Tdsblo

It's hard seeing the place so empty, even though it was raining. I fear a bit for my home park. They will never increase attendance without another flagship ride to complement one of the best coasters in existence, ROS. Just calling it how I see it.

If they want to get attendance up they will have to take the plunge on a major coaster. It's been 15 years since the park added a big coaster. That is a lot of time. Also concerned about the understaffing. Does anyone know if the park was even profitable this past summer?

Update From screams cape: "According to the latest gossip from Screamscape sources, Darien Lake and Herschend are ready to go ahead with the new Lake Monster conversion of Predator. The hold up comes from CNL, as they are the actual park owners… HFE is just on board to manage and run it for them. So the ball is in CNL’s court right now to approve the project and provide the funding while the quickly closing window to get it open for 2014 is still there." So sounds like the park and managing company ate ready to move ahead but the owners haven't approved yet? http://screamscape.com/html/darien_lake.htm

It was meant to be a bit tongue in cheek. Witnessing the mediocre crowds and operations a few timesthis year makes me wonder is all. When people visit see 1/3 of the rides closed and 1 train on the coasters, a places image can become irreparably tarnished, regardless of the reason. Seeing a season pass ad for unlimited refills smacks of either marketing incompetence (i.e. not even a teaser to drum up interest) or a hint of no new addition next year. Call it bullocks, but my frustration is warranted. Hopefull, but damn.

Or, 2014: unlimited refills 2015: park closure 2016: liquidation.

Um, so I notice Darien Lake is advertising 'unlimited refills' as a reason to buy a season pass for next year. How exciting. Don't disappoint us, please!

I don't ever remember the park having these issues with previous owners. Is the hr department just ineffective or are these legitimate issues out of the control of the park? I suspect the former. Not good either way.

I'm kind of regretting bringing that up. It's a small possibility because of what i heard but let's just assume it was false for now : )

I heard from someone that the PAC was sold to a religious group and will be closing? Not sure if its true but she seemed confident of it. : /

It's pretty damn annoying that parks are announcing their major rides at a fast pace now while darien doesn't even give a hint of an announcement. Not do they respond to fan emails in any way. This half assed management is bunk.

In line for superman now. No wait. Jealous? Hehe

They should put a dark coaster in there as was originally intended. I don't believe those small coasters are expensive. Or they can use it for storage. Would be a waste to tear it down.

Yeah I guess I left out a few other issues. At first glance they just seem real simple.

I don't understand what possible maintenence there could be other that pumps and painting. Maybe the manufacturers only guarantee the structure for 20 years, after which an insurance problem night arise?

I would be annoyed if cuda got the ax. The slides next to cuda got pulled out, and they were my favorite. The good slides where slingshot is now also got pulled a while ago. They should be expanding the waterpark, not taking out great slides every time they put in something new. But yeah, I know it's just a rumor. Now if they put in a giant frisbee along with lake monster, and maybe threw in some racing slides next year, that might soften the blow a bit ; ).

With the reviews rmc has gotten I'm hoping they're doing it. The concept makes it sound that way (wing over!?!). They could market the crap out of this across the border and put dl on the map again to Canadians.

This possible wing over drop has got me.... Interested.

Nice!! This will be a crowded area of the park next year.

Was at the park today for the first time this year, so I thought I'd post a few thoughts. Superman: Still a huge crowd pleaser, 15 years later. (Take note, Darien Lake). Ejector Airtime is awesome, can't believe they let a man with no legs on. I feel bad for the ride-ops who have to live with that pretty negligent decision, though they were young probably. Anyways, everyone smiles at the breaks, and not many coasters in the country have that effect. Bathrooms: Pretty dirty, and soap dispensers weren't working in several of them. I know people can be nasty, but dirty bathrooms are a real turnoff to me. Details, Darien. Details. Crowds: Seemed like a decent amount of people. Most rides had a line. ::shrugs:: Coaster Operation One train operation on Superman was annoying, as this is the star attraction at the park. 30 minute - 1 hour wait, most of the day. My dad suggested that maybe it's some sort of insurance issue because of the rides' history, which is possible. Predator didn't open till 2. Boomerang had super lazy ride ops. Motocoaster was a crowd pleaser but broke down when I was next. Still havn't ridden the thing. Didn't ride any others. Sangria wine slushy: Recommended! Left my ID in the car but she served me anyways. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing at 29. Maybe its the hint of grey hair. Blast Off: Not a huge tower, but was a crowd pleaser and had a line every time I went by/rode. A needed addition. Waterpark: Was looking forward to getting my sun and slide on but it was cloudy all day, so didn't bother. Anchor Bar: A solid change, beats the hell out of that dirty chicken shanty. Got to relive my childhood with my niece and nephew, which made the day awesome. They had a blast and were getting bolder with the ride choices as the day went on. All in all we had a good time, but definitely room for Darien Lake to step up their game with smaller details. I never see any management roaming the park. At King's Dominion the park president was going around picking up trash. This park needs a hands on leader like that. Lake monster is needed, as I find myself apathetic towards riding anything but Superman. Nothing compares. Another star attraction is a must!

Was at the park today for the first time this year, so I thought I'd post a few thoughts. Superman: Still a huge crowd pleaser, 15 years later. (Take note, Darien Lake). Ejector Airtime is awesome, can't believe they let a man with no legs on. I feel bad for the ride-ops who have to live with that pretty negligent decision, though they were young probably. Anyways, everyone smiles at the breaks, and not many coasters in the country have that effect. Bathrooms: Pretty dirty, and soap dispensers weren't working in several of them. I know people can be nasty, but dirty bathrooms are a real turnoff to me. Details, Darien. Details. Crowds: Seemed like a decent amount of people. Most rides had a line. ::shrugs:: Coaster Operation One train operation on Superman was annoying, as this is the star attraction at the park. 30 minute - 1 hour wait, most of the day. My dad suggested that maybe it's some sort of insurance issue because of the rides' history, which is possible. Predator didn't open till 2. Boomerang had super lazy ride ops. Motocoaster was a crowd pleaser but broke down when I was next. Still havn't ridden the thing. Didn't ride any others. Sangria wine slushy: Recommended! Left my ID in the car but she served me anyways. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing at 29. Maybe its the hint of grey hair. Blast Off: Not a huge tower, but was a crowd pleaser and had a line every time I went by/rode. A needed addition. Waterpark: Was looking forward to getting my sun and slide on but it was cloudy all day, so didn't bother. Anchor Bar: A solid change, beats the hell out of that dirty chicken shanty. Got to relive my childhood with my niece and nephew, which made the day awesome. They had a blast and were getting bolder with the ride choices as the day went on. All in all we had a good time, but definitely room for Darien Lake to step up their game with smaller details. Lake monster is needed, as I find myself apathetic towards riding anything but Superman. Nothing compares. Another star attraction is a must!

I don't know where you get low coaster count since the six coasters Darien Lake has is not a bad number considering the size of the park. Wonderland is a huge park that services a very large population base in comparison to Darien Lake so it's going to have more coasters. I'm hoping this ride will be built in a new location. I can't see having what would be the park's two biggest coasters, RoS and Lake Monster, sitting right next to each other. Some parts of the park need a little more foot traffic like the Twister/Tin Lizzies area and a big new ride like Lake Monster would definitely do that. It depends on the management. It took cedar fair taking over cw before they got 1 truly major coaster. Before that, ride of steel blew away anything there. Also, darien has close to 3 million people to draw from within an hours drive. There are successful parks with less than that base that add major attractions every year.

For what it's worth, I like the name 'lake monster.' Beats the hell out of uninspired 'bizarro,' 'superman,' or half the other names out there. I also like 'predator' a lot and hope it stays. It's a beautiful looking ride.

Since they have now taken out 4 flat rides (scrambler, UFO, Rodeo, and Raging Seas), I think replacing a few would be a good idea. What are the chances we get a major flat ride AND a coaster?

Not necessarily true. Heesheypark adds big new coasters pretty regularly, and they have been really landlocked. All it takes is some imagination.

I used to be a big coaster nerd in my teens when darien lake added something big every year. All I've done lately is lurk on coaster buzz once in a blue moon. After so many years without a new big boy coaster (15!!), I lost hope darien lake would ever see a big addition. So this has peaked my interest enough to join a forum. A few thoughts: 1) I have a feeling that what was supposedly said by the park manager at the wnycc meeting is legit. It's kinda hard to believe with all the updates they've poured into predator lately, but people don't seem to care for the ride. I'd like to see predator stay, but if a new ride is coming finally, id light the match. 2) really hoping this is something insane like outlaw run. Something that makes people kiss the ground after they get off. Since sdc is a herscend park too, there's still a chance they will use the same nanufacturer if they are pleased with outlaw run. Either way, it's a new modern woodie. 3) hope this pays off handsomely for the park. Ros is still one of the greats, but the park really needs another great ride to keep people coming back. It is one of the most well rounded resorts (hotel, campground, PAC, water park and ride park), and has 3,000,000 people within an hours drive, but is lacking in serious coasters. This will help. Looking forward to watching this one rise.