Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread

[SixFlagsAstroworld]

[rjr19]

After hearing all the negative Fright Fest reviews, I was skeptical, but I enjoyed it, even if some of the scarers didn’t seem very dedicated. I loved all the theming, lighting, and fog effects. The park looked awesome at night. I loved the rides that were running without the lights: Viper, Rolling Thunder, and unintentionally, Tantrum and Giant Wheel .

 

Another thing I noticed that I’m not sure if it came up or not was the tunnnel lights on Viper. Red and white flashing lights illuminated the tunnel at night, which was so cool to see! Also, I can confirm that Pirate was open today and was running faster and higher than last year.

 

Didn’t do the houses, just didn’t think to, but walking around the scare zones showed me that the actors didn’t seem to really care too much. They weren’t the least bit scary, but oh well. Overall it was a good event, especially with such short notice and limited time for planning! Didn’t think to take any photos, but I’ll try to next visit!

[DarienPoint]

After hearing all the negative Fright Fest reviews, I was skeptical, but I enjoyed it, even if some of the scarers didn’t seem very dedicated. I loved all the theming, lighting, and fog effects. The park looked awesome at night. I loved the rides that were running without the lights: Viper, Rolling Thunder, and unintentionally, Tantrum and Giant Wheel .

 

Another thing I noticed that I’m not sure if it came up or not was the tunnnel lights on Viper. Red and white flashing lights illuminated the tunnel at night, which was so cool to see! Also, I can confirm that Pirate was open today and was running faster and higher than last year.

 

Didn’t do the houses, just didn’t think to, but walking around the scare zones showed me that the actors didn’t seem to really care too much. They weren’t the least bit scary, but oh well. Overall it was a good event, especially with such short notice and limited time for planning! Didn’t think to take any photos, but I’ll try to next visit!

Don't know what was going on that night but when I went :

 

-RoS, Boomerang, Predator, and Motocoaster (which without lights was SUPER AMAZING) didn't run with lights on.

-Rolling Thunder had lights on, and they would sometimes flash rapidly (epileptics be warned) and if you looked at it you saw several circles which was cool.

-The scare actors were VERY devoted, ex: the ring masters with their canes would follow my friends and I and tap their cane like a heartbeat, then screamed at us.

-Viper had no lights??? Other than the camera, don't know if that's what you meant because they did move the camera from the 2nd corkscrew to before the tunnel.

Edited October 7, 2018 by DarienPoint

[DarienPoint]

Oops, deleted.

[DarienPoint]

Pirate closed today, wonder if they already found a way to break it.

[ride of steel]

Did a lot of Firght Fest, got dirt cheap camping deals. Viper was the highlight ride, Ride Of Steel was running rough but okay in the 2nd row, and Haunted Hotel was the best house out of the 3. Pirate pulled a Kennywood and didn't stop, the ride opened later but broke again.

[coasterbill]

Only in the Darien Lake thread can you get this kind of wall-to-wall coverage of the operating status of a crappy swinging ship ride.

[ride of steel]

Yes, we've become very vigilant on it's status. It's broken more than Ride Of Steel, that's really something.

[rjr19]

Yes, we've become very vigilant on it's status. It's broken more than Ride Of Steel, that's really something.

 

Ride of Steel has had a really good year. I have not seen it down during any of my visits. Then there was 2016, where it was down more than it was up.

[ride of steel]

^In August it overshot the station and E-Stopped. Also a lot of down time in July, but you're right on saying it's had a better year, it's had a hard few years.

[SbSteveZ]

^ Good thing they only had one train running at the time of that fiasco. Way to plan ahead, Darien Lake!

[joelwee]

^ Good thing they only had one train running at the time of that fiasco. Way to plan ahead, Darien Lake!

Take that, Cedar Point.

[DarienPoint]

^In August it overshot the station and E-Stopped. Also a lot of down time in July, but you're right on saying it's had a better year, it's had a hard few years.

 

Also during Harvest Fest it was too slow making it's way back, so after getting released from the brakes it ended up stopping, with only the first car into the station.

[SbSteveZ]

Brief weekend update from the park - looks like they added some decor. Not a ton but it was noticeable and definitely appreciated. Rolling thunder has most of its lighting package working again after 2 years. The park was probably the busiest I’ve seen it (on a non-concert day) in about 10 years. Viper had a line of about 45 minutes, Ride of Steel was nearing 75 minutes, Tantrum was 30-45 minutes, and the other coasters were 20 minutes or less. They reopened mind eraser which was shocking to me, and yes, Pirate was closed. Lastly, I stuck around for the laser show, most every song was reused from the last Laser Spooktacular from probably 2007 or so - but I figure it’s similar to HalloWishes in that, that show has been the exact same for almost 20 years and people still love it. To me it’s a welcome addition back to the parks entertainment lineup. I have photos, and this time - no captions!

EAFF4134-9DCF-4132-A776-18A812BCDD6A.MOV

[ride of steel]

I was also there last night, Viper's line was huge and the fact that people loved cutting didn't make it better.

[DarienPoint]

Wow, that's super amazing for Darien Lake, Six Flags back and already are making things better piece by piece. (:

[PATTYCAKES]

AMAZING! Congratulations, Six Flags Darien Lake. Fright Fest will only keep getting better every year, but now it seems it is getting better every weekend. AMAZING! It doesn't even look like Darien Lake which is exactly what a good Halloween event should be.

[coasterbill]

This picture is awesome.

[disownedpear]

Just got back from the park for the first time, no lines on any rides but the haunts had huge lines.

 

The Swinging ship, the Huss TopSpin, flying scooters and kiddie coaster where all closed. The kiddie coaster was valleyed right before the station.

 

The Enterprise was much much better than I was expecting, it was faster than the one that used to be at Cedar Point and really jerked you around in a fun way that CPs didn't...I wonder if its just broken or what.

 

The SLCs lift hill for some reason is slower than a Golden Horse?

[Haymaker]

Kiddie coaster has been down for a while

[ride of steel]

Recently they butchered The Phantom's amazing look with a Snickers logo, so here's it without the logo in the fog.

[SbSteveZ]

^ probably a personal preference thing but I liked the grim reaper with the logo on it. I think it’s a nice touch.

[coasterbill]

Recently they butchered The Phantom's amazing look with a Snickers logo

 

... yeah, you're gonna need to get over that. It's a Six Flags park now. Take the good with the bad. If tacky ad placement bothers you then wait until next season.

 

TL;DR: Grab a Snickers. You're not you when you're hungry.

[dnn2031]

The SLCs lift hill for some reason is slower than a Golden Horse?

 

They slowed it down a few years ago. Found that too fast caused the control system to throw a fault semi-frequently.

[ride of steel]

I generally don't mind ads, as they usually lead to me buying the products. But I don't know how I feel with one of the coolest props there getting a giant Snickers sticker. (Rhymes)