Darien Laker

I agree that this goes back to errors made by Six Flags. SFWOA might have been cool, but it just wasn't practical. Also, as far as Cedar Fair goes, I've always kinda been skeptical about their intentioins with GL. I really can't say i'm surprised, and they've got some great steel coasters to harvest here for their other parks... Which by the way, I can't imagine Double Loop appearing at any other CF park. It's so old and doesn't have much to market. I wouldn't be surprised if that ride retired after this. It served it's purpose anyway, but it's not the 70's anymore.

I've never been on the ride. I've always questioned how good it would be though; it appears to be missing something. Looking at the layout, there really only appears to be one spot where there would be any air-time. (two if you count the first drop). That would pretty much kill it for me. People like to complain about MF not having enough air-time, and that has it on three hills (again, four if you count the first drop). Seems like the original Goliath would just be a worse case of that. (I do love MF though, so maybe id love Goliath too)

Best-Driving to Cedar Point for a two day trip, having thunderstorms in the forcast both days, and not actually getting anything worse than overcast skies! Made for some low lines though. (15 minutes for MF and Dragster). Worst-Any one train operation on crowded days (Darien has been known to do this on everything except Viper, though i've noticed it less this year on the ROS. Six Flags America did it on all the major steel coasters when I went (though that was three years ago).

I guess the only one i've been on that meets the criteria would be the Seabreeze Jack Rabbit. Good ride, but I haven't been on it in years.

I liked Maverick quite a bit, but it was the only line that was over half an hour long so it really didn't seem worth it at first. I'm glad I rode it though. The first half almost reminded me of like a mini Millennium Force, but with more force in the turns and banks. Also, the Air-time was probably the strongest in the park, but like MF, there were only a few good spots. The tunnel launch was fun, but I wish I didn't know it was coming. Everyone else in my group thought the ride was over and were totally suprised by it. The inversions were decent too, but I didn't notice some of the effects while I was on the ride (Like the spraying water). Still, Millennium Force and Raptor had much shorter lines for the early entry thing last tuesday, so I went with them, and I walked right onto the front seat of Raptor.

I remember back when Viper's queue used to fill up and the wait was usually over an hour! It hasn't been anywhere near that since they painted it Green, which is the year Superman opened on the other side of the park. Nowadays, while IMO it's still better than 2/3 of the park's coasters, the only time you get a line is when it's really busy then you wait maybe 20 minutes. They really should consider relocating the entrance maybe so it's closer to where the exit is. As it is now, it spits you out on the complete other side of the ride's structure, in a different section of the park.

Darien Lake is in much better shape than it was last year I think, and hopefully this is just a transitional year. Viper and ROS are still my main reasons to go, and Predator as I always say is just like falling down a flight of stairs, so nothing was missed there.

This is a very nice TR. A lot of unique photos. Shockwave/Shockwave/Batman: The Escape is still there. You can see it in front of you right as you're about to go down ROS's first drop. You can also see it from the Giant Wheel, if you look in that direction. I pretty much agree with everything you said, other than the part about Mind Eraser being good. (It's definitely better than Predator still though). I really love that shot of Viper's train about to take the drop. It really shows how shallow that drop is, despite how big the ride was back in it's day. (Even Canada's Dragon Fire and the Demons have higher drops!) .

It's not exaggerated, it's just not present on every model of their ride. The roughness of Vekoma SLC's is not exaggerated. I'll still ride them, but I've still yet to go on a smooth SLC. After the first drop there's just nothing to like about them. Even if they were smooth, the pacing is absolutely horrible. The train just seems to stop and go so many times throughout the inversions. I prefer just to stick to Raptor.

The invertigo models don't seem to recieve the complaints that the regular SLC's have. It's too bad Two-face was closed when I visited SFA back in 2004. I'd like to see how it compares to the painful Mind Eraser.

It's cool to see how people have such varied opinions of what's good and what's bad. You know, I really can't think of anything that I wouldn't ride again. I think growing up with Darien Lake and Canada's Wonderland has given me a bit of a tolerance to painful rides Predator is my absolute least favorite, and I still ride that. That pretty much means I'll ride anything.

The only ones i've been on that are terrible are the SLC's. I've been on three and they are the worst steel coasters ever. Hershey's Boomerang is pretty rough too, I think the Arrow trains have something to do with it. Darien Lake's Boomerang, which uses the newer trains, on the other hand, is actually smooth-ish. I had no probleortm on Batwing or Rockin' Roller Coaster at WDW.

Viper will most likely be running two trains and not have a wait. You've already ridden it, but it's better than most of the new credits you'll be getting. ROS and Mind Eraser could have long lines if they run one train, but maybe you'll get lucky and catch them on a two-train day. ROS is obviously the only reason to come to this park. Mind Eraser hurts the ears a bit. If Predator does have wait, it moves slow because it takes forever to load/unload. I haven't ridden it yet this year but it's always been the worst coaster ever Boomerang might have a short wait. It's pretty smooth for a Boomerang. Ride Twister if it's open too. The only really good flat in the park.

I love launched coasters, but waiting before the launch is probably the only thing that scares me on rollercoasters, especially while waiting on Dragster as the train ahead of ours was launched. I'm not usually scared on lift hill coasters, but Millennium Force actually had me pretty nervous as we got to the top.

I've always thought of Magnum's trains as very ugly, uncomfortable, and nothing more than a semi-modern shell on a mine train. Gemini has them too, and I think that one's actually the smoothest of Cedar Point's three Arrow Mine rides. (I still like Magnum more though, call me masochistic.) If that lap bar wasn't so freakin' horrible, Magnum might be better than Millennium Force.

That is good to see signs of life on the Magnum indeed. It may be just an over-grown Arrow mine-train with a dorky 80's futuristic theme, but I love it to death anyway! Still, one train operation on that ride must suck. Hopefully they can at least get two going. Three would be nice, as it completely eats up the line, but I can't imagine the line getting too long with a solid two train operation.

^Didn't they do that on the Big One? Put two damaged trains together to make one good train? I know they did it somewhere else too, on a wooden coaster. That would be a good way to handle this if the trains are really damaged that bad. At least a two-train operation (which will still dramatically increase the wait) will be better than one.

Oh no! Thank God no one was severely injured, but that certainly is not good. The same thing happened on The Big One the year it opened. A much bigger media deal was made because there were more injuries, as well as it being a brand new ride. I wonder if this will hinder Magnum's near-perfect three train operation. Again, i'm very glad no one was seriously hurt. Hopefully they get to the bottom of this soon.

Not so sad or pathetic. This is a nice TR with great photos. I love that picture of Corkscrew, with the train on that weird flat section of track. I've always wondered why that's there, it's like there should be a MCBR or something, but it's just straight flat track. I also love the picture of Magnum at night from your hotel room. It's a beautiful coaster and one of my favorites as well, beaten only by Millennium Force.

Eh i've only been on three. Mantis, Iron Wolf, SkyRider. Mantis is defintely number one. The other two were both a bit rough.

^Some say Darien's version of the ride is the worst. I don't know if I agree on that or not. I've only been on the SFA version once, but I really didn't find too many differences, other than Darien's having a much nicer setting but SFA's being more fun at night due to the area being pitch black. I thought they both rattled alot.

I had absolutely no problems on Mantis. That last turn on Raptor is actually worse than any element Mantis has to offer. But both rides stick out in my memory as being "smooth". The positive G's were the main trick of the coaster. I found Magnum to be more painful than Mantis, though I still rank Magnum higher.

The mirror S:ROS's at Darien Lake and SFA. Too much straight track, and very long, forceless helices. I don't really like one more than the other, other than Darien's being more fun in the daytime (The setting) and SFA's being more fun at night (no lights, allowing for a pitch black experience.) I prefer Magnum to either of these rides, simply because Magnum doesn't let up in the action until the brakes, where as these two have so many dead spots. They're both great rides, but not the best IMO.

This is a really cool PTR! It appears that Darien Lake is just the same as last year, minus the Flags....and the Six. I've never understood why Viper is Darien's only coaster that can run two trains consistantly and efficiently. It's almost always got two trains on the track, and the stacking is minimal (at least when compared to the other coasters), and thanks to this, there is like never a wait (re-rides!). Sure, the ROS/ME/Predator run two trains once in a while, but it seems to be on completely random days, and hardly ever all at the same time. Add some major stacking and break-downs, and they might as well just have run one train to begin with.

I'm gonna have to side with B&M on this one. It was tough between Intamin and B&M, but all I could think of is how much Darien Lake's Ex-Superman rattles throughout the course. I thought SFA's had it too, though i've only been on that one once. I've only been on five B&M's, and Iron Wolf was the only rough one. I actually thought that all of Cedar Point's Intamin and B&M coasters were smooth.