Predator is a

wooden roller coaster A wooden roller coaster is a type of roller coaster classified by its wooden track, which consists of running rails made of flat steel strips mounted on laminated wood. The support structure is also typically made of wood, but may also be ...

located at

Six Flags Darien Lake Six Flags Darien Lake (also known as Six Flags Darien Lake Resort and formerly known as Darien Lake Fun Country, Darien Lake, and Darien Lake Theme Park Resort) is a 1,200-acre (4.86 km2) amusement park and resort located in Darien, New York ...

. It was designed by

Curtis D. Summers Curtis D. Summers (September 17, 1929 – May 11, 1992) was an American engineer and roller coaster designer credited for designing or providing structural engineering on 25 wooden roller coasters around the world. He earned a degree in Archit ...

and built by

Dinn Corporation Dinn Corporation was a roller coaster designing and manufacturing company established in West Chester, Ohio, in 1983 by Charles Dinn. The company is noted for moving and rebuilding several existing wooden coasters and building ten new wooden roll ...

and opened on May 25, 1990.

Design

The coaster is a double out-and-back design and does so in a fairly confined space. The main section of the coaster runs along the lake to its north.

Renovations and upgrades

At the end of the summer of 2006, a major re-tracking took place and some wood was replaced on the ride to help make it more enjoyable for guests. In 2001, during an earlier tracking job, part of the queue line was removed to make way for an expanded seating area for the nearby food stand. In 2010, Six Flags Darien Lake purchased 12 PTC articulated cars from

Holiday World Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, formerly named Santa Claus Land, is a theme park and water park located in Santa Claus, Indiana, United States. The theme park opened in 1946 and features rides, live entertainment, and games that are divided i ...

, where they were used on The Voyage. These

trains A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

replaced the original PTC trailer-style trains which were known to have an extremely rough ride. With the closure of

Raging Wolf Bobs Raging Wolf Bobs was a wooden roller coaster located at Geauga Lake amusement park in Ohio. Designed by Curtis D. Summers to resemble The Bobs (roller coaster), Bobs, a popular roller coaster at the defunct Riverview Park (Chicago), Riverview Par ...

at the defunct

Geauga Lake Geauga Lake was an amusement park in Bainbridge Township, Geauga County, Ohio, Bainbridge Township and Aurora, Ohio, Aurora, Ohio. It was established in 1887, in what had been a local recreation area adjacent to Geauga Lake (lake), a lake of th ...

in 2007, The Predator was the last roller coaster to operate with PTC trailered trains. In 2020, it was revealed that

Great Coasters International Great Coasters International, Inc. (GCI or GCII) is a Sunbury, Pennsylvania-based roller coaster manufacturer which has created several award-winning rides since its formation in 1994. Starting in 2006 with Thunderbird (PowerPark), Thunderbird at ...

will be replacing some sections of Predator's track with their new steel Titan Track. In 2022, Predator received its first section of Titan Track, Approximately 250 feet (76.2 m), Followed by 200 feet (61 m) in 2023, over 360 feet (110 m) in 2024, and nearly 370 feet (113 m) in 2025.

References

Six Flags Darien Lake Roller coasters operated by Six Flags Roller coasters in New York (state) Roller coasters introduced in 1990 Predator, The Roller coasters operated by Herschend Family Entertainment {{Amusement-ride-stub