Six Flags Darien Lake

Amusement park in the United States


Six Flags Darien Lake
Location
Darien Center, New York, USA
Status Operating
Opened 1979
Owner EPR Properties (November 2016 - present)
Operator Six Flags (2018 - present)
Premier Parks (2015 - 2017)
Herschend Family Entertainment (January 2011 - 2014)
PARC Management (March 2007 - January 2011)
General manager Mark Kane
Previous names Darien Lake (2006-2018), Six Flags Darien Lake (1999-2006), Darien Lake Fun Country
Area 980 acres
Website https://sixflags.com/darienlake

Six Flags Darien Lake is an amusement park located in Darien Center, New York, USA.

History

Darien Lake first opened in 1954 as a campground, but later expanded into a theme park between the years of 1979 and 1981. The park's first roller coaster, Hoot N Holler opened in 1981. In 1982, Darien Lake introduced the first roller coaster in the world with five inversions, Viper. In 1990, The Predator opened at Darien Lake as the largest wooden coaster in New York state. In 1996, an indoor roller coaster Nightmare at Phantom Cave was relocated from Kentucky Kingdom where it operated as Starchaser. In 1999, Nightmare at Phantom was relocated to Great Escape in Queensbury, New York, as Nightmare at Crack Axle Canyon. It operated at The Great Escape until 2006. In 1997, the Mind Eraser opened as the only suspended looping coaster in New York state. The following year, Boomerang: Coast to Coaster opened. Then in 1999, Superman: Ride of Steel (Now known as Ride of Steel) was built as the tallest and fastest roller coaster in New York State. In 2018, a new coaster, Tantrum, a Gerstlauer EuroFighter 380 and virtual copy of Iron Shark at Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier, opened with much acclaim.[1]

On March 29, 1982 Ohio-based Funtime Parks acquired a 50% stake in the park.[2] In June 1985, Funtime purchased the other 50% and became the sole owner of the park.[3] Darien Lake was sold to Premier Parks on August 15, 1995 as part of a $60 million deal that also included Geauga Lake and Wyandot Lake.[4]

As part of a restructuring, in 2007 Six Flags sold Darien Lake to PARC Management. PARC simultaneously sold the park to CNL Lifestyle Properties who leased it back to PARC to operate.[5] Herschend Family Entertainment took over operations of Darien Lake and Elitch Gardens, starting January 25, 2011.[6] Operations were transferred to Premier Parks after the 2014 season.[7]

In November 2016, the park was sold to the Missouri-based EPR Properties. EPR are known for owning the Schlitterbahn chain of waterparks.[8]

On May 22, 2018, it was announced that Six Flags had repurchased the park's operating lease along with four other former Six Flags properties, including Frontier City in Oklahoma.[9] The park officially returned to Six Flags branding for the 2019 Season.[10]

Darien Lake announced in September 2020 that it would remain closed until 2021 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. At that time, the state of New York had not allowed amusement parks to reopen.[11]

Roller coasters

Present(8)

Name Manufacturer Type Opened Status
Boomerang Coast to Coaster Vekoma Shuttle May 16, 1998 Operating
Hoot N Holler Zierer Kiddie May 1981 Operating
Mind Eraser Vekoma Inverted May 17, 1997 Operating
Moto Coaster Zamperla Motorbike May 3, 2008 Operating
Predator Dinn Corporation Wooden May 25, 1990 Operating
Ride of Steel Intamin Hyper May 15, 1999 Operating
Tantrum Gerstlauer Steel May 25, 2018 Operating
Viper Arrow Dynamics Sit-Down May 29, 1982 Operating

Past

Name Manufacturer Type Opened Closed Fate
Nightmare At Phantom Cave Schwarzkopf Enclosed 1996 1998 Relocated to Great Escape

Cancelled

Attractions

Operating

Name Manufacturer Type Opened
Bear Valley Bumper Buggies Barbieri Dodgems 1979
Beaver Dam Explorer Zamperla Junior Flying Carpet 1996
Blast Off S&S Worldwide Drop Tower 2013
Bucky's Barrels Zamperla Junior Ferris Wheel 1996
Chucky's Mud Buckets Zamperla Junior Teacups 1996
Corn Popper HUSS Ramba Zamba/Swingaround 1982
Critter Chase Zamperla Junior Jets 2010
Grand Carousel Unknown Carousel 1980
Grand Prix Speedway Unknown Go-Karts 1987
Haymaker Heinz Fahtz Paratrooper 1980
Hornet's Nest Larson International Flying Scooters 2012
Lasso Zierer Waveswinger 1980
Moose on the Loose Metallbau Emmeln Pony Trek 2012
Pirate HUSS Pirate Ship 1981
Raccoon Rally Unknown Junior Dodgems 1980
Red Hawk Sky Fun 1 Inc. Skycoaster 1995
Rolling Thunder Larson International Super Loop 2015
Rowdy's Heave Ho Sunkid-Heege Tower 2012
Scrambler Eli Bridge Company Scrambler 2014
Shipwreck Falls Intamin Shoot The Chute 2002
Silver Bullet Heinz Fahtz Enterprise 1980
SkyScreamer Funtime Star Flyer 2019
Sleighride Mack Rides Matterhorn 1981
Slingshot Funtime Slingshot 2002
Tin Lizzy's Arrow Dynamics Track Ride 1981
Tree Stump Turnpike Zamperla Track Ride 1996
Wally's Weather Balloons Zamperla Samba Balloon 1996
Woody's Whirlers Zamperla Junior Chair-O-Plane 1996

Closed

Name Manufacturer Type Opened Closed Fate
BMX Motocross Hampton Rides Roundabout 1980s 2011 Relocated to Elitch Gardens
Crazy Quilt Mack Rides Calypso 1981 1998 Scrapped
Critter Chase Zamperla Junior Jets 1988 1997 Stored - reopened in 2010
Giant Wheel Vekoma Ferris Wheel 1983 2019 Scrapped
Grizzly Run Intamin River Rapids 1989 2019 Scrapped
Raft Adventures Zamperla Junior Jets 1996 2010 Unknown
Raging Seas Mack Rides Sea Storm 1981 2012 Scrapped
Ranger HUSS Ranger 1982 2015 Scrapped
Red Baron Chance Rides Junior Jets 1980 Unknown Unknown
Scrambler Eli Bridge Company Scrambler 1999 2011 Stored - reopened in 2014
Thrillbilly HUSS Troika 1981 1983 Unknown
Thunder Rapids Arrow Dynamics Log Flume 1981 2017 Scrapped
Twister HUSS Top Spin 2000 2018 Scrapped
UFO HUSS Round-Up 1982 2012 Scrapped

References

  1. "Darien Lake Opens Tantrum". Amusement Insider.
  2. "Geauga Lake-Funtime posts earnings decline". The Akron Beacon Journal.
  3. "Funtime buys all of park". The Akron Beacon Journal.
  4. "3 Theme Parks Sold To Premier". The Daily Oklahoman.
  5. "Six Flags sells parks for $312 million". Variety.
  6. "Herschend Family Entertainment To Manage DARIEN LAKE THEME PARK RESORT and ELITCH GARDENS" (PDF). CNL Lifestyle Properties and Herschend Family Entertainment. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |archive= ignored (help)
  7. "Darien Lake's new owner: 'Business as usual' at theme park". NYup.com.
  8. "Darien Lake has new owner, who isn't talking about theme park's future".
  9. "Six Flags Adds Five More Parks to US Portfolio". Business Wire.
  10. "Darien Lake Adds Six Flags Branding + New Swing Tower in 2019". NewsPlusNotes.
  11. "Six Flags Darien Lake + The Great Escape Announce Plans to Stay Closed in 2020". NewsPlusNotes.
Amusement parks operated by Six Flags