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Wednesday, September 11, 2024

2024 Summer Trip - Six Flags Darien Lake - 2024/07/28

It's just a day until my birthday, and the kids were wondering what I might like as a gift for it. Hmm. Well, as we drove to our RV site, I noticed the exit also pointed to a Six Flags park nearby. I do like roller coasters... So, the night before, I signed myself, Ian, and Alli up for a monthly membership to Six Flags! For just $8 a month (minimum 12 months), we can visit ANY Six Flags Park! Looks like if you go to a more popular Six Flags (New Jersey for instance), it's $10/mo. 

This summer trip just got a little more interesting! 


Only 12 minutes from our RV was Six Flags Darien Lake! And our pass includes free parking! 

Theresa, not interested in a day full of roller coasters, headed off to Planet Fitness after dropping me and the kids off for the day. 

What should we start with? It's about 12:30pm. Lunch? 
No! Roller Coasters! 
The first ride we saw on the way in was a wooden coaster named Predator! 

And even though it's a Sunday in the middle of summer, the line to ride wasn't that long! 20 minutes later, we were at the front! 

Six Flags is pretty vocal about no phones or videos out on the ride, so I didn't have mine out. Here's a clip I found though of someone else who rode it. 

It was a classic wooden coaster and a good start to the day. Later, this ride went down and would stay down for the rest of the day. Good thing we got it in early! 

Now lunch? 
No! Ride of Steel, which was closed according to the app before, we could see while we were riding Predator. It was sending coasters! Let's go ride!
This ride was even more strict, not wanting any bags, hats, glasses, or anything! Put them in the paid lockers instead. That seemed a little excessive, so I asked if I could tuck my hat and sunglasses in my shirt (like most other places let you do). I got the affirmative and we hopped in a very short line. 

Ride of Steel was awesome! Very fast. Low to the ground, so you can feel the speed. Some fun negative g's where you feel like you'll float out of your seat. 

Best ride of the day so far! That 200' drop at the beginning followed by another big hill was awesome!

Thumbs up from everyone! 

Now it's time for lunch? Yes! 

One of the add-on options for the pass was a dining plan to go with our pass. For $129, we can get 2 meals every time we visit! 
For lunch, Ian opted for a slice of pizza, which came with 2 garlic knots ($15).  

Alli wanted Chicken Strips, which came with fries and onion rings together ($19.49). Ouch, I have a feeling we'll be making up that $129 sooner than later. 

Everyone has heard of the tasty snack food, the Buffalo Wing. Did you know that it was created in Buffalo New York, just a few minutes down the street? I had thought about going to the original site, but that would have interfered with going to Six Flags today. But lucky for me, the original site has turned into a chain! And they've got a site here inside Six Flags Darien Lake! 

Buffalos do have wings, right? 

So, I get to try Frank and Teressa's Anchor Bar Buffalo Wings!

Prices are... steep. 5 wings plus fries for $19.49. None of these meals have included a drink either. 
The wings were meaty, which was a pleasant surprise. They were lightly crispy, versus some of the heavier breaded ones I've had before. Saucing was minimal. They weren't the best wings I've ever had, but definitely not the worst. I'm happy to have been able to try them out. 

What better thing to do after lunch than go on a Boomerang coaster, aptly name Boomerang! 

You start at the load zone, then get pulled backwards up a lift hill! Once you reach the required height, suddenly you're released and zoom through the station, doing a couple inversions and a loop before ended up at another lift hill. You're pulled up that hill, then released again, to do everything one more time but reversed! 

The kids had a lot of fun, and it was here that we learned that the Six Flags employees don't mind so much if you want to ride again! If there's no one waiting for your spot, just stay seated, no problem. If there is someone waiting, move forwards or backwards and find another open seat. No need to walk around and wait in line again! We rode this one 3 times in a row! 

The next coaster in our walk around the park was called Viper! 

I don't know what was going on with this one, but it felt extra shaky for us. We rode in the front rows, but afterwards decided once was enough and we didn't need another ride. 

Thank you Viper, but no thank you.

It has been a pretty hot one today. Despite being in the shade when we can, the kids cheeks are getting rosy. I know Six Flags offers a season drink cup, but unlike Cedar Point where you get a paper cup at each location and can throw it away, Six Flags gives you a refillable cup that you have to hang onto all season. That means bringing it with you every time you go on a ride, and I wasn't sure how much that would be allowed on these big coasters. 
Instead, when practical, we got cups of ice water when we saw the opportunity. 

Rolling Thunder is a giant loop of a coaster that goes back and forth a bit until finally it make an entire loop! After a few loops in one direction, it reverses and does a few loops in the other direction. As an added bonus, the seats are facing each other, so I can watch the kids as we're going upside down. 
This was a whole lot of fun and was one of Ian and Alli's favorite for the day. 

The Silver Bullet wasn't a coaster, but a spinning ride that goes fast enough to spin you upside down! 
Each "cart" could hold 2 people, so the kids took turns riding with me. And this one had no seat belts! Just a cage you're closed into and off you go! 

Fun enough to do twice. 

Phew! More water. And AC too. It's been a hot one. 

So... if there's one ride Alli won't do, it's a drop ride. She's been great going on every coaster so far, but has that little bit of fear about losing her stomach on a drop ride. I promised T that even though we were all at the park, I wouldn't push her to ride anything she didn't want to go on. 
We all hopped into the line for Blast Off, a 185 foot drop tower, because Ian loves this style of ride. I hadn't decided yet if I'd wait with Alli while Ian went alone, or just have her wait at the exit, but as we got closer to the front, she pronounced "I'm going to try it."
Really? Awesome Alli! 
We talked through it a little bit so we knew what was coming. She watched a few riders before us and then it was our turn. 

We hopped onto our seats and got buckled in. I sat between Alli and Ian. A few seconds later, it was time to literally Blast Off! We shot up into the air and I watched Alli the whole time. She was holding on tight, but still smiling! After we reached the top, it was time to fall back down. But it wasn't so much of a freefall as a controlled lowering descent. Alli came off the ride loving it, saying that she didn't lose her stomach once! Awesome girl! A whole new style of rides might be opening up for you now! 

Okay, it's just too hot. I went ahead and bought a refillable drink mug for $35. We quickly drained it, then went back for 2 more refills. The per-refill cost of this is going to be going down dramatically today. 

Near the back of the park, away from most things is the Six Flags Sky Screamer. 

This swing ride lifts you 242 feet into the air (yes Alli, higher than Niagara Falls 167'), and spins you around at 35mph! I was surprised at how much spin we were getting, going so far out with centripetal force. It was a whole lot of fun!  

During our wandering around to different coasters, we found a Pirate Ship ride appropriately named Pirate. This ship swung slowly back and forth, never going more than 66 feet high and topping out at a 73 degree angle. Probably the most tame thing we've been on so far today. 

But you wouldn't know it based on some of the other riders. Little kids screaming bloody murder after their parents pulled them onto this ride. Since it was a short line, we rode this one in a few different rows. 

The Boomerang called us back, so we rode a few more times on that. 

Ride of Steel was a fun one, but this time my sunglasses did not survive the trip inside my shirt. One of the lenses popped out, never to be found again. Good thing they were a cheap pair I got for running. 

The ride that has had the longest line we've seen today just hasn't been getting better. 45-60 minutes every time we've checked. We have to try it though. 
All three of us hopped in line and slowly shuffled our way forwards to ride Tantrum! Once we got closer, we could tell why it was moving so slowly. There's just 1 train running! And it only holds 8 people! 

Tantrum pulls you straight up the lift hill, then drops you in a greater than 90 degree drop down the other side. 

It was fun, but I don't think I'd wait 45 minutes for it again. 


Dinner time! Wait! Koreans have Corn Dogs! Why hasn't my Korean family told me about these?!? They're all about the kimchi and other vegetable based things. These might be good! 
Unfortunately the shop selling these didn't open the entire day. We instead headed off to another place for dinner. 

There were a few options, but everyone just decided to get something at the same place and that would be easiest. Ian has a hot dog and chips ($16), chicken strips again for Alli ($19.49), and a burger for me ($18.49). Yep, that food pass will pay for itself after the third visit or so. 
And we've been going through the refills on that drink cup too! I think we were something like 11 for the day? 

To finish out the night, how about a few rides on our favorite coaster of the day, Rolling Thunder! 

It looks even better at night! 

We rode it until the park closed down. It was fun! 
There are many times on that ride where you're just hanging upside down 7 stories above the ground. 
Normally you do three loops one way, then reverse and do 3 loops the other way. On a rare occasion, you might get a 4th loop if the balance is just a little off. It was on our last ride where we were slowly going into that 4th loop and Ian screamed "We're not gonna make it! We're not gonna make it! We made it! I knew we would!" (from Disney's Animal Kingdom Dinosaur ride). It made us laugh. 

Even though it was a Sunday, I felt like we got plenty of rides in. Six Flags Darien Lake might be one of Six Flags smaller parks, but we had a fun time. It was a good introduction to what promises to be a very fun summer. Theresa was waiting for us in the parking lot and we all headed home to prep for another fun day tomorrow! What's tomorrow? Guess you'll have to wait and see Eh? 

1 comment:

  1. It's a wonder you three could still stand and walk normally after that full day of coaster rides!!!...all that looping and spinning! Having that Six Flags Pass means LOTS of roller coaster rides in the months ahead. Maybe the "Ride of Steel" should be "Stomach of Steel" :-) How anyone managed to enjoy a full meal after and before another coaster ride is amazing...and do the same coaster, "Boomerang", 3x's in a row without a rest! Must have been quite an unusual sight to see each other's expression during the upside-down portion of the "Rolling Thunder" coaster. Yes, the coaster looks much better & prettier all lit up at night. All that sun and heat really drains and dehydrates you...all those refills helped save the day! EOM

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