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Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread


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They could drain a price if the lake and refill without having to drain the lake or have to move picnic areas around. There is lots of space in the current waterpark area to expand as needed.

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Back to Darien Lake, if they kept the bridge over the entrance pathway then it seems obvious that the old Cuda Falls site would be for water park expansion. Unless they decide to relocate the parking entrance/exit, which more than likely will not happen, then there is no other way to expand Splashtown unless they decide to A) fill in one of the lakes that surround the water park and/or B) relocate the catered picnic area.

 

Doesn't Darien Lake still have the old water park entrance (not the one that's now a bunny house)? If they still have it, they can relocate the main park entrance to there and that would free up some space for a water park mini expansion.

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How would that work out for the best? You would enter into the water park? What about the main walkway into and out of the park with all the shops and such? Every park needs a great "Main Street" entrance. Dl's is just getting decent, don't change it now. The existing water park area has so much room to expand to expand that it's not funny. A little creative lake draining and refilling will give them tons of space

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I just have a question, is Darien lake starting some kind of draconian weight limit thing or something? I was looking on their website and rides like twister have a limit per seat of 198 lbs and the lasso has a limit of 170lbs. If so how do they plan on enforcing these limits short of placing every rider on a scale before they get on each ride? I respect ride safety to the fullest extent but even Strates and cedar point do 230lbs for a wave swinger which is much more reasonable. I can vouch for the fact that I know many people much larger than these limits at least last year that have been on these rides. I am just saying that other than kids and teens there are a ton of adults that go to this park that are much, much larger than these limits.

 

I wanted to find out the limit for ROS but the only thing I could find was 215lbs and under a 40 inch waist. The acessability guide I was reading also had some innaccuracies such as saying the silver bullet has seatbelts which it does not at least the last time I checked.

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^Wouldn't that be embarrassing for Darien Lake or any other park to weigh riders before they can ride to enforce the weight limit?
Knoebels does it with Flying Turns. If it's a safety issue, then it makes perfect sense. Just don't post the weight for everyone to see.
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This is the first time I've heard about this. My friend weighs about 205 and has no problem getting on Twister. Plus the park doesn't enforce the use of the test seat for larger riders that hold up the dispatch anyways (because they set the sensor off). I don't think that they actually enforce the rules, but if they see a very large rider trying to ride Lasso, they may turn them away.

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The weight limits are posted directly on the website on the ride descriptions.

 

I have been on the Strates top spin at 250lbs and I fit just fine, I do not weigh nearly that much now but, I don't know if they are the same model or have tighter restraints but based on that I don't think a top spin ride is something that really needs a weight limit. It's not a single seat like the lasso which I can understand, but 170lbs doesn't give an adult much to work with, and most normal sized men that aren't kids or teens weigh more than that easily. The kid rides I can also understand having a limit but my point is that DL services A LOT of guests that weigh more than 198 lbs and yet most of the rides seem to have a limit of 198lbs according to the website.

 

The last time this came up I thought it wasn't legal to weigh the riders individually due to privacy issues. Some people are really sensitive about the scale too, I weigh myself weekly so I really wouldn't care if they throw me on the scale but there are a lot of people that would potentially be very, very turned off by this and they likely wouldn't return to the park or they would try to cause an uproar.

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^Wouldn't that be embarrassing for Darien Lake or any other park to weigh riders before they can ride to enforce the weight limit?

Holiday World has a scale for both of their water coasters that, upon the group of riders standing on it, shows either a green or red light on whether there's good amount or too much weight. It's not so bad since you're weighed as a group, but water parks with Aqualoop slides have to weigh you individually with a normal bathroom scale. I haven't seen it done in the dry side of parks though, which would be interesting to say the least.

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Weight limits are generally enforced by, does the guest look over said weight limit? If the person is iffy you would make the guest aware of the weight limit, and leave it in their hands. You would be surprised by the number of people that will honestly follow said suggestion.

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Yes I am pretty sure that those weight limits are just guidelines on most of the rides. It is also DL covering their butts in case of any accident or something. The first guy who fell off ROS back when it opened was too heavy to ride and the lap bar couldn't totally close. Every since, you have started to see these types of things crep in. most rides now also have a height max on top of the usual height minimum...this is the exact same thing. It is sad the world that we live in today that this has to be done, but unfortunately it does.

 

There would be no way they could ever really get away with weighing each individual person before they get on a ride...show me one female on the planet who would let that actually happen...

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Like a mechanic friend of mine once said "It only takes one idiot to get injured for the whole country to change the rules."

 

No disrespect to either person that got injured on RoS, but they could have used more common sense. If you have no legs, or are over 350 lbs, do you really think that you should ride a roller coaster? Again it's the park's responsibility to enforce the rules, but it should be common sense to the riders that you should be physically able to ride the ride before getting on.

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Yeah, I think that is why all parks pretty much say... Some riders may not be able to ride.... On pretty much every ride, in the event that someone who is like 400lbs tries to get on a ride which is probably not a good idea in any situation but some people just assume they have the RIGHT to be on any ride in the park because they paid admission and they are there. Or if someone who has a 42 inch kid who is 200lbs and they try to get on an under 48 inch ride... Actually I don't think that is possible lol .. It's just that I have seen some really short and fat kids here so I imagine they would exceed a lot of rides made for a normal kid...So the park has to cover themselves by saying something like... Persons of size may not be able to ride for every ride.

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Like a mechanic friend of mine once said "It only takes one idiot to get injured for the whole country to change the rules."

 

No disrespect to either person that got injured on RoS, but they could have used more common sense. If you have no legs, or are over 350 lbs, do you really think that you should ride a roller coaster? Again it's the park's responsibility to enforce the rules, but it should be common sense to the riders that you should be physically able to ride the ride before getting on.

 

As much as I love to point out the stupidity of some guests who attend parks, this comment of yours is slightly offensive. A guest who has no clue about the engineering and the individual safety restrictions specific each ride should not be blamed for an accident due to lack of "common sense." It is the job of the ride operators to make sure that each guest who attempts to board their ride is physically qualified to safely ride. Yes, there might be posted signs and warnings, but in the end it comes down to the people who are responsible for making sure that each rider is safe. Please, before making an outrageous remark like this, think about who enabled this accident to occur before blaming a guest who likely never studies coasters or knows very much about them at all.

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I don't want to bring this topic up again because you can look at it two ways. Remember that the park did offer Hackemer a disability guide which he refused to take. Of course it finally came down to operator error that allowed him to ride but if I had no legs, I would not be going on any ride that holds you in with a LAP bar.

 

Edit: And as I said in my last post, no disrespect to the families who were involved in the tragedies, but it is the riders responsibility to follow all rules of the park too. If you can't do that, you shouldn't ruin it for others.

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The ride has signs up , that state it is a high thrill ride that basically not everyone will be able to ride. The information is on the sign so it's not like it isn't there. If the rider chooses not to believe it or read it then it is at least partially their responsibility regardless who the person is. If they are unsure then they need to ask the ride ops questions if something is not understood or to ask if it's safe for them to ride or not.

 

Besides this really should be discussed with a patient's doctor if there is any doubt and someone has a severe disability that may prevent them from riding if that is something they want to do in life. As with any high thrill activity any person with a severe disability might want to engage in.

 

But yes it is definitely the ride ops responsibility to decide who rides and who doesn't, regardless of what kind of story the rider pulls. If anyone seems unsure about anything then the answer should be that the guest does not ride.

 

It's not really fair to the park that they have to take the heat and lose attendance because of an accident that clearly involved no mechanical failure especially since this was not a routine situation or a situation that occurs many times per shift. Like if a person jumps from a coaster by purposely removing a restraint or if someone jumps out of a Ferris wheel trying to commit suicide, it's not fair that the park should take the heat for this type of thing since there is nothing wrong with the ride itself. The ride is still safe for the millions of regular riders that come through the gate each seasons

. Yes, they probably need to revise their operator procedures, training and possibly signs but this does not mean the ride is not safe for riders within the height size and weight limits set by the manufacturer.

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Has anyone ever tried "Glamping" at the DL campground?

 

I was just checking this out on the website and thought it looked pretty cute with the queen bed in the tent, little deck and fire ring. I was just wondering about a musty smell being that these tents are up all summer? I know they would get cleaned on a daily basis, but wondered if they would still have any lingering musty odors.

 

Seriously thinking about taking a day off in the next week or two to go check this out...I haven't been to the park in about four or five years and feel like I should do a trip report.

 

Glamping

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I don't want to bring this topic up again because you can look at it two ways. Remember that the park did offer Hackemer a disability guide which he refused to take. Of course it finally came down to operator error that allowed him to ride but if I had no legs, I would not be going on any ride that holds you in with a LAP bar.

 

Edit: And as I said in my last post, no disrespect to the families who were involved in the tragedies, but it is the riders responsibility to follow all rules of the park too. If you can't do that, you shouldn't ruin it for others.

 

This unfortunate victim was more concerned with their rights and causing a scene, than anything else. The operators felt the best solution was to give in to pressure, risk his life and allow him to ride. It shows improper training and I fear that he was destined to ride, as even management might have succumbed to the war vet, who sacrificed himself for our freedom. You can't expect the public to know the rides limitations, no matter how obvious the situation is to us. It does boggle the mind wondering what the ops were thinking. Seat belt, check, around the kneecaps doing nothing. Harness, check, against his torso, not his non-existent legs. All clear, have fun with that airtime!

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  • 2 weeks later...

SO has anyone been in the park recently to check up on the whole "Two Train Operations" Darien "promised" on their facebook page? And on top of that, how bad is the line for Ride of Steel getting? Someone said there were like 6 minutes between dispatches, and I dont usually keep track of that, but is that similar to how it was last year? Because it was slow, but it wasn't terrible. I'll be going on the 13th and I'll probably get some pictures since we really haven't had a TR in a while that was very in depth... As well as some updates on the coasters unless someone else has that info

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6 minutes and 9 seconds to be exact. I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that last weekend, RoS had full switchbacks, Viper's long and winding line was half full, and Predator almost had to open switchbacks. Motocoaster and Boomerang are still using assigned seat systems.

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6 minutes and 9 seconds to be exact. I'm not exaggerating at all when I say that last weekend, RoS had full switchbacks, Viper's long and winding line was half full, and Predator almost had to open switchbacks. Motocoaster and Boomerang are still using assigned seat systems.

 

Jeez. 6 min and 9 seconds before a train gets dispatched. I have seen 1.5 minute dispatch times, but 6 minutes. Get some new management or get Cedar Fair to take over this place.

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SO has anyone been in the park recently to check up on the whole "Two Train Operations" Darien "promised" on their facebook page?

 

I was at Darien Lake a couple of weeks ago. Single train operation on all coasters with no second train to be found anywhere. I don't know where they are putting them, but it's not on the storage track. I kept track of loading time for the 52 minutes that I was in line and dispatches on Ride of Steel ranged from 1:30 to 3:30 with most of them in the 2-3 minute interval. For what it's worth, Darien Lake did (reluctantly) keep their promise of exit passes if you wait in like for longer than 45 minutes.

Edited by wildcatroc
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Do any of you think that the newly formed "Skyline Attractions" can possibly be involved with Darien Lake's new ride next season (2015)? I myself wonder if Darien Lake could be mentioned on the 1st of August (If you read about Skyline Attractions, they are announcing their first project on August the 1st). Could it happen?

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