Home > New York > Darien Lake > Mind Eraser, The

Mind Eraser, The
Website: Darien Lake Homepage
Ride Type: Inverted Steel Coaster
Ride Status: Running
Average Rating: 3.1364
TPC Overall Rank: #394 out of 2933 rides.
Reviews: 26
Last Review: 9/14/2008 9:35:00 PM
In User Top 10: 10 times.
User Tracker Count: 93 times.
 

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3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up shag9004 on 9/14/2008 9:35:00 PM
Date Ridden: Summer of 2008. Times Ridden: 1
Ouch. If only this coaster lived up to its name, this could possibly be a more positive review. As it is, despite being featured on the Travel Channel with coaster guru Paul Reuben, this is one of my least favorite adult coasters. There are a number of these Vekoma suspended looping coasters and one of them rank very highly. They are simply torture devices that a rider has to fight to survive without a headache for the rest of the day. Many coasters, including the highly ranked Maverick and Storm Runner offer a couple of incidences of head banging/neck chopping due to the restraint system. This is not due to roughness or poor coaster design. The rides are simply intense and feature restraints that are necessary for the elements the coaster was designed with. Normally in these cases, the rider can prepare for these elements and virtually eliminate the uncomfortable issues with different riding styles or techniques. However, on Mind Eraser one gets the Pinball Bang in which one&#39.s head is continuously bounced from one side of the restraint to the next. It is among the most painful things a coaster rider can endure and is prevalent on virtually all of these Vekoma coasters I have ridden. This ride does offer a great first drop, particularly from the front row, but the back-to-back corkscrews and other inversions are absolutely horrid. I have found the best chance one has to hold your head all the way to one side of the restraint and try to keep it there the entire ride. It is tough on the neck but is still better than being bounced back and forth. I would recommend one ride only on Mind Eraser. Any more than that would border on insanity. Of course most people consider coaster enthusiasts crazy anyway. Overall Rating - 4

3 Rating
+1 Rating Rate Down Rate Up PhantomNik on 4/17/2008 4:00:00 PM
Im just a sucker for inverts I guess, no matter what form they come in. The SLCs from Vekoma are rather "rough around the edges" as opposed to the sleekness that is a B&M inverted coaster, but I still like them anyway. Mind Eraser at Darien Lake is no exception, and it gets the standard SLC rating from me. It is a good coaster, but theres nothing with it that stands out tremendously, so I will stick with my usual SLC rating of a seven. Mind Eraser sports the much-overused red and teal green color scheme, which is one of the reasons I think many of these SLCs seem to run together. Some creative color choices could do wonders! Anyway, this one loads pretty slowly, and for whatever reason they almost never run the thing with 2 trains. I will never claim to understand the logic there. But, it redeems itself with a nice setting over a lake, complete with some mist as the train twists down that signature swooping drop. Bonus points for ride placement on this one for sure. The ride itself on Mind Eraser is the "standard" SLC design and layout, with tight inversions taken at a pretty good speed throughout the compact course. The inversions, as usual, are strong and forceful and provide good thrills. This one is a tad rougher in spots than other versions Ive ridden, but nothing I would categorize as bone-shaking either. Plus, the lake setting makes it easy for me to overlook a few minor bumps along the way. All in all, despite the harsh criticisms these SLCs get, I am a fan of them, including Mind Eraser at Darien Lake. Is it a sickness maybe? Am I a masochist? Who knows, but the fact is this is a good coaster that delivers fun and thrills (for me anyway), and although its not glassy smooth, I dont think anyone could ever claim that it is not intense. I think that raw intensity and mild ferocity in these is what somewhat endears them to me. Its no B&M, but if you can look past that, you might just surprise yourself and discover that Mind Eraser is actually a solid coaster and a fun ride overall.

2 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up T-Rex on 12/16/2007 8:29:00 AM
Very rough SLC and slow SLC. Darien Lake only had a one train operation and therefore had a pretty long wait. The drop was fast, but there was tons of headbanging at the bottom. All of the inversions were rough as well and jerky, especially the double inline twist. After that was a very slow and rough segment. This would be the worst SLC if it werent for the one in Maryland.

5 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up coasterwom on 4/11/2007 4:09:00 PM
The Mind Eraser is a steel sit down roller coaster. (Inverted). It was built in 1997 by Vekoma. It has 5 inversions. It is 105' tall, it is 2,172' long. Fun. Rerideable. Long duration. Large capacity.

4 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up biosciking on 12/8/2006 12:47:00 AM
I tend to be quite an advocate of these Vekoma SLCs, and Im not going to make an exception for this one, but I can see where some of the complaints are coming from. During a day at Darien Lake when we didnt really have a wait for anything else, we spent almost an hour in line for the Mind Eraser. With just one train running, the line just barely inched along, and it got particularly congested in the station. Once on the ride, I remembered why I do like these rides--a thrilling drop, relentless pacing, and a very good combo of turns and inversions. But this one was the roughest Ive yet been on. Quite a headbanger, including a particularly brutal (and completely unnecessary) pounding on the last little pop up into the brake run. However, I still had fun, and the ride looks great, with a picturesque setting over water and tall grasses. I just wish theyd smooth it out a little and add a second train.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up sowinski on 7/2/2006 3:31:00 AM
This ride is slow loading with long lines, compared to most of the rides at Darien Lake. The stiff over the shoulder restraints ensure a good brain rattling. This ride should be called "Brain Damage" instead of "Mind Eraser". The mist effect looks pretty cool from the station but adds nothing when you are on the ride, itself. The line up just isnt worth it for the quality of ride you get on this one. I give this coaster a 5.5.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up x307 on 3/4/2005 2:36:00 PM
Used to be smooth as a babys backside, but has suffered a lot over the years. Still worth a 7.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up larrygator on 8/27/2004 11:38:00 PM
very slow operations for an invert. good elements but too much head boxing for me.

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up BobFunland on 8/2/2004 8:09:00 PM
This is a very weak inverted coaster. Sure, all of my previous experiences were on B&M coasters, but this still isnt good. The ride was rough and twitchy, and the speed probably didnt top 50 mph. The setting over the lake was cool, but not enough to bump up my rating any more. It wasnt anywhere near as tolerable as its cousin a few hundred miles down I-90 (the one at Six Flags New England) and last time I went the area reaked of sewage, so that really stunk :puke:

3 Rating
0 Rating Rate Down Rate Up Danny on 5/26/2004 8:37:00 PM
These standard SLCs arent too bad. The first drop is great, and there are some amazing feet-choppers. The inversions are pretty good, and the mist surrounding the ride is a nice touch.

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