Darien Lake: General Discussion

[Sam]

2014 - Lake Monster - Planning - (7/22/13) Darien Lake has sent out a guest survey this month that mentions a possible new roller coaster for 2014. They call it the Lake Monster and it sounds similar to Rocky Mountain Coaster’s Outlaw Run (and has a picture of it) that opened as sister park, Silver Dollar City. The description says it would feature the first “wing over drop” on a wooden coaster, a “Zero-G Camelback Hop Reversal” and “Suspended corkscrew” all within a 3,190 foot long course.

Good for the park, as they haven't had a major new coaster since Superman in 1999!

Does a 'wing over drop' mean a drop like The Swarm's?

p.s. apostrophe fail in that image

 

[Alastair]

They didn't exactly choose the finest time to announce a woodie, especially an inverting woodie did they?

 

[CGM]

Does a 'wing over drop' mean a drop like The Swarm's?

I'm just guessing but it made me think of something like the opening inversion on Drachen Fire or The Smiler. I'm intrigued as to what exactly they mean by "hop reversal" and "suspended corkscrew" as well. This is definitely one to watch.

They didn't exactly choose the finest time to announce a woodie, especially an inverting woodie did they?

I assume you're referring to the Texas Giant incident which whilst an RMC hybrid is neither a wooden coaster or a coaster with inversions. Most people are unlikely to realise that this is being made by the same manufacturer (assuming this is an RMC coaster which hasn't been confirmed) and will just see it as a new, unrelated coaster.

I think it just seems like an odd PR move because we're aware of the similarities between the Topper Track and Iron Horse track systems. If it were GCI or Gravity Group building this coaster, I doubt that this announcement would be raising as many eyebrows in the enthusiast community.

Obviously, the NTG situation has created a less than ideal PR environment in the US market but that doesn't mean that the industry should grind to a halt.

Edit- It seems that this was originally sent out before the NTG accident occurred so they were a little bit unlucky in that respect. Even so, I don't think that this will have too much of a bad impact on the perception of this coaster if it goes ahead. Outlaw Run after all is still operating and uses RMC trains rather than Gerstlauers.

 

[Tom]

I realise this will been answered before or known by many here, but what 'anti drop off' measures do these inverting woodies have on the inversion? Wheels under the track?

 

[Bear]

I realise this will been answered before or known by many here, but what 'anti drop off' measures do these inverting woodies have on the inversion? Wheels under the track?

Nearly all woodies (all of them built after like 1950) have upstop wheels like steel coasters

 

[Tom]

I realise this will been answered before or known by many here, but what 'anti drop off' measures do these inverting woodies have on the inversion? Wheels under the track?

Nearly all woodies (all of them built after like 1950) have upstop wheels like steel coasters

Thanks, I didn't even know that

 

[Alastair]

They didn't exactly choose the finest time to announce a woodie, especially an inverting woodie did they?

I assume you're referring to the Texas Giant incident which whilst an RMC hybrid is neither a wooden coaster or a coaster with inversions. Most people are unlikely to realise that this is being made by the same manufacturer (assuming this is an RMC coaster which hasn't been confirmed) and will just see it as a new, unrelated coaster.

I was thinking more along the lines of, the GP will see this as a wooden coaster (whatever the manufacturer) and the recent incident at SFOT will have put a lot of people off wooden coasters. Because it's wooden it will be tarred with the same brush as Texas Giant, whether it has inversions or not.

 

[CGM]

They didn't exactly choose the finest time to announce a woodie, especially an inverting woodie did they?

I assume you're referring to the Texas Giant incident which whilst an RMC hybrid is neither a wooden coaster or a coaster with inversions. Most people are unlikely to realise that this is being made by the same manufacturer (assuming this is an RMC coaster which hasn't been confirmed) and will just see it as a new, unrelated coaster.

I was thinking more along the lines of, the GP will see this as a wooden coaster (whatever the manufacturer) and the recent incident at SFOT will have put a lot of people off wooden coasters. Because it's wooden it will be tarred with the same brush as Texas Giant, whether it has inversions or not.

I'm not so sure, I think that the average American person is much more at ease with the idea of a wooden coaster than the average UK person as they're much more commonplace over there and wood is much more widely used as a building material in general. I haven't seen one comment in relation to the NTG incident attributing the accident to the fact it's a wooden structured coaster.

 

[Sam]

2014 - Sidewinder - Planning - (7/26/13) According to a reader, they received a different survey from Darien Lake over the past week that didn’t mention the Lake Monster at all, but instead talked about added a Giant Frisbee ride to the park, to be called Sidewinder. If they move on both of this, would this mean two new rides for 2014, or perhaps Sidewinder for 2014 and Lake Monster for 2015 instead? I suppose it is worth mentioning that the survey about Sidewinder came to them over this past weekend, just a day or so after the tragic death took place at Six Flags over Texas, which makes me also wonder if Lake Monster may take a back seat until the SFOT investigation is over.

Oh dear, looks like the effects of the TG-disaster are starting to ripple through the industry!

 

[Matt N]

As this is our only Darien Lake thread, I decided to post this here. Apparently, Darien Lake is teasing a 2018 attraction that will be the park's largest investment since the RipCurl water slide in 2016. It will also cost approximately $5million. What do you guys think would suit the park? I think a nice coaster, maybe a Gerstlauer Infinity/Euro-Fighter, would suit the park well.

 

[Matt N]

Sorry for double posting, but I bring good news: Darien Lake are getting a coaster in 2018! It will be a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter replacing the park's log flume. More specifically, the ride will be a clone of Iron Shark at Galveston Pier in Texas. As such, the statistics are:

• 100 feet tall.
• 1,246 feet long.
• 1 inversion (Immelmann).
• 95 degree drop.
• 1 minute long.
• Top speed of 52mph.
• 3 cars, with each one seating 8 riders.

I think this looks like a great investment for the park! What do you guys think?

 

[Brad97]

It will be called Tantrum.



It's a clone of Iron Shark, so nothing particularly exciting. Great for the park though, it desperately needed a new coaster.