Go on this if u can! but large riders may not fit

Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 3 As most coaster enthusiasts are aware, Ride of Steel at Darien Lake was formally Superman- Ride of Steel until Six Flags sold the park to another developer leading to the dropping of the Superman name. The ride was also given a new logo minus the &quot.S&quot. symbol. However, despite this name change the ride itself remains a wonderful ride and is consistently ranked among the top steel coasters in the world. It was also one of the coaster I was most looking forward to riding. Intamin, my favorite steel coaster designer, had already designed two virtually perfect rides (Millennium Force and Superman in Agawam) and this looked to be a very similar coaster. However, I was in for a disappointment.....and it had little to do with the coaster itself. The problem with my Ride of Steel experience (and the reason this ride did not make my top 10) was this. Why would a park run two trains to improve capacity but refuse to allow people on one train so &quot.it would not have to run half empty&quot.. That is the quote that I was given by what looked to be a park manager in a shirt tie when asked why on a virtually deserted day in the park, along with two train operation, wait times were still over 15 minutes. Does running a train empty save more electricity than running one half-empty? On each ride on the empty train, the ride ops unbuckled every seat belt then buckled them right back before lowering the lap bar. It was among the most asinine things I have ever seen in my entire life. When we saw the park, I thought we would easily get 10 rides on this, their signature coaster, as well as riding everything else there. However, after 3 rides in 45 minutes with no one even waiting in line (sometimes they even held up the one train they were allowing people to board until more showed up to ride) along with out Motocoaster incident (see review) made for a poor afternoon and a virtual waste of 25 dollars. OK, after that rant, how is the ride? It is wonderful. Some enthusiasts criticize this version of the ROS for having too much straight track but I feel that these portions are excellent for giving the rider that sense of speed that I love so well. The coaster is smooth with two great downward spiraling helices (not my favorite element on a hyper coaster but these are pretty good) and a wonderful finished with three great airtime hills. It was a little shaky at the top of the lift hill (not sure where the &quot.shimmy&quot. comes from but it was a little disconcerting the first time) but that did not detract from the ride. The coaster is pleasing visually with the lift hill seeming to come straight up from the ground since it is in an area of the park that is slightly lower than normal when one first walks around to where the ride is located. There are no dead spots nor rough sections to speak of. I was really disappointed when we pulled out of the Darien Lake parking lot. What I had hoped would be one of my favorite ride experiences was spoiled by poor park operations and a &quot.carnie-like&quot. attitude toward one of the greatest steel coasters on the planet. I do give props to the ride operator who let us stay on and get a third ride since there was no one waiting on our seat. If not for him, it would have been 2 rides in 45 minutes with no lines. Unbelievable. To all Darien Lake management personnel: take a trip about 4 hours south to Knoebels in PA and watch the crew run Phoenix. You can definitely pick up some pointers. Overall Rating - 9 (for the ride quality).

This is definitely one of the top 3 hypers I&#39.ve been on. I find it hard to believe that most people find the New England version to be better, because I&#39.ve been on both and this one was the much better ride. The view from the top is amazing, and I don&#39.t think I ever remember going faster than the first drop. My local park is Wonderland, and our new attraction the behemoth comes nowhere close to this ride even though it is a taller and more expensive coaster. This park saves Darien Lake from being a complete waste of time otherwise. This coaster is simply epic and must be ridden by any coaster enthusiast.

The Ride Of Steel is a steel sit down roller coaster. (non looping mega coaster) It was built in 1999. It was built by Intamin. It is 200' tall, it is 5, 350' long. This is the best ride at Darien Lake. This ride is nicely themed,fun, rerideable, has a large ride capacity and a long duration.

Darien Lake as a whole is a very disappointing park. However, there is one ride that is worth visiting it alone for and its this Intamin creation. While not as good as the New England version, it leaves the Maryland one in the dust. That first drop felt much steeper than it really was and it gave excellent air as well. Then came a turn and then a huge air time hill that absolutely catapulted me from my seat. After an incredibly powerful helix (the strongest Ive ever experienced!), there was another air hill that was even better than the first. Afterwards was another breathtaking helix only slightly worse than the first. Afterwards was an S-hill and then some air time hills that all gave incredible air as well. The whole ride is just a rush and is insanity.

Like all Intamin coasters, The Ride of Steel was a thrilling and exceptional coaster. First off, I was shocked that this had almost no line everytime Ive been on it. The ride itself had an amazing first drop that gave some amazing ejector air and then there was a very fast turn that felt like my face would be ripped off on. Next was an incredible air time hill followed by some straight track that gave an amazing sense of speed. Then came a fast and powerful helix followed by yet another great air time hill. Then came another helix that was just as good as the first, followed by an air-time producing s-hill and then a few more great air-time producing bunny hills. The ride is just plain relentless.

I rode S:ROS at Six Flags America several years ago, and then I rode Six Flags Darien Lakes version, as well as the Six Flags New England S:ROS, this past summer. Although I know I am in the minority here, I rank this Superman as the very best, while New Englands would be number three on my list. (I will save other comments on that coaster for that review, and instead focus on the greatness of Darien Lakes Superman here.) First off, the coaster looks absolutely spectacular, from the huge sprawling area that it takes up, to the open, sleek trains, to that narrow Intamin hypercoaster track that we all know and love. The ascent up the hill is quick and noiseless, thanks to the wonderful cable lift. It is a very tall hill, though, so there is time to look around and either take in all the sights or freak out about how high you are getting. The first drop ranks (along with the other two coasters in my top 3) as one of the best first drops I have experienced. It is unbelievably tall, fast, steep, and forceful, with just amazing airtime from the instant the train crests the hill. Standard coasters would then use the momentum to carry the train up a second hill, but this is no standard coaster. I absolutely love that this ride instead rockets around a banked turn right at ground level. With all that speed built up from the first drop, the train truly careens through this at warp speed. Then comes the second hill, which is sheer airtime delight. After this comes the part of the ride that seems to draw the most negative comments. There are long straightaways connected by very large helices (the first one downward, the second one upward). I, however, think this is part of the brilliance of this coaster. You are so close to the ground at this point that you can really feel how insanely fast you are going. The spirals have some good headchopping effects, and all of it takes place right above water and some marsh-type vegetation, so the setting is just wonderful (and the reason this ride tops the Superman at SFA, as the two rides are identical except for the scenery). Plus lets not forget another gleeful negative-g hill in between the helices. Then, of course, comes the finale--the fast and furious triple jump back to the station, resulting in more time spent out of your seat than in it. There is simply nothing but positives to say about this ride. Ride in the front, middle, or back of the train, and you will come off satisfied just the same. Ride day or night, both are stellar (and somewhat eerie at night--look down while climbing the hill and youll see nothing but an inky black abyss below, into which the train is about to plummet). To me, Six Flags Darien Lakes Superman: Ride of Steel represents roller coaster perfection.

This coaster is tall and fast, with a great setting near water, a smooth ride and lots of airtime. The bunny hills into the station make for a memorable ending and the large hills are exellent. I think the ride is over helixed and has too many sections of long straight track that allow you to anticipate what is coming next. This takes away from the thrill factor. Also, I tend to like tunnels on my higher rated coasters and this ride is tunnel-less. I am giving this ride an 8 rating, but actually it is worth an 8.5.

The newest member of my super six which is what I now call my top six coasters since they are all so close saying one is the best is just not right. APPEARANCE-10 I really like how this looks from the parking lot and everything looked pretty straight. I am always confused how SF doesnt add a little theming to these. However the use of a lake and that massive hill overshadowing a small park is very cool. CAPACITY-8 It really could be lower since one train was broke, but since SF was actually working on it I will give them credit. They also threw out a couple people who were too big for the ride. RIDE QUALITY-10 I cant imagine what it was like before the harness change because it was amazing the way it was. It is just so fast and unlike some people I enjoy a good straigt away on a coaster so you can just feel the speed. FUN-10 Great tear streaks down my face, great pops of air, steep drop, over water. Whats not to like. RERIDE-10 I rode it twice when I was there and they only had one train and I had never been to that park, so when I go back it is definately happening again. OVERALL-48 AVG-9.6 It rules and is only marred by the slow loading employees.

amazing ride, the best superman ride