AmyUD06

Any shop should be fine. This season (and last), I got my wirstbands: -At KI I did it at the dedicated FL redemption booth. If you're there at opening there won't be a substantial line for the wristbands. -At Cedar Point at the general redemption stand on the left as you enter. -At Dorney at a gift shop in the water park.

American's, generally, like to drink large quantities of beer over a long period of time. Light beer makes that possible without getting too drunk too quickly. Personally, I'm more of a cocktail drinker, but when I'm drinking beer it's typically a light.

Nope, as far as I'm aware you'll need to pay for parking and wait in any line of cars that may exist.

Any idea on the cost to upgrade a season Gold Flash Pass to Platinum for just one day?

Some further tidbits from my trip to Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom yesterday with a buddy from college: -So, passholders need to make reservations for the water park only, and daily ticket buyers have two choices - rides or rides and water park. But, there's only one main gate...and no one was checking to see if you had the proper credentials to enter the water park. I mean, I'm an upstanding individual, so of course I had a reservation and my friend had the proper dual-park ticket, but it did kinda annoy me that others could scam the system if so desired. -The path from the water park to Thunder Canyon (the rapids ride) was locked shut, meaning if you wanted to ride the rapids you had to put shirt/shoes back on and walk through the dry park, as opposed to just heading straight over in swimwear as you could in the past. -Like I said, every ride in the dry park was operating, and the only rides closed in the water park were the original wave pool and original lazy river, which is sadly the better of the two. -Food stands were probably at around 50-60% operating, and we didn't encounter any insane waits. -Note that the "build your own mac & cheese" at the Tidal Wave Cafe is nothing like what you get at Mac Bowl (King's Dominion) or Mac Shack (Cedar Point) - your only option was bacon or not. -Fast Lane+ was mostly a waste at the dry park (only helpful for Wild Mouse and a few flats), as is usual. There weren't any employee at the merge points at any line, so it was kinda a free-for-all, but crowds didn't really necessitate it. Note that I have the all-season, all-park, but I did buy it for my friend. -Fast Lane+ *was* a huge help at the water park, especially on Pepsi Aquablast (I will forever call it that). Really they need to add it to Patriot's Plunge and the Lighting Falls slides. -I found it absolutely hilarious that there was a live band playing for pretty much all-day around the water park's bar, but the bar itself wasn't open. Though, I did encounter a bartender from Chickie & Pete's outside on a smoke break while I was as well, and he said that he was the only bartender employed by the park at the moment (another quit a few weeks ago), so I guess it's understandable. -A minor gripe, but the smoking section is outside the ticket gate, as I've come to expect from Cedar Fair Parks in this post-COVID world, but if you're coming from the water park you need shirt and shoes to get back in...you're only in the dry park for like 30 seconds between the gate and the water park entrance, so this seems a bit unnecessary to me. -Steel Force's black train was nowhere to be found; only running red and blue and the parking track was empty. -Still no activity whatsoever on the older Laser/Stinger site, nor with the former Dino's Alive site, for that one person that was going to ask. All-in-all, we had a great day, which was capped off by a trip for some adult beverages and Ishkabibble's cheesesteaks in Philly on the way home. Next planned trip is to Idlewild/Kennywood/Lakemont on the weekend of July 9th.

At Dorney now. Most everything is open, except one of the lazy rivers and one of the wave pools, and the bar in the water park. Amusingly there is a live band playing near it, but no liquor flowing haha. Ride lines are reasonable, but definitely more than the normal Dorney nothingness.

I definitely get some on Raptor's cobra roll and the final turn, a little bit on Batman (at least the one at SFGAdv), even some on the immelmann on Great Bear. For me, keeping my head forward just results in neck-banging instead of head-banging (I'm only 5'6"), so yeah I prefer the vests.

Not obese by any stretch but I definitely prefer the vest restraints...no headbanging whatsoever.

Your best bet is probably the Shell station at the corner of Rye Beach Road and W Cleveland Road (you'll be passing by this on your way from Buffalo). You may need to ask the clerk for a bathroom key; I noticed this as a trend in Ohio.

We cannot.

Yeah, it's not a motor installed backwards (reversed polarity). If it was, that would happen on every cycle, and when they tried to run it, the two motors would be working against each other and the arm wouldn't move very much and the structure would shake itself apart like shown in the video. I have to think that even Six Flags would have found that a suitable reason to not open the ride. The way the support is flexing/torquing like that leads me to believe that the motor on that side only is not turning off when it should, and is fighting against the holding brake on the other side that holds the arm in place while its in load/unload mode. But that's just my theory.

To be honest I haven't tried lately; I typically only browse the forums from my phone when I'm at parks, but it was definitely doing it for my CP/KI trip at the end of May as well as my KI trip earlier in May. I'll be going to Dorney this coming Friday and can provide an update. Thanks for at least looking into it.

The SF parks, Hershey, and Knoebels have as many smoking zones as ever (and they are appreciated!). I think CF is the only chain who used COVID as an excuse to go smoke-free.

They'll probably institute something like SV's new locker system, after the FP merge point, but in typical SF fashion, dedicate zero employees to it so it turns into a massive shitshow.

After they lost the entire 2020 season, I'd be very surprised if they add anything for 2022. Officially, nothing has been announced.

No offense, @tndank, but anyone not recommending the very front, let alone the back car, for Beast is just a glutton for punishment. Not sure how old you are, but bodies with some years on them can't handle it. Here's my overall recommendations for @bert425: Adventure Express - Row 2 or 5. Backlot - Back row. Banshee - Back row. Dem forces. Bat - Back row. Beast - Front row. Nowhere else. Especially at night. Diamondback - Row 2. Do not get stapled. Flight of Fear - Back row. Flying Ace Aerial Chase - Back row. Invertigo - Don't. If you must, somewhere in the middle. Mystic Timbers - Do two rides, Front and Back rows. They're both awesome but back holds a slight edge for me. Orion - Back row. Don't get stapled. Typically I'm a front row guy on coasters based on speed, and don't get me wrong, it's good here, but that first and second drops in the back.... Racer - Row 1 or 2. It's a lot smoother now, but you still want that non-wheel seat if you're not in the front. Woodstock Express - Back row or not at all.

RMC hasn't done a traditional loop on any of their coasters. It could just be the bottom portion of a hill too.

Carowinds: Obviously don't skip Fury. Copperhead Strike is also great, but don't expect Maverick. Otherwise every coaster there is worth riding, and if you're there on a weekday you should be able to hit everything easily. Never been to the water park. Kings Dominion: Obviously don't skip I305 or Twisted Timbers. Backlot and Flight of Fear are identical to their Kings Island counterparts. Dominator is possibly the best floorless in the US. Racer 75 and Grizzly can be decent. Anaconda can be skipped unless you want the credit. Avalanche is awesome but won't be open this year. Water park is pretty good, but you probably won't have time for it. Dorney: Obviously don't skip Talon. The rest of the coasters, except Wild Mouse, are decent. They've got a lot of rare flats (Whip, Apollo, Enterprise) too. Water park is awesome, and you'll definitely have time for it here.

Gotta agree with @bert425 on this one. A closed park is better than a park where many major rides are not running - this way you know not to go. At least Knoebels has the courtesy to keep their website updated so people know not to go. Of course, that leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy - with enough rides closed, people won't go, decreasing their revenue, making those days less profitable to open at all, leading to them not opening at all.

There are also signs trying to relate the Jersey Devil legend to the coaster bordering the hut-covered queue, and possibly all the way up to the station.

Fair enough regarding Haunted Mansion and scaring the kids, but be advised the "upcharge" is only $3 a person, so don't let that dissuade you. I too noticed a lot of the rides I listed as being "closed" on the website right now....I have to assume they're either temporary or staffing related, because everything I mentioned in my list (except Flying Turns and the Flyers), were running during my visit on May 1st. Power Surge I think was running, but rides with that kinda rotation mess me up so I skipped it and can't be sure. A month from now who knows what might be up and running. Good luck. It truly is a magical place.

Sorry, my only trip there was on a Saturday (the second one they were open for the year, in fact), so I can't comment on crowds. Things to not miss at Knoebels, roughly in order of importance: -Phoenix -Twister -Haunted Mansion (why don't you plan on doing this?) -Looper -Black Diamond -Stratosphere -Cosmotron -Scooters (bumper cars) -Motor Boats -Flyers (if they're running) -Whip -Paratrooper -Grand Carousel (outer, ring-grabbing seats only) -Skyride -Flying turns (if it's open) -Satellite (if your stomach can take that kinda rotation) I'd say you can safely skip Impulse; it's smooth but nothing really special and it tends to have the third-slowest-moving line in the park (only ahead of Flying Turns and the boats). If you're there on a weekday, and crowds are anything like they were in 2017, pre-COVID, (which they probably won't be), you should be able to hit everything I listed in four hours. If you have any time left, check out the museums, particularly the park history museum in the back of the mining museum (it's kinda hidden). Many people also rant and rave about the food here, which is decently cheap, but I'm not a foodie by any stretch of the imagination so I'll just say it's generally better quality than most park food. Many people also rant and rave about Fascination (kinda a combination of bingo and skee-ball), but I don't particularly see the draw, particularly if you never come to the park and can't save up a massive amount of tickets.

I don't mind it. It spent most of its life being called "Dreier Looping," which literally translates to "Triple Loop." Then again, I also see nothing wrong with CF naming their drop towers "Drop Tower."

As @A.J. said, if you've already been to Kennywood, your full day would be better spent at Knoebels. If you haven't been to Kennywood, but have been to Knoebels before, then the trip as you've planned it makes a little more sense to me. If you've never been to either park, definitely choose Knoebels. No idea on Flying Turns. My guess is that they're in no hurry. It'll open when it opens.

I got attacked by no less than 3 birds over the course of my two days at the park at the end of May. I think they might have been nesting in the bushes and we just got too close.