PhantomNik
Posts: 515
Registered: 6/6/2002
Rank: Gold Critic
|
 10/2/2003 1:23:00 PM
It took me a while, but I think it's time to post some trip reports from this past summer! A couple very close friends of mine live up in Rochester, NY, which is a mere 45 minutes from Six Flags Darien Lake. So, me and a buddy of mine made the 5 hour drive to Rochester to spend the weekend visiting my friends and, on Sunday, head off to Six Flags Darien Lake!!
This was my second trip to SFDL; I had been there once before with family. We arrived at the park around 10:15 in the morning, just prior to the 10:30 opening. The park looked mostly as I had remembered, with a few changes. They now have a Slingshot up-charge attraction which looked fun. We went in the park, snapped a few photos (including with Daffy), and headed to the one main reason to hit this park - Superman: Ride of Steel!!! That day, the coaster was suffering from frequent breakdowns. In fact, while we were in line a train stopped at the very top! This caused my one buddy to become quite uneasy....he likes coasters, but not first hills. He was now convinced that would happen when we rode. The other three of us got a good laugh out of that. The whole way up the 208-foot lift, all he said was "Keep goin', keep goin', keep goin'......"  But we were good, and went right over the top. What a ride! Everyone was very pleased and loved this coaster!
All together, I rode all the coasters except Boomerang. Unfortunately, the heavens began opening up around 3:30. By 5, the rain was not relenting and Superman was again broke down. So, we decided we'd return on a nicer day next year or something. All in all it was a good day there. Did most of the rides, crowds were light and we all had a blast. Now, on to the specifics:
The Park: I think this is a very nice small park. It has a good setting with the lake, the atmosphere is great, and the park is imacculately clean. Not the best collection of rides overall, but there are some good ones. Frankly, it's a shame that this is like the "forgotten child" of the Six Flags chain. There's so much room for expansion, but Six Flags continually ignores this park. 7/10
The Coasters:
Boomerang: Your typical boomerang from Vekoma. Rather smooth compared to other versions. I do enjoy these rides, especially going backwards. Rode this during my first trip to SFDL. 6/10
Mind Eraser: An often cloned SLC from Vekoma. These things are everywhere! That being said, I really liked this one! Very minimal headbanging, and it flows well between inversions. The swooping first drop is pretty cool as well. 1 ride. 7.5/10
Viper: The surprise coaster at SFDL, Viper has aged rather nicely and is not that rough at all. The drop's a bit on the small side, but there's a good inversion assortment on this Arrow looper. Surprise tunnel at the end is great! 2 rides. 7/10
Predator: OWWWWWWW!! What the heck happened to this thing?!?! Was great when I rode it during the first trip. This time, it felt like a psycho-chiropractor on my back! A wonderful layout is ruined by too many bone-jarring jolts from this thing. It does have a good helix and first drop though. I'm still giving this a chance if there's a particular place to sit to avoid pain. Without the pain the ride is outstanding......with it, well, you can pretty much guess. Was once an 8, but falling fast. 1 ride. 6/10
Superman: RoS: Wow!! What a truly amazing coaster! This coaster is underrated in my opinion. Insane airtime throughout the entire ride and fabulous drops. The 3rd hill is sheer paradise! So close to perfection, were it not for that 2nd helix, which is boring and meandering (unlike the first one). This is the reason to visit SFDL! I could just ride this all day and it would make the admission totally worth it! Read my review for more info. 1 glorious, fantastic ride! 9.5/10
I would recommend a visit to SFDL. It is Six Flags, but it's still a quaint little park. This park would
|
psu_dude
Posts: 92
Registered: 6/6/2003
Rank: Senior Critic
|
 10/24/2003 12:48:00 PM
Awesome trip report!! Sounds like for a half-day it wasn't too shabby! I've been debating going to this park since it's not terribly far from me. From what you said, I think I'll definitely have to check it out. Superman does indeed look incredible from what I've seen. I will agree that Predator, in pics I've seen, looks great.....but it's a Curtis D. Summers creation, so the roughness doesn't surprise me. This is the same guy who "graced" Dorney with Hercules (aka "Jerk-ules").
|