Six Flags Darien Lake is a sprawling 1,200-acre amusement park, water park, and campground resort in Darien Center, New York, roughly halfway between Buffalo and Rochester. It opened in May 1981 as Darien Lake Fun Country and has passed through several owners and names over the decades, including a long stretch as Darien Lake Theme Park Resort before Six Flags took over park operations in 2019.
The park’s centerpiece is Ride of Steel, an Intamin hypercoaster that opened in 1999 and remains the tallest and fastest roller coaster in New York State. Beyond that signature ride, Darien Lake’s coaster lineup spans four decades, from the 1982 inverting classic Viper to the beyond-vertical thrills of the Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter Tantrum, giving the resort one of the more varied ride collections in the Northeast.
Stats at a Glance
- Location: Darien Center, New York
- Operator: Six Flags
- Opened: May 1981 (as Darien Lake Fun Country)
- Size: About 1,200 acres
- Annual visitors: About 1.5 million
- Signature attraction: Ride of Steel (Intamin hypercoaster, 208 ft, 73 mph)
The Ride Experience
Ride of Steel anchors the coaster lineup with a 205-foot drop and a top speed of 73 mph over roughly 5,400 feet of track, delivering the airtime-heavy pacing typical of Intamin’s Mega Coaster design. It opened under the Superman: Ride of Steel name before being rebranded simply as Ride of Steel in 2007, a name that has stuck even after Six Flags returned to the park in 2019.
The rest of the lineup covers a wide range of styles. Viper, dating to 1982, was among the first coasters in the world built with five inversions. The Predator, a 1990 wooden coaster from Dinn Corporation, stands as New York’s largest wooden coaster at about 95 feet tall. Tantrum, a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter that opened in 2018, climbs a vertical chain lift before dropping at a beyond-vertical 97-degree angle through 3 inversions, becoming the first coaster in New York State with a beyond-vertical drop.
Resort and Grounds
Beyond the amusement rides, Darien Lake operates as a full resort property, combining its theme park with a water park, campground, cabins, and a hotel on the same 1,200-acre footprint. That scale makes it one of the largest Six Flags properties by land area and a regional draw for western New York, drawing an estimated 1.5 million visitors in a typical season.
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Roller Coasters at Six Flags Darien Lake
Every Six Flags Darien Lake coaster ThrillZing has covered — stats, ride experience and history for each:
Six Flags Darien Lake FAQs
Is Six Flags Darien Lake the tallest roller coaster park in New York?
Its Ride of Steel coaster, at 208 feet tall and 73 mph, is billed as the tallest and fastest roller coaster in New York State.
When did Six Flags Darien Lake open?
The park opened in May 1981 under the name Darien Lake Fun Country, and has operated under several names since, including Darien Lake Theme Park Resort.
How big is Six Flags Darien Lake?
The property covers about 1,200 acres, including the amusement park, a water park, a campground, cabins, and a hotel.
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Photo: Zotdragon at en.wikipedia / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.