YoshiFan

I had a really good visit at the park tonight. From opening to closing I got 17 rides in. Getting there at opening showed me why the new entrance is needed. The line to get in was to where the tram circle is near the ticket counter. It took 15 minutes to get in and this was a low crowd night. On a busy day at opening, I can't imagine how bad it gets. It also doesn't help there is no rope drop like at Great Adventure and the gates don't open until park opening time. Lines were short except for the rides that were running 1 train. That included Great Bear, Storm Runner, Wildcat and each track of Lightning Racer. At one point the app was showing a 45 minute wait for Great Bear and Wildcat supposedly had a 5 minute wait but the line was far down the ramp and it was probably closer to a 30 minute wait. Besides some kids rides closed, the sky ride, whip, Reese's Tower and Coal Cracker were all closed. I expected Coal Cracker to be closed on a Friday night but last year I went to Hersheypark in the Dark 2 different weeks on Sunday and it was closed then as well even though it was warm enough to run the ride. It will be interesting to see if it is open on Saturday since it's supposed to be around 60 degrees.

Pictures like that are why I will never visit the park on a Saturday (or Sunday) this time of year. Even with Flash Pass, that looks like it would be miserable just walking around, plus the wait to get through security and traffic exiting the park.

Yeah that's understandable avoiding Fright Fest, I used to only go to the park that time of year on Friday nights when crowds were reasonable. Now when some of the coasters are getting hour waits even on a Friday night in September, I won't visit again until next month.

I thought there is Fright Fest today? The park used to be open until 8 on Columbus Day and they changed it to 10 a few years ago. When I would go the park that day, I would wait until around 5 to get there when crowds weren't bad getting in and with people going to the mazes. Ride lines were usually not bad later in the day. 10+ years ago the park also used to make Columbus Day bring a friend free day combined with some groups visiting the park and there were 2 hour lines.

Today was probably the most crowded I have ever seen the park. I knew it was going to be crowded based on wait times on the app the last Saturday and the Saturday before that but wanted to get 1 trip in before Hersheypark in the Dark begins. Walking around difficult where food lines were going to the walkways. Comet, Great Bear, sooperdooperlooper, Laff Trakk all had lines that were overflowing onto the walkways. Fahrenheit, Lightning Racer, Wildcat and Wild Mouse had almost full queues. The most surprising wait times on the app were Lightning Racer and Trailblazer and 75 minutes although I don't think that was accurate. When I rode Lightning Racer later it was a 45 minute wait on the app and took just over 15 minutes. Crowds were more reasonable after 8 although some rides like Fahrenheit and Laff Trakk had really bad lines even later in the day. Coal Cracker was closed all day. The app had a 45 minute posted wait time for Great Bear. It was at least double that. sooperdooperlooper's line was also out of the queue.

I was at the park for a few hours on Saturday. I wanted to go to Knoebels but with the Bloomsburg Fair likely causing horrible traffic on the way to the park and Knoebels having a buy 1 handstamp, get 1 for free next May, I thought it would be very crowded. The park was crowded (for Dorney) with some of the coasters besides Wild Mouse actually having 15 - 20 minute waits. There is a new coaster where Stinger used to be, unfortunately for anyone hoping for a new ride, this one is made out of pumpkins. Thunder Creek Mountain was closed. I was hoping it might be open, at least during the day. Cedar Creek Flyers was already the worst flying scooters in the area because of the slow speed and short ride cycle that was under 2 minutes. They actually made it worse. The ride starts to slow down less than 50 seconds after it starts moving and from start to complete stop is barely over a minute. While riding Thunderhawk, I heard someone said that it was a better ride than Phoenix because Thunderhawk's trains have better padding. The person riding next to them agreed with that. I walked through the main gift shop on the way out of the park. In the middle of the store there was a display of Phillies hats for 80% off. It seemed really random for Phillies merchandise to be sold there but since it's Dorney I can't say I'm that surprised. Chickie's and Pete's had the longest line in the park. There were at least 20 people waiting to order and the line to the pickup window was past the bar area and the total wait time from getting in line to order and actually getting the food was probably close to 45 minutes. The coaster in Stinger's spot. I know it's not a great picture but the only way to see the whole display well is to ride Steel Force. The lighter pumpkins on the right are supposed to be a coaster train. There were a lot of people, both kids and adults with these necklaces.

You know it's crowded when sooperdooperlooper is showing a 90 minute wait time on the app. I guess a September Saturday is worse for ride lines that a July or August Saturday when the water park open to take away some of the crowds.

I'd probably go once a year for Winterfest. Seeing the ride lineups at other Cedar Fair parks makes me think maybe just Wild Mouse and 1 of the B&M coasters would be running if only the top section of the park was open. I went to the event last year for the first time in 10 years and thought it was great. Cheap admission (around $25) almost all the flat rides are open including the drop towers and 5 coasters (6 with the kiddie coaster) are running.

Columbus Day weekend is one of the worst of the year to go to the park, maybe the 2nd most crowded after the weekend before Halloween. Friday night and Columbus Day itself aren't that bad.

Friday and Sunday usually are the low crowd days. Saturday during Hersheypark in the Dark usually has horrible crowds. Last year I remember looking at the app and it was showing a 60 minute wait for Trailblazer and sooperdooperlooper. I usually try to go on a Sunday when everything except Laff Trakk is 5 - 10 minutes.

It's that really small drop right before you go under lift hill that seems to always get me soaked. If there isn't going to be anything on the ride side added next year (or nothing major), I hope there is at least a new addition to Wildwater Kingdom. Next year will be 5 years since Snake Pit was added and it would be nice to see something else to help spread out crowds more. Yesterday was the most crowded I have seen the water park all season (for a weekday). Many of the slides had lines to the bottom of the stairs. Aquablast looked like it had over an hour wait.

All Flash Pass entrances merge at the station except The Dark Knight and Runaway Mine Train,. Kingda Ka is further back but they usually don't let the line go much past the station so it's usually a station wait. Justice League does have a single rider line but it's toward the end of the line and can take a while just to get to the area where the line splits if it is crowded. Zumanjaro's single rider line works better with the split before the covered part of the line.

Unfortunately it was removed sometime between mid April and late May. It is now the Fast Track line (Fast Track used to go through the exit).

When I see people with the regular Fast Lane wristbands, I always wonder if they had never been to the park before and pre-purchased it or actually bought it once there and how much they regret it. Even if they pay $10 extra for Fast Lane Plus where it actually is helpful for skipping lines in Wildwater Kingdom, it still doesn't seem worth paying around $60 total for the day.

I was at the arcade getting a voucher from the ticket counting machines after spending $1.00 at some coin pushing machine. The first machine jammed up and when the voucher printed it has Kings Dominion listed. I go to the other machine and on that voucher it prints out Great Escape Lodge as the name. They couldn't even bother to get the correct park name printed on the vouchers. I should have gone to the other machine and seen what park name would print out on that voucher and it will be interesting when I go to redeem the vouchers, if they tell me they are from another park.

Even though I want something more thrilling, the park does need another under 48" coaster. All someone under 48" can ride is Wild Mouse and the kiddie coaster where Hershey has SDL, Comet, Laff Trakk, Trailblazer and Cocoa Cruiser for anyone 42" (Trailblazer and Cocoa Cruiser for 36") and Great Adventure has The Dark Knight, Skull Mountain, Runaway Mine Train, Harley Quinn Crazy Train and Road Runner Railway for someone 44".

There isn't an upcharge at Chickies and Pete's for the cheesesteaks. That amount shown on the screen shows how much they get reimbursed by Dorney but when you complete the order, it gives a total owed of $0 as long as you don't add anything extras that's not included. I agree it's confusing to see a price on the screen making it look like an upcharge.

I think Bizarro runs better with 2 trains. With only 2 people checking restraints, it's difficult not to stack the trains and when 2 trains are running, one train is usually getting to the final brakes when the other train is about to dispatch. I also agree about Kingda Ka. When the front row line has a long wait, I will go for the 2nd row and once in a while the 3rd row. I avoid the rest of the train. The soft straps that other Intamin coasters got would help make the ride more comfortable.

I think it was a combination of Balin's Jungleland removed, the tigers gone and getting people to walk through the boardwalk area where all those games and food places are.

It's the same at Great Adventure, usually that weekend is one of the weekends where there is bring a friend free in addition to other times throughout the year. I went to Great Adventure on Rosh Hashanah last year (it was on a Thursday). Crowds weren't bad. I looked up my trip report from last year ( http://www.greatadventurehistory.com/Forums/index.php?/topic/5354-92117/ ) and waits were mostly 10 - 30 minutes. Hershey should be good on a Sunday. For some reason Sunday's in the spring and fall are usually low crowds while Saturday's are crowded. I know a Sunday is always going to be less crowded than a Saturday but it's to the point where there could be 30 - 60 minute waits on a Saturday and 5 - 15 minute waits on a Sunday that time of year.

That weekend has been bad the last few years since they have made it a bring a friend free weekend (I'm not sure if it is bring a friend free this year as well).

Hershey is also closed during Columbus Day weekend. Hersheypark in the Dark starts the 3rd weekend of October this year. If you do go to Great Adventure, I would plan to get most of the rides in on Columbus Day since it usually isn't that crowded. Not all schools are closed and with it being a school night and work night and the park open until 10, the ride lines are usually reasonable once people start to leave and others go to the Fright Fest attractions. The problem with that is Saturday and Sunday are going to be horrible as already mentioned. I have never gone to the park during Fright Fest on a Saturday and seeing pictures of traffic and crowds, I never will.

I went to the park twice in April this year and once in May last year. All coasters were open except Trailblazer (breakdown, not because of staffing). Some non coaster rides and kiddie rides were closed but nothing major. Almost all coasters were running multiple trains as well.

I kept watching the ride yesterday as it was moving up thinking it might start testing. Then when I saw it stopped for a few minutes, I went to Justice League and checked back, repeating that a few times but it never did test. Yesterday was one of the better days at the park I had in a while. Crowds were so low, that one of the times I rode Justice League, the line was completely empty and I had my own car which made it easier to not have any competition going for the high value targets. Even with the park so empty, 3 trains were still being run at Kingda Ka, Nitro and Bizarro. Some of the snack stands are now selling sandwiches and wraps that can be used with the dining pass. That should be helpful on days when the food lines elsewhere are bad.

I was at the park on opening day. There's more things gone than there are new. Stinger is gone, dining options on the season pass meal plan are more limited, and Thunderhawk is closed because 6 months wasn't enough time to retrack 150 ft of track. The only things new are the burrito place (which I haven't tried), the Dorney Park sign by Apollo, and more Coca-Cola refresh stations (still no Freestyle stations). They're also teasing Haunt down by the Grave Walkers entrance with new props set up already. The only other things worth mentioning is that the holding break on Possessed still isn't working and I've heard the Troika is running at a normal speed now (last year it didn't seem to operate as fast as every other Troika I've been on, but I haven't personally ridden it this year yet). And that's pretty much it, nothing exciting at all. If they went to the trouble to add more soda fountains, I would have liked to have seen at least a couple of Freestyle machines added instead. Besides the regular fountains attracting bees (the one near the entrance is usually really bad), I hate how limited the flavor selections are. Maybe the Freestyle machines attract bees too but I never noticed it at the outdoor machines at Great Adventure. Thunderhawk closed makes the decision for me to stay away until June easier. Not that I think Thunderhawk is that good of a coaster, it's difficult to justify going to the park for only 4 coasters (not counting Wild Mouse) and WWK not open for the season yet.