Six Flags Darien Lake (SFDL) Discussion Thread

I really don't like how it looks - on concrete and how it's overlapping all over itself. But I'm interested to see what people think of it, I'd really like to try out one of these or the Vekoma Booster Bikes and see how it stacks up ot Intamin's Prototype.

 

It was pretty meh, by the way; especially with a 30 min wait that should have been 10.

 

-JZ

Intamin has a Booster Bike prototype?

I'm not a fan of the look either.

I was hoping that with OCC as sponsors, there would be a much cooler paint job on both the track and the bikes.

It also would have been nice to see some kind of stretched out layout instead of a cramped compact thing.

Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.

At Dreamworld in Australia.

http://rcdb.com/id3950.htm

Marketed as a major kick arse thrill ride, when in reality it's just an awsome family ride, which has a crappy queue line system.

^The Darien Lake one might be a little different, it's a Zamperla rather than an Intamin like Motocoaster. The Zamperla is taller than Motocoaster but a bit slower with a different launch system to Motocoaster.

Neither are exactly destination coasters in my book. Even though I have been to the Gold Coast since Motocoaster opened, I will ride the Darien Lake one first, such is my lack of desire to go to Dreamworld.

Pony Express looks like a work of art compared to this.

^The Darien Lake one might be a little different, it's a Zamperla rather than an Intamin like Motocoaster. The Zamperla is taller than Motocoaster but a bit slower with a different launch system to Motocoaster.

 

Neither are exactly destination coasters in my book. Even though I have been to the Gold Coast since Motocoaster opened, I will ride the Darien Lake one first, such is my lack of desire to go to Dreamworld.

Darien Lake is marketing this coaster for what it is, a family coaster.

The ride is much better than it looks in videos.

I got to ride it on opening day and was impressed.

The seating position makes the ride seem faster, and adds to the track banking. The 48" min. height limit lets more in the family ride.

If you want to find out more about Darien Lake and see video of Motocoaster check out darienlakecentral.com

At Dreamworld in Australia.

 

http://rcdb.com/id3950.htm

 

Marketed as a major kick arse thrill ride, when in reality it's just an awsome family ride, which has a crappy queue line system.

That is largely debatable. It is a family ride, but awesome is definitely not the word I would use to describe it. The Motocoaster at Dreamworld is the most disappointing and pointless coaster I have been on in a long time. Honestly both times I rode it, myself and everyone else on the ride at the time left hugely disappointed. I just kept saying, "What was the point."

I hope these ones are better and provide a bit more thrills. I also agree that this does look like a cheap carnival attraction.

An F1 tornado touched down north of Darien Lake, and was visible from the park itself. The tornado was 100 yards wide and traveled for 4 miles. It then became a funnel cloud and crossed over I-90 heading northeast towards Rochester. It nearly formed again near Hilton where a town carnival was going on at that time, but all they got was a very severe thunderstorm with heavy downpours.

Here's the news article from a local Rochester station about the tornado:

http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/ ... gT31g.cspx

pft, F1? Dragster produces higher wind shears than that, LOL.

Thats cool. Considering winds were only 72-112, I woulda been tempted to drive through it or something.

Whoa... scary. My grandparents live in Rochester, I hope they're all ok. Also glad to see nothing happened to the park, especially since I'll be going in August.

Yea I was working when all of this came down so to speak. We were told just to remain at our rides and not take shelter.

I was working up on Mind Eraser and could see the tornado through the park past the Giant Wheel. Deffinatley scary stuff at the DL today!

pft, F1? Dragster produces higher wind shears than that, LOL.

 

Thats cool. Considering winds were only 72-112, I woulda been tempted to drive through it or something.

Yes, you do that [/sarcasm]

Pff, F1??? Man, what a wimpy tornado. Live in Texas for awhile, I would still go during an F1..

Here's a picture submitted by a reader to the Democrat and Chronicle that shows the tornado near Darien Lake..

And here's another article about the 2nd tornado that may have touched down at Hilton- where a carnival was going on at the time.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090726/NEWS01/907260349/1002/RSS01

(submitted by K. Charbonneau)

Here's a picture submitted by a reader to the Democrat and Chronicle that shows the tornado near Darien Lake..

 

And here's another article about the 2nd tornado that may have touched down at Hilton- where a carnival was going on at the time.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090726/NEWS01/907260349/1002/RSS01

Cool picture, We get plenty of those around the spring/summer

I find it interesting that no one in the pic seems to notice. I have been in a few close calls with a Tornado and I know that if I was that close again, I'd be seeking shelter. They are so unpredictable and can develop in size and strength very quickly.

I'm glad there were no injuries ,if that had crossed the theme park directly it could have been devestating.....

David

My love for theme parks and severe weather combine for a perfect storm, as it were...

Considering winds were only 72-112, I woulda been tempted to drive through it or something.

Considering it barely takes any time for a twister to increase in intensity, let alone form, I would've followed through with my original plan and sought shelter!

Pff, F1??? Man, what a wimpy tornado. Live in Texas for awhile, I would still go during an F1..

 

 

Cool picture, We get plenty of those around the spring/summer

Rather than trying to sound cool over the fact that you get larger tornados near you, why not just acknowledge the fact that a tornado of any sort is rare in this area, therefore making it something to talk about.

^I agree. Around here if we got an F1 tornado, it'd be a huge deal too. However we do get dust devils, those are kinda like a mini-tornado but not really.

I would have loved to been there! One of the things on my bucket list is to see a tornado. I would also like to be in the presence of Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt at the same time.

I want to be near a tornado too. But not anywhere near my home. I would like to be with Reed Timmer or Sean Casey (prefer Sean and be in Tiv2).

It's always scary when severe weather hits while at a park. You gotta think to yourself, "does this park have enough 'inside room' to fit every guest?".

^ Especially after the tornado warning at SFA last year, theres a video on youtube which shows just how badly organized some parks are in an emergency.

I would have loved to been there! One of the things on my bucket list is to see a tornado. I would also like to be in the presence of Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt at the same time.

While I still would've taken shelter, I'd be playing the theme in my head the entire time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9klixu7zRIo

Rather than trying to sound cool over the fact that you get larger tornados near you, why not just acknowledge the fact that a tornado of any sort is rare in this area, therefore making it something to talk about.

Agreed...living in Western New York, we do not see many tornado's so it's a big deal when one passes through our area.

The last big one I remember coming through was back in the early to mid-eighties when it crossed the road about a mile from my house. It cut quite the swath of destruction with all of the trees we have around here and leveled quite a few houses.

There was also a small one that touched down about thirty minutes from my house in a town called Onoville yesterday. I guess it did some damage to some boats on Kinzua Lake, but no injuries that I know of.

I was actually out golfing both days but the severe weather stayed away from us other than a few showers and some high winds that kept changing directions every five minutes. Very weird weather here in WNY...not to mention all the sucky rain - how the hell can you hit a decent golf shot in mud???

Thats like sunday we all watched a funnel cloud come down from the employee lot. I never seen the employees leave as fast as they did lol.