dgkallday49

I would love that and for a park that may be a little tight on space that seems like a likely fit Darien Lake already has that space that was occupied by 'Cuda Falls all they need to do is move Slingshot and remove whatever's left of Floodgate Falls And maybe they'll room for an S&S Freespin (like Batman at SFFT) or a Premier Sky Rocket II (like Superman at SFDK). I worked in dariens waterpark for a few years and floodgate cannot really be removes, its built into the hill, and holding up part of the hill believe it or not. if they were to remove it that section of the hill would collapse/mudslide/cave in. this has been discussed in park meetings. they aren't just leaving it there cause it looks pretty (it doesn't, believe me). if they were gonna remove it they would have with cuda. your only options are fill it in with dirt/fill/concrete, or level the whole hill.

Here: View from the parking lot.

To answer everyone about the Matt slides behind the old cuda falls, yes there were a set of slides behind cuda that faced the parking lot. I believe it was a 4 slide complex. If you look carefully, to this day you can still see the old concrete on that side of the hill (footers, etc...) there's not much evidence left though. The slides were bright yellow but I do not recall the name or year of demolition off hand. Best guess, they were demolished between 1998-2002. ALSO, weather permitting, MAYBE I'll attend this board meeting tonight and listen to whatever details of 2016's additions are given. If I go, I'll keep everyone updated!!

Sooo... How bout' those bills?! Big game this week, ej starting again and Percy Harvin retiring, plus no Sammy this week either. Let's hope shady plays through the pain. And the Sabres showing off a little improvement. Eichel has been exciting so far! Any darien news anyone??

Does that photo mean no new trains and no re theme ?!?! I hope not ugh so much for comfortable riding and track that's not pink...

I am a former final fear employee. They didn't open because they couldn't find a space to rent in time. It hasn't been the same since we left the fairgrounds. Final fear is owned by just a husband and wife, it's really a mom and pop thing but you can expect us to come back better than ever next year and hopefully we can strike a deal with the fairgrounds.

Why couldn't they have replace Hook's Lagoon this past season in addition to adding the Brain Drain slides and Rolling Thunder? Don't know the exact reason things got cancelled (twice) but when I worked at the park it seemed like management changes their minds frequently. Cost most likely a big reason. Hooks is old, that whole area being re done would be expensive. The shallow pool would have to come out and underneath hooks there is s basement with pumps that would have to be replaced. Just a lot of time and money.

A few weeks ago I talked to one of my sources that is a supervisor in the waterpark and she said that hooks lagoon was supposed to be demolished last season and replaced with a new version, but something fell through and they decided to build Brain drain instead. Then I was told this season since the barrel so old and rusty they were supposed to add a water cannon up top where it was, but that never happened either. so maybe this coming season we'll see a new improved hooks Lagoon or at least something in place of the old bucket? I really hope for this park sick that CNL relieves itself of any attachment to this park and premiere or whoever holds all the reigns.

If whatever they put on barracuda bays old hill isn't waterpark related they should probably remove the bridge. That hill is just seeping potential for a coaster or a few flats. They don't have to level it but even if they just shaved it down a bit they could develop it. Such an eyesore to have a big empty overgrown plot in the middle of the park. There's so much land there, more than you can see because the backside of the hill facing the parking lot is just as big. Whoever runs the park in 2016 has to see the potential with all that land. Now that cuda is gone and the hill will need to be at least partially cut down they can finally dig up and remove ol' floodgate. Even if removing it created a partial hill collapse it wouldn't matter because it has to come down anyways and there's nothing it could really damage. In order to do anything with that spot floodgate has gotta go, same with the ugly old worn down bath house and l0ck3r building. That whole area just needs a redo. Let's hope they don't half ass it though and just bury floodgate under dirt or fill it with concrete and bury it though.... They did that with the campground pools where Motocoaster sits. They literally filled the old pools in with stone and concrete, didn't even break out the foundation or concrete walls of the pool, just filled it in. If you're in line for Motocoaster you can still see the depth markers on the pool deck that it sits on. That whole project was 110% lazy half assed work. I'll say it again, move Motocoaster into the Galaxy theatre and make it a darkride! And then rip out the old pools and decks and plant some damn grass you lazy cheap jerks. That is all, LOL.

what filter is WindexCyanide???

Yea it's inconvinient that Dariens l0ckers are all at the edges of the park and only on one half of the park. They're at the front gate, water park, and barracuda bay, and that's it.

Any mention of if the meal plan will be availible again??

Really guys, 2 days with no posts?!?! Doug, can you give us any more hints or info about next season PLEASE? I'm hopefully going to attend fall fest at Darien this year, it's a shame that there's nothing for the adults as far as haunted houses and scary things. Hopefully the new owner will make it suitable for families and adults like six flags used to do. Family by day fright by night.

I doubt a coaster for 2016, due to sale of the park and by the time the sale closes out there won't be enough time to design and build a coaster. I think we'll see new trains, paint, and a new theme/name for ride of steel, wink wink so it looks like 2016 will be 17 years for Darien without a new (thrilling) coaster.

Lockers onion rings

I wish I would have stopped by the Anchor Bar stand when they had more items then! Yeah One thing i'm sure of is that the few times i've been there, all mid season, there has only been a select 5 or so items to choose from, and no sides besides fries. I was disappointed because I really like their Honey Garlic sauce they have in restaurant.

It was also very run down and not popular at all. Most people didn't even know it was there because of how it was hidden behind Raging Seas. I haven't eaten at the Anchor Bar, but I believe that most of their real menu is included there, and the prices are the same. The building looks a lot nicer, and there is always a good crowd there too. I would say that it is a HUGE improvement over the Chicken Ranch Café. I took a short visit with a group of friends to the park today, and the season is starting to die down and more rides are closing. Tornado and Big Kahuna were down all day due to staffing, and Thunder Rapids was the only ride down not out of the ordinary. Viper was running one train, but two weren't really needed anyways. Giant Wheel was back up and running. A lot of the coasters were greased recently too. There are new grease spots all over RoS's queue and supports. It could really use some love. I know for a fact anchor bar only offered wings, a sandwich, boneless bites, a wrap, fries, and only 4 or 5 non specialty sauces. And I'm pretty sure the prices I listed were accurate. The pavilion it's in does look nice, and it is always packed due to it being anchor bar and tourists will eat that up, even with the high prices. The few times I've ate there it has came to at least 30$ for my girlfriend and I to eat, no drinks included, just whatever item we order and fries. I swear I'm not exaggerating. Can anyone else back me up on this?? I'm not crazy lol, the prices at the park are NOT the same as the restaurant, unless the restaurant is that outrageous. But I guess you're paying for the name and convenience.

So since its been dead on here today I'll just ramble... Has anyone been to the anchor bar inside Darien since it opened?? I have... Twice over 2 seasons. Let me just say worst mistake ever, and I made it twice. The menu is only wings (10,20,or50), a chicken sandwich, a chicken wrap, or boneless bites. Now #1 they only have mild, medium, hot, and bbq sauce, none of the specialty sauces that the real anchor bar has. #2 nothing on the menu is under 12$, wings range from 20-60$, all the other menu items come with fries and no drink and are priced at about : chicken sandwich 13$, boneless bites 16$, wrap 12$. Outrageous, and the quality of the product is even worse. Anchor bar should be ashamed of how Darien is representing their product. The old chicken each cafe that was there before was better quality and less money. I know people from out of town at Darien want the original anchor bar, but they are straight ripping people off and not representing the real anchor bar quality. And honestly they must have chose the worst of the worst food service workers to run this place, worst service of any food stand in the park.

Just to be clear, the Motocoaster replacement was just a random idea I had, something that could happen but that I do not expect to happen. It would be awesome though. And as far as ownership. In a perfect world I would like to see six flags pick Darien back up, but I doubt that will EVER happen. I would choose six flags as my #1 choice because #1 the nostalgia value for people that have been with Darien all along (yes I know it had previous owners), #2 six flags seems to have straightened themselves out financially, #3 six flags seems to now be investing in each park, not just a few, #4 six flags passes are good at all their parks, which used to be awesome because my family would plan a vacation to a different six flags park each summer, and #5 six flags can theme well, and run a kick a$$ haloween event and would surely keep Darien open into October, therefore creating more profit from a longer season. HFE would be a safe choice, we could always see a private group or single person buy the park. I don't think that would be good in the long run though... Didn't someone mention that there is a new theme park chain/group that is developing?? Maybe they'd be interested in picking up Darien? Does anyone know anything about this group??

Random thought of the day: How would you feel about moving Motocoaster into the Galaxy Theatre, thus creating s new dark ride? Theme it as a NYC bad guy motorcycle chase type ride. Motocoaster is a very portable roller coaster.

That's definitely not true and hasn't been for at least the past few years. I worked at Darien in 2009,2010,and 2011. That's how it was then, not sure how it is now.

Listen bud, cut your childish bs right now, this is a forum, nobody needs to be a keyboard warrior. You've heard it from locals that nobody thinks upcharge attractions would benefit the park, but you're entitled to your opinion. As a former Darien employee, we do not work 12 hour days, they actually won't let any employee work over 10 hours, so one person on rides works 9 to 5, another works 230 to 1030. There is overlap there because there is always more than one person operating a ride. They come in at 9 to do inspections and tests. So moving the laser show is a possibility, have it facing away from ROS and there won't be an issue. All these ideas I've pitched are pure fantasy. I do not expect the park to move the parking lots or laser show or anything any time soon at least. The go karts however I do see being removed in the near future. The big Boulder arcade in Darien square is old and each year has less and less games inside, it closes when the park does, so it's no benefit for the campers, plus there is a better arcade inside the park. That building could be removed, but it's just one of my many IDEAS, pure fantasy. So agree to disagree, but stop acting like a emotional child on an open forum. Squash da beef.

AN ATTEMPT TO DRAW MY IDEA OF RE-STRUCTURING THE PARKING LOTS AN ATTEMPT TO DRAW MY IDEA OF RE-STRUCTURING THE PARKING LOTS

The laser Light show is a signature of Darien... That being said, IF the park were to go forward and develop the area down by ROS, IMO it could be beneficial to re locate the laser show down to that area down by the lake back there. Imagine this... it's 10 pm, the laser shows starting, in the near background is ROS, the fog machines are pumping out fog, the lake by ROS is next to you. It could be a great location if they were to move the show! You'd have whatever other rides they add down there too, that area could become a GREAT new section of the park. Now step 2 would be adding something where the old laser show was, adding a coaster where the go karts were, moving, or removing twister, and possibly demolishing the old arcade up in the square as well as moving some of those campers in that section and adding something there. Along with Motocoaster that could also revive that section of the park. So you'd get the new ROS are on its feet with the laser show, re theme of ROS, and new rides whatever they may be, and then you'd re-vive Darien square by adding some new rides, getting rid of the go karts, arcade, and twister. Does anybody think it'd be a good idea if new ownership took down Motocoaster carefully, paved and themed the lot it sits on now (it just sits on 2 old swimming pools filled in with stone and looks like garbage), and then re-assembled it in the same spot with some better theming? Motocoaster was made to be portable so it could also be re located to somewhere else in the park too. I've attached a photo of a possible future plan for Darien Square / Go Kart area, it would be over years and years and years, but its possible. Anything I post on here is just out of my brain, no promises of anything, unless I tell you its from a source of mine, its just an idea from me. In this photo you'l see all the room for a coaster if the go karts, galaxy, and twister were removed, as well as a few campers that could EASILY be relocated since there is soooo much room in the campground. You'l also see in the yellow area how much room removing the old arcade, some trees, and relocating a few of the guest houses to different areas of the campground would create. There is only about 5-10 guest houses that would have to be moved, and they have wheels hidden underneath so it would be easy to do. Lastly in the red area you'l see how much room would open up if the laser show were moved. You would have that whole plot of land, plus the whole peninsula behind the laser show that a lot of people don't even know exists. There are some huge opportunities here for the park if they decided to go this route. THIS WOULD HAVE TO HAPPEN OVER THE COURSE OF 3-5 SEASONS, AND BE DONE IN SECTIONS! Any thoughts on this?? IDEAS FOR DARIEN SQUARE

Some very good ideas there everyone! If you took out the Galaxy, go carts, twister, and batting cages, you could definitely fit a moderate sized coaster there. Here's ny yak: with that land I would add a zac spin wing coaster (they take up less room that boomerang but take up vertical room, like a skyscraper kind of. Av spins are a brand new type of winged coaster and are semi rare in the us. One of those would put Darien on the map for sure! Now... Since the zac spin saves so much space, Galaxy theatre could stay and an indoor ride could be added or a new show. There's still be tons of room with the go karts and twister gone even with the zac spin added, so my next step would be adding a Huss frisbee in that section make it look nice, theme the coaster and the frisbee together. Lastly id add a HUGE (hopefully 350-400ft tall) S&S custom drop tower, pretty much a clone of the one in marine land. Blast off doesn't cut it, it's more of a preteen ride, adults don't seem to find it all that great. The S&S one I'd want Darien to add would be 350-400 feet tall, have 3 separate towers, and run a program that changes every ride. Sometimes you blast off then stop halfway then drop and blast off again, etc, something different than blast off. If Darien were to follow my very reasonable plan, that whole back area of the park would get more foot traffic than EVER. Honestly though, the S&S tower I want could be added on the cuss hill as long as the builders chocked up and built up the tower platform so it was level. I feel this Ida reasonable plan for maybe 2017, once new ownership settles in. And there are more than 3 lots for Darien to build coasters on... Option #1 build new parking lots across the street, make the park entrance near the Darien management offices located by ROS's first turn. Build new parking lots, bigger than the previous so there's ever issues during concerts, and builds couple walkways that go under the road (believe me people it's possible, this is done at Disney quite a bit) and come out across the street. Darien owns TONS of land that is untouched. Currently the theme Park is landlocked, but that could change. This plan won't happen any time immediate, but it's a future possibility, and moving the lots would leave an area half the size of the existing park open for development. Option #2 move the campgrounds across the street. This would be easier to do than many think. Even if you only moved the tent sites without hookups you'd have a ton more room, and this would make the campground a little more secluded and peaceful. Same as before build a walkway or 2 under the road, and offer a shuttle service to the park for campground guests who don't want to walk. Option #3 get rid of some tent camping sites and build on them, but they would lose the money of people wanting to tent camp when the other spots are full. Lastly Option #4 expand down toward ROS, and then when you run out of room in that area expand and build the theme park on the tons of land the park owns across the street. Build a footbridge over the road to acess the new section, and maybe add a train that makes stops in each section, build a tunnel under the road for it and have the train be able to drop guests off in the new section. Another option would be a ski lift type ride that started by the boardwalk and ended across the road in the new section. All these options we would not see for many years if we see them at all, but if the new owners can get this park back on it's feet these become more realistic. SIDE NOTE: who are the prospective buyers??? We have HFE, possibly premier, what about cedar fair?? That'd be AWESOME, going out on a limb here buttttttt.... What if six flags was interested on the down low about re squiring Darien??? I don't think I'd totally hate that. IMO CEDAR FAIR would be a dream come true and the best case scenario. Then again the Pegula family has pulled some shockers out of the hat, that'd be interesting if the Pegulas bought Darien. We could have Sabres, bills, and bandits rides and theming. Imagine ROS in black and orange called "the bandit" lol. Back to reality I don't think the Pegulas buying Darien would be good... At all. Zac Spin coaster Zac Spin coaster Zac Spin Trains (360 degree free spinning seats!)