Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread

[SbSteveZ]

^ I’m really not one to want to push a rumor at all, but speaking specifically of Freespins, this summer I’ve been on two of them (with the hope of riding a third one next month) and they are fantastic as far as I’m concerned. I’ve had some tamer rides on them and a couple that were over the top insane. Something like that at my home park would be so exciting that I wish the teeny tiny rumor that there was even a possibility for one to come to Darien Lake was true. And who knows, maybe it will be.

 

Total Mayhem at SFDL in 2020? 2021? Who knows! That’s the fun part

[DarienPoint]

^ Rode the one at Great Adventure... Every hill at the top I flipped and kept' doing so throughout the ride. It's all about weight distribution, so I got really lucky and got lots of inversions lol.

[SbSteveZ]

^ On our last trip to SFGAm this was our experience with the Joker, and a photo that I think perfectly summarized how that ride went for us. Legs straight in the air having a blast. If this thing were to ever end up at Darien Lake I’d be an incredibly happy camper

[Haymaker]

I dont like how short the cycles are on those. Motocoaster and Tantrum are already short ones, lets get a serious one in here for once. Preferably by removing or RMC'ing Predator. Speaking of which, has it (or will it) re-opened yet?

[coasterbill]

I don’t even know where to begin. Not only do you want another coaster already at this small market park but you want a really long one? Have you seen what Six Flags has been doing lately?

[SbSteveZ]

I dont like how short the cycles are on those. Motocoaster and Tantrum are already short ones, lets get a serious one in here for once. Preferably by removing or RMC'ing Predator. Speaking of which, has it (or will it) re-opened yet?

 

Completely ignoring CoasterBill here and responding to a productive message

 

Yes, Predator has re-opened. As of last Wednesday it was up and running. I’m not sure how much track work was actually done to it but it seems like it was back up and running pretty quickly so I can’t imagine it was anything major.

[pryonisys]

I'm glad it's back up, I'm making the trip up there on Friday with my brother who is visiting from out of town. He hasn't been to Darien Lake for probably 25+ years. The only coasters he remembers are Predator and Viper. I warned him that Predator has gotten quite rough over the years and he said he would at least like to see it up and running (and I don't blame him).

 

It stinks that the only day we could make it is a concert day, but at least we will be avoiding what I imagine is the craziness of Kingdom Bound (I've never been but I imagine it is the busiest full week of weekday operating hours).

[southpuddle]

I don’t even know where to begin. Not only do you want another coaster already at this small market park but you want a really long one? Have you seen what Six Flags has been doing lately?

 

I thought for sure you were going to point out that he wants a long, new coaster but would also be happy with the flat out removal of one of the current ones

[Haymaker]

I don’t even know where to begin. Not only do you want another coaster already at this small market park but you want a really long one? Have you seen what Six Flags has been doing lately?

 

Key word is want. I dont expect one at all because im not an idiot. If that were to happen, work wouldve already started. Merely pointing out that a Free Spin has a similar ride time to two coasters already in the park.

 

Seeing what SF has done lately, I expect a Discovery or Frisbee if anything.

[pryonisys]

^ You're right the ridetime would be similar, but I think the experience would be very different. As far as I'm concerned, I'm just glad it's operated by Six Flags again so at least there is going to be something new next year (even if it is something small like kiddie rides or a flat)

[boldikus]

You know you're in the Darien Lake thread when sensible posts based in reality are considered "unproductive".

 

[coasterbill]

I know, it's great.

 

I don't even remember the last Six Flags coaster that opened where everyone didn't complain about how short it was (aside from Twisted Colossus which was a special case because of the infrastructure that was already there). Every normal RMC conversion in a Six Flags park is shorter than the ride that it replaced so people always bitch. People bitch that the Joker clones are too short. West Coast Racers is super short and only shows a 3 minute ride time because at least half of that is going to be while it's stacked on the block brake in the middle of the ride waiting for the train in the station to load so it can duel. Wonder Woman is ridiculously short and everyone bitched about it. Maxx Force is 23 seconds long. Everyone whined about Great America's Goliath and Full Throttle. The bitching about the Georgia RMC where they removed the last lap was tremendous. I'm pretty sure multiple people were banned for bitching about it on announcement day.

 

Honestly I don't even remember, maybe X Flight (which has a ride duration of 1:15 so... lol)?

 

If anyone thinks THAT company is not only building another coaster, but a long coaster at Darien Lake of all places then that's hilarious. The last ground-up coaster of any decent length that opened at a Six Flags park was El Toro in 2006 before they went bankrupt. If they RMC Predator (lol) then they're just going to do what they did in Georgia (which would be awesome, but super-short).

 

PS: It's also not happening.

[pryonisys]

^Fact

[Golddisk]

I think a frisbee style ride would be a good addition for the park and definitely a possibility if you look at what other SF parks have.

 

In regards to Six Flags coaster additions, you point put a good point. Even SF's largest parks haven't seen a coaster added recently like what you would see at a CF park. It's kind of a sad reality.

 

In Darien Lake news, Corn Popper is back up and running.

[pryonisys]

A frisbee ride would be a great fit at the park, I honestly wouldn't be overly surprised however to see them do something like a Zamperla Midi Discovery which only fits 12 people (like Chaos at Waldameer) just because this isn't the busiest park in the world. The other thing that has crossed my mind is I wouldn't be overly surprised to see them replace the enterprise with something like the Supergirl ride they just put in at one of the other parks. The old enterprises seem to be harder to replace parts on now.

All that said... they'll probably add something to the waterpark and call it a day (or something like that).

[Haymaker]

If anyone thinks THAT company is not only building another coaster, but a long coaster at Darien Lake of all places then that's hilarious. The last ground-up coaster of any decent length that opened at a Six Flags park was El Toro in 2006 before they went bankrupt. If they RMC Predator (lol) then they're just going to do what they did in Georgia (which would be awesome, but super-short).

 

PS: It's also not happening.

 

100% agree

[Haymaker]

Found this funny, the official ME POV you can now actually hear how much your head will bang.

 

[youtu_be]

[/youtu_be]

[DarienPoint]

A frisbee ride would be a great fit at the park, I honestly wouldn't be overly surprised however to see them do something like a Zamperla Midi Discovery which only fits 12 people (like Chaos at Waldameer) just because this isn't the busiest park in the world. The other thing that has crossed my mind is I wouldn't be overly surprised to see them replace the enterprise with something like the Supergirl ride they just put in at one of the other parks. The old enterprises seem to be harder to replace parts on now.

All that said... they'll probably add something to the waterpark and call it a day (or something like that).

 

I'd be okay with them bringing in a new kids splash pad because ours is crap, you can see the paint chipping, and half the features (including the bucket) aren't even working.

[Haymaker]

^ The times ive gone this year they werent using the slides either

[SbSteveZ]

You know you're in the Darien Lake thread when sensible posts based in reality are considered "unproductive".

 

 

Welcome back, boldikus I’m glad you can take enjoyment out of people discussing things on a discussion thread. Are people not allowed to talk about what they think would be nice to see at the park? None of us are demanding anything of the park, and most of us have pretty realistic expectations for the place too. However looking at the past two years alone it’s safe to say that the Darien Lake additions we’ve come to expect, and what we’ve gotten aren’t exactly lining up.

 

I would’ve never thought we’d have a new Rollercoaster and then a 245’ tall swing ride installed back to back yet here we are.

 

People discussing the possibility of an RMC conversion that has been rumored for years is not ridiculous, it’s just drawn out. Can you blame people though? Especially knowing Six Flags’ history with the company?

 

People discussing the idea of the 4D Freespin rides coming to a park like Darien Lake isn’t ridiculous either. Since coming into production in 2015, Six Flags has built 7 of those things. One every year with the exception of 2017 when they built 3 of them. It’s safe to assume they’re going to likely continue to add these to parks since they’re small, pack a punch and are easily marketable. I don’t see the issue with discussions relating to something like that in any way.

 

People discussing things like a giant discovery is also not ridiculous or non-sensible as again, Six Flags has been adding those in fairly large quantities for a few years now.

 

The only thing that we already have that would’ve also likely been added by Six Flags is our Larson Looper. We already have it, so no need to discuss it - however when the transition happened, it came up almost immediately.

 

Folks on here are NOT demanding RMC Predator, Joker Coaster, Giant Discovery, Ground Up Steel Record Breaker, etc. they are DISCUSSING the possibility of those additions in some point at the park, and that’s pretty much the whole point of this thread. Discuss Darien Lake, or more effectively - Discuss SIX FLAGS Darien Lake.

 

I will not apologize and I assume others won’t either for discussing things that have characteristically shown up at multiple Six Flags parks over time. If you think that’s crazy, I’m sure there are plenty of other threads that you can enjoy on here. I can’t believe how quick people are to pick on this park or people who enjoy it. If you don’t like the park or you don’t like what we have to say about it, you can just as easily leave us alone and go on with your day so we can go on with ours.

 

/end rant

[coasterbill]

I'm so confused, but that's how I always feel when I open this thread. I don't know where any of that came from. Did anybody say any of that?

 

Have a drink or something. Relax, it's not that serious.

[boldikus]

Wow, I'm completely lost and have no idea why any of that was directed at me.

 

Bill made a sensible post which you directly referenced but then said you would instead reply to a "productive message" thereby inferring that his post was somehow not that. But he's right, and that's all I was getting at.

 

Sorry if you're having a bad day?

[Drummerj12001]

In Darien Lake news, Corn Popper is back up and running.

Yes my daughter and I were glad to ride it again. One of our favorites. It sounded less strained running as well, especially towards the end of the ride cycle.

[gearbm95]

At the park today...Corn Popper is running! Also, looks like maintenance is doing something on Pirate. There's been two maintenance workers down there at the control panel for the last hour or so. Haven't seen the ride move though.

[AmyUD06]

/end rant

 

I think part of the problem is that this park has about as much actual activity and changes as Dorney Park does, and this thread is for some inexplicable reason almost twice as long.

 

You DL fans are just insane about minutiae and discussing all kinds of crazy out there possibilities that are extremely unlikely. Can't fault anyone for poking fun at that.

 

And if you can't handle people poking fun at your inane obsession with a mid-tier park that doesn't need and won't get any substantial investment, perhaps this place is more your speed. It's ripe for revitalization.