We arrived at the park around 12:30 and almost started to cry realizing that I was drooling over S:ROS, which I wouldn’t be able to ride. After I got over that, we got season passes processed and entered the park. I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as crowds went on a Friday in May when I didn’t know how many school actually had off or would be there for the marching band events that were going on. It turned out to be a pretty average crowd for SFDL.
After some contemplation, and a customary ride on the Haymaker (boring, spinning flat ride thing not even really worth describing), I determined that Mind Eraser would be the coaster to kick off the 2004 Coaster Season (this obviously would have been a no-brainer to go with Superman under normal circumstances).
Mind Eraser:
I was completely frustrated by the entire ME experience, from the fact that only one train was running until I had gotten to the front of the line, to the overall stupidity that seemed to have infected everyone around me. We waited 50 minutes (Yes, 50) for a Vekoma SLC. After about 40 I decided it didn’t matter where we sat so we ended up in the second row, 1st car. The ride was smoother than what I was bracing myself for, but it had to live up to a certain standard with both Vekoma and SLC in its description. 4/10. Fortunately, it does get better…
The season was now officially underway, so there was no stopping now, right? After a quick stop for some free popcorn by way of a coupon, off to…
Viper
I had never thought about saying this about this ride, but: BEST RIDE OF THE DAY. Yes indeedy, 10 minutes for what was a surprisingly smooth ride on the Arrow Multilooper. I have no real complaints; it’s the best of the mediocre coasters at SFDL. 7/10.
I was disappointed at the least to discover that along with the park’s #1 coaster, the #1 flat ride, Twister, a Huss Giant-Spin, was closed as well. Poopy. A ride on the Pirate (routine swinging ship) and whatever those bumper cars are called and a trip past the broken-down Giant Wheel would lead us to the day’s second Vekoma…
Boomerang: Coast-to-Coaster
No need to really describe a Vekoma boomerang, we waited 10 minutes for a ride in the 1st row, 2nd car, the ride was OK. 5/10
We decided to head back to the car to get some food, but before we did that, an excursion to…
Predator
Known for being a pretty intense (as in rough) Summers/Dinn woody, and for the masses of gum plastered all about the queue, it denounced both accusations. Most of the gum had been scraped off, and the ride itself followed the trend of the day and was smooth, much to our surprise. The ride in the front row (25 minute wait) was quite impressive, supplying little jostling and a couple jolts of airtime. Hoo-rah. 6.5/10

Now, the part the most of you probably care about more than anything, we spied on the work being done on the Superman train, perched on the Predator’s exit ramp. The new restraints were installed and noticeably different, I’m not sure what the multitude of employees were inspecting, but it looked positive and perhaps ready for the June 6th re-opening.

After this, we headed back towards the car to pick up some Ritz sandwiches, skittles, Orville-Redenbacher, and Nestea. Not a bad idea to bring the food we would have eaten anyway, and it was better than a lot of the park food would have been.
Back to the park…We came back in for a few last minute rides, namely on the Tin Lizzy’s (Antique cars, yawn) and one more on the Viper.
The Viper didn’t disappoint after a near walk-on at a 5-minute wait, and was a great way to end my otherwise mediocre (another of today’s themes) at Darien Lake.
Today's Trip, Overall: 5.5/10