Pretty simple - if you are of legal age drink in the DL parking lots. If you are not of legal age get your parents who let your drink to drive you to the concert or just stay home and drink there....or go to the concert and park in the lot and don't drink.
Correction: No pedestrian access to Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
Submitted by Howard Owens on August 2, 2012 - 4:27pm
In an article July 30 about the Toby Keith concert at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, The Batavian incorrectly stated that concertgoers could walk to the main entrance of the park from property on Sumner Road.
There will be NO pedestrian access at any entrance for the Darien Lake property, including the main entrance, once the new restrictions take effect on Aug. 17.
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August 2, 2012 - 8:34pm
#3
August 2, 2012 - 9:11pm
#4
The next cottage industry emerges; shuttles from the hill to the DL gate.
August 2, 2012 - 10:14pm
#5
No pedestrian Access at all....interesting, what's next? razor wire around the entire park?. (Time for "The Hill" to buy an old Bus)
By the way....once the fences are up, and the new "No Pedestrian Access" policy is in effect, how long do you think it will be before the "Free Parking" included with your ticket to the show suddenly goes away, and they start charging at the parking gate again? (next season is my guess) There is more to this than the safety of the people walking to the hill. There's an extra $10 per car, per show to be made once they have the fence up. You think they are investing all this money & effort for any other reason than new revenue?
August 2, 2012 - 10:37pm
#6
Jim, as we previously reported, shuttles will not be allowed.
And there is no reason Darien Lake couldn't have been charging for parking all along. If it was just about money, just start charging. If the private lots charge $10 or $15, DL could charge $5, still make a good bit of extra change, still under cut the private lots on price and they still own the largest, most conveniently located parking lot, with multiple ingress and egress points staffed by attendants, for the venue.
As a die-hard capitalist, I think they're rather foolish not to have been charging all along.
As a concert goer, I would weigh my priority: Park in the location that would give me the easiest access to the venue, or go off site, walk further, but have less supervision for my drinking (certainly would be a key factor if I were under 21 and so inclined).
August 2, 2012 - 10:44pm
#7
BTW: I've been told the private lots are popular not because of drinking, but because they make it easier to leave the area after the show.
From what I've observed more than once now, the people who park on The Hill, for example, are getting home no faster than people who park on Darien's lot. Those cars get just as gridlocked as cars on the Darien lot and Sumner Road is just as gridlocked for both, and both roads south get just as gridlocked for both.
So how is it more convenient to park on the private lots?
When I go to a show, I hate to leave before the encore. Sometimes the best or most unique performances from a great band come during the encore. What I seem to have observed is people in parked in the private lots leaving before the show is over because they have much further to walk.
All that to say again, Darien could have been charging all along and the people who prefer their lots would have parked there and the people who preferred the private lots would have parked there for reasons wholly independent of price.
August 2, 2012 - 10:46pm
#8
i actually agree Howard. I'm not at all saying they shouldn't charge for parking, and I'm shocked they are not. It was absorbed into the cost of the ticket a few years ago to make it faster to funnel cars in...which I think was a great idea. Just not sure if that is going to remain that way. I'm just saying it's easy to see how this will play out, and saying it's all safety related is a bit of a stretch.
As a kid that used to ride his bike there (or walk) almost every day as a teenager, the "No Pedestrian Access" just seems a bit extreme. That is 100% designed to stop the surrounding Neighbors from being capatists and charging for easy access parking. There is no other reason for the complete ban.
August 2, 2012 - 10:57pm
#9
Doug, after all the coverage I've done of concert events at Darien Lake, to say it's anything other than a safety measure makes no sense to me. There is clearly a major safety issue with the arrangement as its been up to now.
August 3, 2012 - 8:18am
#10
I've parked on the Hill several times for concerts. The perks are many.
1. It's usually less crowded, allowing for frisbee tossing, baggo, etc. One time there were so few cars there that we hit golf balls while we tailgated!
2. You can camp overnight, meaning no worries about drinking and driving.
3. If you time it right, and you turn right onto Sumner after a concert, sometimes you can get right out and be back in Batavia in about 20 minutes.
August 3, 2012 - 6:52pm
#11
Howard, no way is it just safety related I would agree with Doug its about future revenue. Every other venue around offers off site parking where people walk along major highways (ex.20 and 20a for bills games). Darien Lake and Genesee County have done nothing but discourage patrons and bands from going there the last few years, A Hundred or so tickets every concert is ridiculous thats not happening at Bills games with 75000 in attendance. Soon their little venue will sit empty!!
I can see this backfiring in some ways. Some of the groups of people will still go to the hill and if they choose to be responsible and walk, they won't be let in. So they will have to hope for a DD or drive themselves, risking a DWI.
I think it would be safer with a lot of cars of Sumner and the drunks walking than no cars on Sumner and people driving drunk.