rjr19

I think there are some better options that they could have gone for. This looks just like the family coaster they got a few years ago.

I don’t know what is up with Intamin’s and lift hill problems, but it appears it is a cable lift problem with MF, and earlier this year, Darien’s Ride of Steel was down for over a week due to a lift problem at all. Probably unrelated as RoS is a chain lift, not a cable, but weird to see another long period of downtime to a large Intamin coaster due to a lift hill problem.

So I hear that Millie was down almost all day today, is this actually true, and if so...why? As for GateKeeper, I usually ride it once during a visit just to do it, it’s not that it is rough, it is really smooth, it’s just nothing all that special compared to most coasters there. The only real plus to it is that it practically never has a long line.

I noticed that 2 weeks ago when I was at the park...Thunder Rapids all over again? This may be concerning.

I went on Valravn in August of 2016 and waited about an hour for it. Then again, it wasn’t nearly as anticipated as SV has been.

I actually work at Fantasy Island and I can confirm that everything there is a complete walk-on all day everyday. Even front and back seat on Silver Comet is a walk-on (by the way, Silver Comet is a back seat coaster, the airtime on the first drop in the back is INSANE!) you can get all the coaster credits done in likely 20 minutes. At Darien Lake, you have to remember it is almost an hour drive away from Fantasy Island. Also, all the coasters run one train, Viper and Ride of Steel can sometimes result in long lines due to this, especially on weekends. Also, you need to check if there is a concert the day you are going. The lines get ridiculous on concert days. Another thing is that there is no Skip-The-Line pass system at DL. No “Fast Lane” or “Flash Pass” etc. I think it could all be possible if you give yourself no break time and simply hit the coasters. I don’t know how likely you could get many re-rides, but it can be done if you don’t want any time of relaxation.

When I was looking I believe it was $8 Ohio’s minimum wage is that low? In New York minimum wage is $10.40 per hour.

As for Sleighride’s sign,the queue hours was just repainted, they probably haven’t put the sign back on it yet. Another thing I noticed is that if you look in the pictures, all the light bulbs from the center rods of the ride have been removed, just holes where the bulbs should be. It’s really too bad that that ride is fallen into this state, it used to be such a beautiful ride. Now onto Mind Eraser...it is HORRIBLE this year, and seems to have been getting worse every year lately. It has gotten so bad that I barely ride it anymore. It is definitely time for some new train*s* on it with the new Vekoma vest restraints. The train seems to be the biggest problem, it is ridiculously shaky and the restraints seem to have clicks missing from them. It was so loose last time I rode it to the point where I was shifting back and forth in my seat because it was missing a click as the ratcheting arm is probably busted. And with Boomerang, I have NEVER seen consistent full trains on that thing, that’s one of my favorite things about it...you never have to wait in line for it! Overall, nice little TR, I might go tomorrow or Saturday, I will see if there is anything more able in the field by Beaver Brothers even though it is likely just utility work.

Fantasy Island’s Games Department Supervisor told me that it is in fact the one from DL.

I don't get this either, its extremely obvious where it came from (even to the GP), and it just seems tacky to put in a failed attraction from the nearest theme park to them. Something like this doesn't do much for the park and its another expense for them, plus they have to have a dedicated employee running it which is yet another expense. Because most people who go to the one WNY park go to the other everyone is going to know where it came from. I wonder if its failing because of cost to play (no one is using the attraction) or because it flat out does not work? I was informed that it works just fine, but nobody wants to ever play it, therefore, it would be better to leave it closed than to pay an employee to sit there all day.

An interesting thing I’ve noticed...it appears that Strike-U-Up is being a failure at Fantasy Island now too (it was moved to Fantasy Island after failing at DL). I current work there and have noticed that it is closed almost every time I am there. I bet they regret purchasing off DL. I don’t get why they even got it after it failed at another theme park.

Actually, I did notice that! Last time I was at DL, I noticed that the parking went up to $15 from the $8 that it was. I also noticed an increased in ticket prices. It is a little annoying, but I am okay with it if big improvements are made in the future. By the way, I am probably going to DL this weekend or next week, I will be on the lookout for the concession screens, I am curious if Darien is raising the food prices as well. I hope not, it’s overpriced as it is.

I already booked a place to stay for the last Sunday/Monday of August but haven’t bought tickets yet. I am still on the fence about getting FL+. First, how long is the typical FL+ wait for SV? Also, is it worth it to make this purchase if I want to get multiple rides on SV, while still getting on everything else? I am only here once every few years, so I am hoping to make the most out of the trip by trying FL+, which I have never actually done before.

I was informed that one of the cabins was broken, and they couldn’t just take that one off because they need to balance it, so they took 3 more off with it.

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And this is why six flags installed numbered drink holders in the stations. Not only does it prevent a spillage in the cubby, but it improves drink cup sales and guest satisfaction. That would be great, but unfortunately it appears that Cedar Fair isn’t very into guest satisfaction anymore.

I totally understand the need for these rules and that it is a huge safety risk, but it is just so annoying that us responsible human beings have to have these rules slapped on us because of all the idiots who feel the need to take their phone out on the ride. I was at Darien Lake last week and I rode Ride of Steel 5 times that day. Out of those 5 rides on it, I saw a total of 8 phones out on the lift hill taking “selfies” and the amount of announcements I heard as trains returned to the station was insane to me, it seems like every ride some idiot takes their phone out and poses a huge safety risk. These idiots ruin it for everyone else and yet they will probably be the first to complain when new rules are introduced because of their actions.

This makes even less sense. If you're going to dedicate budget to have staff wander through the switchbacks looking for phones, why can't you dedicate staff on the platform going down the row of next riders waiting at the airgates telling them to take their items out of their pocket and place them on the bins on the other side of the train? How hard would it be to put bins in the station and take the staff you're already allocating to look for phones on people in the queue and just have them do that same job in the station? And I'm only suggesting this because I'VE SEEN IT DONE AT OTHER PARKS AND IT TOTALLY WORKS!!!! It gets the same end result and is a lesser annoyance to your guests. This almost seems non-intuitive as the profit they are receiving from increased lockers is going away to pay for employees wandering the switchbacks. So, the park isn’t gaining any revenue from this (they are losing money if anything) and are lowering their guest satisfaction ratings. I think the BINS should just be re-installed. I think people would rather have slower dispatches than no phone for the entire 2-hour wait time for SV. It really amazes me how little planning Cedar Fair did before implementing this policy.

CP removed the bins on major coasters in an attempt to speed up dispatch times. The only coasters that never had them were TTD and MF of course.

Or, we just re-install the BINS! I know it can slow down dispatches, but seriously, safety should 100 percent come first.

I think I said my opinion in the wrong way on the last page, *I would never actually bring a phone on a ride*, I am simply saying some idiots who are daring enough will just see the locker cost as an extra fee and they will feel like they don’t need to and will just bring it on. If the lockers were free, or the people were more well-informed about how low the cost really is, more people will rent them and not be stupid enough to bring phones on the ride. I honestly agree that it is good that they are at least trying to avoid another massive incident over some idiot wandering over fences to get their phones, but there has to be a better method. Even having small pouches on the train like at Disney could be a good move, just make it zip up. The issue is the inconsistency over how some rides allow it and some don’t. They need to do an all or none policy, as I have seen many GP putting phones in lockers to ride Iron Dragon. I agree that it is nice without the bins to keep the lines moving, but they need to advertise their low prices for the lockers. I will never bring my phone in a ride, I simply don’t trust myself enough, but some GP view lockers at CP as the same price as a ticket, even though it is far from that. I think the park needs to be more consistent with phone policies and educate the GP a little more and it could be a great system.

But that’s the problem. It was the same way on the a Fourth of July. They need to get an attraction(s) that will get people in the rides section of the park. But were there people in the water park when you were there? I was there on a Thursday and the water park was packed full of people, and the parking lot had just as many cars in it as I remember there being back in the early Six Flag days. I left around 6pm and there were still cars coming in and most of the people that I saw walking into the park were in bathing suits. So if they want to expand the water park, I say go right ahead. Use the wet rides to bring the people in and the dry side can stay empty for me to play in. Same with family rides, build a bunch to get families in and that will finance the thrill rides. I honestly, don't need a big thrill coaster at DL anytime soon. Tantrum is a great addition. All I want is Predator to be retracked (don't care if it's RMC, I like the layout as is) and get new trains that aren't PTC. The park is huge so a nice train ride around it and through the woods would be epic. And some TLC for everything else. Does anyone remember the walk thru haunt that was in the Nightmare at Phantom Cave building in between the year the coaster was removed and Batman installed. That was so awesome, I wish that would happen again. Remove the bleachers, keep the back half for maintenance and storage, but use the front half for a permanent haunt (doesn't have to be open all season). It almost seems as if the water park is jam-packed full of people every time I am there, even on weekdays. I honestly live that because I tend to stay more toward dry rides, and since everyone is in the water park, it just means shorter lines for me!

I don’t get why they don’t offer free lockers like Universal if they will say “no cell phones”. I simply think it is ridiculous to have to pay for a locker. This is the big reason why people feel like taking the risk of bringing a phone on and hoping it doesn’t get lost. They don’t want to have to pay each time they go on a ride.

Awesome report! It’s a rare treat to get a nice lengthy TR on this thread! By the way, I totally agree with you about the issues of lack of shade throughout the park. Almost every time I visit DL, I leave feeling like I have heat stroke from the sun beating on me all day, paired with all the blacktop. Also, with Sleighride, the roof isn’t their fault. It actually blew away the night before opening day. The missing decorations is their fault, although I am wondering if it is getting restored. I noticed that they just repainted the queue house last week.

I know this sounds crazy but I actually am thinking that DL is already using the third Tantrum train for parts. Yesterday when I was at the park, trains 1 and 2 were running. This seems to always be the case. I haven’t seen train 3 running since the ride’s opening weekend. Also, yesterday, train 2’s back row restraints were acting up, so they were running only the front row on train 2 and both rows on train 1 all day. Here’s the interesting thing...why wouldn’t they just swap out train 2 for train 3 if train 2 is half broken?? The justified reason for purchasing three trains was to have a backup in case one is broken, yet when one was broken yesterday, they didn’t take the spare out. I don’t know if it is actually the case, but it seems like train 3 is already not operable.