coasterkid124

Out of the three Ride of Steels ever built, ours was the only one that hasn't been painted yet. When the ride was originally painted, it was done by a local union so the cost wasn't as high. Now due to inflation and companies like Baynum being created, costs have skyrocketed. Plus the sections over water have to be done by boat, or by draining the lake itself. But at least the original paint hasn't started to peel yet like on Mind Eraser. Maybe the park is waiting until they finish their expansion to freshen it up.

I didn't like SkyRider at all front or back. Some parts were fun, but mostly it was painful and boring. I think a Wing Rider or waterpark expansion will benefit this space more. I would rather see "Ziz" though.

I have to agree with this. Out of 7 years, we have only gotten 4 big investments. Motocoaster, Splashtown, Rowdy's Ridge, and Boardwalk area. Three of those four did not cost a lot either. A lot of it has to do with CNL being cheap and not wanting to spend much. This year was one of the biggest disappointments so far when the Nik Wallenda show was announced. You have to look at the positives first. 2010 saw the Giant Wheel begin refurbishment, Viper get painted, Bommerang get painted, and Cuda Falls got painted. That cost a lot of money but is still worth it. Corn Popper, the Carousel, Sleighride, Silver Bullet, and the kiddie coaster have also been touched up. Mind Eraser is no doubt in my mind next on the list, but you have to be patient. Paint is important because it protects the rails of the ride from the weather. Not sure what you mean by landscaping. Darien is one of the more beautiful parks when it comes to the scenery and plants. Moose on the Loose is one of the best looking rides I have seen out of many parks. If you are talking about the Cuda Falls hill, that may be gone by the end of next season if the park expands. Other than that everything else looks good to me. The two main things that are bugging people this year is one train ops, and no new additions. It was a bad move on the park's part but we just have to suck it up and move on. The future looks bright still, and there is now a prime spot for expansion. Thank you for also saying that Six Flags should not be blamed. Everyone has been blaming one train ops on Six Flags's maintenance, however, they always had two trains running, and it has been 7 years. Most of the trains in the park have seen some sort of refurb over the past few years, so there is no reason why they cannot be run. That is unless it is the current maintenance crew who is really making the mistakes. I don't know what the true reasons are, but cleanliness and overall maintenance to the rides has been better than ever this year.

Not exactly, most of the gears and bolts can be replaced quite easily, as they are mostly standard size. It is the specialized parts that kill. Any old hardware store might have 1/4" bolts. But, a bearing customly designed for a Topspin may cause an issue. I would bet money that UFO needed locking mechanisms for the doors replaced, which are not standard. Parts like that are customly designed, and only Huss has the technical drawings. Not only for the mechanisms, but even other metal features like the cross members of the ride. Some of those might have started to rust or corrode from 30 years of winter and raining.

The only parts that are really an issue are ones made specifically for the ride. For instance what drives the Ranger are 4 hydraulic motors connected to a pump. If something on that goes it is relatively easy to replace. But if the fiberglass on the cabin begins to rot, that's what causes problems. When the park removed the UFO, a lot of the cabins were not open, much like how a lot of boats weren't working on Raging Seas before it was removed. So the locking mechanism for the doors might have went, and that was hard to replace. Other than those smaller parts, most rides work on a hydraulic system that is easier to work with. But if one small part goes on the actual cars or restraints, it can cause a huge problem.

I can see it now, new for 2017, for its centennial, Wild One Backwards. You know it's coming especially since this is Six Flags America.

The surveys do have a big bias and that is they are sent to season pass holders. Not only that, but you need to be at least 18 to take it. The majority of pass holders are families who visit often, and of course the kids and teenagers would like to see big rides and roller coasters. However they are not old enough to do the survey so their opinion isn't heard. But when the parents go online and take it, they are going to answer differently and probably wan more shows and family rides if they don go on the big ones. I think that the park is good in the family ride department for now. Family Rides: Corn Popper, Giant Wheel, Sleighride, Tin Lizzys, Thunder Rapids, Grizzly Run, Shipwreck Falls, Carousel, Scrambler, Haymaker, Pirate, Bumper Cars, Lasso Silver Bullet is about halfway between Family and Thrill. Thrill Rides: Twister, Blast Off, Ranger, and the coasters I wouldn't mind seeing some family rides being removed if it means a more well rounded collection. I never thought of this before but the park could remove the Pirate for Sidewinder too. Not too many people ride it anymore and they would be able to keep other prime spots open like UFO's pad.

I find that some SLCs are decent but some are extremely painful. I really enjoy Boomerangs but the headbanging can ruin some of them. Darien Lake has both but they are sort of like the opposite to other parks. Their Boomerang is really enjoyable with virtually no headbanging. However their SLC is the most painful that I've been on especially near the back.

Yup the circus was a guest survey. I personally don't care about shows as I don't watch them. The circus wouldn't even be free, it was listed as an upcharge. I'm starting not to care anymore what we get as long as it is something thrilling and reliable. If anything we deserve 2 rides next year because of this off year. But deserve does not mean we are guaranteed to get things. The park probably considers the Scrambler as this years big attraction, but to me it doesn't count because we have seen it before.

Your goal by the end of time is to put SkyScreamers and Aqua Twists in every park. Then you stop buying new rides altogether and just relocate rides from park to park like a traveling carnival.

It's pretty sad that 3 Point Shootout is still running too. You would think that they would at least have gotten started by tearing that down. I wouldn't be surprised if this ride is opened by Fright Fest, or is pushed back until next year. If so, there is another promise that the park has failed to fulfill. It seems like Skyline Attractions ended up being a dud too. They decided not to announce today, and their teasers look nothing like roller coasters. Hope once again for a Predator refurb is dwindling. Looks like next year, Sidewinder and the proposed Circus are the new attractions if CNL is willing to pay.

Well you have to feel for some of the people who are angry. If they have a family of 4 and can barely afford tickets to the park, they find it unfair that others can spend more to have more benefits. I always thought that there should be a Flash Pass option for season pass holders because they are the biggest supporters of parks. But there is no reason to shout rude comments or any of that. It's just plain immature.

Gwazi and Mean Streak top my list just for being brutally painful at points. Predator and Roar are seconds. I've had some good rides on both but mostly bad. Especially I the back on Predator. I find it fun but that back car really slams down on the bottom of every airtime hill. For a steel coaster, Togos are pretty rough and Dragon Mountain at Marineland is a little rough in the front. The car shuffles around fast and bangs through the elements.

Just being a realist here. But that doesn't mean that a coaster from RMC isn't possible. It takes about 35 construction workers per coaster, but they work for RMC. RMC could just manufacture the track and give the design to the park. Then the park can hire an outside construction crew to do it. For example, at Holiday World the workers on site do not work for B&M they are just an outside crew.

I don't think that RMC has much more space to book. Even though they built a new facility, you need workers to set things up. RMC has only been able to produce at max two coasters per year, and it seems like next year Magic Mountain and SFNE are going to get new coasters from them. I highly doubt that GCI will be doing this either.

That spaceship ride was built by Funtime. I hope that this announcement will be good because I was more excited about this than Holiday World's announcement. I had an idea what this could be for, but my hope is fading.

I think that this is a good idea, as it will put a larger magnifying glass on the little things. But for this to work, new people will need to still be put in charge.

This. Usually the people that conduct the measurements work in the safety department, and they are the ones who should make the final decisions. Not some ride op, who barely knows anything about safety, and just memorizes the rules on all the signs. No disrespect to ride ops, because I was one myself a long time ago. But as we know, many of the ride ops today hate their jobs and take it out on the guests. If I were in that situation, I would have called security to remove any rowdy or disrespectful guests.

After seeing some more comments, I'll post a few more that I found a letdown. The Beast: My first thought when climbing up the lift slowly: "This is gonna be amazing" My thought after the ride: "That was the legendary Beast???" The trims and straightaways killed the ride. If it was built originally more like the Voyage, it would be year after year the best wooden coaster. Silver Comet: Only being 20 minutes away from Fantasy Island I heard a lot of good reviews when the coaster opened. Even the newspaper claimed that it was better than the original Comet. But, when I rode it in the back seat, the only moment of airtime was the first drop. The rest of the ride was built on turns. When I rode in the front, I received some good airtime. This coaster should only be ridden near the front if you want good airtime.

I would have to agree that Six Flags needs to turn around their attitude. I'm glad that they released their evil clutch from Darien Lake when they did. I had a similar incident with an employee about 8 years ago at Darien Lake. My nephew was tall enough to ride a Top Spin with a 55" requirement, but the op at Ride of Steel said he was too short for the 54" requirement. He literally pushed the height bar up so it was too big for my nephew to meet the requirement. There was no wristband policy or anything at the time, so he didn't get to ride. But we got the last laugh when Six Flags sold the park at the end of the season. Now back on topic, guys like Reid-Anderson only care about the money and building bigger, while their debt rises too. Then they cry in the corner and jack up parking costs another $20. These are pathetic men with about as good of customer service skills to run a Big Boy drive-thru. The park needs people like the folks at Herschend. They have clean, friendly parks that don't care only about the money.

The grounds are used for other events in the spring and winter. Other then that, I believe that the land is vacant for the rest of the year. As for wear on the ride, placing the ride in storage would help the ride a lot more than having it permanently installed. While standing, the ride is exposed to the elements, and corrosion could begin to affect the track due to its age. If that happens in even one small section of track, it would be hard to replace and very expensive. If the trains and track had a storage building, they would last a lot longer and be able to be maintained year round in a convenient facility.

Another gem from the Darien Lake thread: As another user said before, I wish that the DL thread would improve, as it is my home park. Most of the normals get decent debates and discussions going on, until some certain users throw in some random, crazy thought that makes me want to punch my computer screen. Now I tend to just ignore the crazy comments and carry on.

The only thing that saved Rip Ride Rocket for me was the music (although most of the good songs are hidden anyways). Green Lantern at SFMM was more painful than fun, and both TTD and Kingda Ka were too short to enjoy.

This is a topic where I feel the same way. I could never see the park taking the ride out just for the heck of it, but all it takes is one corroded piece of track and the ride can be done. I'm sure that this isn't the case though because the movement would be huge to save the coaster. Besides the park is already doing a good job with refurbing the ride. They were smart to use the third train for parts instead of selling it.

To what I have seen so far, all of the Scrambler parts are the same colors as of right now. Earlier this month, the base of the ride was the same, and today, the arms that hold the cars are the same colors. I have yet to see any cars. I am thinking that there is still time to do a little bit of work to the ride, because the park has virtually made no progress in the construction site. As for Viper's station, I think that the park is holding out to see the future of the ride before they do anything else. The station needs a lot more work than just a coat of paint. The windowsills need to be replaces because the wood is falling apart. Roofing and concrete work also need to be done. I wish that they would do a refurb little by little so that it looks better. One of my other pet peeves are the railings and gates on the coasters. They need paint more than anything.