Darien Lake

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**Darien Lake** is a resort located in Darien, New York that features a theme park, water park, campground and lodging. It is owned and operated by Mills Corporation's Xanadu Entertainment division.

## History

### Darien Lake Fun Country

In 1954, Darien Lake was excavated and filled. The lake was a popular swimming destination for many years. In 1964, investor Paul Snyder acquired a 164-acre parcel of land bordering the lake and opened a small 23-site campground and picnic area. Snyder continued acquiring more land eventually increasing his holdings to almost 1,000 acres of land which included seven lakes, the largest of which was Darien Lake. He stocked one of the smaller lakes, Trout Pond, with fish, increased the number of campsites and added activities for resort guests such as a small petting zoo, horseback and pony rides, paddleboats, skateboarding, tennis courts and miniature golf. From the late 70s and into the early 80s, Snyder added more attractions, including a set of water slides on a hill near the park's entrance called Rainbow Mountain, creating an amusement park he named Darien Lake Fun Country. Snyder made a deal with HUSS Park Attractions, turning Darien Lake into the North American showcase for the German manufacturer's new rides. Through this deal, the park acquired rides such as the Pirate, Ranger, Thrillbilly and the Corn Popper, for use in the park and to give HUSS a location to display them to potential US and Canadian buyers. In 1982, the newly merged Arrow Huss built and opened the park's first major roller coaster, Viper.

### Funtime Parks

In 1983, Snyder sold a 50% stake in the park to Funtime Inc., which also owned Geauga Lake and Wyandot Lake Park. The Fun Country was dropped from the name, and Funtime brought in some major improvements. Funtime's first purchase was the Vekoma-built Giant Wheel Ferris wheel, the showcase of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee and the largest in the United States at the time, which was permanently installed in the park's center. Although no longer the largest in the country, the Giant Wheel is still in operation today. Entertainment was also added to the park, with the construction of the Tops Jubilee Theater (now the Grande Theatre), the Lakeside Amphitheater, a large-scale concert stage on the south side of the main lake, presenting big-name acts including The Who, Alice Cooper, and Black Sabbath and Cinema 2000, a wide-angle movie theatre in the back of the park. In the mid-to late 1980s, there was Splashmania, a water skiing show located on Fun Lake. The improvements continued throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, with the addition of a themed kids area, Adventure Land for Kids in 1988 and in 1989 Grizzly Run replaced a kids ride area that was located where a skatepark was. In 1990, six new slides were added to the back of the water slide complex and the area became known as Barracuda Bay and an extra charge was added to the waterpark as well a new locker area, food complex, shopping area and changing rooms Following the success of a new wooden rollercoaster at Geauga Lake in 1988, Funtime contracted Dinn & Summer to build a new wooden coaster for Darien. The Predator roller coaster opened in May 1990. Around this time, Paul Snyder, sold his remaining share of the park to Funtime, turning over all control to them. In 1992, a new style of entertainment debuted on the midway between Barracuda Bay and the Giant Wheel, a laser light show called *Laser Light Fantasy* (now called *Ignite the Night*), which included laser graphics and fireworks. The show was permanently installed in the Lakeside Amphitheater the following year, while concert events were moved to the new Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, which could hold nearly four times as many guests. In 1994, the old Rainbow Mountain waterslides were replaced with a new set called 'Cuda Falls and waterpark became included with park admission.

### Premier Parks/Six Flags

In 1995, growing regional park chain Premier Parks bought Funtime and its three parks. Premier dove right into changes and additions. In 1995, Skycoaster opened located over Fun Lake. In 1996, Adventure Land was replaced by Popeye's Seaport with all new kiddie rides like a miniature Ferris wheel made to look like barrels, a hand-cranked train ride, a submarine ride, a ship themed play place (removed in 2004), and a food stand and restrooms in the then new kiddie area in an area that was occupied by miniature golf course. A new miniature golf course opened behind the then-new kiddie area near Viper which replaced the old golf course. Also a waterpark expansion with new attractions took place in 1996 and 1997 with Hook's Lagoon (opened in 1996) the Crocodile Isle wave pool (opened in 1997) took over Adventure Land's old location by Elk Lake with new changing rooms and a food stand were built, and a bridge was built to connect the Barracuda Bay slides with the then new water park area and a boat tag game was added to the midway. Three of the old Adventure Land rides were moved to another part of the park as the Tiny Trio in 1997. From 1996-1999, Premier would also install a new roller coaster each year, Nightmare at Phantom Cave in 1996, Mind Eraser in 1997, Boomerang: Coast to Coaster in 1998 and Superman Ride of Steel (the world's first Intamin hypercoaster) in 1999. Nightmare was removed in 1998 and relocated to sister park The Great Escape. In 1998, Premier purchased Six Flags Theme Parks and began to rebrand its own parks as Six Flags. In May 1999, Six Flags Darien Lake opened under its new name, with a few major changes. Premier brought Six Flags' own character base, Looney Tunes and DC Comics, into the parks, renaming Popeye's Seaport to Looney Tunes Seaport, added a show in the vacant former Nightmare at Phantom Cave building called the Batman Thrill Spectacular and Hydro Force, Pipeline Plunge, Riptide Run and Torpedo Rapids were removed from Barracuda Bay and Scrambler replaced Cinema 2000. The midway stage was added to replace the boat tag game and The Emporium gift shop opened in Lasso's old location, Crazy Quilt was removed and replaced with Lasso. Premier Parks formed in 2000, assuming the name "Six Flags Inc." and adding new attractions. The next major attractions installed the Twister in 2000 and Shipwreck Falls in 2002, replacing the old Cascade Canyon water slides on the east side of Barracuda Bay as well as Slingshot behind the 'Cuda Falls water slides; and the Tornado in 2005.

#### Troubled times

2006 was a year of turmoil for Six Flags and its parks. For the 2006 season, Six Flags moved the Big Kahuna, a family-sized waterslide, from Six Flags AstroWorld to Darien Lake and also moved the Batman The Escape roller coaster from Astroworld into storage at Darien Lake, with possible plans to build it. They also added an opportunity to meet with the entire Justice League at the park. Only a month into the season, however, Six Flags began pulling back the Justice League from Darien Lake and announced Darien Lake, along with eight other parks, was being considered for sale. Many parks throughout the chain, not just those for sale, also experienced numerous changes and cutbacks throughout the summer. In October 2006, after shortened operating hours and seasons, Six Flags officially announced the parks were being offered for sale as a package. Paul Snyder stated in a radio interview he would have considered purchasing Darien Lake from Six Flags if they allowed the parks to be sold individually. In January 2007, Six Flags announced a potential sale of Darien Lake and Elitch Gardens to The Mills Corporation's then newly-formed Landmark Entertainment division to expand into the amusement park industry.

### Landmark Entertainment (2007-present)

In 2007, Six Flags sold Darien Lake as part of a two park package With Elitch Gardens to Landmark Entertainment. The Six Flags branding including the Looney Tunes and DC Comics licenses were removed.

In 2014 theme restaurant chain Victoria Station opened a location in the park

## See also

* The Block at Darien Lake
* Darien Lake/Ride List

**Shopping Malls**
*The Block*: The Block at Orange | The Block at the Source | Broadway at the Beach - The Block
*The Dreams*: Madrid Xanadu | Meadowlands Xanadu | Desti**ny** USA

**Landmark Entertainment**
*Landmark Retailing*: Nickelodeon Store | Paramount Store | Club Libby Lu
*Former Ventures*: NFL GridIron Grill