Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread

[Janusz]

You act like weather played absolutely no role this season... We had over an inch of snow a little over a week ago for Christ's sake. It's hard to do some of the restorations and refurbishing necessary to get these rides up when the ownership isn't willing to pony up and pay. Especially when they're over budget on their biggest project in 10 years, they'll try and make things work by getting by on bare minimum. Same story different year.

 

Try building a ride on schedule to open May 28th when the track shipments start showing up the last day of March, or the ground starts moving as it thaws out. Sure seems to leave a lot of wiggle room for the typical Gerstlauer breaking in phase of new rides.

 

As for Predator, they aren't going to run the ride if they don't feel it's safe to do so. Ya'll bitch about downtime but disregard that winter absolutely destroys wooden coasters. They're a complete and total nightmare and it doesn't help when mother nature gives you 68°F and sunny one day, then 25°F and flurries the next day. Wood expands, contracts, twists, turns, and does all sorts of crazy things. It's even harder to solve all these issues in a week after a full on freeze hits the reigon. The PTC trains they have from The Voyage are a bit heavier than the originals so it takes an extra toll on the track every year. Seriously, get over it already.

 

I swear, this time of year is just a complete and total shit show in this thread no matter what happens. All the armchair mechanics/engineers in WNY come out in force and moan about the park. If it's so awful, buy a season pass to a different park... If you think there's an obvious way to solve all these problems feel free to keep it to yourself. It's just beating a dead horse at this point.

 

I'm not suggesting that all negative aspects of the park be silenced, but just look through the past opening day complaint posts... You can't even call most of them reviews to be entirely honest.

 

Rant over.

[rjr19]

I’m not complaining about Predator being closed, I never ride it anymore for it’s unbearable roughness, and I understand Tantrum is their focus right now, and that the weather was bad, but come on...I’ve never seen a park so unprepared for opening day before other than Darien, and this is the case EVERY YEAR. Also, why didn’t they begin removing TR in the fall, so that at least part of Tantrum could’ve been built before winter? Totally poor planning. Also, the amount of closed rides today was ridiculous, everywhere you looked, a Ride was closed. I understand some items holding the park back, but this was just flat out disappointing.

 

Also, the whole “ one train on every coaster” thing is really getting old, I honestly would have preferred if DL ran their coasters like how literally every other park does, over a new ride this year. Waiting for an hour for ROS when the line isn’t even in the switchbacks is totally ridiculous and unacceptable. I have heard so many complaints about the one-train operations just today alone. It’s a problem that needs to be solved. This park used to be so much better and still does have lots of potential, but the little things, like operations, are holding this place back like crazy. I just keep hoping that maybe next year these changes will finally be made, but they never actually do.

[DarienPoint]

^ Honestly they should take an off year, and add trains to AT LEAST RoS and possibly Moto, those lines I always see getting unreal.

[rjr19]

And Viper, it needs it pretty bad too. But ROS is my biggest concern. A coaster of that size and popularity should NOT be limited to one functioning train. Also, at least a repaint of ME is needed. That thing looks like total crap right now, the track is turning white.

[Haymaker]

I’m not complaining about Predator being closed, I never ride it anymore for it’s unbearable roughness, and I understand Tantrum is their focus right now, and that the weather was bad, but come on...I’ve never seen a park so unprepared for opening day before other than Darien, and this is the case EVERY YEAR. Also, why didn’t they begin removing TR in the fall, so that at least part of Tantrum could’ve been built before winter? Totally poor planning. Also, the amount of closed rides today was ridiculous, everywhere you looked, a Ride was closed. I understand some items holding the park back, but this was just flat out disappointing.

 

Also, the whole “ one train on every coaster” thing is really getting old, I honestly would have preferred if DL ran their coasters like how literally every other park does, over a new ride this year. Waiting for an hour for ROS when the line isn’t even in the switchbacks is totally ridiculous and unacceptable. I have heard so many complaints about the one-train operations just today alone. It’s a problem that needs to be solved. This park used to be so much better and still does have lots of potential, but the little things, like operations, are holding this place back like crazy. I just keep hoping that maybe next year these changes will finally be made, but they never actually do.

 

TR was removed before the new year, theres pics I posted on this thread of it. Its a lot of ground prep and settling to fill in those trenches. Weather and staffing is likely the biggest issue they had. Now if its the end of June and they have the same issues, then your complaint is valid. The disclaimer is clear as day on the website, rides may be limted in early season and after Aug 19th.

[Sk610]

It's hard to do some of the restorations and refurbishing necessary to get these rides up when the ownership isn't willing to pony up and pay. Especially when they're over budget on their biggest project in 10 years, they'll try and make things work by getting by on bare minimum. Same story different year.

 

Yes, this has been a problem since CNL bought the park from SF years ago, but how do you know they are over budget on this project? That is a very big statement to make if you are just speculating.

[DarienPoint]

Heading down to DL today, honestly not really expecting much, and I wanna see Tantrum up close being honest.

[rjr19]

What’s closed today?

[Haymaker]

What’s closed today?

 

Boomerang, Predator, Twister, Heave Ho, wet rides.

 

Pirate was being tested, not sure if its opened. Sleighride is open todsy

[DarienPoint]

Rolling thunder ended up opening today, around 1-2pm. Haven’t seen Pirate open, but like said above it was testing. Just got done playing around with the games near Haymaker and Silver Bullet.

[DarienPoint]

So all day RoS has been having restraint problems, so it’s curreently down testing. Just saw one maintenance guy riding it empty.

Bonus: Tantrum in all its glory!!!

Huge line gathering, waiting for RoS to reopen. :o

[ride of steel]

For the later part of opening day, the crowds were getting insane, and I mean crazy. So as we know Tantrum's track was in the overflow lot, so when we arrived about 1 hour after rope drop there was a security car in front of the lot blocking it. So after about 5 minutes a small crane-ish looking thing came out and starting hauling the remaining track to the park so guests could park there.

The aforementioned car.

The crane arriving.

Track being moved while onlookers watch on.

The crowd does NOT look to bad eh?

Now it's getting out of hand...

It was hard to navigate this one. Also the parking lot that I mentioned was 1/2 filled.

[DarienPoint]

^ Sunday was a much calmer day (the day I went lol), but RoS had problems (to do with the restraints most likely, as I had to get off and wait for them to fix it, then get back on) and eventually later in the day they became worse so they shut it down, so only Moto and Viper were open in the evening.

[hoppedup]

My daughter asked if it were possible to visit Niagara Falls on one of our trips this summer. I think we can make that happen since we dropped a couple of parks. I figured Darien Lake would be a no-brainer since we will be so close.

 

As I read more, it seems like we will have already been on a better Mind Eraser at SFNE in June, a Ride of Steel at SFA in June, and that Predator is terrible. We don't care about boomerangs. So we would be going pretty much for Viper, Motocoaster, and the new Eurofighter. We will be riding pretty much only coasters. My daughter hasn't found an Arrow looper she likes (I've actually enjoyed them all), so I'm wondering if that lineup is worth a visit. Is Predator that bad? For comparison, I recently rode Hurler at Carowinds for the first time. It's the roughest woodie I've been on but it was tolerable.

 

I figure a half-day at the falls and a half-day at DL if we decide to do this. Or skip DL and get the drive to our next stop (~4 hours) done early and get some rest. We would be there on a Thursday mid-August most likely.

[coasterbill]

It depends on what you like. Personally I wouldn't sacrifice time at Niagara Falls for Darien Lake when you have so little to begin with, but different strokes for different folks.

 

Darien Lake did exceed my low expectations and I do think their version of Ride of Steel blows the SFA version away due to it's location and slightly better train but I can confirm that Mind Eraser is horrific (especially compared to the New England version) and that the other coasters aside from Ride of Steel are sort of forgettable. I will say that the Mean Streak trick works on Predator (front seat, lean forward and keep your back off the seat back) but it's still not a good ride. Even with the Mean Streak trick you'll still be thrown around a little but it's fine. It doesn't work quite as flawlessly as it did on Mean Streak.

 

It's a nice park, but it's not anything amazing. Personally I'd spend the money I would have spent on Darien Lake and use it to buy tickets on the Hornblower or Maid of the Mist. Now THAT'S amazing. That said, if you're not into that then I guess go whore Darien Lake. It's nice for what it is.

 

If you do go, ride Moose on the Loose.

[Canobie Coaster]

If you want to get your coaster fix, Fantasy Island is right there and Silver Comet is a good wooden coaster with a nice mix of laterals and airtime. Canada's Wonderland is also just 1.5 hours from Niagara Falls if that's a consideration and I can't emphasize how much better that park is.

 

Darien Lake will only run 1 train on Ride of Steel, which is the one ride you'll want to ride repeatedly, so keep that in mind. It's as wild as the Maryland one but with the better setting as coasterbill mentioned.

[BitterOldHag]

Personally I'd spend the money I would have spent on Darien Lake and use it to buy tickets on the Hornblower or Maid of the Mist. Now THAT'S amazing.

 

This, 1000x. If you have never been to Niagara Falls, this is an absolute must see and will be much more memorable than anything at Darien Lake. I'd recommend the White Water Walk (a brief tour on a boardwalk alongside Class 6 rapids- it's much more incredible than it sounds) and a visit to the Butterfly Conservatory (if you don't mind thousands of brightly-colored bugs flying around and landing on you) while you're there also.

 

But if Darien Lake sounds more appealing, by all means, go and enjoy it. It is a decent park with a few unique rides outside of the coaster selection (Corn Popper, Sleighride, the only Heinz-Fahtz Enterprise and Twist rides in North America, etc).

 

Whatever you end up doing, have fun!

[hoppedup]

It depends on what you like. Personally I wouldn't sacrifice time at Niagara Falls for Darien Lake when you have so little to begin with, but different strokes for different folks.

 

Darien Lake did exceed my low expectations and I do think their version of Ride of Steel blows the SFA version away due to it's location and slightly better train but I can confirm that Mind Eraser is horrific (especially compared to the New England version) and that the other coasters aside from Ride of Steel are sort of forgettable. I will say that the Mean Streak trick works on Predator (front seat, lean forward and keep your back off the seat back) but it's still not a good ride. Even with the Mean Streak trick you'll still be thrown around a little but it's fine. It doesn't work quite as flawlessly as it did on Mean Streak.

 

It's a nice park, but it's not anything amazing. Personally I'd spend the money I would have spent on Darien Lake and use it to buy tickets on the Hornblower or Maid of the Mist. Now THAT'S amazing. That said, if you're not into that then I guess go whore Darien Lake. It's nice for what it is.

 

If you do go, ride Moose on the Loose.

 

We are definitely going to do Maid of the Mist. If the ROS blows the SFA one away then we would definitely ride it. We actually have two flex days built in to this trip for things other than coasters or stay an extra day at a park if we need. This trip has two full days at KI and two and a half at CP with FL+ budgeted for every day if need be. I guess we could probably just ride Predator last.

 

I watched a Moose on the Loose POV. Looks pretty rough, very shaky.

 

If you want to get your coaster fix, Fantasy Island is right there and Silver Comet is a good wooden coaster with a nice mix of laterals and airtime. Canada's Wonderland is also just 1.5 hours from Niagara Falls if that's a consideration and I can't emphasize how much better that park is.

 

Darien Lake will only run 1 train on Ride of Steel, which is the one ride you'll want to ride repeatedly, so keep that in mind. It's as wild as the Maryland one but with the better setting as coasterbill mentioned.

 

It looks like we can get out-of -state tickets for 19.99 for Fantasy Island. I guess that might not be so bad if the coaster is really good and we can get several laps in on it. I wish all the smaller parks would offer per-ride tickets.

[Canobie Coaster]

On my trip to Fantasy Island, lines were no issue at all. I remember marathoning Silver Comet like 20-25 times in a span of 2 hours.

[hoppedup]

On my trip to Fantasy Island, lines were no issue at all. I remember marathoning Silver Comet like 20-25 times in a span of 2 hours.

 

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Oh wow, actual photos of Darien Lake in the Darien Lake thread. Wasn't expecting that.

 

The rainbow mat slide looks really cool.

[jconsolmagno]

It depends on what you like. Personally I wouldn't sacrifice time at Niagara Falls for Darien Lake when you have so little to begin with, but different strokes for different folks.

 

Darien Lake did exceed my low expectations and I do think their version of Ride of Steel blows the SFA version away due to it's location and slightly better train but I can confirm that Mind Eraser is horrific (especially compared to the New England version) and that the other coasters aside from Ride of Steel are sort of forgettable. I will say that the Mean Streak trick works on Predator (front seat, lean forward and keep your back off the seat back) but it's still not a good ride. Even with the Mean Streak trick you'll still be thrown around a little but it's fine. It doesn't work quite as flawlessly as it did on Mean Streak.

 

It's a nice park, but it's not anything amazing. Personally I'd spend the money I would have spent on Darien Lake and use it to buy tickets on the Hornblower or Maid of the Mist. Now THAT'S amazing. That said, if you're not into that then I guess go whore Darien Lake. It's nice for what it is.

 

If you do go, ride Moose on the Loose.

 

We are definitely going to do Maid of the Mist. If the ROS blows the SFA one away then we would definitely ride it. We actually have two flex days built in to this trip for things other than coasters or stay an extra day at a park if we need. This trip has two full days at KI and two and a half at CP with FL+ budgeted for every day if need be. I guess we could probably just ride Predator last.

 

I watched a Moose on the Loose POV. Looks pretty rough, very shaky.

 

If you want to get your coaster fix, Fantasy Island is right there and Silver Comet is a good wooden coaster with a nice mix of laterals and airtime. Canada's Wonderland is also just 1.5 hours from Niagara Falls if that's a consideration and I can't emphasize how much better that park is.

 

Darien Lake will only run 1 train on Ride of Steel, which is the one ride you'll want to ride repeatedly, so keep that in mind. It's as wild as the Maryland one but with the better setting as coasterbill mentioned.

 

It looks like we can get out-of -state tickets for 19.99 for Fantasy Island. I guess that might not be so bad if the coaster is really good and we can get several laps in on it. I wish all the smaller parks would offer per-ride tickets.

 

Moose on the Loose isn't rough. Quite enjoyable, it does get busy though and the safety checks do slow down Ride Ops, no fault of theirs.

 

I enjoyed the ROS at DL. Never been to SFA.

 

The worst SLC is at Canada's Wonderland. Darien Lake's is better than that.

 

Predator might be rough, but it's not boring IMO.

 

MotoCoaster is fun.

 

I'm a fan of Viper, one of the better Arrows IMO.

 

I would say Darien Lake would be worth your 4 hours.

[coasterbill]

The worst SLC is at Canada's Wonderland. Darien Lake's is better than that.

 

Yeah, and getting hit in the balls with a sledgehammer is worse than getting hit in the balls with a regular hammer but both are still horrific experiences. It's kind of like that...

[hoppedup]

Yeah, and getting hit in the balls with a sledgehammer is worse than getting hit in the balls with a regular hammer but both are still horrific experiences. It's kind of like that...

 

So kinda like riding Vortex at Carowinds versus Georgia Scorcher?

 

We will probably do DL unless weather cuts into time at another park for some reason.

Moose on the Loose isn't rough. Quite enjoyable, it does get busy though and the safety checks do slow down Ride Ops, no fault of theirs.

 

I know. That was a joke. I assume the video is shaky from the rocking action of the moose.

 

I'm a fan of Viper, one of the better Arrows IMO.

 

Good to know. I've enjoyed all the Arrow loopers I've ridden, even Carolina Cyclone. The only one my daughter would re-ride was Loch Ness Monster. It has been my favorite so far.

[anonymouscactus]

I still hold the opinion that Cave of the Winds (U.S. side) is the best attraction in Niagara Falls. Look into it if you haven't already.