pryonisys

Kiddie area is in good shape What about the balloons kiddie ride? I saw a recent picture on here that showed the balloons dismantled and my guess is that Darien Lake is going to take out said kiddie ride? One ride being down and out for what could be a refurbishment doesn’t mean the kiddie section is garbage. We just took my little cousin there and she had a blast riding everything. Plus, I appreciate how it’s in its own little zone so the little kids and more so their parents don’t have to worry about teenagers and other hooligans as much which is a very nice touch. TL:DR - the kiddie area is great, let it be. Fair, I think it just needs a little TLC and maybe a fresh coat of paint (like many things in the park). The submarine was in pretty sad condition when I was there from a pealing paint point of view. My daughter had an awesome time in the kiddie area too. I just kind of figure if they do get the WB licensing (who knows a this point) there may be a bit of a re-theme in there. I honestly don't mind all that much either way.

As much as we all want more coasters, investing in a flat ride pack is honestly the way they should probably go, it would feel like a bunch of the park is updated with some newer flats. My guess would be a flat ride package or a new/updated kiddie area

I would guess that it's coming out, but if they had any hope of potentially opening it this season keeping it in place makes sense. If they realized that it wasn't going to open after the season began (pure speculation on my part) leaving it standing until the end of the season makes sense. Which is a bigger eyesore, a SBNO ride or construction equipment right on the lake ripping it out? The answer will change person to person, but I believe ripping it out when the park is open would look way worse.

Just so you know I am just glad that it works, it was just me being curious if it was just something that was down the weekend I was there. As someone who has done plenty of camping I know what can happen to the small cheap dome tents if they get a good gust of wind, so I wasn't sure if it was just a temporary thing, or just something they're not bothering with this year, that's all.

This was my first time experiencing Moose on the Loose. I thought the ride was perfect outside of my moose having laryngitis. It was cute and the audio I overheard from other vehicles put a smile on my face. I made it back from my 3 year old daughter's first trip to the park (about a month ago) and for weeks she would pretend that she was riding Moose on the Loose when she sat on the recliner. I'm just working on raising children who enjoy amusement parks so that I have a better excuse to go to them myself

That looks like where I saw them earlier this summer. I know it's a small thing, but like I said, my 3 year old daughter was a bit disappointed (although Moose on the Loose and Hoot & Holler did quickly ease her disappointment). Another random question now that we're in the middle of the summer season for those who go more regularly. Moose on the Loose was missing some scenery earlier this year (the campsite) did they put it up yet? Are they even going to bother to this year? Once again this is a question that really doesn't matter much but I was curious. I imagine they have to buy a few new tents every year or two just due to weather and wear.

Thanks for the trip report. Interesting that they are doing additional re-tracking in the middle of the season on Predator one would typically assume they would try to get all the retracking done at the start of the season, not in the middle of peak season. Six Flags I guess realized how rough and poorly received the ride has been recently. Hopefully all is well with Ride of Steel and it's good to hear they have Motocoaster at least running again. Who knows about the balloon ride, thank you for the update though, I'm not going to expect anything for it until next year (at the soonest) at this point.

^ Thanks I just wasn't sure based on the post above, it sounded like it was broken and I hadn't heard about that happening in the past month. Ideally we would have things improving, not breaking down, so I'm glad it's functioning fine. Another quick question because my 3 year old wanted to ride it when I was there about a month ago; is the balloon chase ride still down? Last I saw it was in pieces in the parking lot by Moose on the Loose which I would assume means the ride is not coming back, but I figured I'd ask people who get up there more often than I do.

I haven't been for awhile... what's wrong with Corn Popper, it looked like it was working alright last time I was there

This was one of the first things I thought of. The general path lighting isn't great is many parts of the park so it could just be a general safety and security issue they want to minimize/partially avoid.

There are some people here in Erie that I've talked to who are either complaining or are really concerned about it, but it really does sound like they're doing everything they can to get this fixed. I keep trying to tell people to not be too concerned because they're trying to get it all resolved. I think we all know how it is though, if there's an issue anywhere or a malfunction (or a sensor trips causing people to have to evac a ride) anything like that people tend to panic and view certain rides as unsafe. Just an unfortunate truth of the world.

Kennywood just posted on their Instagram that opening day for Steel Curtain is July 13th

I've only been there once this season, but Viper had no one in the station at all and I just walked right on. If there were more people I could see Viper being slow because of length. One would think there should just be random spare Arrow trains around at one of the Six Flags parks that could be fixed up and added to Viper if needed (as you can tell I don't know the logistics of how this works due to my extreme over simplification).

It would be kind of nice to have a second train on Ride of Steel and Motocoaster, but I completely understand crowds not justifying putting a second train on either of these coasters

When you get into Erie check out one of the Country Fair gas stations. They usually have Waldameer combo pass discounts up by the register (you may want to go to one that isn't right next to the park because of availability). It may only be a few dollars, but at least it's something.

Short trip report for Darien Lake, this was primarily a trip for a 3 year old though. The good: it seems like there is a fresh top coat of asphalt everywhere. the kid area is good for a 3 year old, not too large or intimidating. Moose on the Loose is an odd gem. I don't know why I love it, but I do. I snuck in a ride on Viper while my daughter was riding with her grandma; for how old it is it ran very well and smoothly today, only one sharp yank. The bad: it was hot so everything smelled like fresh asphalt. The Moose on the Loose line is super slow due to terrible capacity. Most things need a fresh coat of paint. It didn't really bother me and I probably only noticed it because of this thread, but there wasn't any atmosphere music in the park and it was a little odd. Best part of my day: my daughter rode Hoot and Holler a bunch of times and loved it. It was a lot of fun watching her on it. She has a coaster credit now that I'll never be able to get (54” Maximum height) Overall we had a very nice day. The most important thing to keep in mind when heading to the park is keeping your expectations in the right place. I told someone before I left for the park, think Geagua Lake (circa 2000) not Busch Gardens or Cedar Point. If you keep your expectations in check you can have a really nice day here.

The weather ended up being great today, I hope you had a great time

Agreed, the weather report today was for thunderstorms and I think we had a sprinkle in the morning. It would have been a beautiful day to head out and ride Ravine Flyer II.

Weather looks pretty crummy for Erie right now. Hopefully the weather reports are wrong for you, I hope you have a great time.

“Fill the space”. Oh good, I’m glad the park finally removed Topple Tower and freed up some room for expansion. They seemed like they were really running out of space to put sh*t. well I guess they at least have electric run to that spot already, but filling a space that was already used when they have a freakish amount of acreage is an interesting way for the park to put that

I can't imagine those would stay out too long, those aren't speakers that would do all to well in poor weather, but it's nice they had some music going yesterday at least.

I haven't been to the park this year, but if there's any chance of them renaming Ride of Steel back to Superman in the next few seasons (who knows) why would they bother updating a sign for a year or two?

I think the only flying coaster left in existence is Kangaroo at Kennywood (if memory serves me correctly Waldameer used to have one)

My memory of it was very vague, other than watching my siblings ride and thinking I wasn't actually allowed to say the name of the ride, but it sent me down a bit a google search hole and I had forgotten that it had a 12-15 foot fiberglass devil in front of the ride. It sounds like the fiberglass devil is now in Texas in front of a recycling plant, so that's something I guess (I'm glad they are recycling). Between that and the creepy clown trash cans Conneaut Lake Park has a strange place in my childhood memory.

As far as I know, there are only three Rotor rides (permanent or mobile) left in the States. A Chance portable model at Sylvan Beach, a permanent Chance model called the Tumbleweed at Frontier City, and the rare SDC model called Turkish Twist at Canobie Lake. Overseas though it's a different story as it seems there are several traveling Rotor rides on the fair circuit, including a new SBF/Visa model called Gravity with translucent barrel walls, and the classic Pluschies Rotor that tours the German Fun Fairs. This Rotor features a walk-through fun house as the queue, and the main ride structure is surrounded by a three-tiered viewing area just like the good old days. I think I mentioned this before, but there are some really crazy pictures of old Rotor rides from the 50's where the entire viewing area is packed with people watching the brave riders. And back then, you had to pay the same amount to watch as you did to ride, so I assume the ROI was pretty good for a Rotor ride! That's one thing I never liked about Gravitrons. The ride was not designed for spectators. Heck, first time I saw one I had no idea what went on in there! There was a rotor at Conneaut Lake Park when I was a kid name the "Hell Hole" that I was never big enough to ride, when I was finally old enough to ride it the park had ripped it out. It was a really good ride for spectators though. I completely understand why parks have gotten rid of them over the years.