I’ll be taking a family trip to Darien Lake soon. This will 
be my third time to the park and also the third management company running the park . On previous trips, the park was run by Six Flags and PARC. Now it’s under Herschend’s management and I’m curious to see if I notice any improvements. Herschend also manages Dollywood and Silver Dollar City.
The Predator has given me some pretty rough rides in the past, but after reading that it has new (well, newer) PTC trains from The Voyage I’m hoping that it’s worth another ride. Former loop record holder, Viper got a repaint as did the Boomerang coaster. It’ll be fun riding the MotoCoaster again as it’ll be my sister-in-law’s first launch coaster. I’ll also be taking her on Intamin hyper coaster, Ride of Steel, which will be quite a test for her. Other than that, this will be more of a family trip than one of my coaster trips. I’m sure the kids will like the new, expanded kids area Rowdy’s Ridge.
More about Darien Lake’s coaster rehab.
Have you been to Darien Lake recently? What did you think? Leave a comment below.
August 4, 2012 at 10:53
This would be considered my home park but in the past 10 years I have yet to go there. They haven't really added anything that draws people to the park. Ride of Steel is alright but you there is no comparison to Magnum which is so much better! It would be nice if they actually added a new coaster, I have yet to go on motocoaster but that doesn't look all that fun. Although it is an old ride they could pull out the Batman Standup roller coaster they have in storage from when they were a Six Flags park and at least add an extra ride. i believe it came from a Six Flags from down in Houston. All in all Darien Lake is the little brother amusement park that you walk around in and think to yourself, I could have rove a little farther and spent the same amount to go to Cedar Point. Yeah the tickets are pretty expensive for way less rides! Have fun!
August 4, 2012 at 18:04
I just went there for the first time this summer so I can't really say whether or not Herschend is doing a better or worse job running the place, but despite all the smack talk I've heard from people about this place it did end up being a really enjoyable visit. The coaster lineup may leave much to be desired besides Ride of Steel, but the rest of the lineup was very well rounded and everything was being run fairly well. The park was clean and well kept, the employee's were nice and I even chatted with some of the ride ops at RoS and Motocoaster about coasters (they noticed my Leviathan shirt). Not everything was perfect, the cool looking tantrum slide in their waterpark was closed as was their shoot the chutes ride which was drained and they were sweeping dirt out of the splash down pool (in late June? really?). Also, there seemed to be line cutting issues at RoS and I didn't even see a second train for Mind Eraser. Consequently the wait was a bit longer than the ride was worth even though it was confined to just the individual queue rows in the station. Rowdy's Ridge seemed nicely done, and though I didn't sample the new rides personally, the rapids ride back in that general area, Grizzly Run, was brutal. Really fun, but only go if you're ready to get drenched. As for the Predator, I rode in the back for some odd reason but actually ended up having fun. I did get thrown around ALOT, but no serious injuries and I think the enthusiasm of the guy sitting next to me was contagious (that and I've come to expect roughness from older woodies). So not a good ride but I ALMOST went back for more. To round thing's out I'll say Viper was just boring, Motocoaster and Boomerang both fun, Mind Eraser needs to die, and all in all if they get the big new coaster that's long over due there, I'll happily be back.
August 9, 2012 at 00:29
Hope you have fun! Never been to Darien Lake but It apears I shouldn't get in to much of a rush with only one good looking coaster.