Six Flags Darien Lake is often considered one of the worst parks in the Six Flags chain.
While I think that is a fair statement, this is still an enjoyable park. And
that’s especially impressive when you consider this park’s ownership has been a game of hot
potato over the past two decades. So in this video, I will review Six Flags Darien Lake.
This park’s story began in 1964. Paul Snyder opened a campground adjacent to Darien Lake.
More activities were added over the years, but the most notable was the amusement park that opened in
1981 named Darien Lake Fun Country. Many of the park’s early rides came from Huss, as the German
manufacturer used it as its US showground. In 1982, the park built Viper, an Arrow looper
opened with a record-breaking 5 inversions. This gained the park national attention and it caught
the eye of Funtime. This chain purchased Darien Lake in 1983 and continued to expand the property.
This included amusement rides and the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center. This is a giant concert
venue, one of the largest in upstate New York. In 1995, Premier Parks purchased Darien Lake.
They began adding coasters annually. Then in 1998, Premier acquired Six Flags. So in 1999,
this park was rebranded as Six Flags Darien Lake. This included the introduction of the Looney Tunes
and DC Characters. And most notably, the park got a new headlining attraction in Superman:
Ride of Steel, which immediately became the tallest and fastest coaster in New York.
The park continued to see investment, but by the mid-2000s, Six Flags was heading towards
bankruptcy. In an attempt to reduce their debt, multiple parks, including Darien Lake,
were sold to Parc Management in 2007. Shortly thereafter, the park’s name was shortened to
just Darien Lake and all Six Flags branding was removed. On the bright side, the park
still got a healthy dose of new investments. In 2011, Herschend began operating Darien Lake.
This chain was most well-known for Dollywood and Silver Dollar City. The park was heavily rumored
to get an RMC conversion of Predator during their ownership, but it never
materialized. Instead the largest addition during Herschend’s tenure was the Blast Off drop tower.
In 2015, Premier Parks took over Darien Lake. In 2016, EPR Properties purchased the entire
property, but the park continued to be leased and operated by Premier.
Then in 2018, Six Flags once again acquired Darien Lake and in 2019, the name was reverted
back to Six Flags Darien Lake. Time will tell how long Six Flags will lease and operate the park.
But this resort has a lot of potential. The entire property spans 1200 acres.
That’s nearly 3 times the size of Cedar Point.
The park itself is nearly 100 acres in size. Land is not an issue for Darien Lake.
And the whole complex is really well built up. I already mentioned the concert venue, but there’s
plenty else. You have all these walking trails by the lakes. Then you have lodging.
You have a 1000 site campground and a 160 room, 3 star hotel named Lodge on the Lake.
But the park doesn’t have the same population base as the chain’s other properties.
The park is located in Corfu, New York, which has a population of just 700 people.
The surrounding towns are similarly small. The park’s biggest attendance draws are
locals from Buffalo and Rochester, which are just under an hour away.
The big gold mine the park really needs to tap into are tourists visiting the nearby Niagara
Falls. I can’t recall seeing any ads for the park when I’ve stayed over there. Meanwhile,
you see commercials and brochures for Marineland everywhere, regardless of which side you’re
visiting. And to put it bluntly, Darien Lake is a far more complete amusement park.
And it’s a pretty good deal. Six Flags has changed their pricing structure more often
than Russell Westbrook has changed teams in recent years. As of this recording,
daily admission costs $40 if you buy in advance online. I have no clue what they currently charge
at the gate, but I’m guessing it’s more than that. Then you also have to pay $20 to park.
Alternatively, you can buy a season pass. These are being sold for the
super low price of $65. That’s a steal, especially since it includes parking.
This park makes a nice first impression. Ride of Steel’s drop and camelbacks run alongside
the main road. Then the park’s water park and several coasters are adjacent to the parking lot.
Seeing a skyline like this always gets me excited for my day. And the park revitalized
its main entrance to this colorful lodge. But there are actually two additional
entrances in the back of the park- one by Boomerang and another by Motocoaster.
These are extremely convenient for guests staying at the campground or lodge. But any guest is more
than welcome to use them. And you probably will because this park’s layout is sort of weird.
There are so many dead ends at this park. Specifically the midways to
several major coasters. You access Ride of Steel by walking underneath Predator and there
is nothing else back there. No other rides nor facilities. Then Mind Eraser is located at the end
of this long pathway a ways from the main midway. But the most egregious dead ends are the ones by
Boomerang and Motocoaster. These two rides are physically near each on the shore of Fun Lake.
But to get between them from within the park, you need to walk all the way around Fun Lake. It’s
actually faster to use those back two entrances. Exit the park by one and re-enter using the other.
It really baffles me why these two rides aren’t connected without leaving the park. It’s strange
to have two separate entrances so close to each other. It would make more sense if there
was a pathway within the park connecting these rides and just one entrance for resort guests.
Cuda Falls also used to be separated from the rest of the water park.
You used to have to cross a bridge over the main midway to access this one slide tower.
The placement reminded me of Hyena Falls at Holiday World. The slide closed after the 2014
season and this plot has sat vacant ever since. Viper’s entrance and exit is another weird one.
The entrance is off the main midway beneath the ride’s first drop. You then have to walk this
long windy path to reach the station, which is on the eastern most edge of the property.
The exit then dumps you off near the station in the back of Rowdy’s Ridge, nowhere near
the ride’s entrance. If Rowdy’s Ridge is closed for staffing, which can happen at the start and
end of the season, Viper has an alternate exit that will dump you off by the lake. This makes
it pretty annoying to reride this coaster. But how does this park look? This is a mixed
bag. Let’s start with the good. I love how rides are built right against the lakes. It looks great
off-ride and enhances the on-ride experience too. Then the newer attractions look good. These ones
have fresh coats of paint and the entire Rowdy’s Ridge area looks nice. And the park’s buildings
look good too. Some have traditional architecture while others have a woodsy/lodge vibe.
Onto the bad. This park has closed quite a few rides in recent years.
Some of these were outright removed, causing some pathways to feel awkwardly open and empty. Others
are standing but not operating, just withering away like the Grizzly Run river rapids ride.
Not helping the overall atmosphere is the lackadaisical attitude of many employees.
Some are good. The ones working Ride of Steel and Predator were super friendly. But most
seemed like they didn’t want to be there. Now let’s talk about the operations.
A lot of Six Flags parks ban loose articles from being stored on the ride platform of
the major coasters. The only coaster with this policy at Darien Lake is Ride of Steel.
At that ride, you can either place your bag in a paid locker or they offer
unsupervised cubbies adjacent to the entrance. The speed at which employees check restraints
is fine. The biggest issue with this park is that nearly every coaster has just one train. The only
coaster that ever runs two is the Gerstlauer Eurofighter that has just 8 person cars. This
means the coaster lines do not move very fast. I’ve seen many coaster lines hover around the
20-30 minute mark on quiet days, so I can imagine this place is miserable on a busy weekend.
So what are my tips for avoiding long lines? If you arrive at opening, I would head to
Ride of Steel first. This is the park’s most popular ride and it’s the one you’ll
likely want to ride a few times. You can usually get a few rides early before a line
forms, especially if you like the front row. The best way to avoid crowds is to visit on a
rainy day. This is always a gamble with US parks. Some will close major rides in inclement weather.
Then many parks will close early citing low attendance. I visited this park on a
very rainy day expecting the worst last year, but the park remained open as scheduled and
rides only closed for a half hour stretch when there was a nearby lightning strike.
If you encounter long lines, the park does have the Flash Pass skip-the-line system.
You can either purchase an unlimited option or single shots.
If you use the Flash Pass, just note you likely won’t get a choice of seat. Most rides will
route you up the exit and you’re placed in a random row, usually towards the middle.
With all that out of the way, let’s delve into the ride lineup. For all this park’s warts,
I actually like its attractions. The park currently has 8 different
coasters. The lineup skews more towards thrills, which is right up my wheelhouse.
The best of the bunch is Ride of Steel. This was the prototype Intamin hyper coaster.
The layout has some dead spots between the large helixes and straight track, but it at least has an
interesting setting over the water and the ride’s best moments are incredible. Every single hill has
powerful ejector airtime. I particularly love the intensity of the final few hills and the sustained
negative Gs on the third hill. See my review for more, but this is a worthy headlining attraction.
The park’s lone wood coaster is Predator. This Dinn creation has a really negative
reputation in the coaster community, but I genuinely like this coaster…as long as you avoid
a wheel seat. I specifically recommend waiting however long necessary for the very front row.
There, this is a shockingly good ride. The first two-thirds have strong airtime pops,
and it’s usually paired with laterals since most hills turn at the apex. The finale fizzles out,
but I think this ride gets way too much hate. Check out my review for my in-depth thoughts.
The park’s newest coaster is Tantrum. This was a Gerstlauer Eurofighter added right
before Six Flags reacquired the park. It’s a clone of Iron Shark and the layout does a
lot in a small footprint. The beyond-vertical drop has strong ejector airtime. Then you have
a series of disorienting maneuvers mixing in some hangtime, airtime, and positive Gs.
And this all occurs with ultra-freeing lap bars. This is yet another coaster I have a
separate review for if you want to learn more. Viper is the park’s oldest major coaster and it’s
still one of their more popular rides. This Arrow multi-looper may have some shaky parts, the ride
has its moments. The first drop delivers a potent pop of airtime. Then all 5 inversions deliver.
The first three have crushing positive Gs. Then the final two corkscrews offer
some hangtime since you navigate them with so little speed. I know some enthusiasts
rank this ride more than me, but as I said in my review, I appreciate this ride’s history.
One ride I cannot appreciate is Mind Eraser. This is a wretched Vekoma SLC. While I’ll admit
this inverted coaster has an action-packed layout, it is horrifically rough. You will be
subjected to non-stop headbanging between the poor trackwork and bulky over-the-shoulder restraints.
Boomerang is another heavily cloned coaster from Vekoma, but this one is tolerable.
This one doesn’t have too much headbanging, so it’s easier to appreciate the punchy initial
drop and three forceful inversions going both forwards and backwards.
The final major coaster is Motocoaster. This was Zamperla’s prototype motorbike coaster
and it’s a really sold ride. The launch has some genuine force to it. Then the layout,
while repetitive, has some quick dips and fun turns thanks to the novel seating position.
The last coaster is Hoot N Holler. This is a Zierer kiddie coaster exclusively for kids. So
this is one credit I will never be able to get. On that note, let’s talk about this park’s kid’s
areas. First is Beaver Brothers Bay. This was the former Looney Tunes area and I think it
looks really nice. It has a lot of greenery and a half dozen rides exclusively for kids.
Then you have Rowdy’s Ridge. This has some rides exclusively for kids and others that can
comfortably accommodate adults as well. The most notable ride over here is Moose on the Loose. This
ride is a masterpiece. It’s a track-guided ride where you sit on a moose that bobs back and forth.
And there’s goofy narration start-to-finish. This ride needs to be experienced to be believed.
Moving onto the adult flats, Darien Lake has removed a lot of notable ones in recent years.
This includes a lot of classic Huss thrill rides. I used to love
the Ranger inverting swinging ship and the Twister top spin.
Then the park lost their best observation ride in the 16 story tall Giant Wheel.
But they still have a formidable lineup. You still have some older spinning rides.
Then the park has invested in some newer flats as well. Three I want to highlight.
First is the SkyScreamer. This is the park’s tallest ride, standing 24 stories tall.
This Funtime Star Flyer offers a great view of the park and surrounding lakes. And this
one has a good cycle too in terms of duration and rotational speed.
Second is Blast Off. This is a 185 foot or 56 meter tall S&S Space Shot. The launch and
airtime aren’t as strong as some installations, but you still get a sweet view at the top.
Third is Rolling Thunder. While the park lost Ranger, this Larson Super
Loop has the same strengths. You get oodles of hangtime as you stall out or slowly invert.
The park has also lost their two best water rides in recent years.
The park used to have a really good log flume named Thunder Rapids. The final drop was
particularly tall for the genre. Then you had a solid river rapids ride in Grizzly Run. It
went through the woods and you were guaranteed to get soaked thanks to the unavoidable waterfalls.
The one remaining water ride is Shipwreck Falls. It’s a standard
Intamin shoot-the-chutes. The drop is zippy and then you are doused by a massive wave.
Your best option for water rides is the attached Hurricane Harbor water park.
You have a well-rounded slide lineup. Brain Drain is a thrilling trapdoor slide. Then you have a mix
of different tube slides to satisfy all tastes. One thing I haven’t been able to see is the park’s
Laser Light show. I’ve heard it’s a really cool nighttime spectacular over the lake with lights
and music, but I’ve never been at the park on a day when they’ve stayed open past sunset.
Another thing that should not be missed is the park’s Fascination Parlor.
Most parks have removed these, so I’m stunned you can still find one at a large chain park
like this. I’m worried it may not have much time left, but it’s such an addicting game.
It’s a cross between skeeball and tic-tac-toe. And it’s a reasonably priced midway game too!
Moving onto the food, Darien Lake doesn’t have as many venues accepting the meal
plan as other Six Flags parks. The food quality is pretty typical for Six Flags,
but there is an Anchor Bar location. This was the restaurant that inverted the Buffalo Wing.
If you don’t have a meal plan, know the food is extremely pricey for what you get.
The one weird food experience I had occurred last year. I used one of my meals on chicken and fries.
The chicken was solid, but the fries were cold and tasteless. As I went to throw them out, an
employee working a midway game ran over and asked if they could have them. I was honestly surprised
a Six Flags employee would be allowed to do that! So do I recommend Six Flags Darien Lake? Yes I do.
While it is one of the weaker Six Flags parks, it is still an enjoyable park. Parts of the park look
nice and there are some notable rides too. Ride of Steel alone makes the park worth visiting,
but you also have some good supporting coasters like Predator, Tantrum, and Viper. Then the
non-coasters aren’t too shabby either. And if you have a really good water park too. The two things
this park can improve upon are the appearance in some areas and the subpar operations.
How much time should you spend here? I would suggest a full day if it’s your first-time.
This gives you ample time to ride all the coasters if the park is busy. And you’ll definitely want to
stay until closing if you spend time in the water park and/or want to see the laser light show.
The nearby Seabreeze may be the best park in the area for families,
but Six Flags Darien Lake is definitely your top option for thrills in the upstate New York area.
Unless you want to cross the border and drive past Toronto to get to Canada’s Wonderland.
So those are my thoughts about Six Flags Darien Lake, upstate New York’s Six Flags park. What are
your thoughts about this park- whether it be the constant changes in ownership, the rides,
or anything else I talked about? Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!