rjr19

Obviously, theming won’t make or break a park. Look at Cedar Point, the park with hardly any theming (except Frontier Town), and they are one of the best parks in the world. Not only that, at DL, there wasn’t actually any themed areas, it was just kinda labeled like that on the map, so the experience at the park won’t actually be any different, just the map will be more basic.

The new park map was finally added to DL’s website! It appears that they have done away with the “themed” sections of the park on the map. 2018 Darien Lake map

Darien Lake isn’t known to make sense. But in all seriousness, it does look kinda cool, and like Phil said, it’s different.

I noticed that when I drove by the other day, I wonder why they would pick now to do so.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Although I do wonder why they didn’t use the old ‘Cuda Falls site for Tantrum. The hill could provide a natural Hill support, the locker building could house the queue, and it would take one of the pure signs of DL neglect off the list. Also, the former Batman building does have a purpose...it serves as a storage place for the maintenance crew.

Any pictures of it?

I remember riding Gatekeeper a few years ago when it was 30 degrees out, 40 degree weather isn’t a valid excuse, especially here in Buffalo, when 40 degrees isn’t that bad.

Where exactly did you see that Tantrum won’t be open the first two weekends? I’m not seeing that anywhere. Also, that’s ridiculous that once the park finally gets a new coaster, it won’t even be ready for opening day, I love how this park can never make deadlines for new additions.

Where exactly did you see that Tantrum won’t be open the first two weekends? I’m not seeing that anywhere. Also, that’s ridiculous that once the park finally gets a new coaster, it won’t even be ready for opening day, I love how this park can never make deadlines for new addition.

Just curious...I’m planning a trip to CP in late August for a few weekdays. Since it will be a weekday towards the end of summer, how long do you guys think the SV wait will be?

How well did Fantasy Island do last October since Darien Lake had issues in the past with doing a Halloween event thus killing their event altogether? Based on that FI is staying open until October a gain this year, I’m assuming that they made out pretty well last year. Also, DL still isn’t going to have as well of a schedule and FI this year. While DL closes at 7 on Saturdays, and 5 on Sundays, while FI is going to be staying open until 10 on Fridays and Saturdays, and until 9 on Sundays. Still, it’s a great improvement for Darien Lake. Fantasy Island’s final weekend operating schedule.

You’re totally right. TR requires way too many staff members to run on days when the park is short workers. With a new ride that doesn’t require as many workers, the ride can be open on said understaffed days, allowing for one more ride to be open. Also, TR was old and in terrible shape, and DL’s ratings have gone down due to a lack of new rollercoasters, or even a new ride alone. This was a great opportunity for them to improve ratings by adding a roller coaster to the park, improving the general reliability of their rides, and have more rides open every day. Although there were other pieces of land available, those plots would be harder to work with. Take the Cuda’ Falls site for example: it is on an incline. This would most likely need costly land resculpting to get it flat enough to fit a roller coaster on. With TR’s spot, all that needs to be done is to demolish the ride, which you can earn money for scrap metal from it. Overall, this was definitely the best decision for the park from a staffing, maintenance, ratings, and cost point of view.

I still can’t quite grasp why so many people are so mad about TR’s removal. It wasn’t even that good of a log flume. From my experiences of riding it, you barely even got wet in it, I go to DL many times each year, and I really haven’t ever been super excited about riding TR, in fact, I only rode it once this year, all the complaining just hasn’t made sense to me!

It would still be cool to see demolition pics of Thunder Rapids!

What I don’t understand is why DL doesn’t be like most parks that are getting new coasters and actually mention/ post construction pictures of the new coaster. There has been nothing even mentioned about Tantrum in months. It doesn’t make any sense. The last mention of Tantrum on DL’s Instagram was that crappy animation they posted back in November.

Don’t forget about Guardian’s queue that goes into the mountain...the entrance to Guardian would be constantly changing position. Also, there’s the restrooms inside the mountain as well. It’s absolutely absurd to even think there’s a possibility of that thing rotating. Sometimes the GP amaze me with what they can come up with.

Also...what is with Darien not posting any construction pics? I was hoping to see some TR removal pics/Tantrum construction pics...it would be kinda cool to see!

It may be a pipe dream at this point, but I’m still hoping for a second train on ROS for 2018.

On another note, how do you guys feel about two train ops on DL coasters this year? Does the future for that look dim at this point?

Oh wow! I saw that on DL’s Facebook page... I get it that the GP don’t know much about amusement park operations, but this is taking dumb to a whole new level! I’m amazed sometimes by the things GP will say!

I still haven’t gotten the mailer this year... but I’m still not too happy with the October situation. Fantasy Island is going to be open until Halloween for the 2018 season while DL is only open for a few weekends in October, also while closing at 5 or 7 pm, which is far too early. I’m disappointed.

Did anybody else notice that Thunder Rapids is the image of the ground underneath Tantrum? Looks like they just put the Tantrum animation over a google maps view of the park or something.

Speaking of improvements...how do you guys feel about the idea of putting second trains on coasters, including RoS, for 2018???

This is probably the most classic DarienLaker post ever.

I must admit that I think the name could have been a little bettter, but I’m sure it will grow on us, just like how Rougarou or Valravn grew on us. I am still so excited to ride on the new coaster!!