I've always kind of wondered if the new trains should have had modifications but the state never forced a clearance envelope. I know for a fact on the Riddler at SFNE you can touch all the supports going up the lift hill with the new trains, but never been brave enough to try the rest of the ride
Attraction The DareDeviler
- Thread starter Coasternerd
- Start date
Soooo… The Daredeviler is back today. I attended media day and rode 11 times, both with enthusiasts and locals, lots of notes;
- We had our first park ribbon cutting in many years, a welcome change indeed. The costumed characters were a nice touch.
- Coaster has new trains from SFA and mild track work. There’s a couple of jolts on the helix and it runs a little slower there, but there is no pain and I quite enjoyed myself. No longer absolute garbage. Runs better than Raptor is right now. Believe me that bar is low.
- There is new themed music around the Grande World Expo area, although the speakers play propeller noises whenever a train passes nearby. Really nifty party trick.
- Ride is still having teething issues, with red train in particular. It had two stretches of downtime.
- The vibe is ALOT happier. Between the music, fresh paint, and trimmed hedges this feels like something that should have been done ages ago. I would have preferred a new coaster altogether but they made this one work.
- We got nearly a full queue today, the largest it has ever had since its Top Gun days. The switchbacks that had not been used since the Top Gun era were reopened and full today. Boarding groups were flooding the exit. Absolute insanity for a thirty-year-old ride, it could not have gotten this line if it were closing.
Glad to hear the reception has been so positive! Hopefully this opens the door for Six Flags to undertake similar marketable renovation/retheme/overhauls of other existing attractions. United Parks has seen a ton of success with this strategy recently—glad to see it embraced by Six Flags successfully here. There's still plenty of attention to be grabbed and money to be made off of these aging assets—they just need some reinvestment from time to time for that potential to be realized.
Little PSA two weeks out… the reopening day crowds were not a one off.
Almost daily since it’s been sticking up queues around the 2 hour mark, it has one of the largest queues in the park and that’s been filling daily. Part of it is the lower capacity, part of it is the line being hidden away from guest eyesight, but mostly there’s just been this huge surge of renewed interest to absolute ridiculous levels.
The ride is fun, but it’s not 2 hours fun, so if any of you are coming up and want to ride for some reason I suggest you plan ahead.
Almost daily since it’s been sticking up queues around the 2 hour mark, it has one of the largest queues in the park and that’s been filling daily. Part of it is the lower capacity, part of it is the line being hidden away from guest eyesight, but mostly there’s just been this huge surge of renewed interest to absolute ridiculous levels.
The ride is fun, but it’s not 2 hours fun, so if any of you are coming up and want to ride for some reason I suggest you plan ahead.
That’s an unparalleled return on investment! Given the success here I imagine this might happen at more Six Flags parks. I wonder if the park would be willing to give it the full “NorEaster” treatment if the ride is still receiving healthy ridership next season
I don't see why they would spend more money if what they've done already has been enough to skyrocket ridership like this
I was pretty negative about this whole thing for a good while but if they've actually turned this ride into something popular that can draw crowds somewhere new then I must concede I was pretty wrong to judge, haha.
Here's hoping the parks future does more attempts at theming, the place could really use it
Here's hoping the parks future does more attempts at theming, the place could really use it