SbSteveZ

^ they were only by the SkyScreamer and yes they were playing music - but it was only an hour or so long playlist because as I’d walk over there I had to of heard the same song at least 3 times over the course of the half day I was there

Six Flags Darien Lake’s response to “no music in the park” is my favorite quick fix ever:

^ what a shame that the park opened another coaster after a minor refurbishment. How dare someone be excited.

^ RoS was before the boomerang refresh, Mind Eraser was after the fact.

^ Darien Lake has? are you sure? last I checked everyone's name tags were white until Six Flags came in

^ ah crap I can’t believe my one comment about thinking RoS was 20 this year caused such a crazy explosion of banter and argument. That was far from my intention. Viper being a Western New York classic and being the oldest ride in the area, I’m not surprised they did a little celebration for the coaster. They had some cookies, some ice cream, a nice speech from Chris Thorpe and a wonderful op who’s been working Viper for quite some time. But that was really it for the actual celebration which for the record was in Late June. To clarify, no, Mind Eraser did not have a celebration, and no, the ride sign was not painted to celebrate the anniversary. The Mind Eraser and Boomerang signs were both refreshed, and both looked very nice because of it. There was a souvenir cup and a mention of it in the laser show’s opening titles. No cupcakes there. The old sign they used to have hanging under the bridge had a picture of the viper on it, the park map had viper on the front of it with a little logo on it, and the name tags all had the ride on it. I equated it to how Cedar Point gives their employees logos with the new coaster on them the year they open. Looking at how the park operates now - they have a new ride, so that’s on the front page of the park map. They removed the sign under the bridge, so that’s why there’s no mention of it there. They use Six Flags souvenir cups which aren’t specific to the park anymore, so that’s why they don’t have a special cup. And lastly, they now have simply “Six Flags” name tags that have different colors that change based on what I would assume is age. Similar to Wegmans in which 15 year olds got Red name tags, 16-17 had yellow name tags and 18+ had either bronze or black name tags. It’s a quick reference for folks to know certain things related to age like what your hours could be, how late you could legally work, what machinery you could use, etc. Though a post saying “on this day 20 years ago we opened New York’s tallest and fastest roller coaster” would be nice, I’m not expecting a big old party to be thrown or anything like that. Plus, for what it’s worth, there was no signage directly at Viper for the anniversary at all, so to expect some at RoS isn’t something I personally would do. Does that clarify this mess? Hopefully? Maybe? Anyone have cupcakes they wanna share with the class now that we’ve suffered through that?

^ interesting. Also, though I’m assuming six flags doesn’t care about these, I’m pretty sure this is Ride of Steel’s 20th season. I love how they had a celebration for Mind Eraser and Viper in 2017, but nothing for their star attraction. Oh well! Happy 20th, RoS!

^ With Blast Off being in the Boardwalk area of the park I would highly doubt that change would occur. Looney Toons if anything would take over Rowdy’s Ridge and Beaver Brothers Bay. Rowdy’s Ridge id assume is less likely but I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened eventually. The Mind Eraser bit? I’d say it’s more likely. Best case scenario they repaint the thing yellow and black and then acquire two of the new style trains that exist on T3 in Kentucky Kingdom and Riddler’s Revenge at SFNE. They can call it new and move on with their lives plus it would help bring a coaster that was half repainted back to life which is always nice. I’ve also said in the past I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happened to RoS. Classify it as “new” change its colors for Bizarro or refresh for Superman and immediately there’s a new thing to market for the new season. As much as I’d love for an actual “new ride”, I would not be upset if it became fixing up one of the parks existing attractions and helping with the one-train issue

^ they specifically played music on the main entryway and through the area leading to viper I believe, they have an integrated sound system but it’s been there for a while unfortunately and you can tell there’s plenty of speakers in disrepair. The newest addition to the sound system was from what I remember the 2013 boardwalk refresh. That area specifically played themed music from the 1950s where as the other areas of the park that had music playing was just a variety of songs - which was nice. They would also play preshow music out in front of the Grand Theatre 15 minutes before a show began to let folks know the show was about to begin. I believe last year they also had someone with a microphone out there? I could be wrong, I usually get into the theatre very shortly after the doors open. Once ignite the night kicks off too that helps add to the atmosphere because they start playing music an hour before the show starts. Hopefully they mix up the playlist since they used the same one for the past three years. I thought it was funny that the announcer kept saying it was a “perfect time to upgrade your season pass with the 2016 meal plan” in 2017 and 2018. It’s a little thing but it would be nice to hear some new music before the show. Though I’ll take a 4 year old playlist over the old techno stuff they used to play before LaserBlast. If they indeed start adding music into the stations I’d be very very happy! If you’re waiting for that long you might as well be at least somewhat entertained!

Going to a park on opening weekend of their first year with a brand new owner and expecting top of the line performance and customer satisfaction is enough to make the argument that the day was a complete flop and that the park isn’t trying at all null and void. That’s the point I’m trying to get across. Here we are in weekend 2, and they’re already doing a lot better, but as per usual in this thread folks are quick to judge and spring to “told you so” statements as soon as possible, My hope with my TR was to show fans of the park that it isn’t a post apocalyptic zone with destroyed blacktop pathways, abandoned midways and no rides available. It’s a park that is slowly coming to life after a long brutal winter dealing with the uncertainty of a new season with a new owner. Seeing how well operated the rides were today and how considerate and kind the membership services folks and ride ops I interacted with were, im very satisfied with my first experience with Six Flags back in charge. (Plus, the new employee uniforms are nice. I appreciate how they aren’t bright orange anymore. And the name tags look nice too!) Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

So after all the negative reviews of Darien Lake this past weekend, I decided to take a trip out to see for myself how bad it could possibly be. I also was happy to support Give Kids the World Village at the first ever Coasting For Kids event held at Six Flags Darien Lake. Let me start by saying I'm not at all surprised at how exaggerated the poor reviews were of the park, as it was no where near as bad as I've seen people saying it has been. If you've been to Darien Lake before and you've spent some time getting to know how the park functions like I have for years now, you'd agree that things went pretty well for this weekend and the park is in pretty good shape. If you're walking into this park for the first time and expecting Magic Kingdom level quality and perfect operations immediately then of course you're going to be upset. I don't expect people to be 100% satisfied with one train operations or some chipped blacktop, but at the end of the day, I was just happy to get back into the park, seeing a new ride looming over all the others, and enjoying the coasters. Ride of Steel's operators were actually getting trains out pretty quickly aside from the occasional ejection from the ride which isn't the operators fault since the entire train needs to be reset if one guest has to get off... plus the gentleman on the PA system in the station was energetic and fun which I have seen at the park before, but not at RoS up until this point. Boomerang is indeed running better with those new wheels. Its a slight change but its certainly appreciated. Mind Eraser was even running better with the Franken-Train which I also enjoyed. We still have two train ops on Tantrum, no surprise there (I hope), and MotoCoaster was open today leaving only Predator closed. The entire duration of the time I was at the park today all of the coasters that were able to be running, were running. Blast off indeed is getting work done to it and I'm glad to see that instead of it just being closed for the sake of it being closed. Crazy to think Darien Lake keeps rides closed to make improvements to them, isn't it? And yes, I'm being sarcastic with that last one. On to some pictures and more unnecessary commentary from yours truly! Putting this ride at the front of the water park was an awesome idea. The colors on this thing pop against a nice blue sky I still think the SFDL Entrance looks awesome, especially with the new color palette they implemented a few years ago! Sky Screamer peering out over the entrance of the park Welcome to Six Flags Darien Lake! Checking in to the park for Coasting for Kids Who would've thought a new sign would give so much life to this unused bridge? I am a fan First ride of the day, as if it were a question... RoS! On our way to Boomerang, Sky Screamer makes a wonderful addition to the skyline of the park (this is a motif I will be returning to a whole bunch - buckle up, kids!) Boomerang looks awesome - whether folks like it or not (which I do), it's very visually pleasing I don't know that I remember seeing them tech this show so early in the season ever, so to see them working on it while the park is open is pretty cool MotoCoaster is open for the season! SkyScreamer from the MotoCoaster queue Yes, Blast Off is closed, but look! it's getting new cables! Yay for Ride Maintenance! From the Marina - the Sky Screamer looks pretty awesome Walking up to the Sky Screamer - I'm still surprised that this thing is even within the park. On that note, I'm just as surprised to see the Grand Prix and Batting Cages there as well. The sooner those are gone in my opinion, the better. Look at how nice it looks! I'm glad they had the swings in the air a bit to give some perspective Though I understand it isn't the tallest swing ride Six Flags has ever opened, I feel like it's the perfect scale for Darien Lake. A look through the construction fence at the ride's surrounding area. Assuming a fence is going to be added atop that small elevated stone wall, I'm glad they added a little viewing area similar to Twister. Looking up at the Sky Screamer from what will become its entrance They kept the rock, so I assume they're going to use it for the ride's signage? I could be wrong but you never know! Checking out the other side of the park now that I've taken enough photos of the SkyScreamer (for now) Some left over signage. Ironically, a park guest asked me "do you know when the jungle thing opens?" to which I responded kindly it's only open for Fright Fest. Knowing how Cedar Point doesn't even take down their Haunt Decor completely until closer to the beginning of May, I'm not all that bummed that they still have things up now. We'll see if this changes as the season progresses, but for now, I can't complain. SkyScreamer from the Viper Queue Some new trailers IN THE PARK! (kidding, obviously) Some new things in the ground by Viper. I know they were already posted, but here they are again - from a slightly different angle. The infamous Sleigh Ride that everyone is obsessed with - for your viewing pleasure! or displeasure. Check it out! Two trains still! A look at the Franken-Train From within the station - welcome back, Teal train! ... kind of. Some updated signage at the front of the park - always nice to see some refreshed signs! A crazy blue fountain in front of the emporium Our Coasting For Kids group!

That is definitely not a thing - but I appreciate your creativity.

Assuming by last time you're referring to last weekend? We know the big ole tarp blew off last year a week before the season began and then it has remained in that state ever since. Something tells me re-bulbing the attraction isn't the only reason they haven't acquired a new soft roof for the structure...

^ Even just retracking predator so that it’s a more enjoyable experience that doesn’t require the Mean Streak Method would be nice. I’ll be curious to see if this current project is helpful when it comes to the rides overall smoothness. Only time will tell at this point

Accidental Post

The park doesn't open until May 4th? What "opening day" are you talking about? I'm hoping that's a sarcastic post predicting how Saturday will go but I have no idea at this point

Vertical construction update: A la the parks Twitter EDIT: I gotta admit, my favorite thing about this thread is that as soon as there’s some actual news everyone drops off the face of the earth, but when the website is refreshed, I’m calling it now this thread is going to be bonkers

It’s for neither because the ride doesn’t currently exist. Minor technicality Put the crackpipe down. Genuinely in response to this - is it normal for Six Flags to announce a preview day with information and everything for opening weekend to then postpone or cancel it? To me it seems weird that they’d set the date and make it public to just not have the ride there. Am I missing something?

So apparently they're going to build the SkyScreamer and have it open in time for a Passholder event on the 4th? very interesting news indeed...

FWIW I took a mini trip over toward the park (I was heading that direction anyway so why not) and took a couple pictures of the few things they’ve changed. Since the guy from Reddit visited they have installed an LED sign and it’s functioning which is nice. They have taken the signage off of the parking toll and it looks like the hotel and campground is getting new signage as well. 18 days until opening - so close yet so far!

^ I think you got it right on the nose there. People complaining about the ride before it’s even open is something that I don’t understand, never have understood and likely never will. Everyone is so quick to judge and it’s frustrating especially for someone like me who’s just excited to see a large coaster being installed just a short-ish drive away. Why rain on everyone else’s parade so soon, right? But hey, I’m still going to ride the coaster and likely enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed Valravn and Griffon and any other B&M that I’ve been on. They’re good, reliable rides, and I respect them for that and appreciate their capacity even more.

It seems like the enthusiast community is taking vest restraints and using them as justification for knocking this ride and others like it. If the rides were really that bad, then Valravn would not be still getting 90-120 minute lines two years after it opened, Wonderland would certainly not be opening a coaster like this one and there would be no more vest restraints. Plain and simple. It’s not like these restraints are pushing so hard that they’re breaking bones and knocking people unconscious. You may not be getting as much hang time on the drop as the two other dives in North America, but to most everyone who rides these things? They could care less. Yes, Griffon’s drop is awesome. But I’ll take vest restraints and big ole handlebars over head banging over the shoulder restraints any day of the week. There’s a reason companies are leaning toward these new styles, they make for an overall better experience for the vast majority of folks. I’m sorry if you don’t get the best top of the line experience you want on dive machines because you don’t like how they keep you where you’re supposed to be, but if you really don’t want to ride it, or have no interest in riding it, then what’s the point in wasting your own time bashing it? FWIW the other two coasters that don’t have vest restraints are still open and doing fine - and exist in well worthy parks! The less folks in line to ride Yukon Striker and Valravn for that matter, the better for me and others who are glad to see a new coaster at the parks and want to ride them! /end rant

^ probably because they have it, and it gets the point across. Tons of marketing the park has done since 2010 has been from that time frame. They use it in the park, on TV, and I’m sure a park map or two also had a green viper in it. It’s no big deal.

The current entrance in my opinion already looks really nice, but I wouldn’t be opposed to a big update if they feel it necessary. I like how the current entrance aesthetic kind of matches that of the “outdoor log cabin” feel that they were originally going for, but then also having that new color pallet helps give it that unique flare that one typically wouldn’t expect from DL.

Personally, though I feel like that sign is more likely, I’d love to see this one instead: