Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread

[TheDarkMaxim]

Yeah, the park would never falt out say "hey were not building a new coaster in the next 5 years". I call bullshit on that. I'd rather just wait and see and not get hyped or make hypotheticals unless there is real signs of progress or teasing.

[coasterkid124]

This email was mentioned a long while back in the thread. I was still sort of a lurker while the discussion was going on.

 

If I remember correctly, the park never said that they definitely weren't gonna build a coaster, they were just more worried about fixing the infrastructure of the park. It might have been about two years ago because I believe Wild Eagle was installed around then.

 

Edit: I agree with Dark Maxim on this. The park would not spill out there plans like that. I just mentioned it because I remember it being previously discussed here.

[coasterkid124]

Here we go. I searched the thread and dug up the email that I was talking about. I remember this because at the time I wasn't a member of the forum yet, but I was interested in the speculation going on for last year's new concepts.

 

A friend of mine has recently e-mailed Herschend Entertainment telling them how displeased he was with the fact that Dollywood and Siver Dollar City are getting new coasters all of the time and Darien's last coaster was only for families. They said:

 

"Hello and thank you for your email and your comments.

 

I appreciate your loyalty as a season pass holder and absolutely understand your

desire for a new coaster or one of a kind ride. These types of rides however

take large amounts of capital investment and complex financing. Since 1999,

both Six Flags and PARC Management tried to do many different things to our park

that made changes on the surface level, but neglected some much needed

infrastructure updates. Since Herschend Family Entertainment has assumed

management of the property, many of these issues have been identified and we are

in a multi-year plan to bring our beloved, aging park back from the issues that

it has had. While we are not installing hyper-coasters, which may only appeal

to a certain group of our guests, we are doing many things that improve every

guests overall experience and trying to place new and exciting elements in the

park whenever possible, including our new launch tower, Blast Off and the

massively upgraded Laserblast show, Ignite the Night, in 2013. New coasters are

never out of mind, but the list of renovations is long and we are doing our best

to work through that list as quickly and as economically as possible.

 

Again, I highly doubt this should mean much of anything, because it wasn't much time after this post that the Lake Monster concept was released. It's also a little fishy to me because of this whole "a friend of mine wrote to the park" situation. I'm sure it isn't that hard to make something look official especially a forum post. I would believe it more if the park themselves posted this on their FB page.

[SaraAB87]

From my experience with things in the past as soon as a company says "we have no plans to do something" that means they are seriously considering doing it soon and it WILL happen. I have seen this multiple times in different industries and it always holds true. Now I obviously can't 100% guarantee it but I am just saying this is what I have seen happen in the past.

 

With this situation they wouldn't want to release info early because guests who are coming to the park may wait until next year in order to visit for the new ride. If they announced a new ride now and I was planning an august trip to the park I know I would wait until next year for the new or redone ride. That brings down attendance for this year.

[Sk610]

So i would like to point out that even if that was an email that came directly from the park, which is definately a legitimate question, noplace in the body of that states anything about not bulding a new coadter from scratch in the next five years. Matter of fact, there is very little mention of new roller coasters at all. They do however talk about fixing the infrastructure of the park and getting it up to standards. They did say that they are working on the ifrastructure along with the occasional thrill ride and other family oriented attractions. I do think their next coaster will be very heavy on the theme as opposed to the overall thrills

[coasterkid124]

As I've said before I don't really know the whole backstory behind it, or why it was written, etc. I just remember it being mentioned awhile back in the thread.

 

But if this email is truly real, it was from two years ago going on three so it possibly isn't too much longer before we start to see some bigger things once again.

 

We all see that it never stated anything about not building thrill rides, but it didn't say they would, which in reality they wouldn't spill out their plans like that. So in my point of view, I don't believe anything said should be even taken seriously. Sorry for starting this, it's just been a long time and the email was something that stuck in my head from awhile back.

[DarienLaker]

We'll here's what we know so far for future rumors. I'm not trying to throw fuel in the fire rather just list the facts we know:

 

The park told someone in an email that a coaster being built from scratch isn't likely in the next 5 years at least.

 

Lake Monster would be a rebuild of Predator not a new coaster.

 

RoS plaza is one of the next likely areas for a refurb.

 

Sidewinder concept could be the next flat.

 

UFO's pad is still vacant, no signs of construction.

 

If Lake Monster is being built, Predator would have to be closed soon.

 

Skyline Attractions is announcing their first project August 1st.

 

The Cuda Falls area is about 3 acres, or roughly Maverick could fit (thanks to Dark Maxim for info).

 

fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo building was just repainted meaning it may stay.

 

UFO's status still unknown.

 

There is room for expansion behind the to karts.

 

Attendance is a main factor in a new attraction.

 

No signs of any construction or new shipments in the park.

 

Ideas of a new restaurant and circus have also floated around.

 

The park has not teased anything yet unlike parks such as Carowinds, Hershey, or Holiday World.

 

Fell free to add anything that I may have forgotten.

 

New lights for the Giant Wheel, hopefully.

 

New water slide(s) to replace 'Cuda Falls.

 

New colors for Mind Eraser.

 

Fixing up Hook's Lagoon.

 

Another Tim Hortons location in the back of the park where Motocoaster is.

 

A dark ride of some sorts in Galaxy Theater.

 

A new family coaster for the 36-48" crowd.

[coasterkid124]

^That wasn't a wish list, it is everything we know so far about what could be a new attraction

[DarienLaker]

^Sorry, it was just a thought! Darien Lake could get a Maverick clone coaster to go into Barracuda Bay, but I don't think Cedar Point is going to get rid of the real Maverick coaster anytime soon!

[Sk610]

I would also like to point out that HFE said tha they plan on doinb this as best and economically as they can. with tha said, they currently have a flying carpet ride sitting at celebration city and Ozark Wildcat SBNO down there as well. They could easily move one or both of those here to DL and add thrills to the park father cheaply.

 

And yes i know there is a slight hill tha Ozark Wilcat sits on, but with a little earth moving. It could easily happen

[TheDarkMaxim]

Im holding out hope for something great to go on the Cuda hill. Part of the reason they decided to not recessitate the slides was the fact that it's a huge prime chunk of land. So i have a feeling/hope there is some grand plan there.

[Sk610]

I think just about all of us are holding out hope for something great for that spot as well. And yes i have a feeling that there is a "grand plan" for that spot. Exactly what that grand plan is is a mystery to most of us at this point. Based on what HFE has done with the park in the past, i am very optimistic that they will do it correct with a mix of thrills and things for families as well

[DarienLaker]

Now this question has me wondering why Darien Lake had 'Cuda Falls originally painted black and white? Like was there a trend for water parks in the 90s to have water slides be black and/or white?

[coasterkid124]

Just some thoughts on my trip to the park today...

 

The General Store looks nice this year. They painted it inside and moved around the shelves. It looks more open and modern inside now. The only bad thing is that they raised the prices. The cheapest you will pay for a bottle of soda at the park is now 3 bucks from the store.

 

Scrambler update: 3 Point Shootout is still open. Next door, paving is done for the new game. As for the ride itself, parts are showing up organized by the maintenance buildings. The ride may only be open starting in late August or by Fright Fest.

 

Maintenance this year is much better. The only thing closed today was the Ranger. Mind Eraser and the Moose on the Loose were fixed quickly and were up by 12.

 

Thunder Rapids and Motocoaster are very underrated rides. I had a fun time on both today. I only wish that you would get wetter on Thunder Rapids.

 

Don't be surprised if Boomerang shuts down early this year. The hydraulic unit has had its door open lately, and the ride has been struggling to haul a full train up the hills. The ride hasn't suffered much down time, but the only time it closes, the train is usually stuck on the first lift.

 

Viper has been looking nice lately, but the queue and station really need to be freshened up to complete the restoration.

 

Finally an update on Predator. Now lately, I have been very skeptical whether or not next year is the year for Lake Monster. I do not believe that it will be an RMC anymore, at least short term.

 

RMC has only been able to do two coasters a year since their debut.

 

2011: NTAG

2012: n/a

2013: iRat and Outlaw Run

2014: Medusa and Goliath

2015: Most likely Colossus and SFNE Cyclone

2016: Wildfire

 

Although RMC just built a new facility, they would need to hire more workers to complete more jobs. Right now, they are pretty much booked up for the next two years. The park's only other option would be GCI, or Skyline attractions. As the rumors say, GCI wants to build a looping woodie to compete with the new big gun RMC, and this may be their chance.

 

Today I seen two sky blue colored wood pieces in Predator's maintenance bay. I couldn't get a picture because the only way to see it is while on the ride. The sky blue color sort of matches the color on Skyline's Facebook and Twitter teaser. I don't know what they could before, but my best guess would be a sign holder. But now that I think, it could be for the Scrambler too. We will know what Skyline's plans are Friday, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

[DarienLaker]

I wonder if those sky blue poles by Predator were from the Barracuda Bay locker house?

[coasterkid124]

That building was teal originally. These poles were sky blue and new, I don't know if they were important, but it only reminded me of this picture from Skyline Attractions:

 

 

I could be way off, and they may just be a sign holder for the Scrambler, but those parts are in the main maintenance bay, and the part was by Predator's maintenance bay. I would imagine that Predator would need to close soon if they want to do this for next season.

[Geauga Dog]

Thanks for the update. I wasn't planning on going to Darien Lake this year, figured I'd take a year off, but maybe I will take the four hour drive up there sometime in August or September.

 

Are the Scrambler pieces the same color as before or have they been painted a different color? I could see them stripping the ride down since it was dismantled and giving it fresh paint. Speaking of paint I can't believe they still haven't painted Viper's station yet and I bet that crappy looking building under the corkscrew is still there in the queue. May not seem like a major thing to most people but I find it irritating that they spent money to repaint it all black and give the trains a snake skin type wrap but the station still hasn't been touched.

 

I agree that Thunder Rapids is under-rated. That is one of the nicer flumes I've been on.

[coasterkid124]

To what I have seen so far, all of the Scrambler parts are the same colors as of right now. Earlier this month, the base of the ride was the same, and today, the arms that hold the cars are the same colors. I have yet to see any cars. I am thinking that there is still time to do a little bit of work to the ride, because the park has virtually made no progress in the construction site.

 

As for Viper's station, I think that the park is holding out to see the future of the ride before they do anything else. The station needs a lot more work than just a coat of paint. The windowsills need to be replaces because the wood is falling apart. Roofing and concrete work also need to be done. I wish that they would do a refurb little by little so that it looks better.

 

One of my other pet peeves are the railings and gates on the coasters. They need paint more than anything.

[Geauga Dog]

As for Viper's station, I think that the park is holding out to see the future of the ride before they do anything else.

 

The way you worded that it makes it sound like Viper's days may be numbered, even if it is ten to fifteen years from now. I know it has been said that maintenance under previous owners have taken a toll on some of the rides at the park but Viper seems to run pretty well. Even though the ride is over 30 years old I can't envision the park without it and the classic Arrow sound. RoS may be the star but Viper is more iconic IMO.

[coasterkid124]

This is a topic where I feel the same way. I could never see the park taking the ride out just for the heck of it, but all it takes is one corroded piece of track and the ride can be done.

 

I'm sure that this isn't the case though because the movement would be huge to save the coaster. Besides the park is already doing a good job with refurbing the ride. They were smart to use the third train for parts instead of selling it.

[DarienLaker]

When did Darien lake "retire" Viper's third train?

[Matman-TheRide]

Sorry about the delay .... anyways I said I would so here it is. Scrambler's power box is in, nothing else. Literally, nothing, not even a concrete slab. A lone power box among dirt.

[Sk610]

I really don't understand what is taking them so long to put the scrambler back into the park. They announced it a few weeks ago. I know it takes time to get the electricity and overall infrastructure to the site, but in the meantime, couldn't they be pouring concrete and such? I also know that it takes much longer to do these things now while the park is open as the hours of uninterrupted work time is greatly diminished with guests in the park, but this could have easily been done and running by now

[coasterkid124]

It's pretty sad that 3 Point Shootout is still running too. You would think that they would at least have gotten started by tearing that down. I wouldn't be surprised if this ride is opened by Fright Fest, or is pushed back until next year. If so, there is another promise that the park has failed to fulfill.

 

It seems like Skyline Attractions ended up being a dud too. They decided not to announce today, and their teasers look nothing like roller coasters. Hope once again for a Predator refurb is dwindling. Looks like next year, Sidewinder and the proposed Circus are the new attractions if CNL is willing to pay.

[Sk610]

That is a very big IF there. i don't remember hearing anything on a new circus show. Did this come out in one of those customersurveys like lake monster and sidewinder did last year?

 

To be honest, i would be satisfied with sidewinder as next years addition. before blast off last year, the last modern flat we got was twister in 2000, and before that who knows what it was, probably in the 80's