Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread

[coasterkid124]

Hopefully by keeping Silver Bullet closed for this long means that they are just resting it until next season. I would hate to see another attraction go down long term without replacement.

 

It's good to hear that the park was packed. Hopefully they consider trying a haunt event again in the future with these results. Even if it doesn't run all the way through October, I don't see how it can hurt. I was originally supposed to go for one last visit today, but unfortunately I was diagnosed with a concussion and decided to take it easy instead of risking going on coasters and aggravating it more.

 

Was any more work done to Viper's station over the past few weeks? It would be a huge plus if so.

[Tackleberry]

Hopefully by keeping Silver Bullet closed for this long means that they are just resting it until next season. I would hate to see another attraction go down long term without replacement.

 

It's good to hear that the park was packed. Hopefully they consider trying a haunt event again in the future with these results. Even if it doesn't run all the way through October, I don't see how it can hurt. I was originally supposed to go for one last visit today, but unfortunately I was diagnosed with a concussion and decided to take it easy instead of risking going on coasters and aggravating it more.

 

Was any more work done to Viper's station over the past few weeks? It would be a huge plus if so.

 

My kids are small so I didnt go on it. When I was here for Def Leppard it was status quo.

 

The campground and Ignite the Night were equally packed. I went for the last operating day last year and it was very busy then too.

[rjr19]

I was also at the park today, and I can confirm that the park was indeed very busy today. It was definitely busier than it usually is. Silver Bullet and Twister were still down, ROS broke down twice while I was there. No, unfortunately, no work was done to Viper's station yet. Also, Viper's wait was longer than I have ever seen it in the last five years, after the many times that I was at DL this year, I can say that it definitely has dramatically grown in popularity this year. Still no second train, which would have been nice today. I can also confirm that Boomerang was still open (line was still open, unchained) at 7:55 or so. Overall, a fun day at the park.

Vipers crazy long line today!

[Philrad71]

I'll just plunk this one right back down here...

 

If there is alcohol Involved and has the word "fest" in it, many people in WNY & Canada will flock to it. Perhaps a main reason why they chose the name and probably why there are a lot more beer involved activities.

 

If it is rainy or snowy and in the 30's (particularly if people hear that the rides aren't running), I agree that not as many people will show up. However, if it's mid 40's and up and not rainy, people will still come in hoards and drink their little heads off - especially now with the Bills already looking like a complete train wreck this year.

 

Great to see a nice weekend out there...much better than last weekend, obviously. Would loved to have gone up there myself, but can't this year due to unforeseen circumstances, unfortunately.

 

So...did anyone get photos of the beer waterslide?

[Tackleberry]

I'll just plunk this one right back down here...

 

If there is alcohol Involved and has the word "fest" in it, many people in WNY & Canada will flock to it. Perhaps a main reason why they chose the name and probably why there are a lot more beer involved activities.

 

If it is rainy or snowy and in the 30's (particularly if people hear that the rides aren't running), I agree that not as many people will show up. However, if it's mid 40's and up and not rainy, people will still come in hoards and drink their little heads off - especially now with the Bills already looking like a complete train wreck this year.

 

Great to see a nice weekend out there...much better than last weekend, obviously. Would loved to have gone up there myself, but can't this year due to unforeseen circumstances, unfortunately.

 

So...did anyone get photos of the beer waterslide?

 

The beer slides were essentially shuffleboard with beer mugs.

[Philrad71]

^ Well, that sucks.

 

Here I was thinking it would be something like this using beer instead of water.

[Sk610]

I went yesterday and the park was mobbed! Lines for everything were crazy! We waited over 30 minutes for hornets nest along with just about every other ride we went on. Twister and Siver Bullet were both down obviously, but the restraints appeared to be back on, so that may be good news for next year.

 

Now it is just time to wait for a 2017 announcement

[Philrad71]

^ Great to hear that they had a very successful & busy weekend!

 

As others have said, perhaps that might be enough to warrant doing some haunt-type of stuff next year, or perhaps extending it out a couple more weeks into October?

[Sk610]

I do think that the crowds really had to do with the extremely nice fall we are having combined with closing weekend. Don't forget that about 10 years ago that Buffalo got 2 feet or more of snow on the 12th of October. It is very unpredictable, and the park has to set its operating schedule before the season even starts. The current schedule is the safest with all things considered. Don't forget that there are major costs associated with operating the park daily like labor, water and electricity and in October in WNY, a bad weather weekend could result a major loss of cash just to try to stay open an extra weekend or two

[Henry M]

Now it is just time to wait for a 2017 announcement

[TheAmericanKnight]

Now it is just time to wait for a 2017 announcement

Speaking of which, I have a theory. Liseberg just announced they are removing the Kanonen to make room for a renovation of that area of their park. What if Darien Lake buys Kanonen and puts it in where the go karts are?

 

BTW I'm new to the forums and this is my first post. Hi

[supercoasterfan]

they need a new coaster or some type of attendance booster.

[Philrad71]

^ I agree that a new coaster would be nice, but not sure if their attendance "needs boosting".

 

You probably read in the past posts that the Fall Festival was a huge hit this year and when I was their in August, we had a hard time getting a campsite that boasts thousands of sites.

 

Granted weekdays are usually pretty quiet when they aren't having concerts, but DL has always been strategic about having said concerts on the likelier slower weekdays in the summer - leaving weekends mostly open because they already know that the park is going to be crowded.

[Sk610]

^and to add one more insight, most times I went this year, the amusement side of the park was not very busy, but the water park side was slammed. Basically, people went, but some for the water park and some for the amusement park. Either way, it all counts for overall attendance and revenue. Now if we could just get CNL to re-invest that capital into the park, we would be good. Unfortunately, I dont see a new coaster coming to the park until CNL sells it to someone else outright

[SaraAB87]

The water park was probably very busy because we had a very hot summer and of course this made everyone crave a water park. There are not a lot of options in this area for a water park so naturally those that have water parks are very busy. If you want an indoor water park you have to go to Ontario Canada or Erie, PA. That indoor waterpark that was supposed to open on the NY side of Niagara falls.. like with everything else I haven't seen it yet. In this area there are only a couple of months that an outdoor waterpark is viable due to the weather so people want to get it in while they can.

 

This can be hit or miss because due to weather sometimes the water park does not open or sometimes there are not a lot of people in it, for example if we have a colder summer.

 

Even though I do not personally use the waterpark at the park I am going to say waterpark upgrades are very much needed since it does get very crowded especially with very limited options in the area for waterparks.

 

The waterpark does make DL a fantastic value if you choose to utilize it as these indoor waterparks usually cannot be visited without a hotel stay unless you can catch a day pass which again... even if you are lucky enough to get a day pass those usually cost more than theme park admission...A hotel stay plus waterpark costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars (most of the time $400 or more per family), a visit to DL costs much less than that and doesn't require a hotel visit with tons of restrictions, most hotels connected to a waterpark do not allow any outside food to be brought in, adding significantly to the cost of visiting them.

[coasterkid124]

People flock to the water park because it's been receiving investments. Plus if you are going to wait around the same amount of time for a coaster as you would a slide, a lot of people would rather be rewarded with cooling off at the end of the ride. It's not just the water slides, but all three in-park water rides get packed as well.

 

Put in a new ride or coaster on the dry side, and it will receive that popularity too. One of the first things that the GP asks regardless of park is "Where's the new ride?" People point to years ago when x coaster had a full queue, but remember that DL went through an aggressive expansion in the late 90s, and that there wasn't a really big water park back then like there is now. Crowds are probably the same, but they are more distributed through the property.

 

With all of the rides taken out or down long term over the past few seasons, I don't think that the park can go another year without filling in one of those gaps on the dry side. There are many cheap options (even for a coaster) that wouldn't set the park back too much, but could bring a lot of people back through the gates. Give Six Flags a lot of credit in that department for trying out the Frisbee rides, RMC conversions, Free Spins, etc. Before their value went up, they bought them in bulk cheap, and were able to put in solid, high popularity additions.

[wicked_twister]

With all of the rides taken out or down long term over the past few seasons, I don't think that the park can go another year without filling in one of those gaps on the dry side. There are many cheap options (even for a coaster) that wouldn't set the park back too much, but could bring a lot of people back through the gates. Give Six Flags a lot of credit in that department for trying out the Frisbee rides, RMC conversions, Free Spins, etc. Before their value went up, they bought them in bulk cheap, and were able to put in solid, high popularity additions.

 

I agree with you and would like to eventually see more added on the dry side but don't feel it would be best right now. When I visited Darien Lake for the first time in July my disappointment didn't come in the quantity of rides but instead their operations. Poor maintenance and one-train operation on all the coasters brought the experience way down. I understand with management changing hands so much there's probably a lot to do but would like to see them continue on improving the current rides before adding more.

[coasterkid124]

Don't get your hopes up on improving operations. The park has been saying for years that they would work on it, and nothing changes. It's still up in the air whether or not another train will be purchased for RoS. Viper was supposed to run two trains again this year, and they never got to it. Predator's second train has already been beat to hell (only 6 years since purchase). They refuse to repair Motocoaster's second train for whatever reason.

 

I remember Doug stating some time ago that two train ops would even "be expanded" for this season. Not blaming him because he was just relaying info for us, but someone in charge at the park just didn't seem too interested in keeping that promise. If they aren't going to spend improvements on important things like train maintenance, finishing paint jobs they started but didn't complete, or even just putting lights on the Giant Wheel, I would hope that they at least consider adding something to the dry side to give us some more variety, and something that will be reliable.

[bluestreak]

If they add a second train to RoS then I will be more than happy to make the 4.5 hour drive to walk on the ride 20 times in a day. As it was 3 years ago when I was there, an 8 train wait took 35-40 minutes. One train is beyond infuriating so I won't be making the trip until they get those second trains... or at least a second one for RoS because that's the only ride (besides Moose on the Loose ) that really matters there.

[darienlake2648]

My last day of work at Darien Lake this season was on Sunday. Since I work in games, I can tell all of you that the Chuck-A-Luck dart game will be gone next season and a new game will be put in. I can also share some information that I found out from a friend of mine who works as an area lead at the Mind Eraser. A lot of it makes sense so I thought it would be worth sharing in this discussion thread.

 

First of all, it's very likely that the Giant Wheel will never receive new lights again because the main connector broke down years ago due to a bad power outage and the company that built it stopped making parts. Even if it was possible to invest in a new ferris wheel, I don't think that Darien Lake would be interested unless if a company like Cedar Fair or Six Flags designed a ferris wheel prototype for their parks (Cedar Fair added the WindSeeker and Six Flags added the SkyScreamer and the Giant Loop prototype). Personally, I love how Darien Lake has a huge ferris wheel and I would hate to see it go away. I'm hoping that the park can find a way to install LED lights on it at some point in the next decade. I also hope that all the LED lights on Rolling Thunder are working properly next season.

 

Second, the park is planning to add a new entrance to the Viper, which would start at the old building where people would wait for Ranger that became a smoking area this year. I believe they would build a path under the lift hill and connect it to the current path before it reaches the station house. If this actually happens, I would be very happy because it would very likely force them to dig out that old path, along with the shack and the remains of the Mountain View mini golf course. It would also make it easier for guests to get back on the Viper if they want to keep riding it while they're in the back of the park.

 

From my understanding, the Twister will not be back next year. They put all the restraints back on it so that way they could get ready to sell it. Also, it's very possible that the Grizzly Run and Thunder Rapids might be gone in a year or two. I think it makes sense since both of those water rides are pretty old and repairs probably cost a lot of money. From what my friend was saying, they could put a few rides back in that area that could go along with the Rowdy's Ridge. He also said that they might extend the parking lot to cover the area that Thunder Rapids currently occupies if they take it out.

 

Does anyone remember the days when the coasters and the ferris wheel control booths used to play music? Turns out that the music was disturbing to the guests so that will never happen again!

 

As far as two train operations are concerned, don't set high expectations because it costs nearly $175,000 to put a train on the tracks and have parts available for inventory. I wouldn't expect to see a second train on any coaster unless new management takes over or Darien Lake starts attracting as many people as Canada's Wonderland. It also costs a lot of money to paint the coasters, but they are supposed to finish paining Mind Eraser this Spring.

 

Lastly, It is very possible that Predator will be getting revamped and a new coaster will be added in the former Cuda Falls location within the next few years.

 

Hope that all of this information leads to a good discussion!

[coasterbill]

On our 2 visits I didn't really mind the 1 train operations much on anything but Ride of Steel. Viper was slightly annoying but it wasn't awful. This park is obviously either cash strapped or cheap as hell given their inability to fix flat rides when they break down for months or even years, reluctance to paint anything and affinity for cannibalizing second trains for spare parts so I don't see them investing in a second train for anything in the near future.

[SbSteveZ]

Darien Lake Final Day of 2016 Season

 

Hello all! As you know I have been posting mini trip reports throughout the season, so for the final day, I went back to take a look at the 2016 Harvest Fest event, and get some last rides on some of my favorite coasters! After the actual TR, I will also post some nice(ish) pictures I have captured throughout the season and some comments about the overall experience that I've personally had this year as a season pass holder (your results may vary.)

 

lets do this thing!

 

Sunday, September 25th, 2016

 

Comments:

- What I've learned over my visits here in 2016 is that there are 2 types of Darien Lake employees, the awesome fun loving ones who tell jokes and get involved with the riders and make the experience fun, and there are the dull ones who are only there because "a job is a job". For a park that had a "happiness guaranteed" policy last year, they really should have had a few more happy employees than they had at least during this last visit. Maybe its because I'm spoiled by WDW, CP and even CW, but the fact that its so half and half to me is pretty crazy. Anyways, I mention this because typically the ratio of happy to non-enthusiastic employees is more along the lines of 60-70% happy to 30-40% non-enthusiastic. On closing day, the attitudes of most all of the employees was disgraceful, and I was very ashamed of the park for having such a poor attitude on the last day of the season. There was one operator (running Blast Off) who was having fun with the riders and telling jokes (which I've come to expect from that ride's operators) but every other ride in the park had very boring/annoyed/tired employees who didnt care about the park atmosphere at all. (mini rant over)

- Moving onto the rides themselves, I was thoroughly impressed by Mind Eraser AND Predator (crazy right?) because of the new methods I've been using to ride them, they've went from "one and done" rides to things I would ride multiple times each visit. For Mind Eraser - I tried to push myself Forward as far as I could (into the restraint of course), while my sister tried to push herself as far back as she could, and both of us experienced shockingly smooth rides. With Predator, we applied the Coaster Bill Mean Streak Method, and again, amazingly smooth ride. I highly recommend it to anyone who is iffy on Predator, its one helluva ride!

- As you'll see in the photo TR (to follow), I was let down by the Hayride, and the Magic Show. I wont get into it too much here, but simply put I really feel like they could've done a little better. (If anyone has seen the injest comedy juggler at the Great Pumpkin Farm @ Clarence NY, I was hoping for something like that, and was pretty disappointed)

- RoS has been fantastic all year, and that did not change today. My only complaint would be the paint but in all reality, that doesnt effect the ride experience, so it doesnt really bother me all too much

 

In the end, regardless of how I felt about some of the attitudes of the employees, I really did enjoy my final day at the park, and I haven't really had any "bad" visits this year. Compared to the past years, I do think the park is trying its best and I appreciate all of their efforts

 

Scorecard:

Ride of Steel x1

Predator x2

Mind Eraser x1

Corn Popper x1

Blast Off x1

Giant Wheel x2

 

Onto the pictures!

It was a nice (but chilly) September afternoon, perfect for the last day of the season here at Darien Lake

Right at the gate, they had entertainment - this was a little folk band that played from about 10am - 2pm

as most of you know, they took down the fountain to install this temporary stage, I'm not sure which dance academies come, but they all do a pretty good job, and they hold a crowd for sure!

For some reason, they had the water running on the Thunder Rapids. There were no boats in sight, and it didnt seem like they were draining the water by running it like this. (Grizzly Bear was empty and Shipwreak was still full, but not running.)

We had to get *one* last ride on Mind Eraser - she's been pretty unpredictable this season

Even though this ride is pretty rough, it is pretty photogenic as well. Especially being over the lake.

You can already hear their screams (of pain!)

I cant tell, but it seemed like they had maybe started to touch up more of the supports? maybe?

Maybe I'm just seeing things but the supports did look rather nice (Minus the ones before the final brake run, and the ones at the top of the lift)

you can kind of see where the paint stops in this picture

I haven't mentioned it yet, but, the park was definitely crowded. Even Pirate had a line! I havent seen that boat fill up all the way all season!

Looking down towards the boardwalk from across the lake

The best part of Harvest Fest, in my opinion, is the Food Trucks!

this year they had Lloyds! But sadly the Club 716 truck was nowhere to be seen...

We decided to go here, they have the best Bacon Mac N Cheese you can get in the park!

BUT! Before we ate, we heard there was one more show at the Grande Theatre

A Magic Show!

When the show was beginning, the lights and music were actually really cool, but they set the expectations for the show WAY too high. The "magic" involved 2 pumpkins appearing "out of nowhere" and a "Magic Pumpkin" telling you how life is magic and its a miriacle that we even exist ( #PhilosophicalPumpkin anyone?) and you left the show very let down, in my opinion. If anyone saw the magic show (either last year or the year before, I cant remember), it was nothing compared to that.

when I said the dancers held a crowd, I wasn't kidding. They all did really well though! what an experience!

During the day this is one of the best rides to get pictures of, during the evening, not so much...

Its a lot more fun however to get pictures ON the ferris wheel of the rest of the park!

Here we see the most typical shot of the park from the Ferris Wheel (as seen on Darien Lake's own facebook page). Regardless, this is one of my favorite sights at Darien Lake

The other incredibly common picture taken on the Ferris Wheel. If i remember correctly, they use a picture similar to this for Boomerang's wikipedia page

The Ferris Wheel saw its shadow! 6 more weeks of winter!

This stage had some more folk type bands on it when we were by it, it was pretty nice. My only issue is that they didnt really have much in the name of seating, for viewing or for eating - since this was at the end of the Food Truck midway. We ended up going to eat our food at the Anchor Bar because that was the closest place to find seats!

Oh the Laser Stage, what fond memories I had here this summer! Im glad they didnt take down the screen during the day like they did on Closing Day last year, but you could tell they had already removed the lasers and some of the other lighting components. Pretty cool for those Stage Tech nerds out there to see

I didnt know about this last year, so I figured I'd give it a try this year

Mainly because I was hoping for some nice shots of the rides

I got a couple, but for the most part, the views on this hayride were just empty campsites.

And of course we stopped by and payed homage to the Rental Trailer Graveyard - RIP

but after that the "ride" was over and again you left a little let down. Harvest fest was 0/2 at this point for special events (excluding the foodtrucks)

I dont know how I've managed to go to this park 12 times, and NOT ride the Corn Popper! I had to be sure to get on it before the year was up, and boy was that a great idea! I love this ride!

It was time for the final ride of the evening, The one and only, Ride of Steel

We managed to get in line right as they were closing it down (at 7:00 on the DOT) - so we were some of the last riders of the year, which was pretty cool

After that, we went out to get a couple pictures of the rides in the sunset

Its a shame the park was only open until 7, usually when i see this view leaving the park, its pitch black and crowded (thanks to the laser show ending and everyone leaving the park). either way, its a cool view

Thats all for this year, Darien Lake! Thank you for the memories, we'll be back next year!

 

I'll post the other pictures I mentioned earlier in a separate post, This one is already pretty bulky!

[SbSteveZ]

Darien Lake Scenic Shots - 2016

These images are posted roughly in chronological order ranging from June-September of this year - enjoy!

There will probably be a ton of shots very similar to this one. I do apologize - but its one of my favorites for sure!

Nothing beats a theme park sunset

2016 Brought a revamped "Ignite the Night: Colorblast" to the stage, and boy was it a HIT! (I even have a video of it here --->

<--- for anyone who picked up on it, this was from June, they changed a few animations and effects around mid-July, but for the most part it was all the same!)

Boomerang caught the sun!

I am definitely a fan of the entrance. especially with that nice paint job!

Motocoaster was a fan favorite for the people I brought to the park this year (and boy did it have quite the line on closing day!)

Blast Off may not be the biggest drop tower, but it is a really fun one! Especially with all the fun operators it had this season!

Good old Redhawk. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't been on one of these things!

The Giant Wheel is nothing short of spectacular. And Massive! (Sorry CP fans, we have the bigger wheel!)

I cant remember exactly when they repainted the Viper sign, but I do love its bright shiny colors!

The Laser Amphitheater received a slight upgrade to its preshow lighting. As well as they added the mirror lights back during "Where's the Walrus" (the preshow song), which was nice. If only they had the lights on the screen doing things like they used to. maybe next year?

We all know this one is a favorite among the enthusiast crowd!

its just so realistic and immersive! (No hate, I actually do thoroughly enjoy Moose on the Loose!)

The Giant Wheel from above, looking down.

Viper! One of the best Arrow Loopers out there!

Hey, at least one of the coasters has non-faded colors. (I'm looking at you, Mind Eraser and Ride of Steel)

A nice look down the midway on a warm summer evening

The fountain is a really nice touch. I always like walking up that first hill and seeing the emporium and the fountain. Its no Main Street USA, but it is a nice touch.

I was totally suckered into buying 8 of these things over the course of the season. They were actually REALLY cool! I recommend them to anyone who has a couple bucks to spare!

This was new. At the end of the show, they projected the Colorblast hastag (from the beginning of the show) back onto the screen. I was an avid user of said hashtag (for any of you following me on Instagram or Twitter you would know exactly what I'm talking about)

I am a huge fan of Viper. I want to say its my favorite roller coaster in the park, because you really can't beat the classics. I love Ride of Steel, but to me, Viper takes the cake!

Boomerang was being kind and offering us some shade

I think I've said it before on here, but if not: I HIGHLY recommend riding the giant wheel at night (if its still open), the views are spectacular!

did you know if you look across Lake Erie you can actually SEE Mind Eraser from CANADA?! how cool is that?!

 

Just kidding. but still, I love when Rollercoasters are right up on the water like this!

The good views of Predator are hidden on that resort walkway. Go check it out! you wont be let down!

In case it hasnt been made incredibly obvious, I am a HUGE fan of the laser show here and I have been for almost 10 years. I cannot praise it enough! (Coming from a guy whose seen Disney shows, and some Cedar Fair shows, I love Ignite the Night the most - yes, I am totally bias.)

[Tackleberry]

First of all, it's very likely that the Giant Wheel will never receive new lights again because the main connector broke down years ago due to a bad power outage and the company that built it stopped making parts. Even if it was possible to invest in a new ferris wheel, I don't think that Darien Lake would be interested unless if a company like Cedar Fair or Six Flags designed a ferris wheel prototype for their parks (Cedar Fair added the WindSeeker and Six Flags added the SkyScreamer and the Giant Loop prototype). Personally, I love how Darien Lake has a huge ferris wheel and I would hate to see it go away. I'm hoping that the park can find a way to install LED lights on it at some point in the next decade. I also hope that all the LED lights on Rolling Thunder are working properly next season.

 

They can find a way, they just have to spend the money. The "main connector" would be irrelevant if they added a new light system.

 

I don't recall there being an issue with Rolling Thunder's lights?

 

From my understanding, the Twister will not be back next year. They put all the restraints back on it so that way they could get ready to sell it.

 

Not surprising.

 

Also, it's very possible that the Grizzly Run and Thunder Rapids might be gone in a year or two. I think it makes sense since both of those water rides are pretty old and repairs probably cost a lot of money. From what my friend was saying, they could put a few rides back in that area that could go along with the Rowdy's Ridge. He also said that they might extend the parking lot to cover the area that Thunder Rapids currently occupies if they take it out.

 

This is opinion. I don't see it happening without something wet replacing it. Removing Thunder Rapids would only add handicapped parking. Both are very popular and would not be a good look for the park. They are also pretty simple mechanically if you think about it, and both are made by Intamin so its not like there's no place to get parts from.

 

It also costs a lot of money to paint the coasters, but they are supposed to finish paining Mind Eraser this Spring.

 

I would say so... there's a lot involved, especially with Mind Eraser and ROS being over the water. That's probably why PARC only painted Boomerang and Viper.

[coasterbill]

I thought Thunder Rapids was an Arrow flume.