Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread

[eastcoast]

Good point Geauga Dog. Does anyone know a little more about the company's history with surveys? Are they a good indicator of what's to come? Not a fan of MaxAirs restraints but I'm also 6'4. Things are beginning to feel like a squeeze these days as I put on a little more muscle.

[coasterkid124]

This is my third season as a season pass holder. I have never been sent a survey before, but again, this is only Herschend's second season in charge, so this is probably their new way of getting opinions.

[Shavethewhales]

HFEC has been using guest surveys going all the way back to Mary Herschend and the early days of the Silver Dollar City Company. The more recent practice of pitching ride/attraction concepts directly to guests has often been very direct at showing off what the company is looking at adding to the park. However, they are certainly not guarantees that a particular concept is coming to the park, and sometimes it takes a a year or two before the concept makes it into a park, even if it is favored by guests. There's a lot of budgeting and planning that goes on behind the scenes between these surveys and an actual announcement, but they certainly do give a very clear insight into what they are at least leaning towards.

 

I thoroughly expect DL to get this RMC coaster. It just might be in 2015 at the earliest.

[SbSteveZ]

Ok Darien Lake, Kings Island announced they're opening a new coaster in 2014 already... an Inverted Steel coaster. Now be a good little theme park and show us what you're adding before you go to bed without dinner. Didn't want it to have to come to this but drastic times call for drastic measures Mister!

[TheDarkMaxim]

This is my third season as a season pass holder. I have never been sent a survey before, but again, this is only Herschend's second season in charge, so this is probably their new way of getting opinions.

 

This is HFE's third season

[coasterkid124]

^Well, second full year. Three years ago, they took over from Parc during the season.

[larrygator]

Everyone keeps throwing Herschend's name around. Isn't their role day-to-day operations and management? Ultimately, isn't it CNL that controls the purse strings and makes the final call on capital improvements?

[TheDarkMaxim]

Herschend signed their lease in January of 2011. And no Herschend has the final call in the improvements, yet I believe CNL funds them.

[KI Kidd]

Herschend signed their lease in January of 2011. And no Herschend has the final call in the improvements, yet I believe CNL funds them.

 

 

Its has been my experience in life that the man (or woman) with the money makes the final call. I highly doubt CNL is just blindly throwing cash at whatever Herschend tells them to.

[chadster]

Everyone keeps throwing Herschend's name around. Isn't their role day-to-day operations and management? Ultimately, isn't it CNL that controls the purse strings and makes the final call on capital improvements?

 

You are correct Larry, CNL holds the purse strings just as they do at all of the other parks they own. It would be nice if they could sink some money into all of their parks next season.

[LoopScreweD]

Random question but does Anyone know if the golf course that went in vipers infield is still there?

[DarienLaker]

^It's still there, I think they abandoned it!

[LoopScreweD]

Damn that's disappointing its such a cool location and the novelty of playing mini golf under a course is just sweet.

[Swiminn6]

I have been a quiet lurker for some time since I heard about Lake Monster. I think this is a really interesting concept and I REALLY hope it comes to life, Darien Lake NEEDS this. We live only about 3 hours away and none of my friends ever think to go there, its always Hershey or the nearest Six Flags! Anyway, I actually may be going next week and will try to get some pictures with my phone. I will look for markers or anything out of the ordinary.

 

I made a quick concept for where I think the coaster has a possibility going. The red "blob" represents what I think would be a pretty cool layout and the yellow "blob" is what I think is more realistic. Either way, this area is most likely the location. Predator is the least favorable ride in the park and every time I've gone, it barely has a wait!

 

 

Thoughts?

[SbSteveZ]

I have been a quiet lurker for some time since I heard about Lake Monster. I think this is a really interesting concept and I REALLY hope it comes to life, Darien Lake NEEDS this. We live only about 3 hours away and none of my friends ever think to go there, its always Hershey or the nearest Six Flags! Anyway, I actually may be going next week and will try to get some pictures with my phone. I will look for markers or anything out of the ordinary.

 

I made a quick concept for where I think the coaster has a possibility going. The red "blob" represents what I think would be a pretty cool layout and the yellow "blob" is what I think is more realistic. Either way, this area is most likely the location. Predator is the least favorable ride in the park and every time I've gone, it barely has a wait!

 

 

Thoughts?

 

THough yes, the red blob would be interesting, they shoot off the fireworks for Ignite the Night on that first island there... I say it should literally go in the water, not on land. if its called LAKE monster, make it go over the LAKE... right?

[Tdsblo]

Was at the park today for the first time this year, so I thought I'd post a few thoughts.

 

Superman: Still a huge crowd pleaser, 15 years later. (Take note, Darien Lake). Ejector Airtime is awesome, can't believe they let a man with no legs on. I feel bad for the ride-ops who have to live with that pretty negligent decision, though they were young probably. Anyways, everyone smiles at the breaks, and not many coasters in the country have that effect.

 

Bathrooms: Pretty dirty, and soap dispensers weren't working in several of them. I know people can be nasty, but dirty bathrooms are a real turnoff to me. Details, Darien. Details.

 

Crowds: Seemed like a decent amount of people. Most rides had a line. ::shrugs::

 

Coaster Operation One train operation on Superman was annoying, as this is the star attraction at the park. 30 minute - 1 hour wait, most of the day. My dad suggested that maybe it's some sort of insurance issue because of the rides' history, which is possible. Predator didn't open till 2. Boomerang had super lazy ride ops. Motocoaster was a crowd pleaser but broke down when I was next. Still havn't ridden the thing. Didn't ride any others.

 

Sangria wine slushy: Recommended! Left my ID in the car but she served me anyways. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing at 29. Maybe its the hint of grey hair.

 

Blast Off: Not a huge tower, but was a crowd pleaser and had a line every time I went by/rode. A needed addition.

 

Waterpark: Was looking forward to getting my sun and slide on but it was cloudy all day, so didn't bother.

 

Anchor Bar: A solid change, beats the hell out of that dirty chicken shanty.

 

Got to relive my childhood with my niece and nephew, which made the day awesome. They had a blast and were getting bolder with the ride choices as the day went on. All in all we had a good time, but definitely room for Darien Lake to step up their game with smaller details. Lake monster is needed, as I find myself apathetic towards riding anything but Superman. Nothing compares. Another star attraction is a must!

[SbSteveZ]

Has anyone heard anything at all about the Lake Monster other than the survey? I mean its already August 13th, fright fest is going to kick off soon, but no mention of the new ride or any new footers anywhere or any sign of construction at all honestly... Does anyone at all know anything whatsoever except that it was a possible mention in a survey? I mean, the last thing on Screamscape is from July 23rd, Coasterfusion has a post (very short might I add) mentioning the survey on July 22nd, CoasterForce also mentioned the survey on July 22nd, Wikipedia now has some mention on Predator being "re-tracked to go over the lake", The Coaster Critic posted on July 26th... etc etc etc but theres nothing recent, nothing new, nothing interesting, its just survey after survey being pointed out in these articles. i liked it better when Cedar Point started to tease the new ride, ScreamScape had posts all the time about what could possibly be this new CP.altWinged coaster which turned into gatekeeper. I loved the anticipation and the accidental site release was hysterical. Even Kings Island had some fun with their teasers, they sent silver combs to media outlets, had signs by the construction site mentioning screaming in the dead of the night, kept dropping hints via twitter (Misleading some to the name "bat") and then when the time came for banshee to be announced, the crowd went NUTS at the sight of the new name, logo, EVERYTHING! I want that at Darien Lake, Some fun introducing the new ride, not just holding it off as long as possible and then just releasing a picture saying "here it is..." They've been pretty well known to do that. I know at the time, they were still owned by Parc, but how did they introduce the MotoCoaster, or in 1999 with the RoS, (I know, six flags is different) How did they announce the States tallest roller coaster? Are there any patterns to these ride announcements that anyone else is seeing (other than they dont announce in the summer...)

[coasterkid124]

Darien Lake never really had big events or teasers. I first heard of Motocoaster and Splashtown on the local news. Blast Off was the largest announcement... and it was pretty pathetic. No events, or major announcements were ever made, and I'm not absolutely sure, but I think that RoS was originally announced on a season pass letter in the mail.

[Shavethewhales]

First of all this is still fairly early in the "announcement season". It's seems to have come increasingly earlier each year, but parks tend to make big announcements anytime between the end of summer and Christmas, and of course DL has done it even later than that. If they are planning on doing this project for 2014, the announcement could come in September or October, after all the other major announcements from other regional parks are out of the way. It seems like some of the smaller parks have tended to announce later so they aren't upstaged by the bigger parks.

 

I don't know if I've said this on here yet or not, but after thinking about this a bit, I expect that this project would be an extensive rebuild of Predator rather than a new stand-alone coaster. HFEC management has tended towards quality over quantity, and I could see them thinking it doesn't make sense to operate a rough, aging wooden coaster next to their new wood hybrid. By rebuilding Predator they get a chance to re-sell the concept of a wooden coaster to people, if you know what I mean. If Predator were to remain, a lot of the GP would assume the new coaster had similar characteristics and may not like it as much.

 

That's my take on it. I could certainly be wrong and they may have decided that they need the addition to their coaster count more than the image boost. We might have to wait until 2015 to find out though, but give them till October of this year before ruling it out for 2014.

[TheDarkMaxim]

Has anyone heard anything at all about the Lake Monster other than the survey? I mean its already August 13th, fright fest is going to kick off soon, but no mention of the new ride or any new footers anywhere or any sign of construction at all honestly... Does anyone at all know anything whatsoever except that it was a possible mention in a survey? I mean, the last thing on Screamscape is from July 23rd, Coasterfusion has a post (very short might I add) mentioning the survey on July 22nd, Clusterfarce also mentioned the survey on July 22nd, Wikipedia now has some mention on Predator being "re-tracked to go over the lake", The Coaster Critic posted on July 26th... etc etc etc but theres nothing recent, nothing new, nothing interesting, its just survey after survey being pointed out in these articles. i liked it better when Cedar Point started to tease the new ride, ScreamScape had posts all the time about what could possibly be this new CP.altWinged coaster which turned into gatekeeper. I loved the anticipation and the accidental site release was hysterical. Even Kings Island had some fun with their teasers, they sent silver combs to media outlets, had signs by the construction site mentioning screaming in the dead of the night, kept dropping hints via twitter (Misleading some to the name "bat") and then when the time came for banshee to be announced, the crowd went NUTS at the sight of the new name, logo, EVERYTHING! I want that at Darien Lake, Some fun introducing the new ride, not just holding it off as long as possible and then just releasing a picture saying "here it is..." They've been pretty well known to do that. I know at the time, they were still owned by Parc, but how did they introduce the MotoCoaster, or in 1999 with the RoS, (I know, six flags is different) How did they announce the States tallest roller coaster? Are there any patterns to these ride announcements that anyone else is seeing (other than they dont announce in the summer...)

 

First of all, that "quote" from Bob Montgomery was fabricated. He never said those words, though they are partially true. As for the ride itself, CNL is pushing for it. Where as HFE is hesitant due to a decrease in attendance at not just DL, but all their parks. Lastly, like I said before Predator will close within a week if this project is going to occur.

[Golddisk]

Wikipedia now has some mention on Predator being "re-tracked to go over the lake"

 

That's sounds like speculation at best. The page was littered with "Rumored this..." and "Rumor is...". Some of the "rumors" sounded pretty similar to what one poster here has suggested several times before (a dark ride in galaxy), which Darien Lake has not hinted at in any way, shape or form so I wouldn't rely on that as a reliable resource.

[coasterkid124]

I really have learned not to trust anything unless it has officially been announced in some way by the park. I remember last season, there was a wild rumor of Thunderbolt from Celebration City coming to the park. The dark ride was just really an idea that spread like wildfire and turned into a rumor. I do believe that Lake Monster will happen, but maybe not next season. I would have suspected to see signs of the new ride like surveying happening by now. As much as I would love to see this happen for next season, it may not. I can't wait for the official announcement, which I would expect near Fright Fest.

[TheDarkMaxim]

They are currently surveying near predator, and there are many footers with orange spray paint on them.

[SbSteveZ]

Ok, i dont want to be cussy towards you but... holy s**t! did you say footers??? The one sign I was waiting for to see this coaster be a go! Please tell me these are proof this is a 2014 coaster!!! (Pictures anyone???) sorry, kinda got excited...

[chickenbowl]

They are currently surveying near predator, and there are many footers with orange spray paint on them.

 

Very nice, could you please get some pictures? Thank you!