
rwk
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Everything posted by rwk
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I live a few miles west of Dorney Park and looking forward to find out what the new haunt is. Judging by the facade construction on the former Club Blood/Desolation building it looks like the facade is going to be a 2 story mansion facade like Blood on the Bayou or Voodoo at Knott's. On NewsPlusNotes in a photo of a display of Thunderhawk stuff on a table, they zoomed up on papers of haunt plans of a new haunted house for Haunt 2016 and part of the facade drawing is shown and it does look like a New Orleans 2 story mansion facade. But I guess GM Mike Fehnel or anyone won't say anything about it until the park officially announces 2016 haunt plans probably in August. Other haunts like MHH and Asylum are getting improvements. Asylum facade got a paint job and MHH is getting a remodel. Not sure what else is planned, the Cornstalkers house facade is still up. The Cornstalkers area is locked off though. Looks like for the new haunt the entrance is going be back on the front of the building like it was when it was Club Blood.
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Saturdays are insane in the summer, too. I think it has something to do with people having off from work, thus more people have more time to go to the park on a Saturday. Which results in insane crowds. Now, Saturdays are the only full day the park is open, Friday's it's just 6-12, and Sun until 8 pm with no haunt. So, you have the daytime crowd with the families with children plus the nighttime crowd on Saturdays. I guess if you want shorter lines for the haunts or rides go on a Friday night rather than a Saturday night. Probably the main reason people are going to the park now are for the haunt attractions. And the new and changed attractions this year are drawing people to the park to check them out. I'm glad they got rid of Psycho Circus, Club Blood, Terror Square, Backwoods, etc. those kind of sucked. I didn't go this year yet, has anyone been through Trick or Treat? How is it compared to let's say, Mansion House Hotel? I know MHH is larger, longer, but ToT is supposed to be good. The picture of the façade that was posted on DP's twitter and the uncompleted shot on News Plus Notes looks great. There haven't been any inside shots other than the concept drawings that they posted on facebook. I hope to get there one of these weekends. I live only a few miles west. There is a Trick or Treat at Knott's, but the exit is in the rear right corner, Dorney's version looks completely different on the outside and the exit on Dorney's version looks to be in the front on the left. At least DP now has an additional indoor haunt at the far rear of the park, besides Asylum. I rode all the old scary rides at Dorney years ago from Bucket O' Blood to Gold Mine to Journey to the Center of the Earth, and even the 1992 Mystery Mansion haunted house that was by Thunder Creek Mountain area, it was a pay extra attraction.
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The park is usually always busy on Saturdays and Sundays from the beginning of the season to Labor Day, and sometimes during Haunt, too provided there is little to no rain. Sometimes the crowds will show up even if there is a threat of storms. July and August, you usually always see cars in overflow on Sat and Sun. Weekdays aren't as bad but it can get busy during the week, too. One exception was a while ago this month when it was rainy out during the week and there were only 20 cars in the lot. That is rare in the summer. And toward the end of August the crowds are out in full force as families squeeze their last visits in before school starts, remember some of them are coming from a distance and can't really get to the park in the fall.
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On Dorney Park Haunt's instagram they have a picture of wooden framework in the shape of a house, looks like the new haunted house going up by Steel Force. The new haunts are announced next Saturday. It appears that the only new things this year are the new haunted house between Steel Force and the old parking lot on the hill, and the new Bloodshed/Cornstalkers on the old go-kart track. Unless there is some other secret project that we don't know about yet.
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Hey, I was just saying how crowded the park gets not how black it is. I said inner city people not black people in the last post. It is true that a majority of summer guests look like they stepped right out of the ghetto, but that's because we're so close to those urban areas that people are close enough to drive to the park and back in one day. And rough refers to the behavior of the guests, not their color. Some people can be downright rude.
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Knoebel's being in the middle of nowhere seems to get a not so rough crowd like DP. DP draws all the inner city people from NY, NJ, and Philly. It's one of the busiest and most attended parks in the Cedar Fair chain due to it's location being so close to NY, NJ and Philly. It's also smaller than other parks so cramming thousands of people into the park makes the park seem crammed. Especially the waterpark. I grew up with the park, I was born Jan 1974 and started going to the park in 1976 when it was a small family run park with a zoo.
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Dorney Park was that dead yesterday? If you go to the Kaman's Art site and select Dorney Park and look up the photos taken of guests and some ride/park views like shots of Talon, etc. select a date and you will see all the photos taken that day. After a couple months the older dates no longer work. You can generally only look up photos for the current season. Yesterday there were 371 photos taken. Last Saturday there were 5040 photos taken and last Sunday 3489. The numbers are higher on the weekends which indicates that the park is busier on weekends. Rainy weekdays the numbers are much lower. The reason why Dorney is behind other parks is because of lack of room to expand. Hershey must have been able to acquire land to expand the park, Dorney is surrounded by residential neighborhoods, a nature reserve or whatever it is, and Rt. 222 to the south. They just a have a few pieces of land unbuilt on. They could build something in the grassy areas between Steel Force area and Dorney Park Rd. Dorney also gets a rough and rude crowd especially on busy weekends because a majority of them are inner city people of color. I see why the park needs a security force and now an officer from South Whitehall Township on the property. I heard they had over 30 arrests this year it said in a news article. The park is serious, you do something stupid you get your a** thrown out with the possibility of being trespassed from the park for the rest of the season. If you're a pass holder, your pass gets revoked. There was a TV show with chief Dan Hall on it and he threw a guy out for spending too much time on the swan boats which are no longer there. He took the guy into the lower security office and said you are banned for two years or something and then took the guy to the gate near the Whip, the guy was turning around with his middle finger in the air as he walked away. Here is the show Also, there's a hint about witches for this year's Haunt on the Dorney Park Haunt instagram page, and Screamscape mentioned it, too. I think it's the new indoor haunt they're building by Steel Force and the old parking lot on the hill. Last year Cedar Point built a new indoor haunt near the main entrance called Hexed, a haunted house themed to witches. We'll find out the new haunt additions on Sat. Aug 22.
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I'm building Dorney Park in RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, I actually started it a few years ago but hadn't worked on it in a while. I'm building the Haunt attractions in it, too, here is a shot in RCT3 of what the new haunt building might look like with a banner sign advertising it. It would make more sense to have the front of the haunt building facing toward the Steel Force midway/Steel Force Photos. There are rumors it might be themed to a creepy mansion house inhabited by witches. Cedar Point added a new indoor haunt last year at the front of the park called Hexed, which is a haunted house themed to witches.
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But that is where the park boundary is. Outside the black fence near Steel Force is outside the park. To the right of the Steel Force Photos building is a gate leading out to the road and parking lot. They could remove a section of fence just north of Steel Force all there is is a bench there. If you look on Google Maps Street View inside the park, but the images are a few years old.
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Do you know which way the haunt building is going to face? If it's on the north side of Steel Force by the old tiered parking lot will the front of the building where the entrance is face toward Steel Force's station? They're going to have to remove some of the fence near the Steel Force photo building to provide access to the haunt building and build concrete pathway to it. So the building will be horizontal with Steel Force, that is the longer part will be in line with Steel Force? I thought originally that they were building the new haunt building behind where Grave Walkers is in the empty grassy area, I was wrong. Maybe in the future they can build an additional haunt building back there or where Grave Walkers normally is and retire Grave Walkers.
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Why is the park so much busier on Saturdays? And sometimes Sundays, too? Is it because more people have off from work on the weekends? It was either Sat or Sun this past weekend there were South Whitehall police cars in the middle of Hamilton with orange cones blocking the left turn lane onto Lincoln Ave. heading east. They didn't want anyone turning left at the light, they were directing traffic to the loop to return west on Hamilton to Lincoln. Apparently they were doing this to funnel DP bound traffic. Overflow lot on the opposite side of Lincoln from the main lot was full. We were driving east on Hamilton past the park in the late morning. About Grave Walkers, I read a post on here that it was being replaced, unless that person didn't know if it was staying or not.
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But what's happening with Grave Walkers? Is it being replaced with something else? What was with the land clearing behind Revolution? I could care less about the kiddie stuff because I'm a 41 year old adult, I live at home with my mom, brother, my mom's man friend of 21 years (my father passed March 8, 1986) because I have mild autism and don't drive. I care more about the nighttime attractions for the older crowd. So, it seems that the new Blood Shed, new haunt building by Steel Force and parking lot, and whatever goes in Grave Walkers area is basically it for the new additions for Haunt VIII? But we minus two attractions with the elimination of the old Cornstalkers and Blood Shed locations. It seems that nothing else is being changed or removed this year, Mansion House Hotel, Desolation, Chamber of Horrors, Blackout, Asylum, Head Hunters, and CarnEVIL are all returning this year. Check out this page for haunt updates.http://websta.me/n/dphaunt
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Are there any other new haunts besides the new Bloodshed/Cornstalkers? The new building that's being built by the old parking lot in the triangular grassy area? Anything else new this year? What about the land clearing behind Revolution, what's that for? Isn't that where Grave Walkers normally is? Is the new Bloodshed/Cornstalkers going to be an indoor maze or outdoor? Will it have a roof or be exposed to the air? The new haunt to be built, is that completely indoor like the Desolation building?
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Wow, the news about the other haunt by the Thunder Creek Mountain area is news to me. But, it's going to be a relocated Blood Shed and Cornstalkers? You mean they're not having Blood Shed around the WWK restrooms anymore, or the Cornstalkers on the service road between DP and WWK and the path toward Thunder Canyon? And someone mentioned Desolation is being replaced with something else. So, a total retheme of that haunt? And there's the new haunt building going in on the triangle shaped grassy spot next to Steel Force by the old tiered parking lot. I thought the new building was going to go back behind the Steel Force restroom near Dinos Alive. Guess I was wrong. I haven't been to the park yet this season to see all the changes except what has been posted on the web. Looks like Haunt VIII is going to be good. At least 3 new haunts, one a retheme, one a relocation, and one a brand new haunt building in a brand new location. Wonder if there's anything else up their sleeves that they're not telling yet. It's about time that they added some new haunts to the lower end of the park. And indoor ones, too. Having more indoor haunts will be better when it rains as the mazes will be protected from the elements and you can go through them without getting soaked and they likely won't close in the rain. Some indoor haunts like Mansion House Hotel, Blood Shed (old location) and Desolation have outdoor segments exposed to the air. Will the new Blood Shed be completely enclosed with a roof? The old one was mostly exposed to the air without a roof. There's a few other places in the park where they could shoehorn new haunt structures in the future. They should retheme Asylum, they had that theme for six years now. So even though they made some major additions and changes last year with Chamber of Horrors, Blackout, CarnEVIL, and Skeleton Key rooms, this year they are also doing some major additions/changes to Haunt as well?
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Cedar Fair 2007 Halloween Events
rwk replied to Vffreak07's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
My local park, Dorney Park is getting the HAUNT upgrade this year, new haunts, so it will be more in line with the other parks. Dorney's haunt will no longer be the worst. I remember when Dorney Park had dark rides prior to Cedar Fair, during the Plarr early 1900's-1967/Bob Ott 1967-1985/Harris Weinstein 1985-1992 regimes. Journey to the Center of the Earth mill chute by Coaster/Thunderhawk, torn down after 1992, Bucket O' Blood dark ride, burned Sept. 28, 1983, Gold Mine walkthrough under arcade, closed 1984 or 1985, 100 year old building torn down fall 2005, the Whacky Shack, burned 1973, and the Iceberg/Meteorite PTC cuddle-up, rethemed 1989/1990, only "dark ride" to survive into Cedar Fair first full year 1993, razed 1994 for Patio Pizza. It was the only PTC Cuddle-up left I think. And Bob Ott one of the former park owners, passed away a year ago March 4, 2007. I met him twice at book signings, at the park and an old grist mill house. He ran the park between 1967-1984 retiring May 1985 selling to Harris Weinstein. Ott's son Bob retired to Florida when he and his father decided to leave the park, and so did Weinstein after 1992. Weinstein sold DP to Cedar Fair July 1992. -
Bell's may be in trouble.
rwk replied to Shavethewhales's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
That really sucks. There are only about 10 Bill Tracy dark rides left and now there will be nine. Here they are- Haunted House, Trimper's, Ocean City, MD - Pirate's Cove, Trimper's, Ocean City, MD - Whacky Shack, Waldameer, Erie, PA - Pirate's Cove, Waldameer, Erie, PA - Fright Zone - formerly Erieview/now Conneaut Lake Park - Whacky Shack, Joyland - Fantastic Journey, Wonderland Park, Amarillo, TX - Lumalusions, Texas State Fair, Dallas, TX - Castle, Lake Winnepesaukah, Rossville, GA. What are they going to do with the props from Phantasmagoria? And the cars and track? It's a good thing the websites documented the rides when they did, just in case something bad happened. Lost Bill Tracy rides include Whacky Shack, Hunt's Pier, Wildwood, NJ - Bucket O' Blood, Dorney Park, Allentown, PA - Journey to the Center of the Earth, Dorney Park, Allentown, PA - Haunted Castle, Miracle Strip, Panama City, FL and others. I really like the style of the Bill Tracy rides because of the different scenes and stunts such as the crooked mine, rotating tunnel, and various scenes of horror. The thing is, they're irreplaceable. Bill Tracy passed away in the early 70's, and the company went defunct in 1979. One of the company's last projects was the Haunted Mansion at Rehoboth, DE which is still there. I hope the remaining Tracy rides have long life. If Joyland goes under, the Whacky Shack's a goner. -
Bell's may be in trouble.
rwk replied to Shavethewhales's topic in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Oh, no please don't tear down the Phantasmagoria! They don't make them like that anymore. Haunted rides like that are a dying breed so as it is. We don't need to lose any more. Bill Tracy was the ride's creator and there's only several of his rides left. I'm afraid today's young generations are too jaded to appreciate the art and scares of a dark ride, they'd rather ride the latest, tallest, fastest coaster. That's why so many parks build extreme coasters, to attract Gen-Y er's. Such as Six Flags. That's why dark rides disappear unnoticed. The general public at large could care less about them. Also dark rides are maintenance headaches. We can only hope that this ride can be moved to the new location or otherwise saved. It would make me sick to my stomach to see it ripped apart, like what just happened to Dr. Blood's House of Horror in Wildwood, NJ another old Bill Tracy dark ride. It was closed for the past 20+ years.