(Note this trip was from a few weeks ago, before NY lifted their COVID rules)
So as a spur of the moment trip, I and one other person decided to take a day trip to SFDL on June 12th. This is a park that I have spent the most time in, and I always appreciate how easy it is to get onto rides. This was NOT the case this time.
We arrived at 1:30 (that was the earliest reservation time we could get) and immediately headed for Ride of Steel. We were greeted to an overflowing queue with a posted wait time of 60 minutes. Now, in all the trips I’ve taken to this park, the longest I’ve ever waited for any ride was ~20 minutes. We decided to wait, as the rest of the park appeared to be just as busy. What I saw was unbelievable. As we got into the main part of the queue and got a better view of the station, I understood why the line was moving so slowly. The average load time was >2 minutes (for a ride that is ~2 minutes long) and only had 1 train running. I decided to time each load, from the time it stopped in the station to the time it started moving, and these were the results:
2:58 4:24 2:36 2:53 3:10 3:43 2:59
Now, I would understand if this was due to staffing issues, or if this was a COVID issue, but it wasn’t. The issue arose with the Flash Pass. The workers were so inefficient at deciding who from the Flash Pass line (the exit) would board that it made loading times unbearable. They were also just super slow in general. Pretty ridiculous in my opinion, but it’s early in the season here so it is what it is.
After waiting 1 hour 25 minutes for RoS, we went to Boomerang. This queue was much shorter, but it was still ~45 minutes. As we were walking into the station (next in line), the ride actually got stuck at the top of the lift, and maintenance had to be called. We left and went to Viper, where we met another hour and a half wait accompanied by very inefficient employees. By the time we got off, we were exhausted and decided to try RoS one more time. The line was just as long as before, and we decided to call it quits.
So, in 4 hours, we rode 2 rides and were completely frustrated with the whole situation. To add insult to injury, live queue times at Cedar Point were showing half the time that SFDL was, for rides that are much much better.
All in all, very poor experience, and probably won’t be returning until they sort these issues out.
A very cold and rainy day, for some reason we decided to hop down to SFDL for a couple hours. By the time we left there were still maybe 3 dozen cars in the lot. Only took a few rides in, kinda just wanted to see how the park was after not operating last year.
Things of note:
-With the awful weather, everything was a walk on.
-Giant Wheel has a sign outside indicating it's closed for good.
-Ride of Steel still hasn't opened for the season.
-Mind Eraser and Tantrum weren't open today, along with several flats.
-The launch on Motocoaster feels different this year. It's less sudden. It sluggishly accelerates for half a second before actually getting up to speed.
-Predator looks to have had extensive (not Titan Track) retracking done. Lots of random new track all over. This was probably the best ride I've had on it since it opened. There was near zero jackhammering on the second turnaround and the two hills following and it actually hit the return run with speed. The ride is actually smooth from start to finish and no longer deserves to be at the bottom of rankings. With how much work I could see was done, and how succesful it was, I'm not sure what the Titan Track plans could actually be for.
-Viper was Viper. Still smooth, still good.
-Despite local mask and social distancing mandates lifting, they're still distancing trains and doing quasi-assigned seating on some coasters. For example, they were loading Predator in alternating groups front to back, with the last groups in the middle of the train. Viper is one group per car, Motocoaster didn't seem to have any distancing enforced at all. We skipped Boomerang (despite the Predator ride op trying to sell us on riding it), so no idea what they're doing there. Don't really care what their policy is, just be consistent about it.
-I needed to replace my 2019 member drink bottle due to damage. The ladies at guest relations seemed to think they "weren't replacing damaged bottles at all this year". Fortunately someone else overheard went a grabbed me a new one. Don't like the new bottles. They don't have a straw and are some kind of awkward giant sippy cup that tends to spill out both top holes when full.
My family's yearly trip to Darien Lake is coming up in two weeks and I was wondering how the park has changed under new ownership. I have a couple of questions to anyone who would be able to answer.
Does is the park busier than it used to be?. How are wait times for rides/ are they still fairly short? Has the campground changed at all? Do they have WIFI now?
I guess what I am asking is if Six Flags has changed the feel of the park much and if it is a positive or negative change. I know this seems like a weird question I was just wondering how my experience may be different this year.
Thanks
I heard a few weeks ago that Predator was closed and the trains covered in the station. I was wondering if anyone has been there lately and if it was still closed? If it is, has there been any activity around it? Is there possibly that they RMC Predator for the 2020 season? What do you think?
I notice Six Flags has some parks they like to open in around April-May as they are more local parks. Six Flags Darien Lake’s 2019 will also start in May, so will Six Flags treat Darien Lake more like the Great Escape and Frontier City in that it will have a shorter season and a decent investment every year or so? Or will it be more like Six Flags America where there is something added every so often, but what is added is usually a small attraction or a refurbishment of an existing attraction? I know Darien Lake isn’t really meant to be a high thrills park, so will Six Flags just keep it as is?
I shouldn't have expected too much, but I honestly wasn't really impressed.
The only coaster I was fond of was Ride of Steel. Maybe Viper, too.
I know it's been out of Six Flags hands since '07, but the coasters & parts of the park look in pretty rough shape.
It's also pretty weird to be at a Six Flags with no signs of anything DC. (I know why, but still.)
I'm excited to see what they'll (hopefully) do to the park in the coming years.
Seeing as how Six Flags has reaquired Darien Lake, I am wondering if it will get any of the following attractions and improvements throughout the next few years
-Kids area re-themed to Bugs Bunny with a new kiddie coaster
-water park additions
-Giant discovery
-twist’n’ splash
-S&S 4D spin
-RMC predator
- Zamperla Endeavour
-Triple Axis top spin
-DC Comics themed area
-Dark ride inside the former Batman stunt show building
TLDR, Fright Fest was as lacking as last year, their fast lane system needs 2 train ops to be worth a damn, but I think I had my best ride on Predator since it opened in '90.
Made a short visit to SFDL to check out Fright Fest. After the disappointment that was last year, I wasn't expecting much. The park was about as busy as usual (5 train waits for Predator and RoS, so about 40 minutes, walk-ons for most everything else). We ended up actually skipping the 4 houses, as $30 per person was a bit steep for the quality we expected based on last year. As far as the scare zones, they were even more sparsely populated than previously and the actors weren't putting much effort in. Overall park decor was severely lacking. Only real theming was the entrance midway. Screampunk District was just fog, lights and a couple little huts with gears on them. I think there were maybe 2 theming elements in the "bayou" as well. Zero halloween theming down the games midway toward Tantrum. Don't go to SFDL for Fright Fest, yet again.
As you may or may not know, it's one train ops on eveything except Tantrum. Five train wait on Predator was about 40 minutes because one of the two restraint checkers was being trained. We opted to use our single use Platinum skips on Ride of Steel, though with how they run that I'm not sure we waited any less. Single car roped off, each pass is good for 4 people. If you had more than 3 groups ahead of you, it was better/faster to just wait in the normal queue and pick your own seat. Between that and the 7+ minute dispatches, even skip passes took 25+ minutes
Highlight of the night was our one ride on Predator. Took the front, expecting the usual mediocre ride with jarring roughness during the second turnaround. What happened was a fast, smooth, airtime filled ride. Even the hills on the usually forceless return run had air and it was hauling into the brakes. I don't know if they did more trackwork besides the last turnaround, or if it was the cold weather, but I'm not sure it's ever run that well.
Hello!
With Darien Lake going back to a Six Flags I wanted to speculate if they would get their WarnerMedia IP's restored. (Looney Tunes Seaport, Superman: Ride of Steel) or if they'll just get thrown in as "New" attractions, please submit your thoughts!
I plan on taking my family to either one of these amusement parks this summer but not sure which one is the better choice. From what I read, Canobie is a little closer, has free parking, and concessions a bit cheaper but Six Flags has the better rides.
Any advice and/or opinions from those with experience of the two? Thanks in advance!
Looking for a ride from DC area to Darien lakes show, is any fellow deadhead driving who would offer a ride? If so pm me thanks!!!!
