Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread

[Haymaker]

Well at this point 2020 seems all but lost for Darien Lake. Even with the number of cases down significantly, I feel like Cuomo would rather wait for a vaccine before allowing theme parks to open.

 

Yeah, the silence is deafening. How malls were allowed before theme parks doesnt make much sense to me. Were almost at the point where staffing is an issue in a normal year.

[Haymaker]

No gondolas on the Wheel... not that itd take long but still a sign that the King wont allow them to re-open

[therealcu2010]

Yeah, at this point I think pretty much every park in NY isn't opening this year. With only a month left in the summer season it'd probably be less financially devastating to just not open as opposed to hire staff and spend money on added safety measures for such a short season.

 

Plus, King Andy already cancelled the state fair, so yeah, I think I wasted money on a season pass I cannot use. Lol

[Sk610]

It appears that SF is making their 2021 announcements on Thursday. Does anyone think we get anything other than the slide we were supposed to get this year?

 

I would like another flat ride for next year, but am not holding out hope considering that the park did not technically open this year

[pryonisys]

"did not technically open this year"?

The park didn't even theoretically open this year, it was completely closed.

 

Is there a possibility they could get something else? I suppose, but I would put the likelihood at about .005% if I'm being generous. They're just getting wahoo wave if you ask me and that's perfectly fine, I would rather Six Flags doesn't throw around money that they don't have at this moment to do what they can to avoid financial problems.

(all that said if Six Flags adds more than what they announced last year for parks like Darien Lake I'd be amazed, but also pleased)

[thrillseeker4552]

Yeah, if Six Flags makes a 2021 announcement video, I think we all should assume it just points out the delayed 2020 rides and no more. The only park that I see being an exception is Magic Mountain.

[Haymaker]

The campgrounds opened, maybe thats what he meant by technically

[Sk610]

Haymaker is correct. The campgrounds have been open, which is what I was referring to. With the campground being open, they did bring in money that is almost 100% profit

[pryonisys]

Haymaker is correct. The campgrounds have been open, which is what I was referring to. With the campground being open, they did bring in money that is almost 100% profit

I must be honest I completely missed that they opened the campground, sorry for my unintended snark

[Haymaker]

Not that it wasnt obvious, but now its officially official

[coasterbill]

Well... yeah. lol

[ilyf]

Well... yeah. lol

who knows if we'll ever find your brain one day

[coasterbill]

I have no clue who you are but you seem lovely. Anyway... banned. You should try being nice to people. Most of us don’t bite.

Edited September 15, 2020 by coasterbill

[abovethesink]

So for those who have experienced both, how has Tantrum aged compared to Untamed at Canobie Lake? Is it a potential headbanger? My wife will want to know for next time we get there. Thanks!

[coasterbill]

Tantrum is lap-bar-only. We really enjoyed it.

 

Welcome to TPR by the way!

[pryonisys]

So for those who have experienced both, how has Tantrum aged compared to Untamed at Canobie Lake? Is it a potential headbanger? My wife will want to know for next time we get there. Thanks!

Lapbar only on Tantrum, unless something explainable or really strange happened to it in the year of shut down it was perfectly smooth in 2019, a very nice small Euro Fighter. The two really rough coasters at the park are Predator (if you're in the front it really isn't all that bad but anywhere else is unpleasant) and Mind Eraser, but that's to be expected.

[abovethesink]

Tantrum is lap-bar-only. We really enjoyed it.

 

Welcome to TPR by the way!

 

Thanks! I swear I used to have an account here back in the day, but I can't figure out what I might be so I might also have just been stalking this place for a very long time.

[abovethesink]

So for those who have experienced both, how has Tantrum aged compared to Untamed at Canobie Lake? Is it a potential headbanger? My wife will want to know for next time we get there. Thanks!

Lapbar only on Tantrum, unless something explainable or really strange happened to it in the year of shut down it was perfectly smooth in 2019, a very nice small Euro Fighter. The two really rough coasters at the park are Predator (if you're in the front it really isn't all that bad but anywhere else is unpleasant) and Mind Eraser, but that's to be expected.

 

Yeah, DL was my "home park" for a lot of my life. I am 33 now, but my family started camping there when in 97 when I was 10 and Mind Eraser was brand new. That three year stretch of Mind Eraser, Nightmare, Boomerang, and Superman is what made me a coaster nerd. I put home park in quotes because it was a four hour drive on a good day, but we went every summer for at least a few days. My parents would relax in the campground and I would usually bring a friend to explore the park with. If not, I'd at least drag my little brother or whatever cousin came with us around. It was ideal for everyone.

 

My kid is ten now and we have only been once since he was born, and he was pretty small. I don't remember how old he was/what year, exactly, but he was kiddie ride young and I remember having fun on that stupid but charming moose ride they added. It was probably 2013, 2014. We were supposed to go back this year for a day on a road trip but it didn't pan out for obvious reasons.

 

Predator is still by memory the roughest experience I have ever had on a coaster. I remember at one point getting very bad chest pains on it even though I was probably like... 15? It was an awful ride, but like you said front seat did make it more tolerable. The sad thing is I remember loving it in the very late nineties, very early 00s. I don't know if I just started growing up a little and losing tolerance for the roughness or if it just fell apart. And a SLC is gonna SLC.

 

I am a proponent of RMC Predator in a big way. I'd like to see the SLC torn down and replaced eventually too, but that won't happen any time soon. As for the rest of the lineup, I don't have complaints. MotoCoaster was cute. Superman will always have a soft spot in my heart and I think at least as of my 2013/14/whenever ride it had become a little underrated. It and its clone are still good rides. Viper low key is one of the better original era Arrow loopers left standing. A Boomerang is obligatory and you probably can't do anything better with that footprint anyway, at least not with a coaster. Tantrum was a great edition on paper to round out the lineup too, though I haven't experienced it yet. Glad to hear it is lapbars only.

[TheAmericanKnight]

So for those who have experienced both, how has Tantrum aged compared to Untamed at Canobie Lake? Is it a potential headbanger? My wife will want to know for next time we get there. Thanks!

Lapbar only on Tantrum, unless something explainable or really strange happened to it in the year of shut down it was perfectly smooth in 2019, a very nice small Euro Fighter. The two really rough coasters at the park are Predator (if you're in the front it really isn't all that bad but anywhere else is unpleasant) and Mind Eraser, but that's to be expected.

 

Yeah, DL was my "home park" for a lot of my life. I am 33 now, but my family started camping there when in 97 when I was 10 and Mind Eraser was brand new. That three year stretch of Mind Eraser, Nightmare, Boomerang, and Superman is what made me a coaster nerd. I put home park in quotes because it was a four hour drive on a good day, but we went every summer for at least a few days. My parents would relax in the campground and I would usually bring a friend to explore the park with. If not, I'd at least drag my little brother or whatever cousin came with us around. It was ideal for everyone.

 

My kid is ten now and we have only been once since he was born, and he was pretty small. I don't remember how old he was/what year, exactly, but he was kiddie ride young and I remember having fun on that stupid but charming moose ride they added. It was probably 2013, 2014. We were supposed to go back this year for a day on a road trip but it didn't pan out for obvious reasons.

 

Predator is still by memory the roughest experience I have ever had on a coaster. I remember at one point getting very bad chest pains on it even though I was probably like... 15? It was an awful ride, but like you said front seat did make it more tolerable. The sad thing is I remember loving it in the very late nineties, very early 00s. I don't know if I just started growing up a little and losing tolerance for the roughness or if it just fell apart. And a SLC is gonna SLC.

 

I am a proponent of RMC Predator in a big way. I'd like to see the SLC torn down and replaced eventually too, but that won't happen any time soon. As for the rest of the lineup, I don't have complaints. MotoCoaster was cute. Superman will always have a soft spot in my heart and I think at least as of my 2013/14/whenever ride it had become a little underrated. It and its clone are still good rides. Viper low key is one of the better original era Arrow loopers left standing. A Boomerang is obligatory and you probably can't do anything better with that footprint anyway, at least not with a coaster. Tantrum was a great edition on paper to round out the lineup too, though I haven't experienced it yet. Glad to hear it is lapbars only.

So, I assume you have been on Mind Eraser when it was new? What was it like back then? Did it feel the same? Also, did anything else change since it first opened?

[abovethesink]

So for those who have experienced both, how has Tantrum aged compared to Untamed at Canobie Lake? Is it a potential headbanger? My wife will want to know for next time we get there. Thanks!

Lapbar only on Tantrum, unless something explainable or really strange happened to it in the year of shut down it was perfectly smooth in 2019, a very nice small Euro Fighter. The two really rough coasters at the park are Predator (if you're in the front it really isn't all that bad but anywhere else is unpleasant) and Mind Eraser, but that's to be expected.

 

Yeah, DL was my "home park" for a lot of my life. I am 33 now, but my family started camping there when in 97 when I was 10 and Mind Eraser was brand new. That three year stretch of Mind Eraser, Nightmare, Boomerang, and Superman is what made me a coaster nerd. I put home park in quotes because it was a four hour drive on a good day, but we went every summer for at least a few days. My parents would relax in the campground and I would usually bring a friend to explore the park with. If not, I'd at least drag my little brother or whatever cousin came with us around. It was ideal for everyone.

 

My kid is ten now and we have only been once since he was born, and he was pretty small. I don't remember how old he was/what year, exactly, but he was kiddie ride young and I remember having fun on that stupid but charming moose ride they added. It was probably 2013, 2014. We were supposed to go back this year for a day on a road trip but it didn't pan out for obvious reasons.

 

Predator is still by memory the roughest experience I have ever had on a coaster. I remember at one point getting very bad chest pains on it even though I was probably like... 15? It was an awful ride, but like you said front seat did make it more tolerable. The sad thing is I remember loving it in the very late nineties, very early 00s. I don't know if I just started growing up a little and losing tolerance for the roughness or if it just fell apart. And a SLC is gonna SLC.

 

I am a proponent of RMC Predator in a big way. I'd like to see the SLC torn down and replaced eventually too, but that won't happen any time soon. As for the rest of the lineup, I don't have complaints. MotoCoaster was cute. Superman will always have a soft spot in my heart and I think at least as of my 2013/14/whenever ride it had become a little underrated. It and its clone are still good rides. Viper low key is one of the better original era Arrow loopers left standing. A Boomerang is obligatory and you probably can't do anything better with that footprint anyway, at least not with a coaster. Tantrum was a great edition on paper to round out the lineup too, though I haven't experienced it yet. Glad to hear it is lapbars only.

So, I assume you have been on Mind Eraser when it was new? What was it like back then? Did it feel the same? Also, did anything else change since it first opened?

 

I loved Mind Eraser when it opened, but I was also 10 or so. I think we become a lot less tolerant to jankiness/roughness as we age. My kid normally doesn't even seem to notice it. Plus, I am sure it has gotten worse over time. Thankfully they have stopped building them, but that does mean I don't ever get to experience a new SLC as an enthusiast and compare the experience. I am fine with that.

 

But as for differences I can remember... Two trains, station was in better shape, people in line... That's about it, really.

[jconsolmagno]

So for those who have experienced both, how has Tantrum aged compared to Untamed at Canobie Lake? Is it a potential headbanger? My wife will want to know for next time we get there. Thanks!

Lapbar only on Tantrum, unless something explainable or really strange happened to it in the year of shut down it was perfectly smooth in 2019, a very nice small Euro Fighter. The two really rough coasters at the park are Predator (if you're in the front it really isn't all that bad but anywhere else is unpleasant) and Mind Eraser, but that's to be expected.

 

Predator for me last year (2019) was actually pretty enjoyable. My wife liked it, who despises most wooden coasters that, thought it was fun as well.

 

If they can keep it running like it was in 2019, I think it has a future.

 

With Darien Lake's huge land, i would rather have a ground up RMC than Predator to get the AX, but I know I'm in the minority on that.

[abovethesink]

Well like I said, it was probably 2013, maybe 2014 last time I rode it. I'd be shocked that it was suddenly better, but also happy.

 

One interesting approach might be using the GCI topper track competitor. It would be neat if their niche was taking old, rough woodies and instead of RMCing them, just completely retrack them with the new steel track to give the ride a new life. Same layout and everything. Maybe new trains for the new track. I'd love to see that. I wonder if layouts would have to be tweaked at all for pacing issues or anything like that. It seems like the train might move faster on the steel track, but I guess if they were getting new trains too they could just counteract that with the weight of the trains, if they even wanted too. Often a little faster would be better.

[Sk610]

I hope the park used this season to take care of the small things while the park was closed. Things like paint and blacktop repair don't cost a ton and are difficult to do with people in the park.

[CoasterNerd87]

I hope the park used this season to take care of the small things while the park was closed. Things like paint and blacktop repair don't cost a ton and are difficult to do with people in the park.

 

Are you talking about Six Flags Darien Lake?

[Sk610]

I hope the park used this season to take care of the small things while the park was closed. Things like paint and blacktop repair don't cost a ton and are difficult to do with people in the park.

 

Are you talking about Six Flags Darien Lake?

 

Yes. That is the park this thread is about...