North America 06/25 – Seabreeze, Niagara Amusement Park + Darien Lake
The next morning found us at Seabreeze. One of those names I’ve heard for years but never fully looked into.
Day 7 – Seabreeze
Wasn’t quite what I had expected given the notable history of the place, a bit more concrete and water slides than nostalgic seaside (lake) experience.
The park was perhaps the worst offender of the aforementioned ‘only Americans can use American websites’ observation as their special price ticket simply wouldn’t go through on a foreign credit card online. We raised this at the gate and they had no sympathy for it, then called the service number who also had no sympathy for it. Full price it is.
First thing we came to was the wrong #1 Jack Rabbit. In a similar vein to Yankee Cannonball a week prior, it didn’t do much of anything for me. Just a bit of cool, this is old, and then a tunnel at the end where everyone screamed too loud.
They don’t let you ride the kiddie cred opposite, not that it was open.
Most interesting ride here is of course the #2 Bobsleds. The little cars are very open and there’s a bit of poke to the particularly unorthodox layout here and there. An overall much more enjoyable piece of history with a slight bit of a sea breeze (lake) up top.
Lastly they have a stock Maurer spinner, #3 Whirlwind, that was scheduled to open after the morning rush, so just about now. About 15 minutes later than advertised, watched the guy appear, put some staff in for a test run and then open it up. Don’t like these very much, custom Maurers generally much better. +1.
Seems strange to me that this is a pay one price park, what with the vibe they’re sort of going for, the other ‘street’ entrance they have and its proximity to a beach and seaside (lake). I know we rarely stick around long in these cred runs but I feel like a lot of others wouldn’t want to either, just wander in to a quick curiosity, pay for a lap on a couple of old rides, buy some deep fried Oreo and wander out again.
A couple of hours down the road, whose online ticketing system worked absolutely fine, is
Niagara Amusement Park AND Splash World
This place worried us somewhat in the build up to the trip. In some eerily similar ways to Playland (NY) it seems like they struggled to get half their rides running quite often, even after delaying both their opening for the year and a second hand ghost train which, funnily enough, came from Playland (NY).
Fortunately for us on this occasion, #4 Silver Comet was ready to receive, so checked off another CCI from the list. It was decent, nothing too special, perhaps a little less wild than Excalibur had been, but more well paced throughout.
This was the ‘new for 2025’ dark ride and I recall some speculation over whether it had had any improvements since its move.
Well no, Flying Witch is about the most lacklustre and sparse ghost train I’ve ridden in recent memory, consisting of mostly empty tin sheds with broken effects, so I very much doubt it.
Had this guy though.
At the back of the park was the #5 Serpent. This was fun, it officially needs 4 people in a car to run, so like that Polish one that might be gone. The staff are particularly vocal and helpful about this, and will even throw themselves in if needs be.
Luckily, our saviour came in the form of a lady nearby who hadn’t ridden it in nearly 50 years (?) and provided excellent commentary throughout.
Most of the rest of the park and car park consists of parts of rides such as this. It’s a fascinating scrap heap and would probably serve better as a museum at this point.
Did the job though, it’s time for another legend in
Six Flags Darien Lake
Smashing out this place as part of a three park day seemed optimistic given the state of the trip so far, but it’s Darien Lake, and we were loathed to lend it any more time than absolutely necessary. Plus, it was all part of the important grind to enhance our visit to Alpenfur… Plus, it’s Darien Lake, a perfect storm of nothing really matters.
Going for a logical approach, we started at #6 Ride of Steel. Dismal one train operations made a station wait almost unbearable, but they were at least a park wide consistent policy, and this thing kicked ass.
Was much better than New England Superman in both how it rode and the forces it dealt out. The last few hills really threw us around and make all the build up worth it, which is what these early layouts are all about.
It also managed to provide circumstantial comedy genius of its own as we were perfectly positioned behind an absolute NPC of a man. He had two default animations of jubilatory celebration that he had made it onto the ride and at any given moment would initiate them at entirely random points within the layout, be it silly straight, cruising corner or humpy hill.
I’m still in love with the fact that most people are able to get a pure 90 seconds of ‘I am on a rollercoaster’ bliss out of any hardware, something I can never hope to obtain in my lifetime, but seeing it acted out wordlessly to perfection enhanced my experience greatly.
#7 Predator could easily have been one of those rides that killed me, but it’s another recipient of the Titan Track treatment on this trip. When it’s bad, it’s bad, but where it’s reworked, it’s decent, so another one that can attest to the treatment being a success. The question is with rides like Predator is does it deserve it? I guess it’s about the only unique ride here.
Except maybe this one. Wrong #8 Viper involved another uncomfortably long station wait during which a particularly sweaty guy screamed ‘could we start the fans, PLEASE!’ only not with that wording, accent or internation. I wish. He was promptly ignored by the staff and as I gazed upon the rust that was holding the questionable cooling system together I internally surmised that this was probably for the best.
On paper this is like Arrow’s Goudurix, what with the batwing and all. Much like Goudurix it doesn’t ride as bad as it should and garners a very solid ‘it was ok’.
Time was ticking a little by this point so we kept ploughing through. Calculations dictated that park complete could have been won or lost at #9 Tantrum with its single 8 seater car and being, depressingly, one of the most popular rides here. Luck shined down upon us as we received a very early callup to fill some empty seats, skipping about half the queue.
It rode like ass and continued to make me question why I still supposedly like a couple of Eurofighters out there. Paultons, 2026!
Speaking of ass, it was time for our first SLC of the trip in #10 Mind Eraser. Never ceases to amaze me how much they suck.
Speaking of suck, next on the list was #11 Boomerang. Never ceases to amaze me how unpleasant these can be.
Speaking of unpleasant, the final ride was #12 Moto Coaster. Don’t like the seating position, how they ride, or the layout of these. Never have, never will. Also the layout of the park is stupid and you can’t get to it from the adjacent Boomerang without a massive walk around the entire lake (lake).
There is however a sneaky shortcut in the opposite direction as you can nod at a security man, get a hand stamp and leave the park through a camping ground and rather nice looking shopping area out the back.
This brings you round to another more pleasant aspect of the park, nature and some views of these two in the setting sun.
Upon reflection of our successful completion, it wasn’t pretty, but you’re alright Darien Lake, you’re alright.