YoshiFan

Something is going on with the simulator building and there were talks of some kind of 5D ride. I don't know if it could fit but I'd rather see an interactive dark ride inside the building instead.

They had some kind of crane and something else at the bottom of the pretzel loop. The bad thing about it being closed is that it makes the other lines longer since Superman is so popular. Lines mid afternoon for the major coasters were way longer than I was expecting for a school day in June (Batman and Nitro looked to be around 25 - 30 minutes each). The park emptied out around 5:00 though.

Screamscape is saying there is a rumor Sooperdooperlooper could be removed for this new coaster. I really hope that doesn't happen. With Laser removed from Dorney, it's the last Schwarzkopf looper in the area and it's my favorite steel coaster at the park. Plus it is a great first looping coaster for people to try, I knew that since it only had 1 loop, if I didn't like it, there were no more inversions compared to other coasters that have 3 - 7 inversions that I would have been more hesitant to try.

It doesn't feel much more intense than Storm Runner. Ride in the front half of the train, the last few roughs are more rough. It's not that bad, I was nervous about trying it but decided after Storm Runner I could handle it. It was a very empty day at the park so there was no wait which gave me no time to hesitate. As for Scream Machine, it is running much better this year, like Kingda Ka, if you sit towards the front it is a fun ride. If you get the front seat of either the first or 2nd car since the front rows of the cars have more leg room it isn't really rough at all.

If you want to ride a lot, it might be worth it. I am going to say most rides will be 5 - 15 minute waits this time of year during on a weekday except possibly Kingda Ka, Superman and possibly El Toro. You should be able to ride every coaster at least once if you are there for at least 5 hours but if you want to get multiple rides in, especially on Kingda Ka, I'd consider getting a Flashpass. I would wait to see how the lines are before getting a Flashpass since it is possible that you won't need it.

Go on a weekday, crowds will be much lower since schools are still in session, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are probably the best days to go right now. Everything in the park is open for the season except the SBNO rides like Bumper Cars, Music Express and Tango. There are no single rider lines unfortunately.

Nice report, I'm surprised lines were so short. If you try Patriots Plunge again, the red slide with the double down has better air time and the blue slide is more intense. Also on Wildwater Rapids, the slides under Patriots Plunge, the yellow enclosed slide is very fast and intense and a lot of fun. The food service has always been slow at Dorney. I rarely eat in the park and the few times I have, you are always waiting forever even with not many people waiting in front of you

I consider both Dorney and Great Adventure my home parks because they are both 45 minutes away from me. In 2006 and 2007 I just had a Dorney pass. Once I got the Great Adventure pass in 2008, Dorney didn't seem as fun to me. Maybe it is because they have fewer coasters so I rode the major 3 rides 100+ times and got bored of them or it is because the same type of coaster is better at Great Adventure. I prefer Bizarro to Hydra and Nitro to Steel Force. I still have passes to both parks especially because I really like Wildwater Kingom at Dorney but I used to look forward to going to Dorney more than I do now. I also never spend a full day at either park anymore especially since I try to go on days when there are little to no lines.

Maybe that is why line cutting is taken more seriously at Dorney, I don't know about other CF parks but some of the guards at Dorney carry guns.

Every time I have seen line cutting reported at Great Adventure, the cutters don't get in trouble. Last year 2 guards went into the line for Superman to open up some more switchback chains and a group cut in the middle of that, they were reported to the guards and they not only didn't get kicked out of the park as the parks claims is what is supposed to happen, they weren't removed from line. The cutters then said to the group that reported them that they were from the hood in Philly and not to mess with them (their exact words). Again in Superman in 2008, a group was reported to security, they did nothing. Even in Nitro's line, I saw someone smoking in line, the guard walked right by them in line and didn't say a word. What they need is people monitoring the line at all times, at Dorney when there is a line for a coaster, even a short wait they have security standing in the line, sometimes on an elevated platform. I have seen line cutters dealt with much better there. Twice I saw people thrown out of line, another time security was not at a line (for a flat) but needed to be called and within a couple minutes they were there. The cutters were going to be removed from the line but I think got ejected from the park for then cursing at the people that reported them.

I think the original plan was to add a 3rd tower if it was needed later on and since the ride rarely has long lines, I guess they decided it wasn't worth it. I was always hoping they'd make the 3rd tower a combo tower if it ever got added but with Demon Drop, the chances of that happening even seem less likely now.

I don't know which is worse, the Subway prices or them charging $0.50 for an item that has a MSRP of $0.25. I know it says suggested retail price but if they want to rip people off, they should find candy that is not pre-priced.

If all you care about is the coasters at Dorney, you should be able to ride all of them in less than 2 hours easily unless it is for some reason unusually crowded. Get the Wild Mouse out of the way first, that is the only coaster that almost always has a wait because of it's horrible capacity thanks to CF being strict with adding seatbelts and only allowing 2 adults per car.

I think it depends in the ride. The trim on Nitro before the hammerhead isn't a big deal but the one on Thunderhawk on the bunny hills kills the momentum and really slows the train down a lot.

Nice pictures, it's rare to see Hershey that empty. I can't believe they were running 1 train on each side of Lightning Racers and on top of that they had rows closed off. The station looked empty but based on past trips, they are hesitant to open empty rows even if crowds pick up a little.

Blackbeard's Lost Treasure Train at Great Adventure yesterday

If the flashpass line gets really backed up do they then let flashpass have an entire train? That's what happens at Scream Machine a lot when it is crowded.

That is a shame that they refuse to help with the restraints, especially since if the belts are like some rides at Great Adventure, some are longer than others. With Batman, some seats I can buckle myself with no problem, others I need to have a ride op help buckle (and I can buckle the belt on the test seat easily).

Weekends in July and August are when the lines are, I went once on a Sunday in August and after Talon was 40 minutes I decided I would never go again on a summer weekend. Also Saturday nights during Haunt and later Friday night Haunts are crowded. Last year on the final Friday night, Steel Force was 25 minutes, Possessed looked to be around 45 minutes.

I hate ride ops like that which make up rules. When the ride first opened you needed to ride with a kid if you were over 54". They changed it where you don't need a kid to ride around 5 years ago along with most of the rides in Camp Snoopy. I'm surprised lines weren't bad, usually the first Friday in May is jammed with long lines because of all the school trips. Did you get the Dragon Coaster credit? That is in the back of the park and anyone can ride that coaster too, it's Little Laser next to it that is 54" maximum even if you have a kid with you

That would be cool if they did. Right now Nitro is sponsored by Snickers and Rolling Thunder is sponsored by M&M's and they don't give out samples but that might be different because the park sells candy and they probably wouldn't want to give out samples and stop people from spending $2 on a candy bar.

I like TDK, it is my favorite wild mouse coaster. I just wish they would do something about the pre-show since it is such a waste of time especially after seeing it close to 30 times. I think part of the reason it is hated so much is because it was added the year after Chiller, Flying Wave and Movietown Water Effect and Looping Starship were removed. Based on the reaction the ride gets with both the GP in the park and enthusiasts, I don't think SF will be in any rush to add it to any more of their parks. Even 2 years later I still see people yelling negative comments about the ride to the people waiting to get into the pre-show.

Same with Batman at Great Adventure, they took part of the existing line, made another entrance for Flashpass and now the line merges at the station like the newer coasters.

They need to get the SBNO flats open, I can only imagine how bad crowds are going to be this summer with less rides open this year compared to at least the past 10 or 11 years.

That doesn't work well on busy days. There have been times at Great Adventure where Scream Machine had the flashpass line backed up the entire exit ramp and because only 4 flashpass users could ride per train (car 6 is designated for flashpass users) they ended up letting 2 full trains in a row go out with flashpass users to get the flashplass line down which caused the standby line not to move.