Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread

[Shavethewhales]

They'd be stupid if they dropped Herschend at this point. HFEC has done more to that property than Six Flags and PARC combined so why stop the momentum now?

 

Believe it or not, Herschend has more control over this deal than we realize, or they are just good at repackaging the truth when I spoke with a higher up from Herschend corporate during IAAPA. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name for the life of me. My question during Q&A session with the Show Ambassadors at IAAPA was, "What unique opportunities does Darien Lake posses to make it an attractive option to enter into a management contract?" Well, his answer was pretty straightforward with the usual they have a lot of land and they have an untapped potential to become a major resort. However, a major detail of that answer was that the ultimate goal of this management deal is to decide whether or not Herschend will buy Darien Lake, and own it outright. Some food for thought...

 

Interesting... Seems counter-productive for them though - the more they improve the park the more they'll have to spend if they want to buy it outright. There's a lot of potential there that's really beginning to show through with HFEC at the helm. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing the park join the chain.

[simaticable]

I think Darien Lake just needs to emerge from their past with Six Flags and try to make a new identity. having coasters with the original color scheme and similar names to the original just screams that they were a former Six Flags park.

[Vonni]

I think if HFEC were to buy the park it would have a much better future, and would certainly be more enjoyable. And if they were to buy it I would hope they would do an entire retheme of the park to the 1800's. They certainly know what they are doing in that theme.

 

 

Now, with that being said, I realize that would be extremely expensive.

[TheDarkMaxim]

They'd be stupid if they dropped Herschend at this point. HFEC has done more to that property than Six Flags and PARC combined so why stop the momentum now?

 

Believe it or not, Herschend has more control over this deal than we realize, or they are just good at repackaging the truth when I spoke with a higher up from Herschend corporate during IAAPA. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name for the life of me. My question during Q&A session with the Show Ambassadors at IAAPA was, "What unique opportunities does Darien Lake posses to make it an attractive option to enter into a management contract?" Well, his answer was pretty straightforward with the usual they have a lot of land and they have an untapped potential to become a major resort. However, a major detail of that answer was that the ultimate goal of this management deal is to decide whether or not Herschend will buy Darien Lake, and own it outright. Some food for thought...

 

This is exactly what ive heard from upper level management. But very obvious things need to happen first, increased attendance and revenue. From the pieces ive heard there is a over arching plan including capital, management, and infrastructure improvements.

[Golddisk]

Believe it or not, Herschend has more control over this deal than we realize, or they are just good at repackaging the truth when I spoke with a higher up from Herschend corporate during IAAPA. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name for the life of me. My question during Q&A session with the Show Ambassadors at IAAPA was, "What unique opportunities does Darien Lake posses to make it an attractive option to enter into a management contract?" Well, his answer was pretty straightforward with the usual they have a lot of land and they have an untapped potential to become a major resort. However, a major detail of that answer was that the ultimate goal of this management deal is to decide whether or not Herschend will buy Darien Lake, and own it outright. Some food for thought...

 

Based on what I heard over the summer was that Herschend was interested in purchasing Darien Lake but not Elitch Gardens and CNL was only willing to sell them as a package. I also think it was CNL's decision to hold back on Lake Monster, not HFEC. As for the low attendance this season, I believe that the number was somewhere atleast 75,000 less then last year. I'm guessing CNL wouldn't want to sink a lot of money into something after a poor attendance season (even if it was caused mostly by poor weather).

[DarienLaker]

What Darien Lake needs to before they add any new rides is work with what they already got to boost attendance for the upcoming season. For starters they should reopen 'Cuda Falls so the water park doesn't become a zoo with long lines for Swirl City, Big Kahuna, and Tornado and overcrowding of Crocodile Isle, fix up Hook's Lagoon since some of the water elements like the guns and buckets no longer work, repaint Mind Eraser to anything but red and teal and bring the mist back on, have two trains operating on Mind Eraser, Viper, Ride of Steel, Motocoaster, and Predator, and some other park improvements like cleaning the bathrooms on a daily basis during the operating season.

[Golddisk]

What Darien Lake needs to before they add any new rides is work with what they already got to boost attendance for the upcoming season. For starters they should reopen 'Cuda Falls so the water park doesn't become a zoo with long lines for Swirl City, Big Kahuna, and Tornado and overcrowding of Crocodile Isle, fix up Hook's Lagoon since some of the water elements like the guns and buckets no longer work, repaint Mind Eraser to anything but red and teal and bring the mist back on, have two trains operating on Mind Eraser, Viper, Ride of Steel, Motocoaster, and Predator, and some other park improvements like cleaning the bathrooms on a daily basis during the operating season.

 

I'm not sure what the plans are for Cuda Falls for next season but I do know that originally it was planned to open this past season. The number of operating trains, as with any park, is based on attendance. I don't think there was enough attendance overall to justify running 2 trains on the coasters. The bathrooms are actually cleaned multiple times a day but I imagine there are dozens of reasons as to why they quickly are dirtied again.

[SbSteveZ]

What Darien Lake needs to before they add any new rides is work with what they already got to boost attendance for the upcoming season. For starters they should reopen 'Cuda Falls so the water park doesn't become a zoo with long lines for Swirl City, Big Kahuna, and Tornado and overcrowding of Crocodile Isle, fix up Hook's Lagoon since some of the water elements like the guns and buckets no longer work, repaint Mind Eraser to anything but red and teal and bring the mist back on, have two trains operating on Mind Eraser, Viper, Ride of Steel, Motocoaster, and Predator, and some other park improvements like cleaning the bathrooms on a daily basis during the operating season.

 

I'm not sure what the plans are for Cuda Falls for next season but I do know that originally it was planned to open this past season. The number of operating trains, as with any park, is based on attendance. I don't think there was enough attendance overall to justify running 2 trains on the coasters. The bathrooms are actually cleaned multiple times a day but I imagine there are dozens of reasons as to why they quickly are dirtied again.

 

I thought I heard somewhere that there was one train operations to do major overhauling on the second trains due to poor conditions or something like that...

[DarienLaker]

If they decide to repaint Mind Eraser, they should give it new colors instead of the overused red and teal!

[Golddisk]

I found something really interesting today. According to this article, Buffalo news - Erie County Real Estate Transactions a company called Darien lake Buffalo Llc bought 4 properties on Niagara Falls Blvd. I'm assuming this company is linked with Darien Lake based on the name. Looking on google maps and street view, the properties currently have an abandoned looking house, another house, an abandoned looking motel, and some vacant land. All the properties are in a line. They were purchased back in September.

[DarienLaker]

I found something really interesting today. According to this article, Buffalo news - Erie County Real Estate Transactions a company called Darien lake Buffalo Llc bought 4 properties on Niagara Falls Blvd. I'm assuming this company is linked with Darien Lake based on the name. Looking on google maps and street view, the properties currently have an abandoned looking house, another house, an abandoned looking motel, and some vacant land. All the properties are in a line. They were purchased back in September.

 

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the park

[Philrad71]

^^Knowing Niagara Falls, they're probably crack houses or abandon crystal meth labs.

[Tdsblo]

If they want to get attendance up they will have to take the plunge on a major coaster. It's been 15 years since the park added a big coaster. That is a lot of time. Also concerned about the understaffing.

 

Does anyone know if the park was even profitable this past summer?

[Philrad71]

^Probably won't know that until they close the books on December 31st, although Darien Lake does bring in a lot of people & $$ just on their concerts alone.

 

And when you throw in the shop picnics (my shop alternates between Darien Lake and Waldameer annually), Niagara Falls tourists, the water park on warm days, the big campground/hotel and people with season passes...it probably isn't too shabby.

[DarienLaker]

If they want to get attendance up they will have to take the plunge on a major coaster. It's been 15 years since the park added a big coaster.

 

Well Frankly, I think that if Darien Lake want to get attendance up they should just "fix up" on what they already got. Ride of Steel really needs a revamp with a new paint job and name and also the mist back (did RoS ever had a mist effect?). Also Mind Eraser needs the same except for renaming it!

[TheDarkMaxim]

Profits are essentially already out since the season mostly ended in Q3. However there is no data available on profits. HFE is a private company so they don't publicly release quarterly earnings. CNL does report, they only report for all their parks on the whole though. CNL obviously profited, but reported a decline in revenue primarily because of the poor weather Darien lake had this summer.

[Geauga Dog]

Well Frankly, I think that if Darien Lake want to get attendance up they should just "fix up" on what they already got. Ride of Steel really needs a revamp with a new paint job and name and also the mist back (did RoS ever had a mist effect?). Also Mind Eraser needs the same except for renaming it!

 

Well HFE is already in the process of fixing up the property and their efforts so far look great. Any hints or ideas as to what area of the park will be next for improvements?

 

As long as the park continues to make the needed improvements as well as continue improving customer service attendance will increase.

[DarienLaker]

Well HFE is already in the process of fixing up the property and their efforts so far look great. Any hints or ideas as to what area of the park will be next for improvements?

 

I say the next area on the list should be Hook's Lagoon, that place needs to have it water guns and dump buckets fixed up and, oh yeah they should reopen 'Cuda Falls so the Swirl City/Torando/Big Kahuna area doesn't get 2 hour wait lines!

[Coaster Cow]

Well HFE is already in the process of fixing up the property and their efforts so far look great. Any hints or ideas as to what area of the park will be next for improvements?

 

I say the next area on the list should be Hook's Lagoon, that place needs to have it water guns and dump buckets fixed up and, oh yeah they should reopen 'Cuda Falls so the Swirl City/Torando/Big Kahuna area doesn't get 2 hour wait lines!

 

Sorry Geauga Dog, this isn't the best place to find information on what will actually happen at Darien Lake at any point in time.

[SbSteveZ]

Well HFE is already in the process of fixing up the property and their efforts so far look great. Any hints or ideas as to what area of the park will be next for improvements?

 

I say the next area on the list should be Hook's Lagoon, that place needs to have it water guns and dump buckets fixed up and, oh yeah they should reopen 'Cuda Falls so the Swirl City/Torando/Big Kahuna area doesn't get 2 hour wait lines!

 

Sorry Geauga Dog, this isn't the best place to find information on what will actually happen at Darien Lake at any point in time.

 

Im not so sure I would say you can never get information about the park on this thread... Sure Information never sparks from The DL Thread but you can find out what's going on in the park at times. TPR has people who love to search all over for happenings at parks and these users are proud to share what they find... Only thing is it is a "Discussion Thread" so I mean, you get rumors, news, and the well known "DL Wishlist" that some say this thread has become. In the end, though I don't really expect anything new from Darien Lake in 2014, if they do make any announcements for anything, even if its just some small improvements, they pretty much have all the way up until media day to do so. (Like when they waited until March to tell us about rowdy's ridge in 2012) It would take a christmas miracle for any announcements soon.

 

But in other news, at least Fantasy Island gave a teaser back when their season ended to their new ride... Way to go Martin's Fantasy Island!

[DarienLaker]

But in other news, at least Fantasy Island gave a teaser back when their season ended to their new ride... Way to go Martin's Fantasy Island!

 

Maybe Darien Lake is sending their UFO ride to Martin's Fantasy Island!

[Geauga Dog]

Im not so sure I would say you can never get information about the park on this thread... Sure Information never sparks from The DL Thread but you can find out what's going on in the park at times. TPR has people who love to search all over for happenings at parks and these users are proud to share what they find.

 

That's the reason why I originally asked here on TPR. It's pretty sad that a park that needs to keep people abreast on what's going on at the park does very little to promote the park and possible new attractions in social media circles. No teasers of upcoming attractions and events to help create a buzz and no construction updates on Blast Off and the remodeled area around it last winter are quite disappointing.

 

Fantasy Island at least knows how to make the social media work in their favor. Maybe Darien could learn a few things from them.

[SbSteveZ]

But in other news, at least Fantasy Island gave a teaser back when their season ended to their new ride... Way to go Martin's Fantasy Island!

 

Maybe Darien Lake is sending their UFO ride to Martin's Fantasy Island!

 

From what I saw... It was announced at IAAPA that it would be a KMG Speed ride. It would be great to see the UFO return which I know it was rumored that it would in 2014 but nothing is for sure at Darien

[DarienLaker]

^Knowing Darien Lake they probably had scrapped the only Huss UFO ride that was left in the USA, but who knows what ride/attraction (if any) would go in its place in 2014?

[Rollercoaster Rider]

^Knowing Darien Lake they probably had scrapped the only Huss UFO ride that was left in the USA, but who knows what ride/attraction (if any) would go in its place in 2014?

 

 

Are there any Celebration City flat rides left?