the pneumatic system a couple years ago. I can’t believe I’m defending a boomerang. Oh well.

^ yea that’s the one bummer thing about the kiddie coaster. It’s specifically just for small children and no one else can partake in the fun. Which is a shame because I too am one to want all possible credits I can get

Kiddie area is in good shape What about the balloons kiddie ride? I saw a recent picture on here that showed the balloons dismantled and my guess is that Darien Lake is going to take out said kiddie ride? One ride being down and out for what could be a refurbishment doesn’t mean the kiddie section is garbage. We just took my little cousin there and she had a blast riding everything. Plus, I appreciate how it’s in its own little zone so the little kids and more so their parents don’t have to worry about teenagers and other hooligans as much which is a very nice touch. TL:DR - the kiddie area is great, let it be.

If a ride is (theoretically) on the chopping block, then what’s the point in repairing it just to have it ripped out? It’s been rumored to be removed for a couple years now. I’m not surprised it’s in the current state, and I won’t be surprised when it disappears one day like Ranger did. And then just like Rolling Thunder did for Ranger, some other similar ride will open in the place of Sleigh Ride or some other ride that has recently departed (Twister, UFO, Raging Seas etc.) As for the props at MotL I’m assuming we’re talking about a tent and some chairs. Do those props missing really make or break the experience? I’d also imagine the other stuff is still there like the little wooden cut outs and critters everywhere. It’s a children’s ride. And it’s a Six Flags park at this point so for a $20 tent and some chairs to not be displayed... is it really that big of a deal? At the end of the day probably not. Just be glad the ride still functions and has most of its theming. I swear you’d think this park was falling apart and failing based on how most people treat the place. Those memberships are bringing in a TON of people especially with the hot days we’ve been having recently, and the past several laser shows I’ve been to have been more crowded on a “low attendance day” than I’ve seen in quite some time. There’s consistently been at least 200 people there each night I’ve been there if not plenty more where as last year and in years prior there’s been times where it’s been completely empty or very close to it. I’m really curious to see the attendance numbers for the park (if they’re released) because it seems like it’s doing pretty great so far this season.

As someone who isn’t a local, but visits the Cleveland area multiple times a year with different people almost every time (whether it be for a concert or Cedar Point etc) I have routinely made it a mission to go to Melt at least once per trip and I’ve never had anyone be disappointed in anything other than having to pay for parking at the downtown locations. I found the one in Avon is really nice and there was one a little farther south that I also enjoyed. Even going to the one inside of Cedar Point during haunt last year my group really enjoyed the place. And I’ve been going for several years now - at least a couple years before Cedar Point opened theirs. Either I’m just really lucky, or folks are really over-exaggerating the lack of quality. It’s ridiculous gourmet grilled cheese. That’s the whole point. Or am I missing something?

^ I don't know that it's them "refusing" to set them up. Don't you think its possible there are other issues that are more pressing to them than setting up some small camping equipment?

^ 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

Ouch, man. SFGAdv ain’t all that much better. (Is that how a trademark coasterbill burn works? I’ll get it one day. )

And this is helpful how? I’ve said it here before at least a hundred times... if you don’t like the place, don’t go and leave it alone. It saves most everyone else who likes the place from having to defend it to someone who acts like they’re better than visiting. No one is making you, and if you and people with similar complaints don’t go, the lines will be shorter which I’m all for.

You can also pick them up at Member Services just outside of the main entrance if you’re not wanting to walk over to viper right away. They aren’t as well trained on it but they definitely have them. Typically though being transparent I quite often find myself just going to the viper one because it’s usually MUCH less crowded.

^ In their defense they do longer shows for the Canadian holidays, it’s just that Wonderland has the budget to do... oh so much more Seriously one kick-booty fireworks show for sure! No wonder the place was so busy!