Karen and I spent a restful night at the Quality Inn just down the street from the Great Escape. In the morning we headed west to one of our favorite parks, Six Flags Darien Lake. The last time we visited the park, it was under a different management. In fact, the park had several different management companies since its inception in the 1950s. Premier Parks took over Darien Lake in 1995 and completely overhauled the place, adding dozens of rides including in 1999 one of the first Intamin hypercoasters, Superman: Ride of Steel. That’s when Karen and I first visited the park and we were really impressed. The park was sold repeatedly over the next few decades until finally Premier took back the park in 2014 and added many improvements. We last visited in 2017 and still loved the park. But just a year later, Premier sold the park to Six Flags (which Premier itself used to own). So we weren’t sure what to expect on this visit. It was a four hour drive from the Great Escape. We headed out at 7:00 in the morning and stopped for breakfast at a McDonald’s along the way. At about 8:30 I got a phone call from the Quality Inn. We had left one of our suitcases in our room. That was the first time that had ever happened to us. We always would double-check our room before leaving. So we had to turn around and travel all the way back to Glens Falls. That ended up adding three hours to our drive. The whole idea of stopping at parks along the way was to save us from having to drive for long hours. But because of that suitcase, it would have been no different had we started out from our home. We rolled into Darien at 2:30, exhausted. Fortunately, with our Six Flags pass we didn’t have to pay for parking nor entry. It was a beautiful day, with milder temperatures. Curiously, there were very few cars in the parking lot. The park entrance looked the same, only with a security gate on the entrance concourse. There were also a number of electric vehicle charging stations near there. There was also a large sandwich board warning guests that marijuana use was strictly prohibited. As we walked through the entrance, a large sign on the decorative bridge in front of us proudly proclaimed Six Flags with "Darien Lake" in tiny letters underneath. That was an omen of things to come. We were hungry, so we decided to head directly to the back of the park and visit our favorite restaurant, the Beaver Brothers Cafe. To get there, we would normally head toward the Motocoaster and walk past the row of shops that served the large campground. But when we got there, our egress was blocked by fences and security guards. They asked us what we were doing. I told them we wanted to go to the Beaver Brothers Cafe. One of the guards smiled and said, "No problem! You just need a hand stamp to get back in. And you can’t reenter here; you have to go around to the other side of the park by the lake and enter through the white tent." I thought that was really odd. Since when was the cafe outside the park? He then stamped not our hands but our forearms, which I thought was also odd. So Karen and I entered that small stretch of midway to find most of the shops closed up. We arrived at the Beaver Brothers Cafe to find that too shuttered. Apparently it no longer served meals when it was open; a sign on the door said it was buffet-style only. So we continued on our way. We found the white tent and reentered the park we had never left. Another thing that was odd and a bit sad is that the area past the white tent had a walkway along the lake that was really peaceful and picturesque. But that too was now considered "outside the park". We continued walking toward the center of the park where there was a Boardwalk area that used to have a wide selection of food. Along the way we passed the area that once contained the world’s tallest Ferris wheel which provided spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. One of the first things Six Flags did when they regained control of the park was to get rid of it. It was replaced by a generic Skycoaster, an upcharge attraction. The Boardwalk food court now featured the typical Six Flags menu: hamburgs, hot dogs and chicken strips. We continued on up a hill and past Viper, the big Arrow looping coaster, stopping at Prospectors Pizza which had the only food in the park we could eat — cheese pizza. So we each got a "meal" consisting of a slice of cheese pizza, a bag of potato chips and a small drink. That came to an eye-watering $42. And the pizza had obviously been sitting around for a while; it was lukewarm. After that disappointment we decided to take in some rides. We headed over to the Tin Lizzies, the antique car ride. Next to that, in place of the Huss Top Spin ride that occupied the spot, was a Sky Screamer, a swing ride that was at nearly all Six Flags parks. We hopped aboard the Tin Lizzies and drove around the barren grassy area next to the lakeside. After that we headed back toward the center of the park. It seemed like there was a lot more blacktop around, making the park feel hot and oppressive. We passed by Shipwreck Falls, the park’s shoot-the-chutes ride that produced a mild splash. I wanted to ride Predator, probably the best wooden roller coaster designed by Curtis Summers. Six Flags began replacing the wooden track with steel "Titan track" to cut down on maintenance. While that made for a smoother ride, it basically started turning the ride into a steel coaster. But I wanted to check it out for myself. We arrived at the station only to find that it was closed. So instead I went next door to Ride of Steel (formerly Superman). Karen passed on it. I queued up and in just a few minutes was in the station. There was a really long line for the front seat, so instead of making Karen wait I took the first seat of the second car. When we rolled out of the station, it felt like there were little stones caught in the wheels. It was oddly bumpy. We climbed the 200 foot lift and then plunged down, curving to the left. The second big hill produced wonderful strong airtime. Then we dove down into that gigantic double helix, across the odd straight run over the lake, into the second double helix and then the bunny hops back to the station. It was the roughest ride I’d ever had on that coaster. But it was still fun. The Six Flags New England variant was still far superior though. Fortunately the park still had its Perry’s Ice Cream shop near the front (even though the park's website -- which was a mess -- claimed to serve Tillamook ice cream). So we stopped there for something that actually tasted good. Karen got cookies and cream and I got caramel bourbon pecan. It was delicious. After that I shot another walk-thru video. And then we headed for our hotel. There really wasn’t much else to do. I had thought of riding Moose on the Loose, one of the more unique rides at the park. But we were both exhausted. This park was a real disappointment. Six Flags seemed to have run it into the ground. What little theming that remained (such as in Beaver Brothers Bay) seemed to have been neglected. There wasn’t much for us to do there, and from the small number of guests it seemed we weren’t alone in that thought. The entire park looked neglected. The queue for their Vekoma looping coaster, Mind Eraser, was barricaded off with a perfunctory sign saying the ride was closed. It looked abandoned, as did many areas of the park. Darien had the largest campground in New York, so you figured management would want to capitalize on that. But instead they seemingly abandoned the amenities that were designed for campers. The sign at the park's exit proclaimed, "We miss you already." I felt the same way: I missed the old Darien Lake that we used to know. I hoped that the merger of Six Flags and Cedar Fair was going to inject new life into the park. It used to be a unique and enjoyable destination. Maybe it just once again has to be pulled out from under Six Flags’ indifferent management.

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