Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread

^ When I went to the park 2 summers ago the landscaping was very well maintained.

I can agree that Darien Lake's landscaping was very well maintained when I had visited last August for the very first time.

Take a look at it this year, old faded mulch, scattered all over the ground, not raked back into the gardens, and they don’t even plant the flowers. They literally took the pot and buried the plastic pot the flowers was in into the ground, lazy and bad-looking.

Take a look at it this year, old faded mulch, scattered all over the ground, not raked back into the gardens, and they don’t even plant the flowers. They literally took the pot and buried the plastic pot the flowers was in into the ground, lazy and bad-looking.

That usually improves as the season goes on

I’m at the park today, Ride of Steel is listed as “opening late” but a manager said it probably won’t open at all. Guess I’ll only need like 1.5 hours here today instead of 3 hahaha.

A tourbillon to upgrade Twister (which has had age issues with its water tanks/bladders) might make sense. That or replacing one of the other oldies like Silver Bullet, Haymaker, or Lasso whose hydraulics have been nearing UFO levels of troublesome. Grizz, Big K, and Hooks are also pretty terminal. I don't know how much lifespan Rolling Thunder has for that matter. It's something of an engineering design turd and has had cracking issues year after year (including at present). Or they could dust off the idea of RMCing Pred which was surveyed a few years back but CNL wasn't in a mood to drop capital cash with the place for sale.

I feel like the Haymaker is doing well, and it's a classic, it just needs TLC. A new gen. Enterprise or a Zamperla Endeavor would be a cool replacement for Silver Bullet, I wouldn't complain.

I feel like there's enough area behind the black gates next to Ride Of Steel for a DC Comics area, which would be cool if they did that in the near future. Rides like a Tourbillon, Tilt a Whirl, and a Giant Discovery would be awesome there, even a Free Fly.

I’m at the park today, Ride of Steel is listed as “opening late” but a manager said it probably won’t open at all. Guess I’ll only need like 1.5 hours here today instead of 3 hahaha.

My guess for ToS being closed is the rain. They don’t run it at all in rain anymore. I believe it has something to do with the new train because this policy started when the new train was purchased.

A tourbillon to upgrade Twister (which has had age issues with its water tanks/bladders) might make sense. That or replacing one of the other oldies like Silver Bullet, Haymaker, or Lasso whose hydraulics have been nearing UFO levels of troublesome. Grizz, Big K, and Hooks are also pretty terminal. I don't know how much lifespan Rolling Thunder has for that matter. It's something of an engineering design turd and has had cracking issues year after year (including at present). Or they could dust off the idea of RMCing Pred which was surveyed a few years back but CNL wasn't in a mood to drop capital cash with the place for sale.

 

I feel like the Haymaker is doing well, and it's a classic, it just needs TLC. A new gen. Enterprise or a Zamperla Endeavor would be a cool replacement for Silver Bullet, I wouldn't complain.

 

I feel like there's enough area behind the black gates next to Ride Of Steel for a DC Comics area, which would be cool if they did that in the near future. Rides like a Tourbillon, Tilt a Whirl, and a Giant Discovery would be awesome there, even a Free Fly.

Another ride that needs work/replacement would be Sleighride. I don’t know if anyone else has seen it this year, but it truly looks TERRIBLE. The roof is gone, all the decorations on the top of the ride (viewed from outside) is gone, rust is showing all over the place, and I was informed that most of the lights on it don’t work all of a sudden. It is a classic, but it is really showing its age and probably needs to be replaced all together by a newer model.

The Sleighride roof blew off the night before opening day

The Walden/Central area is a bit further out than where I am. Plus I don’t mind driving straight down Walden and turning onto the 77. Past Pavement there’s what, 3 traffic signals? Including the one for the 77 I believe. From time to time I may also take Broadway all the way down, it just depends on where I’m coming from. The Walden/Central area is typically 5-10 minutes from my place as it is so 20 minutes from there isn’t all that much faster - and I live off of Walden.

 

 

Make a right at Wende Correctional. Follow that and it turns into Sumner and goes to 77 right next to the entrance. Never has any traffic.

I’ll have to try that next time I head over that way, I Never thought of that as an option

I'm finding it hard to believe the landscaping or painting would be that poor.

Even in the PARC days (aka least operational budget) landscaping and painting were taken care of.

^ If you go sometime, you'll see. The park really needs some TLC before it can start bringing in new rides, that's what I hope Six Flags will do over the 18-19 off-season, spruce up the buildings and landscaping, fix some of the rides up, stuff like that is needed.

My family and I were there 2 years ago and they were actually painting the wooden fences near the beaver brothers restaurant and around the American Flag. This was actually being done in August. So don't tell me DL isn't well maintained and the black top is actually a part of the atmosphere. There are just hard bricks to walk on at Wonderland.

I’m at the park today, Ride of Steel is listed as “opening late” but a manager said it probably won’t open at all. Guess I’ll only need like 1.5 hours here today instead of 3 hahaha.

 

My guess for ToS being closed is the rain. They don’t run it at all in rain anymore. I believe it has something to do with the new train because this policy started when the new train was purchased.

 

I don't think it had anything to do with the rain, a few employees told me it went down Wednesday, was closed Thursday and Friday then Saturday that whole section past Predator was chained off. Hopefully they get it open before the season ends.

So I was at the park Saturday morning and despite RoS being down all day I actually had a pretty great morning. The crowds were light, like scary light, I'm talking rope drop at 10:30 with me and like 20 other people. Everything besides Tantrum was a single train wait all day, and Tantrum was maybe 4-5 trains most of the morning.

Tantrum was good, kind of short but the lift and drop on those things are great.

Viper was fun, smooth enough for an old Arrow with a pretty unique layout.

Predator was actually running really well, great pops of air in the front, some nice laterals, a little "rough" but not really uncomfortable or painful. Kind of a surprise of the trip for me, I ended up just hanging out on the train for 3 or 4 rides and the ops looked at me like I was crazy.

Speaking of being crazy,I rode both the boomerang and the SLC and thought they were fine. Boomerang was actually pretty smooth compared to most boomerangs I've been on and the SLC was mostly headache free so that's a positive.

I don't really see all the complaints about the park as far as it being run down, I thought the place looked pretty great all things considered. Yeah some places here and there could use some paint or a some bushes a trim but overall I thought it was a pretty solid little park. If there were crowds I could see it being miserable with 1 train on everything, but I had a nice day and would not hesitate to go back anytime especially since I still need to ride RoS.

I don't think it had anything to do with the rain, a few employees told me it went down Wednesday, was closed Thursday and Friday then Saturday that whole section past Predator was chained off. Hopefully they get it open before the season ends.

 

So I was at the park Saturday morning and despite RoS being down all day I actually had a pretty great morning. The crowds were light, like scary light, I'm talking rope drop at 10:30 with me and like 20 other people. Everything besides Tantrum was a single train wait all day, and Tantrum was maybe 4-5 trains most of the morning.

 

Tantrum was good, kind of short but the lift and drop on those things are great.

 

Viper was fun, smooth enough for an old Arrow with a pretty unique layout.

 

Predator was actually running really well, great pops of air in the front, some nice laterals, a little "rough" but not really uncomfortable or painful. Kind of a surprise of the trip for me, I ended up just hanging out on the train for 3 or 4 rides and the ops looked at me like I was crazy.

 

Speaking of being crazy,I rode both the boomerang and the SLC and thought they were fine. Boomerang was actually pretty smooth compared to most boomerangs I've been on and the SLC was mostly headache free so that's a positive.

 

I don't really see all the complaints about the park as far as it being run down, I thought the place looked pretty great all things considered. Yeah some places here and there could use some paint or a some bushes a trim but overall I thought it was a pretty solid little park. If there were crowds I could see it being miserable with 1 train on everything, but I had a nice day and would not hesitate to go back anytime especially since I still need to ride RoS.

Hope they get ROS open before the season ends? The season just started, im sure itll be fine.

As far as the complaints on here about landscaping and maintenance... take them with a giant grain of salt.

I don't think it had anything to do with the rain, a few employees told me it went down Wednesday, was closed Thursday and Friday then Saturday that whole section past Predator was chained off. Hopefully they get it open before the season ends.

 

So I was at the park Saturday morning and despite RoS being down all day I actually had a pretty great morning. The crowds were light, like scary light, I'm talking rope drop at 10:30 with me and like 20 other people. Everything besides Tantrum was a single train wait all day, and Tantrum was maybe 4-5 trains most of the morning.

 

Tantrum was good, kind of short but the lift and drop on those things are great.

 

Viper was fun, smooth enough for an old Arrow with a pretty unique layout.

 

Predator was actually running really well, great pops of air in the front, some nice laterals, a little "rough" but not really uncomfortable or painful. Kind of a surprise of the trip for me, I ended up just hanging out on the train for 3 or 4 rides and the ops looked at me like I was crazy.

 

Speaking of being crazy,I rode both the boomerang and the SLC and thought they were fine. Boomerang was actually pretty smooth compared to most boomerangs I've been on and the SLC was mostly headache free so that's a positive.

 

I don't really see all the complaints about the park as far as it being run down, I thought the place looked pretty great all things considered. Yeah some places here and there could use some paint or a some bushes a trim but overall I thought it was a pretty solid little park. If there were crowds I could see it being miserable with 1 train on everything, but I had a nice day and would not hesitate to go back anytime especially since I still need to ride RoS.

 

Hope they get ROS open before the season ends? The season just started, im sure itll be fine.

 

As far as the complaints on here about landscaping and maintenance... take them with a giant grain of salt.

Yeah, hope it opens "as soon as possible" is what I mean but it seems like in there past there have been Intamin rides (maybe even this particular one) that have experienced several weeks/months of downtime during an operating season so I hope that't not the case.

My family and I were there 2 years ago and they were actually painting the wooden fences near the beaver brothers restaurant and around the American Flag. This was actually being done in August. So don't tell me DL isn't well maintained and the black top is actually a part of the atmosphere. There are just hard bricks to walk on at Wonderland.

Yes, but take a look at areas like the old hill that housed Cuda' Falls, that still has Floodgate and it looks hideous if you see it from the Giant Wheel. The locker room in front of it is in disrepair also, it's the cracks and paint chips everywhere in buildings (and rides for that matter) that need to be spruced up, it sticks out and is not hard to pick out.

Fair enough, DarienPoint, but why would you paint a building if you plan on taking it down? Or why would you paint a building if you were going to sell it in a year or two? I understand that ME should be painted but again, why would you spend that much money if you are planning on selling the park? Perhaps this is why they stopped painting large projects and have been painting fence posts and smaller projects.

Went to the park yesterday (Sunday)...got there about 1pm, was able to get a $17 lawn ticket on Stubhub for Zac Brown Band and that included park admission, so essentially I got a park/concert ticket for $15 less than a normal park ticket.

ROS was running in the afternoon. Lines were not too long, Tantrum had a 45min wait and that was the longest wait. I didn't notice the landscaping everyone is complaining about, everything looked fine to me. Also, picked up a $20 lawn ticket for Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson on the way out so I'll be back at the park in August as well.

Fair enough, DarienPoint, but why would you paint a building if you plan on taking it down? Or why would you paint a building if you were going to sell it in a year or two? I understand that ME should be painted but again, why would you spend that much money if you are planning on selling the park? Perhaps this is why they stopped painting large projects and have been painting fence posts and smaller projects.

 

Who's selling the park? I mean that's what Six Flags should do, not what Premier should do before SF takes over operations. And most of the buildings that house restaurants and gift shops need them, and I highly doubt they're gonna be taken down.

Premier is not going to invest a penny more into the park until Six Flags takes over operations.

Yes, do not expect Premier to make investments that are non critical to the park until the sale of operational rights is finalized. Now on the flip side, if SF has plans to brand the park in 2019, they may start making major investments that will be noticeable this year so they can make the other major investments in the off-season.

Look for painting and maybe some landscaping changes at a minimum. Also I would expect them to try to get at least one or two more coaster trains. I would hope they start with the most popular and longest wait rides, which typically are ROS and MotoCoaster. I am not how sure quickly those types of orders can be filled though, so all of that may need to wait until next year.

Yes, do not expect Premier to make investments that are non critical to the park until the sale of operational rights is finalized. Now on the flip side, if SF has plans to brand the park in 2019, they may start making major investments that will be noticeable this year so they can make the other major investments in the off-season.

 

Look for painting and maybe some landscaping changes at a minimum. Also I would expect them to try to get at least one or two more coaster trains. I would hope they start with the most popular and longest wait rides, which typically are ROS and MotoCoaster. I am not how sure quickly those types of orders can be filled though, so all of that may need to wait until next year.

Honestly, I feel that Viper needs a second train more than Motocoaster. Moto’s line moves fairly quick due to the short ride time and fairly quick dispatches. Viper’s Ride time is pretty long, and that line takes FOREVER, even if it is a three ride wait. It is beyond ridiculous.

Viper had 2 trains as recently as July 2015, so they probably can do it fairly easily, unlike ROS where the 2nd train doesnt exist.

Fright Fest is back

https://darienlake.com/fright-fest-2018

Wow imagine that. It seems like just a few years ago that everyone was trying to explain to me how a Halloween Event wouldn’t work at Darien Lake.

Next step... Holiday in the Park

Fright Fest is back

https://darienlake.com/fright-fest-2018

I just saw it on the park’s Instagram, you beat me to the news! Anyways, that is very exciting to see the park finally be improving from the neglect that it has seen for years now. I can’t wait to check it out!