Darien Laker

That's hardly even a hump. For some reason, I imagined it going down a bit, then coming up, like a typical bunny hop. That is basically straight track, although you will still definitely get some air-time on it. I'm sure there were good reasons for making this modification though, they wouldn't just to it to be jerks.

Best Ones: Magnum XL-200: SEVEN freakin bunny hops (yeah they are triangular, and yeah it would be better if they were parabolic, but hey, it was 1989) and then you go through the "victory lap" over the midway. Viper (Darien Lake): The tunneled helix is just a classic element on this coaster. It actually has some good G's too, unlike the preceding corkscrews (which are still fun, but would be better if they were faster, IMO) S:ROS (Darien and America): Hill, Hill, Hill, STOP! I love how part of the train is still on the last bunny hill while the front is almost at the station. Those quick acting brakes really are so great, although it's been proven that problems can occur with them. Joker's Jinx: That corkscrew is just out of nowhere. I knew it was there, having studied each coaster on RCDB before going to Maryland (lol), but the way it just catches you off guard, it's just the perfect ending to a great coaster. The Bad ones: Raptor: I absolutely LOVE this coaster, more than some of the coasters I listed above in the "good" section. But when the helix unbanks, BANG! it throws you to the side so unexpectedly and so hard. Its by no means unbearable, more annoying than painful. It just seems really out of place, as this ride is otherwise flawless, IMO. Iron Dragon: Yes, the second half of this ride is Much better than the first half, and yes, none of the ride is anything to brag about. But still, after the second lift hill, the train takes a series of direction changes (the one redeeming part of the ride), which are essential on Arrow Suspendeds. However, when the train enters the pretzal knot, all the turns are the same direction. Instead of swinging back and forth, you just keep swinging up to one side. This is nowhere near as fun as the "side to side" swinging, and obviously Arrow learned their lesson on later models, as Vortex absolutely blows Iron Dragon away.

It may look grim, but your best bet would be offering to pay as much of the cost as possible. That's how I turned an Ohio family reunion into a two-day trip to Cedar Point! Unfortunately though, money isn't always easy to get.

What a nice sight to see. I'm impressed with the new look of this park, and I think the name change was very appropriate, and it basically marks the turnaround of the park. Hopefully some of the other Six Flags parks recieve such treatment (Six Flags America comes to mind, which is one of the few i've been to) Ha, seeing this turnaround for Six Flags almost makes me wish Darien Lake wasn't sold!

This is better than the old site, but there's bound to be errors, as with any new (or sometimes, old) site Here's one: At least we know what they mean. This site is a real improvement though, that last one was getting old years ago.

I know how it is to be afraid of coasters. The first time I went to Canada's Wonderland with my family (Mom, Dad, and younger siblings), and we all waited in line for Thunder Run, which is a very small and non-intimidating ride. I chickened out at the station and didn't ride! But seriously, once you just get over it and ride a coaster, you'll be so proud of yourself! Just start with something small and then i'm sure you'll be able to work your way up to bigger rides. You'll probably wonder why you were so scared in the first place. Good Luck to you.

I guess Dorney would be a good place for this since they have no launched coaster....as well as not having a shuttle coaster either. That park has a pretty good line-up and this would only complement it. I do somewhat feel bad for the people that go to Geauga regularly. These were two of the better steel coasters in the park, and now the only good steelie they have is Dominator (Assuming Head Spin and Thunderhawk are as bad as Darien Lake's version of the two.)

^Aww! I'm so happy for you, Alveys! She does have a nice head of hair for being so young. My cousin was still bald after several months.

What a beautiful park this is. I hope to go there later this year, but it's not a sure thing yet. Great Pictures, by the way. Griffin looks like it will be amazing.

Darien Lake's Viper on the last day of the season. It was actually a rather depressing visit, as I had just recently come from Cedar Point and being at Darien Lake felt like being at a large carnival. I still enjoyed my S:ROS and Viper rides though, as always.

I really like that rust color. I just noticed how Kings Island now has way too many Arrow and Vekoma coasters in it's line-up!

I've always thought Great America was a strange name for a park anyway. To me, Knott's doesn't sound any better or worse than Paramount or Marriot's. I agree that simply Great America sounds best, but if that's not an option....I guess adding the Knott's name is one way to keep the Great America name.

I love the look of freshly painted coaster track, especially when it's a B&M. I would love to get down to SFOG, mostly for Goliath but i'd love to get on Scorcher as well. I loved Mantis and everyone says Scorcher is so much better. Great trip report, even if you were only there for an hour.

Hmmm this is a tough one. I think i'm going to have to go with steel. But not for the inversions, or any gimmicks such as standing-up/flying etc. In fact, my top five steel coasters are all hypers of some sort, and don't have much as far as gimmicks anyway.

Aww! Congatulations Alvey Family! She's absolutely beautiful!

Happy Birthday TPR! Congrats on your success....This is by far my favorite coaster site!

Corkscrew-KBF. The first successful coaster with inversions. While the ride experience may not be much, and more and more of these are being replaced, they still had to start somewhere. Matterhorn-DL. The first steel rollercoaster definitely deserves mention. Another landmark in coaster history. Magnum XL-200-CP. This ride was the ride that started the "coaster wars", in addition to being the first hyper. The hype surrounding this ride over the years is just rediculous. The experience itself is unlike any other, most hypers are smooth, this one is not at all. Still, there's more to it than that, and I still say the roughness gives the ride "attitude". It's a great ride that I prefer over even my own S:ROS. Batman: The Ride-SFGAm. The first invert. Just look at how many inverted coasters there are now. Even Vekoma has made a cheap version for smaller parks to afford. There are very few major parks without one, and even the old B&M versions still provide smooth rides to this day, with plenty of positive G's. Bat-KI. The first suspended coaster. It may have been a failiure, but it led to an above average series of Arrow coasters, which paved the way to the inverted coaster. EXT-WOF. The first stand-up. This may be considered a gimmick, but there are still a moderate number out there, and in the end, they got crazier and crazier. Maybe someone will purchase another stand-up sometime, but the trend seems to be over.

I guess Magic Kingdom's entrance, but all of the Florida Disney parks were just amazing looking overall.

Raptor- It's probably not possible, but it would be cool if the helix didn't "un-bank" so quickly. It's a really out of place rough spot on a smooth ride. Viper at Darien Lake- I'd "lessen" the trims on the MCBR so the corkscrews were taken faster. Predator at Darien Lake- New trains and major re-tracking. Or just a big bonfire. Mind Eraser (any of them)- I wonder how smooth the newer train design runs. Can they put them on the older rides? That would be cool.

I didn't completely enjoy either of my sit-down restaurant experiences at Cedar Point, one of them being JR's. It was crowded and we were at the counter. The food was alright, but it was semi-annoying how they'd all stop what they were doing at the same time for certain songs. I thought it was funny the first time...they did YMCA. But then they kept doing it.

It could be anywhere, but If I had to guess where it's going, I'd say probably Dorney Park or Canada's Wonderland, for 2008. It would be a reasonable stretch of time since either park's last major coaster installation.

It's a good thing they removed those OTSR's. These new "humps" will probably provide some nice air time.

Well that's cool. It's the perfect name for a flying coaster. I hope they can do something for the capacity though.

I'm not going to vote, seeing as how i've only done Disaster Transport, but that was definitely the biggest waste of time of the entire trip. HUGE line, short, lame ride. It made Corkscrew seem like a fun ride.

I always thought Corkscrew would be first to go, despite it's pretty corkscrews over the midways (with the fugly 70's supports looming there) I agree about Wildcat looking out of place, but still, there are quite a few worse coasters than this (ride-wise) at Cedar Point.