Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread

[dgkallday49]

They always used to have a test seat! But I'm guessing they didn't order one yet from intamin for the new restraint style. The old one did work though, there was a red light and a green light and when you sat in it and close the restraint if the light was green you were good to go, if the light was red you were obviously too big in the restraint wouldntI close enough. I mean I went on opening day, so maybe they just haven't received the new test see yet you'd think they would have to have one. I definitely don't want to wait in line for half an hour only to not be able to fit and have to be embarrassed in front of a crowd of people. I really hope Darien lake takes this into consideration because it really can be embarrassing when someone doesn't fit . I personally acknowledge if I'm too big but I know some people get offended though when asked to leave because they cannot fit safely. But by the end of summer it shouldn't even matter because like I said I'm trying to drop some weight to be able to fit on all the rides at Darien and for my trip to Florida .

[Matman-TheRide]

I'm going Sunday this week. I'll probably post here afterwards with a review of the new train, Ripcurl construction progress, and other upgrades (don't expect photos).

 

On a side note : This Friday is my last exam for the semester

[PATTYCAKES]

Does anyone know the percentage for the lodging discount using a Darien Lake season pass?

 

Good luck on your exam, Matman.

[Tackleberry]

Does anyone know the percentage for the lodging discount using a Darien Lake season pass?

 

Good luck on your exam, Matman.

 

The promo code is SPAS

[Janusz]

^^^Good luck Sunday Matman, the weather doesn't look too promising for ROS considering it was down all yesterday (Friday) for weather/wind.

[aprando1]

I must say this about Darien Lake, I had an issue on opening weekend with my son, I reached out via email to Chris Thorpe and surprising heard back from him that day. After exchanging emails numerous times, my family met with him, the director of operations Justin and Mike the rides manager yesterday. They were all very friendly and helpful. It was amazing to how reactive they are to fixing issues as we already saw progress from the issue we had. I was amazed how serious they took actions to make things right. Looks like they are working hard to improve the park.

[Matman-TheRide]

^^^Good luck Sunday Matman, the weather doesn't look too promising for ROS considering it was down all yesterday (Friday) for weather/wind.

Speaking of the weather I'll be going next weekend instead

 

But at least I'm out of college for the summer so I aint gonna complain about playing Steam games while downing Mountain Dew all day.

 

BTW I may actually take photos after all next weekend (depends on if I remember to pull out my smartphone or not).

[Philrad71]

^ Don't blame you there!

 

With a projected high of 45 tomorrow, I wouldn't think that it would be an overly fun day at the park. I would imagine that a lot of the rides might be down because of this horrible weather.

 

I bet the park isn't even open today, it's so nasty - a good day just to be indoors.

[Nrthwnd]

^ Ok. Understood, thanks.

 

(And the previous page, thanks, too.)

[Matman-TheRide]

I was look'in around the web at roller coaster POV's and came across the Big One (Formally The Pepsi Max Big One) at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. While watching it I got an idea. I know the park is on a tight budget so... how about a retheme that will take barely any work for Ride Of Steel? This is kinda playing off of the Mountain Dew idea I spoke of earlier in this forum. Imagine Pepsi - Ride Of Caffiene. If the ride were to take on a Pepsi theme then the park won't have to repaint the track/supports nor will they need to recolor the trains. Simply add some Pepsi signage and retheme the eatery across from it by painting that half sphere thing to resemble the Pepsi logo (and switch from Coke to Pepsi products across the park). New theme for a ride and an area!

[Tackleberry]

RipCurl is ready

 

[supercoasterfan]

im hoping its not cold this weekend i will be hopefully making it out to darien lake

[dgkallday49]

anyone have any info on if/when the barrel in hooks will be replaced? ill ask around to a couple of people but I know last year a lot of people were unhappy with it being gone. kind of the centerpiece/draw to hooks was getting beat down by hundreds of pounds of water. Last season I had talked to a friend of mine who was a waterpark supervisor and he said it was going to be replaced by a water cannon, which never happened. This friend of mine is not returning to the park this year so ill see what I can dig up. If the spot stays empty this year maybe we can hope for a tear down of hooks in the near future and have a modern water tree house built in its shadow. The reason for its removal was apparently the metal lining inside the wooden barrel was rusted out and dumping flakes of rust onto people (yuck/ouch).

[supercoasterfan]

anyone have any info on if/when the barrel in hooks will be replaced? ill ask around to a couple of people but I know last year a lot of people were unhappy with it being gone. kind of the centerpiece/draw to hooks was getting beat down by hundreds of pounds of water. Last season I had talked to a friend of mine who was a waterpark supervisor and he said it was going to be replaced by a water cannon, which never happened. This friend of mine is not returning to the park this year so ill see what I can dig up. If the spot stays empty this year maybe we can hope for a tear down of hooks in the near future and have a modern water tree house built in its shadow. The reason for its removal was apparently the metal lining inside the wooden barrel was rusted out and dumping flakes of rust onto people (yuck/ouch).

i would rather they not even try to do anything to the bucket and just replace the hole thing a lot of mini water guns and other features are broken and with the age it is sorta like the cuda falls situation.

[Matman-TheRide]

Here is a meme I made. On a side note expect a trip report to be posted here by me at some point after Sunday. That and a review of Ripcurl . I may also do a trip report of my visit to Seabreeze the day before (Saturday). Maybe.

The result of a crap-ton of time to use while on break from college.

[dgkallday49]

I'm going to DL this evening, I'll post some photos over the weekend!

[eastcoast]

Went on ROS yesterday. It was a one to two train wait. I was probably the 5th cart from the back second row. Being right at the height max (which is dumb) my one knee pretty much touches the bulky black plastic, and the train rattled to all hell. Knee took some pretty good vibrations but it was manageable. Will have to ride in the front of each cart for now on. Got some good airtime.

Not one to complain about a steel coaster being rough but with a new train I'm surprised at how much it rattled. You can hear the vibrations the entire time. Maybe they need to change out the wheels to a different material. There are different running wheels correct?

[coasterkid124]

^Changing wheel materials only affects speed and friction, it doesn't change smoothness drastically. RoS is definitely more comfortable with the new trains, but it is still rattling like last season. Unfortunately, it is what it is and I'm not going to let a few rough turns ruin the ride for me. The helixes weren't a good choice in the design phase.

[eastcoast]

The helixes are a real snooze IMO. I don't terribly mind the straight-away because to me it actually emphasizes the following airtime hill.

[TheDarkMaxim]

Went on ROS yesterday. It was a one to two train wait. I was probably the 5th cart from the back second row. Being right at the height max (which is dumb) my one knee pretty much touches the bulky black plastic, and the train rattled to all hell. Knee took some pretty good vibrations but it was manageable. Will have to ride in the front of each cart for now on. Got some good airtime.

Not one to complain about a steel coaster being rough but with a new train I'm surprised at how much it rattled. You can hear the vibrations the entire time. Maybe they need to change out the wheels to a different material. There are different running wheels correct?

 

The "rattling" you will experience on most Intamin hypers. It is just as bad on SFNE's Superman.

[Janusz]

@eastcoast

To be honest Friday was going to be some of the best airtime all season, the train was clearing both wheels and stopping on the transfer for most of the day, so those are some fast runs. I guess we can all rest and say that the Intamin rattle is only just a track manufacturing flaw/due to the excess wear from Intamin's older heavier trains.

[supercoasterfan]

i was at darien lake to day. mind eraser is riding rougher than usual and it looked like they did a little more painting and parts of the other train was sitting next to the ending brake course. viper and predator were riding smoother than usual second train for both coasters no where on site and predator has new headrest.viper hasn't changed and station is worse. ros rattle is worse than it was on the old train. ripcurl is looking good.twister was not open and rangers old spot looks nice. brain drain was also down most or if not the entire day. i saw motocoasters second train in the old galaxy theater and it is in bits and pieces i think but im not sure i saw the old ros trains in there too. overall it was fun. but i was on the ferris wheel and i was at the top and i saw what looks like green and blue b&m track in the warehouse area,it was about 5 pieces of track and 2 supports i don't know why it was there or what it was doing but maybe it is for 2017 and they are trying to get a place to hide it i also thing i saw some by the old ros train and the motocoaster train in the old galaxy theater.

[SbSteveZ]

Pictures would have been wonderful. But regardless of that, isn't it a little early to be seeing Roller Coaster track? Cedar Point didn't receive the first pieces of Valravn until mid August! It's late May! You said the track was in a warehouse though, are you referring to the buildings behind the fence by Viper or some other location? And how could you see definitively into the SBNO Galaxy/Batman/Nik Wallenda theatre? And clearly see trains for two seperate rides?

[Tackleberry]

Any early season waterpark closures are usually due to staffing.

[Matman-TheRide]

To start very sorry but I forgot to take any photos .

 

Anyways I went to both Seabreeze and Darien Lake over the weekend.

 

Seabreeze did make a few changes around the park this season but nothing major except for what they did with the Bobsled. The Bobsled recieved a full renovation. The track and supports were all given new white paint (except for the track in the station for some reason). New wood was put in and the track was fixed so that the ride was not as rough. The Bobsled is surprisingly decent now that it won't beat up riders as much. That and it no longer looks like an eyesore. Great job Seabreeze! Other small changes include a changed (more closed off) food stand next to the tea cups and some new landscaping. All of the other rides were as usual. Jackrabbit is still surprisingly smooth despite being 96 years old and is quite enjoyable for almost everyone. Whirlwind broke down halfway through the day and closed. Outside of that Whirlwind spun like it was trying to kill me so yah it was intense fun. Screaming Eagle = average Zamperla Hawk model. The views of the lake were great as was the landscaping. Overall I had a good time.

 

The next day I went to Darien Lake. I have to admit Darien Lake is taking on a bit of a "hipster" vibe this year. A lot of colorful banners. A lot of colorful merchandise. Colorful coupon books and maps. And a colorful new waterslide. All that was missing was some rave music . Good stuff. Anyways the first ride I went on was Predator which was actually not that bad. A good wooden coaster with some sharp drops and such shits and giggles. After that I went on Ride Of Steel. The new trains are a lot more comfortable. The seat was a little softer. Also there were no leg/ankle braces. There was simply a T bar and a very flexible seat belt. With that being said the new train offers a slightly more open and much more comfortable experience. Very nice! Boomerang was as smooth and forceful as usual. Mind Eraser was shockingly rough. Rolling Thunder was fun except for the slightly uncomfortable restraints. Viper was forceful classic fun (with a very run down looking station). Speaking of Viper what was especially odd was that Viper was the longest line I waited in the whole day. To specify 3 cycles. Other rows seemed to have taken 4 to 5 cycles. When I was at Ride Of Steel half an hour earlier it was 2 cycles across the entire staion except for the most front and back car. I guess Viper is rising in popularity? Eventually I went to the water park and rode Ripcurl. I liked Ripcurl a lot. The initial braiding element provided some nice banking. The drop provided a slight hint of airtime. Not much else to say outside of that. A ten second rush of banking followed by a good drop. The colors of the slide do a good job brightening up the area around it (including the entrance to the park). On the way out I bought a Monster energy drink. Did I really need to type that part there?....eh I'll leave it. I had a good time that day.