dgkallday49

Two things from this photo... LOL at the lady thinking that Tantrum is just B:tE rebranded, and according to the park they’re scrapping B:tE. If you really want some laughs, check out peoples reply’s to her in the comments.

Honestly, I don't think I'll be getting a season pass this year. I've (my parents when I was younger) always gotten one since I was about 3 years old. But I just don't feel the need to spend the money this year. I'm 23 now, and my girlfriend and I have gotten them together for the last 5 years or so, but we're opting out this year. The money, lack of free time (started a new career type job a few months back), and lack of anything new all factor into it. That said, I will certainly also not pay the crazy amount they charge for a 1 day ticket and parking. We usually camp for a weekend in august at the park, also not happening this year. This isn't at all to "spite" the park for no new additions, but more because for the time and money a day at the park costs, it's just not something I look forward to anymore. I adored the place as a kid, but it's almost sad to see how little has been improved over the years and how much has deteriorated. Maybe next year I'll decide I miss it, but for now we're gonna pass. I mean how many of you guys/gals have been yearly pass holders for 20 or more years? Does anyone else feel the same, just not as excited to go? Maybe a year off is all I need? You can only ride the same rides for so long, look at the same things for so many years, eat the same crap food for so long. Darien always had a lot of nostalgia for me but it's growing old and sad as time goes on. Anyone else have any similar thoughts or concerns?

I / My family have been season pass holders at Darien for about the last 20 years. This is the first year I'm actually toying with the thought of not getting one. The last 2 or 3 seasons the lady and I would go and just wind up walking around. You can only ride the same rides over and over for so many years. Nothing has really changed that much since 1999, nothing MAJOR at least. Usually ill buy a seasons pass, the meal plan, and the cup that gets you unlimited free drink refills all year long, and it comes to about 110$ after taxes etc. I feel like I can put that 110$ to better use, especially if nothing new is coming. Even a bunch of new theming would possibly sway my decision. I enjoy a theme park atmosphere and don't mind just walking around all day and checking the park out, re living our childhoods, etc. but is it worth 110$ to go walk around? We like getting a decent workout in walking around and hanging out for 8 hours, and the meal plan and free drinks is nice because I don't have to bring anything with me, not even cash. There's nothing new to even make me want to waste time, gas, and money when I could go walk the mall or local town park. I could buy a gym membership for cheaper probably, lol. Well see what happens in the next month, but this may be the end of the line for us.

I have the meal plan and also payed the extra 30$ for the cup with the free refills, not the 1.25$ refill one. Done the meal plan for 2 years now and it's always worth it. Think about it, a meal is about 10-11$ after tax, so youl definitely get your money's worth visiting 10 times, which is about how many times we visit. The free refill cup is also worth it especially on a hot day. My girlfriend and I share the cup and fill it at least 7 times a visit. You can also fill it with over for free. The meal plan gives you a ton of options to choose from even some healthy options. Think about it, I can go to the park and not bring a dime with me and eat for the day and drink for free. Nice not having to bring money, or when I'm low on cash I can still go to the park and not have to worry about bringing food or drink. Don't have to worry about anyone stealing my money if I go in the water park etc. food quality is OK, not great but it's food. I think it's worth it for the convenience alone, and I'd highly recommend the 30$ free refill cup too.

In that fenced in area with ranger there is also the body pieces of ROS's blue train, old blue train I guess since it's running a blue train now. All the body pieces that cover the frame are sitting on shelves back there, but I wasn't able to get any photos, next time I'm out there I'll try.

Janusz, the train usually stops either like 20 feet up the hill or all the way at the top. If it breaks down its in one of those 2 spots. There all multiple little sensors all the way up the lift on most coasters.

After all the accidents on the ROS clones there were many safety trip features added, so let's say the train leaves the station and starts up the hill, while that train is chugging along up the hill the computer is constantly checking things like restraints, pneumatic pressure in the restraint system, total weight load, making sure the other train(if there is one) is back in the station, etc. if the computer find s ANYTHING that it considers the slightest bit off it trips a safety switch and stops dead in its tracks. Haven't you ever noticed when ROS gets stuck on the lift its always in the same place? There are certain points that every safety feature is verified by the computer. With the accidents on all the ROS' the sensitivity of these checks are crazy. So to prevent this you either open up the sensitivity of what the computer considers an error or you're gonna have this happen constantly. All the breakdowns aren't mechanical its computer safety trips. Once the computer locks it down it is a long process to re boot and re check everything, and then figure out what the problem is. If you're riding and start wiggling in your seat and the restraint moves an inch, the ride will shut down because that restraint came out, even if it's an inch. Going through a restart checklist and troubleshooting the problem can be a long process. Honestly that computer system is probably really out dated, I don't know how they could even fix the errors because you have to keep the safety trips in place, I guess either knock the sensitivity down a bit or get a new computer system. Mechanically the ride is fine, it's just the little things that are annoying.

^^^^ battery powered. They don't go fast though. Built for a 5-10 year old. Although I've seen kids around 15 on them, they look like they struggle to move as well with the older kids.

I was there the other day and yeah they're like that photo, except the place to ride them is outside by Motocoaster and the general store in the square. I believe it said it was 5$ for 10 min

^^^^not in either arcade or at any game stands. I spend some time in the arcade each visit, I'm a champ at the cube stacker game lol. Won a go pro last year.

Also have not seen it on my 5 visits this year.

I used to love twister as a teenager, but I can't remember the last time I was even on it, or quite frankly the last time it was open. I've gone to the park at least 2x a month the past 6 to 7 seasons and I think twister started having issues about 5 years ago, it ran on and off for 2 years and I'm pretty sure it's been SBNO for 3 years. The bearings and motors are honestly probably so rusted and rotted out from not moving for 3 years that I doubt it will ever operate again. It's an eyesore the paints faded and rusted and I always hear people saying they wanna ride it but it's never open. I'll be SHOCKED if it's there a year from now. It has a very small footprint so I don't think there's much you could put there without removing the go karts. But if you remove twister, Galaxy theatre, and the go karts, you have a very large plot of land.

^^^^ way too early to tell, but I can almost guarantee it won't be a water ride, unless they add a dry ride and a water ride. I can't see them neglecting the dry side of the park 2 years in a row. 99.99999% of next season depends on the sale of the park, currently CNL still owns the land(I think?) the park would see more investment if premier can work out all the land details. It's been 17 years without a real coaster, and don't be shocked if next year makes that 18. It wouldn't be unrealistic to hope for a flat thrill ride next year along with maybe a kiddie family flat. I'd still love to see a giant frisbee added to the park, something simple yet appealing. Also note twister had not ran once this year, again, so don't be surprised if it's gone next year. I'd love a new coaster, but I'm a realist and I can't see premier investing that much next year especially if they don't own the land that they'd be investing massive money into. If they work it out with CNL to acquire the land then who knows.

Yeah holiday weekends are always crowded. As a former employee of the park, I can tell you the reason the dispatchers were so slow is because the park has only been open for two or three weekends now. It's closed all week until June 21, this is technically still preseason. Most of these workers are just finishing up college and have to learn on the go on how to run a ride because they're busy most of the week. I did see Chris Thorpe outside the gate and mingling when I was there Friday but I didn't speak to him. As for the bag checks, I've been to the park three times this year and as recently as Friday (two days ago) and not once has there been any security near the front gate let alone a bag check. I'm guessing they had it because of the holiday weekend, but I'm also wondering if somebody may have made a silent threat to the park. I remember the last two or three years Six Flags owned the park they added metal detectors at the front gates and the park used them even for a few years after Six Flags had sold the park then about three seasons ago they were nowhere to be found on opening day. That's kind of odd because the terrorism and violent threat has picked up not decreased I wonder why they removed those metal detectors when things were getting more dangerous Not more safe in the world. I wouldn't worry about ride dispatch times till later in the season if they don't improve. Most of the time they improved fairly quickly once employees get used to working with each other day in and day out when the park is open full-time. A lot of foreign employees also come over to the park this time of year and have never had a job in their life, all three times I've been there and a food stand the service has been extremely slow but, the person take my order was for him so I understood and didn't give them any trouble.

Just got home from the park, damn it was hot out here today. SO...... THERE IS NO TRACK OR SUPPORTS OR ANYTHING TO SUGGEST COASTER PARTS ARE ANYWHERE ON PROPERTY. Got pics from the giant wheel, and walked through the campground to get to the boneyard/storage are from the back and there is nothing at all. Unless these said pieces and supports were moved into the galaxy building, it was all a false rumor. Now the Galaxy building was all closed up, no doors were open to see inside, so unless it's all in there, this myth is busted. Oh and over by Vipers entrance next to the shooting gallery they are adding a laser tag game/ attraction, was told it would open in 2 weeks and I believe it's like 5$ a person. There's 2 photos is it below from the outside.

Park isn't even open till thurs or fri. I'll be going Friday. Plans are pretty much set, I'll snoop around and take some photos if I find anything. Where has the original poster of the rumor been? Odd they haven't added any follow up or answered anyone's questions.... I'm leaning towards this all being false and that some kid thought it'd be funny to watch a bunch of grown men/women argue and fan girl over the possibility of ending the 17 year coaster drought. Reminds me of a time on a different forum someone tried convincing me the park was gonna sandblast cudas slide pieces and resurface them... LOL (you can't sandblast fiberglass it will basically make it disintegrate)

Would you take some pics please? I'll take the best pics I can with an iPhone. I'll hop on the giant wheel and also go up vipers exit to get a close up of back there. If my park connection gets back to me I might even be able to get into the galaxy building. You can also get the said area that the track is rumored to be at through the back of the campground. I'll find out once and for all of this is all true or not.

That was probably Batman: The Escape from SFAW, it had yellow track and black supports. http://rcdb.com/3472.htm#p=15187 you people amaze me, we all have know about B:TE for years, as has been mentioned 50000 times over the past few pages. Blue does not look anything like yellow. No way anyone confused batmans mustardy bright ass yellow track for BLUE OR GREEN track. They wouldn't paint batman track just to see how it looked either. If they ordered a Costner they would have worked hand in hand with the designers and would know what every inch looked like. They wouldn't need to paint track from batman. And no batman will not ever ever ever be built. As mentioned before, when they took it down in Texas, they sawed and welded it apart instead of taking bolts out. The track is trashed, six flags just needed somewhere to put it at the time. If I see any hints of track or anything of that nature I'll take a photo this weekend. End rant. ALSO, (see photo below) KRAFT is making cuda falls colored noodles for the new Mac and cheese dinner called: cudas cheesy falls. You can see photos of the pasta noodles below.

I'll be at the park sometime between Thursday and Sunday. I'll hop on the giant wheel and see what I can see but I'm not holding my breath. B;TE track is bright yellow, and is also rusted out, so unless they painted it I don't see how one could see it as blue or green, unless they are colorblind. Ill try and talk to a few of my dying connections at the park, getting hard to get info since pretty much everyone I worked with that has any credibility has left the park. if I see anything over the weekend ill take some photos and let everyone know.

I'm going to DL this evening, I'll post some photos over the weekend!

anyone have any info on if/when the barrel in hooks will be replaced? ill ask around to a couple of people but I know last year a lot of people were unhappy with it being gone. kind of the centerpiece/draw to hooks was getting beat down by hundreds of pounds of water. Last season I had talked to a friend of mine who was a waterpark supervisor and he said it was going to be replaced by a water cannon, which never happened. This friend of mine is not returning to the park this year so ill see what I can dig up. If the spot stays empty this year maybe we can hope for a tear down of hooks in the near future and have a modern water tree house built in its shadow. The reason for its removal was apparently the metal lining inside the wooden barrel was rusted out and dumping flakes of rust onto people (yuck/ouch).

They always used to have a test seat! But I'm guessing they didn't order one yet from intamin for the new restraint style. The old one did work though, there was a red light and a green light and when you sat in it and close the restraint if the light was green you were good to go, if the light was red you were obviously too big in the restraint wouldntI close enough. I mean I went on opening day, so maybe they just haven't received the new test see yet you'd think they would have to have one. I definitely don't want to wait in line for half an hour only to not be able to fit and have to be embarrassed in front of a crowd of people. I really hope Darien lake takes this into consideration because it really can be embarrassing when someone doesn't fit . I personally acknowledge if I'm too big but I know some people get offended though when asked to leave because they cannot fit safely. But by the end of summer it shouldn't even matter because like I said I'm trying to drop some weight to be able to fit on all the rides at Darien and for my trip to Florida .

Oh and the bucket from hooks lagoon is still MIA. And whoever said they started painting ROS and never finished a few years ago, what the did was paint the lift hill/ beginning track, and then the ending bunny hills so it looked as if they painted the whole ride but really they only painted the parts guests can see up close. I'm not making this up I worked at the park and the time and we all thought it was hilarious how cheap they were.

Here's a short trip report: Got to the park at 5 pm, just wanted to process our season passes and check it out for a bit. The park closed at 8 so. Parking lot was at capacity and spilling into overflow lot, campground was bustling with tons of families. One issue is the slide pieces for the new racers are on the parking lot still and take up a lot of room, and also I noticed kids were jumping around in them like they're a playground, hope they get put in place by next weekend or they could risk being damaged. These pieces are totally unprotected, anyone can go into them. Slide complex was about half built. So we purchased a season pass with the meal plan, and also payed the extra 20$ for a cup with free refills all season long. The cup that comes with the pass has $1.25 refills. I technically could go to the park with no cash because I have free drinks and a free meal. The meal plan has a lot of options, more than last year. And you get enough to fill an adult up. So.... ROS; the new train looks great. Looks the same as the old one as far as body, but you can tell it rides smoother. I'm a bigger guy (6'1, 280 lbs) so I was hoping they'd have a test seat at the entrance to see if I could fit comfortably in the seat(last year I was such a tight fit I couldnt ride from being in so much pain from the old leg braces, the guy slammed the damn bar down so hard to get the ride to acknowledge the restraint lock that I couldn't breathe, had to excuse myself and walk shamefully out in front of hundreds of people). To my disappointment there was no test seat, so we didn't ride, didn't wanna wait in line and be embarrassed if I didn't fit comfortably. Hopefully they'll get a new test seat with the new restraints. I've also been going to the gym for a month or so, so hopefully I can drop a few pounds and not have to worry about fitting. The t bar design totally looks more comfortable though. MIND ERASER; looks bad... Real real bad. No new paint, the paint the started last year has already faded, and it looks like they sandblasted parts of the track, leaving it with white spots. I heard a lot of guests make comments about how bad it looks. Viper Boomerang Predator and Motocoaster are all the same. Twister was SBNO, Ranger is gone, Batman building is just a tan building, no signage or anything goin on. All the staff I encountered were friendly, park looks real nice the landscaping was really given some TLC, still no lights on the giant wheel . The park got all new lockers, the new lockers don't need keys that you have to put a deposit down on. You get a digit code and type it in on the keypad on the locker to open it. Nice that you don't have to put a deposit down. Last year I got a season long locker rental with my pass, cost about 25$. This year a season long locker was 42$!, 42 freakin dollars. Couldn't pay that, just a total ripoff. Park said they doubled price because you don't have to put a deposit down so you don't need to have cash on you. Total bs. All in all for 175$ after tax and fees I got a seasons pass, seasons parking, coupon book with 3 bring a friend free tickets, a cup with free refills all season long, a cup with $1.25 refills all season long, and the meal plan(pretty much a burger hot dog chicken sandwich chicken fingers corn dog chicken wrap 2 tacos a burrito or a salad and then fries once per visit). Not too bad of a price I guess. In general id say the park has taken another step forward. In my opinion the major things I'd fix; lights on giant wheel, 2 train ops, add a couple more bathrooms, ROS re-theme(totally looks like they just removed six flags' brand and changed nothing else, kinda an eyesore), add a tester seat outside ROS, and get rid of the blacktop (1/2 the park is nice concrete 1/2 is crappy blacktop)

DL won't get a new coaster till the whole land ownership situation is figured out. No company wants to invest that big into something they don't truly own. LOL at the Cuda' (he who shall remain nameless) post. When I worked at the park we always noticed a lot of people didn't want to walk over to cuda or couldn't figure out how to get there. On another note I'm going to the park Saturday. I'm purchasing a pass this year like last year, along with the meal plan again. I'll take some pics to posts as long as plans for sat stay in place!