AmyUD06

Am I the first TR from Pandemic-Dorney? Sweet. Stopped by the park for about an hour and a half today, just to get some rides in, no expectations. Health Screening - They ask you "the questions" and then its through a thermal scanner. What is the point of the doing the questionnaire through the app first if they're just going to ask you the questions in person? First stop was Talon, which...what the hell...actually had a wait! That said, it was 14 minutes for the back row, including ride time. Notably here, they had rows 2, 3, 5, and 7 completely blocked off, and were not doing any sort of "staged exit" from the trains like they are at Kings Island and Cedar Point. Also, notably the only adult rides I saw that were closed all day were the big splash boat, Meteor, and Possessed. Might have missed my last opportunity for that one, if those rumors from the previous pages come true. Next was Hydra, which was a walk on for the back row. Same train "social distancing" procedures as at Talon. After that was Demon Drop, which was again a walk on. This is more like the Dorney I know I and love LOL. Decided to skip the flume since I didn't feel like getting wet. After that it was Thunderhawk, which I waited 7 minutes for the front row - amusingly had the train to myself, and zero people waiting in the station when I got back. Here, their "social" distancing was to close two out of three rows of seats per car - so the first 3 cars had the front row open, while the last car had the back row open. It would be the same thing at Steel Force (14 minutes for front row), so sadly no middle seat rides possible on either. Amusingly, they marked both sets of switchbacks for Steel Force with social distancing markers. Just...LOL. Walking back from the badlands to the rest of the park, stopped and took a quick snap of this lot that's going to be sitting empty for quite a while...sorry not sorry. Took a quick spin on the Whip (one cycle wait) for it's 100th birthday, for which they're celebrating with cakes. A nice touch I thought. Anyway, grabbed a quick walk-on on the Enterprise since who knows when I'll be back at a park that still has one, and then called it a day and headed home. In summary? Yeah, it's Dorney Park - a lack of waterpark has not caused the rides side to flood with people. Despite the little wait at Talon, everything else was a walk-on or one/two cycle wait. Social Distancing is easy at this park haha. Will I be back this year despite it being less than an hour and a half away and on my CF Platinum Pass? If they open the waterpark (doubtful), or do a Haunt (also doubtful), sure...but otherwise this one trip was enough.

Hm...I felt the park was plenty busy on the three days I was there last week. (July 13-15, Monday-Wednesday)

I'll sadly back up that assertion, as the scare zones listed as "new" were in fact new in 2019. Boo.

I fail to see how haunted walk-throughs will work in "pandemic mode" (I thought indoors was supposed to be the devil?), but more power to them. I'll be there.

As it should be. #ShouldveStayedMantis

There's one at the Seven Springs mountain resort in PA. Not quite as fast as the ones at Action Park in its heyday, but better than nothing.

I think he was saying that he had an awful day on the 12th, not this visit.

No, no, no to an Alpine Coaster. It has to be a legit, 1970s-style, Alpine Slide, where death awaits.

Decided to take a drive to Knoebel's today before Emperor Wolf starts shutting things down again in PA. Splurged for the All-Day Wristband and probably got my money's worth out of it - 2 rides each on Phoenix and Twister, and single rides on: Haunted Mansion, Black Diamond, StratosFear, the Flyers, Cosmotron, Paratrooper, Roto-Jets, the main Carousel (grabbed a ring!), Skyway, Whipper, Skooter, Motorboats, and Gasoline Alley. Pretty much every adult flat that was open except for Round Up (just wasn't feeling it today) and Satellite (too much multi-directional spinning for me). I also skipped the log flume since it looked like people were getting drenched. All in all, a much better time that I had here in 2017, when I walked away totally unimpressed. Twister is awesome (I originally was not a fan), and the park really does have a magic to it. Some of these rides, man... StratosFear is insane...not that tall but just feels like you're going to keep falling forever. Cosmotron is an awesome trip, but could use some AC in the building. The Whip seemed slower than Dorney's but much more forceful. I managed to complete the entire lap on the Motorboats without hitting anything. The heat was starting to get to me after about 4 hours, so I took off, but it was well worth the 3 hour drive each way. That said, Cesari's Pizza was meh. Yeah, it's good for amusement park pizza, but coming from a Jersey shore pizza snob who's used to 3 Brothers, Jonuzi's, and Mack's...not that great. Too much sauce I think. The cheesesteak from the round food stand near Cesari's was also meh, but the Oreo Sundae from the ice cream place right near there was awesome. Crowds were pretty much nonexistant; didn't wait more than 5 minutes for anything. The pool, however, was packed (to be expected with 88 degree ambient). Good compliance on masks if you care about that sort of thing, and some employees were very adamant (almost angry) when they saw someone not wearing it properly. Kinda surprising from a park that initially said "if we see you without a mask, we're going to assume you have a medical condition and not ask you about it" before the governor mandated masks outside. Did they ever have an Action-Park-style Alpine Slide on the mountain? While riding the SkyRide I couldn't help but think that adding a few lanes of those would make this the perfect park, and the "oh well if you get hurt" nature of them would fit right in. Next trip, maybe Dorney on Friday.

It opened with the park each day I was there, the 11th and 12th.

Great report Zach! Glad to hear you're having a better time than at "Park X," which we all know what it was haha.

This page shows an updated list of what rides are open/closed: https://www.moreyspiers.com/park-status-temp

As of this posting, you cannot buy a new FL/FL+ for Cedar Point, either at the park or online. However, if you have previously purchased it, you can still exchange the voucher at the park for a wristband. By late August, that may change, as it did at Kings Island (originally were not selling any new Fast Lanes, then started selling three versions: daily FL+, KI-only all-season FL+, and all-park/all-season FL+, subsequently stopping the sales of both all-season options). I'm hoping your hotel is refundable, since CP hasn't even mapped out past the first week of August on their reservation system, indicating that things may change and they may not be open then. Fast Lane/+ users (that is, those that have purchased it pre-Corona) bypass the entire "access pass" process. It works like any day in the normal season...just walk up to the FL entrance, show/scan your wristband, and then proceed to the merge point, no access pass needed. Access Passes are used on four rides: Steel Vengeance, Maverick, Millennium Force, and Top Thrill Dragster. That's it. I imagine if the park had a super-low-crowd expected day (i.e., it was forecast to downpour the entire day and reservations were showing like less than 2,000 expected), they may bypass the access pass system entirely, but who knows - they haven't had any of those days yet. To make the system fair and give everyone advance notice, they're trying to do things the same way every day - access passes get handed out in two bunches at 11:00 (for ride times through 4:00) and 3:30 (for ride times after 4:00), no matter what the crowds are like. I don't see them messing with that system too much. They do let about an hours-worth of people into the standby line before access passes are distributed at 11:00, and I'd imagine at the end of the day if there was no one left from the last access pass group in the queue, they'd allow people that didn't have passes in, but I can't say for certain. It is still possible to get both mixed drinks and beer at the alcohol-serving establishments that are open, including Melt and the Trail Tavern (the two that I drank at). I also saw some of the beer-selling kiosks open. I didn't set foot in Chickie and Pete's so I'm not sure if it was open or not, but it appeared to be. You couldn't sit at the bar in any where that was open, but you could walk up to the bar, order a drink, and take it with you throughout the park. Note that probably 60% of food serving establishments were not open.

My report, posted within the past few pages, answers every one of your questions in detail.

I guess I have the exact opposite opinion - Overwhelming. It consists almost entirely of hery-jerky bucking bronco intensity. It's so much that it's not very fun for us. Have you been on Twisted Timbers at Kings Dominion? That ride gives that exact feeling you describe...I didn't get very much of that on SV at all. It's a gem, isn't it? I even got to watch some shady drug deals in the parking lot for entertainment. God I love that place... Yeah, it was awesome. I wish I had gone there my first night and didn't need to duck out early on my third night to hit the road early.

Bah-dah-ting. LOL.

Sure, and that's fine. All I was saying with my post is place the blame on amusement park mask policies where they are due - the government and/or the populace, not the parks' management.

Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point, #150 for me. Didn't plan it, just kinda worked out that way.

Honestly, here's how I'd tackle it if you've only got one day, a 10:30 reservation, and aren't buying Fast Lane. Note that this is based on my preference of rides. -Go straight to Orion at opening and wait for them to hand our access passes. If you are quick enough, you may be able to get in the standby line and ignore the whole access pass situation all together. If you can do this, do it. Otherwise, grab your access pass. The time you receive will determine the rest of the course of action for the day. -If your pass is for noon-1:00, hop on Flight of Fear. If that somehow takes less than a half-hour, go grab Racer next. Return to Orion and get your ride in there. Then continue with the below. -If your access pass is for later in the day, go to Beast and then start working the park in a clockwise loop, so Diamondback next, then Mystic Timbers. Skip the kiddie coasters (Flying Ace Aerial Chase and Woodstock Express) if you want or if the lines are long (for FAAC, it's long if you can see the back of it from the midway). Cross International Street into Action Zone, and grab Banshee and Bat (skip Invertigo if it has any kind of line). Adventure Express next, then Racer, then finally back into Area 72 for Flight of Fear. Backlot is skippable for me since I have one in my home park, but you can work that in whenever you're in the area. Whenever your Access Pass time is for Orion, deviate from the above plan and go get that done, and then grab Flight of Fear afterwards and then continue where ever you left off on the plan. In using an access pass, I found it best to be there 15-20 minutes BEFORE the hour its due so you can line up, or in the last 15 minutes of the hour so most of the other passes will have gone through already. Even with half the seats blocked off, Orion is still a people-eater. I was there on a Saturday and didn't have any issue with crowds, so being there on a Wednesday you should be fine. Worst case scenario is you have to buy a Fast Lane, which wasn't even available during my trip.

And now, for some of the finer details from Orion's queue: The inside of the pre-queue building, including an easily bypassed green-screen photo-taking of unknown purpose. It's the little things to appreciate... Some signage L0ckers in the non-air-conditioned, gonna-get-super-hot-with-the-sun-beating-on-it metal building in the middle of the queue. More l0ckers. Each of these contained some throwback tidbits to earlier rides or Orion stuff. Screens showing the thematic preview. Bulletin boards listing out various KI attractions, some still existent. Bulletin board 1 closeup Bulletin board 2 closeup Bulletin board 3 closeup Station, with banners overhead. Cool throwback in the station.

As promised, here are my pics of the Area 72 region: Crossing under the Racer drop... Old school Volvo wagon decked out in conspiracy theorist decorations, quite fitting. The front side. Some signage More signage The new restaurant Their menu. Not really anything up my alley, but more places to refill the season drink plan is always a plus. Some theming added to the front of Flight of Fear. New "Flight of Fear" sign to fit in with the rest of the new Theming Additional decoration Orion's pre-queue building, including a photo-op. New locker area. Boo. Nice overview Orion's ride photo booth A closer overview A view of the queue from outside it Finally, what I believe to be a new sign when entering the Flight of Fear queue, which may actually be old.

The question wasn't being asked of me, but yes, that is the case if this kid with asthma's breathing is so negatively affected by a piece of cloth over his face that he absolutely cannot wear one. I would argue that if a kid has asthma that badly, he probably shouldn't be going on any amusement rides which increase your heart and breathing rates, but that's neither here nor there. Hint: bandanas wrapped around your nose that do not restrict your mouth or airflow to your nose DO count as a "face covering" for these parks' requirements. It sucks for that kid, but better for it to suck for that kid than not have the parks open at all, which given certain state governors' decrees and popular opinion that masks will save us all, that is what it comes down. If they allowed non-maskers to be non-masked for any reason, even a "legitimate"/"medical" reason, that would defeat the entire mask system and no one should be required to wear a mask. I don't personally buy into the "masks will save us all" theory, but for it to work, you need 100% compliance. Don't be mad at Kennywood for following the mandates of their dictatorial governor's orders that says if you're in a public gathering you have to wear a mask - be mad at Governor Wolf for making that rule. Don't be mad at Cedar Fair for requiring masks at their Ohio parks even though their counties/state aren't requiring it - be mad at your fellow human beings for believing that masks are the be-all, end-all in fighting this "horrible pandemic."

Well, if the HS and college kids are all home from school, they'll have no trouble finding staffing.

Whatever, so long as they don't remove Avalanche to put it in, it's something else to draw crowds away from Twisted Timbers.

Very nice. How's the weather holding out? I was considering staying an extra day but saw 50+% chance of thunderstorms all day and didn't bother.