Six Flags Darien Lake is an interesting Six Flags property. Over the past 25 years,
the chain has acquired, sold, and reacquired the park. While Darien Lake may not have the
same rides as the chain’s larger parks, it still has a formidable attraction lineup
with 8 different roller coasters, a few fun flat rides, and a full-fledged water park.
So in this video, I will rank this New York park’s top 15 rides and attractions.
Before starting the countdown, I want to note a few rides that will and will not be included.
First, this list will not include Mind Eraser. There are a lot of bad Vekoma SLCs
out there and this one is among the worst. Prepare for a boatload of headbanging.
Second, this list will not include any upcharge attractions.
Third, this list will not include Wahoo Wave. While I’ve ridden similar slides elsewhere,
I didn’t venture into Hurricane Harbor in my most recent visits. But other water slides from
Hurricane Harbor will be included on this list. I don’t have much footage for Darien
Lake’s water park, so I may have to show similar attractions at other parks in those situations.
Fourth, this list will include a few defunct attractions I experienced in
my original visit to the park in 2010.
15) Moose on the Loose- This ride is goofy in the best way possible. It’s one of those pony
trek rides targeted more towards kids, but adults are more than welcome to ride. This
attraction’s ridiculous narration always brings a smile to my face.
14) Shipwreck Falls- This Intamin shoot-the-chutes ride is short
but satisfying…if you want to get soaked. You have a zippy drop followed by a giant splash.
13) Blast Off- This S&S space shot offers a great view, which makes sense since it’s one
of the park’s tallest rides at 18 stories tall. The ride is lacking in the power department
though. The launch is just ok and you only get some weak floater airtime at the top.
12) Rolling Thunder- This Larson Super Loop has some great hangtime. You’ll come out of
your seat on every revolution, especially the ones where you nearly stall out.
11) Boomerang- This Vekoma boomerang is a decent one. It’s thankfully not one
of the rough ones. The initial drop has some punch. Then you have three forceful inversions
going both forwards and backwards. They’re particularly disorienting going in reverse.
Twister- This was a solid Huss top spin. I heard it ran a better program in its later
years, but when I experienced it, I got a quick series of forceful flips at the start
before a series of tame and uneventful rocking. Ranger- This Huss swinging inverter ship offered
similar sensations to the super loop, but you had less restrictive restraints. Instead of
over-the-shoulder restraints, you were secured by a lap bar, which accentuated the hangtime.
10) Cannon Ball Run- This ProSlide tube bowl slide is enjoyable as always. The initial
plunge is fast and sizable. Then you have the fun visual spiraling around the giant toilet bowl.
9) Mister Twister- This ProSlide creation is a tube slide with a series of mini funnels.
These have fun little dips into them followed by an abrupt and
turbulent half pipe that’ll throw you about. 8) Tornado- This is your standard ProSlide
giant funnel slide and that’s fine by me. The drop is steep and offers a bit of airtime.
Then the giant funnel offers a pinch of weightlessness with some neat visuals.
Grizzly Run- My memory of this Intamin rapids ride is admittedly foggy, but I remember it being
decent for the genre. It was a fairly secluded ride with a few ok rapids. But the best element
were the soaking and mostly unavoidable waterfalls that’ll leave you dripping from head to toe.
7) Sky Screamer- This Funtime Star Flyer stands 24 stories tall, making it the tallest theme
park attraction in New York. This one has great visuals as you get a birds-eye view of the park,
campground, and water. Then it also has some force, particularly on the lower
sections when you spin faster. And this one has a long cycle featuring 2 ascents.
All these reasons are why it’s easily my favorite flat ride at the park.
Thunder Rapids- This was a pretty good Arrow log flume. This one featured a tunnel
and two drops with the final one being surprisingly tall and thrilling for the
genre. This is the ride removal that stung most for me since it was the park’s best water ride.
6) Viper- This Arrow multi-looper opened as the first coaster with 5 inversions.
This ride is nearly 4 decades old and you can tell. Some spots have jackhammering, headbanging,
and slamming, which isn’t too surprising for this type of ride. But it’s mostly tolerable for me
since I’m tall enough to clear the top of the over-the-shoulder restraint. So I can enjoy the
nice ejector air in the first drop, the forceful trio of inversions in the first half, and the
slow corkscrews that offer a pinch of hangtime. 5) Motocoaster- This is the Prototype Zamperla
motorbike coaster. Despite the ride’s modest height and speed, the initial flywheel launch
has some nice power to it. Then you have a series of layered turns and dips. I especially
like the moments when the track rises into the turns, which gives this weird diagonal airtime.
This is a layout I don’t mind being cloned because it does a lot in a little space.
4) Brain Drain- This duo of ProSlide speed slides stands 7 stories tall. The initial
plunge is thrilling between the suddenness of the trapdoor falling out and the steepness.
Then the twists are smooth, fast, and moderately forceful. This slide is a rush!
3) Tantrum- This Gerstlauer Eurofighter is a clone of Iron Shark and it has some nice elements.
That’s especially true since you have more freeing lap bars than the usual
over-the-shoulder restraints. The beyond vertical drop has some intense ejector airtime. You
also have a little hangtime, some smaller spurts of airtime, and some strong positive Gs at points.
And all this is paired with a glass smooth ride. The coaster is pretty short,
but the layout certainly packs a punch. 2) Predator- This ranking reflects a ride in the
front row. Up there, this Dinn creation is fairly smooth and tolerable. But if you ride in a wheel
seat, this ride has the potential to be one of the worst in the park, which isn’t too surprising
given its reputation in the coaster community. I actually really like this ride’s layout. The first
two-thirds has strong airtime and it’s extra sweet since it’s usually paired with laterals. Few rides
offer as many instances of laterals and airtime simultaneously. I have an entire review going into
more detail, but this is a very underrated coaster that I think gets too much hate.
1) Ride of Steel- This is the prototype Intamin hyper coaster and we owe a lot to this ride for
what came later. This ride has some great moments. The third hill has some powerful and sustained
ejector airtime. Then several other hills, particularly those on the finale, also offer
strong negative Gs. The ride also has incredible speed and a wonderful location over the water.
The coaster is far from perfect though. It has imperfect pacing due to the straight track and
repetitive helixes. I have an entire review on this attraction, but it’s the main reason
coaster enthusiasts will want to visit this park. So those are the top 15 rides and attractions at
Six Flags Darien Lake. What are your favorite rides at this New York theme park? Is Ride of
Steel your favorite as well? Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed this countdown, 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!