This is a Six Flags Park? Seriously!
Granted, I've only been to Six Flags Ohio/Six Flags Worlds of Adventure and now Six Flags Darien Lake; but my opinions of these two parks differ so greatly that it is nearly impossible for me to attatch the Six Flags moniker to Darien Lake. I'm impressed.
We (several friends and myself) had been planning this trip since the end of June and our choices of parks were SFWoA & SFDL. No one but me had been to Six flags Ohio. While I was impressed by the rides at SFO/SFWoA, I wasn't impressed by the park/opertaions. The horror stories coming from people at this early stage in the year added to my dissuasion to take my non-coaster enthusiest friends to SFWoA. So, I/we decided to go to SFDL.
My first impression of the park was when we drove through a curve and saw the glorious sight of Superman: Ride of Steel; followed by Predator, Mind Eraser, and Viper.
Superman: Ride of Steel
I love this ride...what more can I say? Looking at it; it would seem boring because of all the flat track in between the hills. But once on it it just seem right. The first drop is great and the mist is really refreshing. And the third hill is the best hill on any coaster that I've ridden.
I rode Superman:Ride of Steel 3 times and give 5/5 rating.
Predator
Good to look at. That's the most I can say for this ride. I rode in the second row of the first car. It rode alright up until the top of the lifthill. In fact it rode good up and down all the hills. It was at the bottom of these hills where it showed it's true colors. I have never been bounced up and down like this as on this coaster. It's crazy...something really isn't right here. It feels like there is about 6 inches of play between the rails and the upstops. And why it only does this at the base of every hill I don't know. If it wasn't for this I would like the ride, except for the lackluster finale. My plea, SFDL: please fix the trains and make the last several hills smaller so that you get an intense finale.
I rode Predator 1 time and give it a 1/5 rating.
Viper
I love this looper. Especially the second and third inversions. It is smooth and intense for such a small ride.
I rode Viper one time and give it a 4/5 rating.
Mind Eraser
I don't have the headbanging problem that everyone else seems to have with these rides, so I'm a big fan of Vekoma's SLCs. They're short, but intense the whole way through: they don't let up on intensity until the end of the ride.
I rode Mind Eraser 1 time and give it a 4/5 rating.
Boomerang: Coast to Coaster
Another ride that I like. Sure, they are cloned all over the place, but I found it to be a good ride.
I rode Boomerang: Coast to Coaster one time and give it a rating of 3/5.
The Park
The park was very clean the entire day. I saw no trash cans overflowing and no litter on the ground. The landscaping was beautifully done and well kept. Service was friendly and quick. The ride-ops were awake and peppy, especially the ones for Superman and Mind Eraser.
The park I give a full 5/5 rating. It was everything a park could be...it has some great thrill rides but maintains the care-free atmosphere. I did not rush to ride any ride except the last ride of the night; S:ROS, near closing time. I WILL be coming here in seasons to follow.
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Benjamin Jones | Yet another coaster-craving yuppie
