Darien Lake Working on Large New Ride Project for 2018 Season

© Darien Lake

While keeping the type of attraction a closely guarded secret, Darien Lake is working on plans for a major expansion for the 2018 season with local authorities.

The amusement park is looking for a $360,000 sales tax exemption in order to bring the new attraction to the park, which will cost in the neighborhood of $5 million to build.

While seeking the tax exemption the park has given a few minor clues as to what may be coming, but not enough for us to really make much of a guess.  The park's general manager stated that the ride's "size, scope and family thrill level" will draw visitors from all over the Northeast along with Southern Canada to give it a spin.

A recent view of Darien Lake © Google Maps

The attraction was also said to be going into an existing area of the park and will be operating for the 2018 season.

However, that was about all the facts that we have so far.  The fact that the new ride will go within the park's existing boundaries does make me wonder if an existing attraction will be removed to make space.

The price tag of $5 million makes the new ride something larger than a flat ride, I would guess, though some of the largest ones do come with big price tags.  The fact that the general manager specifically mentioned "family thrill" makes something along the lines of a family coaster sound about right, but that's just speculation on my part.  A very tall ride, like a huge StarFlyer, could also attract a lot of attention for Darien Lake.  Right now your guess is as good as mine!

The park is planning to keep the new ride a secret until it gets both the tax exemptions, local approval and approval from within their company, so we might have to wait a bit more to find out.